Badlands
Mar, 2015Views
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People's Choice in The search for Colors in Layers Photo Challenge
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Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
My first camera was an "auto- nothing" 1962 Miranda with handheld light meter. It seemed hard but was the best way to learn. After years of up grades, I took this last year in The Badlands in South Dakota at sunrise. It was the last day of the season so I got foliage color too. A bonus.Time
Sunrise and sunset are the given times to get landscapes generally, and that is no different at The Badlands where the early and late sun bring out magnificent colors in this strange, subtly multi-hued, rock formation.Lighting
I waited until the light (from a low angle to the south) just hit the peak of the rock formation, so the light was good, but not harsh on the side I was taking. It "washed it" instead of hitting it directly.Equipment
I used my Nixon D7100, lens 35-135mm at focal length of 70mm. It was hand held (I rarely use a tripod) at 1/6th of a second, aperture set at f 4.0 but I SO at a whopping 2000.Inspiration
I went to The Badlands the year before, but missed the light. I wanted to see them at their most beautiful, so I went back and this was one of the first opportunities I came to.Editing
I did some work in Adobe Photo shop, cropping it to highlight the tree a little more, and coaxing out some of the fainter colors. But not to much, as I try to get it right the first time.In my camera bag
Then I had my Nikon D7100 (motor drive) with 70-300 mm lens and my D7000, plus cleaning supplies and lots of extra cards (mostly Sandisc, class 10, 16 or 32 gb). Last year I replaced the D7100 with a D7100 and new lens (28-300mm) and love the combo.Feedback
1. Light is everything, so you have to patience to wait for the look you want, which in turn takes some fortitude because you think you are missing shots someplace else. You probably are. Decide what the most important one is and whether you want a few good ones, or more maybe not as good ones. That's hard and I don't have the answer. It depends on local, time, opportunity, luck, etc.
