Alabama hills
Mar, 2013Views
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Awards
Chatter Award
Legendary Award
Featured
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
Exceptional Contrast
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Jaw Dropping
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
VIP Favorite
Emotions
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AlanJakarta
March 24, 2013
Wonderful capture of an amazing scene & the contrast in color between the foreground & background is quite striking. Congratulations on being featured.
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SusiStroud
March 24, 2013
A really different landscape. Where is this in Alabama? Congratulations on your Feature.
JPatterson
March 24, 2013
Wow ! One heck of a shot ... the light contrasts are really eye catching !
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drakkardarkblade
March 29, 2013
Congrats, fantastic capture. Please check out my pictures if you get a chance.
jayanhold
May 14, 2014
The Alabama Hills are one of my favorite places. I really like how you caught the light and exploited it in this shot!
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nina050
October 20, 2015
I've lived in California all my life and am sorry to say I've never heard of this place! Where abouts is it?? Eastern side??
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Behind The Lens
Location
The Alabama Hills in California. You may recognize the these rock formations since it is a popular filming location for television and movies, especially Westerns. One recent movie that was filmed here was Django Unchained, I recognized it immediately. The smooth rock formations in the foreground are a stark contrast to the Sierra Nevada in the background including Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States.Time
Just at sunrise probably around 6:30 amLighting
The lighting I have to chalk up to luck, It was completely overcast. I loved this area and was shooting the formations and the mountains behind them when suddenly the sun burst through the clouds and lit up the golden rocks in the foreground. I was able to get off about 10 shots before the clouds closed-up again. I titled the image GoldRush because of the way the golden color rushed in and was gone just as fast.Equipment
Nikon D600, Nikon 28-300mm lens, and a Induro tripodInspiration
The beauty of the scene and the amazing contrast of the smooth golden rocks and the jagged blue mountains.Editing
Yes, this image is HDR. I was able to capture 3 shots- 1 normal, 2 stops over, and 2 stops under. Combining these gave me more detail in the highlights and shadows, as well as enhancing the color. I used NIK HDR Effect Pro software.In my camera bag
A Nikon D600, a nikon 28-300 lens and a nikon 16-35mm lens, polarizing and neutral density filters, cable release and tripod.Feedback
Get up early and get to your location well before the sun comes up, and always bring a tripod! This was our third day there so we had already scoped out some good locations. I was on a workshop with Michael Pannier, he was able to lead us to many great spots. The Alabama hills are loaded with winding roads and it would be very easy to get lost! I definitely recommend traveling to these magical locations on a workshop with someone who knows the area at least for the first visit.
