garyrhook

Jemez River

In the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

In the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico
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Oct, 2014

Views

312

Likes

+36

Awards

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Peer Award

+17

Superb Composition

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Outstanding Creativity

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Behind The Lens

Location

The north side of Soda Dam on the Jemez River, along Highway 4 in Northern New Mexico

Time

Sunset, about 7:00 PM

Lighting

The sun was pretty far down; this show was 25 s @ f/14, ISO 100. The reflection is sunlight; no flash.

Equipment

Nikon D5100 with my trusty Tamron 28-75 lens, tripod mounted.

Inspiration

Having grown up in New Mexico, this location brings to mind a lot of memories and I wanted something epic to remember this trip as well. At this location I was attracted to the curve of riverbed, the high mountains on either side and the cabin in the distance. The rocks in the foreground and the mountains in the background framed the scene perfectly for me.

Editing

I typically use Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS5. This image had quite a bit of saturation and luminance work done to it, along with adjusting the tone curve to squash the range a bit and add contrast. I then took the image into PS, duplicated the layer and used Topaz Labs Simplify to generate an oil painting-type of look which I then blended with the original. After adding some detail enhancement I applied some serious dodging and burning to emphasize the water and cabin.

In my camera bag

Nikon D5100, Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 lens, Nikon 105 f/2.8 macro lens, Nikon SB600 Speedlite.

Feedback

For this image, location and perspective were critical. I knew at the time that using the water to lead the viewer's eye into the image was my goal. I then had to combine that with scale, foreground interest, and a long-term exposure to smooth out the water. Since this was a sunset shot, arrive early if you are not familiar with the area and take some shots to figure out the composition; that way, you can focus on the technical aspects of the shot when the light becomes ideal.

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garyrhook

garyrhook

Jemez River

In the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow garyrhook

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