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Inspired by a painting that i used to make more often than not, as a school kid.
Inspired by a painting that i used to make more often than not, as a school kid.
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Mar, 2015Views
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Contest Finalist in Cabins and Huts Photo Contest
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philipdrispin
June 23, 2015
It looks a little HDRish but I really like the detail from foreground to the background. The sky is also interesting. Well done
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photograph at Rhyolite Ghost Town in Nevada, USA. I am a landscape photographer and love exploring places that are least popular or least explored. Most people visit Las Vegas but hardly a handful few visit a place no less than natural wonder called Death Valley. Death Valley has many mystical spots/locations. The hottest place in North America which drops 282 ft below sea level and rises upto 5000 ft in span of only few miles, formed the base for this shot.Time
I checked the weather forecast before heading to the location and it was overcast in the morning that day with fog and really no good light and flat skies. So i decided to wait until the skies cleared a little bit. We reached the location sometime in the noon, may be by 1 or 2 PM and things got much better by then.Lighting
It was not really sunny, but not very dark either. I had gray clouds building up from the west while the east had very little clouds with sun playing hide and seek. Because it was noon, sun was strong enough and i got pretty good soft light filtered through the clouds for the subject and environment, creating an interesting play of light and shadows overall. The afternoon looked more like a pleasant morning.Equipment
Nikon D7100, 50mm 1.8G AFS ED Nikor Lens, Hand held shot, No Flash.Inspiration
Back in the days when i was in school, I was so mesmerized by one scenery that my drawing teacher painted for us in class, that it stayed with me, somewhere stuck in my subconscious mind. Ever since i started photographing landscapes, I wanted to bring that painting on film. Even though i knew that the painting was more of a fantasy, I knew i can get something close to it. This photograph is very close to that image i had in my mind since i was a kid. We get inspired by memories sometimes, dont we?Editing
Yes. Even a great shot that is straight out of camera, needs retouching/post processing. I used photoshop for basic levels and curves adjustment and sharpening. I used NIX Color Effex for applying pro contrast filter.In my camera bag
My Camera bag usually has Nikon D7100 Nikon D810A 50mm 1.8G AFS ED Nikor prime lens AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G and AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED. I carry lens cleaning kit Graduated Filters ( ND2 ND4 ND8 Filter + Graduated G.ND2 G.ND4 G.ND8 Filters Adapter Ring （49mm,52mm,55mm,58) and Manfrotto Tripod 496RC2 Compact Ball Head with Quick Release Plate. Extra batteries and Memory Cards just in case if i need backup. Flashlight and a sheet of plastic just in case if i have to kneel down on a wet surface.Feedback
Certain basic rules always apply. For eg. Plan to be there early because golden hour is the best time to shoot such places. Because its a desert, you dont want to be shooting in scorching sun. Follow weather very closely because in such diverse landscapes, weather changes every few hours. Carry wide angle lens, ND and polarizing filters as they are pretty handy in landscape photography. If key elements are not properly lit, take multiple shots at different exposure settings. You can stack them later during post processing to get a balanced image. Nature is not something you control, but you can definitely be prepared with alternative solutions. One thing i learned being a landscape photographer is you may have to wait for hours to get right kind of light or worse, you may have to revisit the same place again and again to get that right moment.
