Vicarious Garden
The Desert is my Garden. Another sunset at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. This time during monsoon season in the Blue Hour. With some proces...
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The Desert is my Garden. Another sunset at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. This time during monsoon season in the Blue Hour. With some processing the camera's long exposure brings out the shadow detail and color of the Garden. Nature has great scenic gardens, large, low maintenance, and low cost. It's an ecosystem that evolves daily.
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Aug, 2015Views
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Awards
Featured
Contest Finalist in Simple Landscapes Photo Contest
Staff Winter Selection 2015
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
Genius
Virtuoso
Love it
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rank week 1
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Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was shot at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Overlook in Nevada. When the weather gets extreme, the area always takes on a different look every time. When it rains, the Desert is my Ocean. I know, it's not an ICONic landscape, but more a simple panorama of the view. Nevertheless, I'm honored that this photo was selected as a contest finalist. And, i'm grateful to have the opportunity to share and describe my technique for this shot.Time
In the South West Desert, the best time for photography is sunset or sunrise. On that day, the weather reported cloudy with chance of rain. So I planned accordingly, for wet weather, and wind. With a little snack and a lot of water, I was out the door. And it did rain. I often hit 3 locations during the sunset, Calico Basin, my Secret spot, and Red Rock Canyon Overlook. Calico was heavy overcast, and my secret spot was muddy due to the rain, so I skipped it and headed for the Overlook.Lighting
At the Overlook things looked pretty wet and getting dark. The best part of shooting in the good light is, It gives me a lot of color and detail to work with in post processing. But it comes with one major exposure issue. High Contrast. In the past I would rely on a single shot, and boost the details in post processing. But, there were a lot of failures with that method. Nevertheless, on this shot I use a multi shot 2 row panorama. This process gives me the ability to control exposure in post processing to create the mood I'm looking for. Often the perfect exposure is not always the ideal exposure.Equipment
For this shot and most of my landscape panoramas, I use a DSLR, normal zoom lens, L bracket, and 8" nodal rail on a ball head and sturdy tripod with some weight. For this multi shot 2 row panorama, I shot in manual mode with Shade White Balance. While taking the shots, I would adjusted the exposure of each shot, as the center shots are often brighter than the end shots. This technique makes it much easier to process and stitch with better results. I use the histogram while shooting to assure, I'm getting the right exposure I need for processing.Inspiration
When I go out to shoot Landscape, I often work the area, and try to get the best light. And I try a variety of compositions. One thing I've learned over the past few years is, at Red Rock just prior to the sunset, the clouds often clear up. On that day the sky did clear a little, just enough for the light to come through after the sunset. With the wet dark ground, and fading light, I felt the need to create the wet mood of a garden. In this case capturing natures ever changing landscape and my own vicarious garden.Editing
Whenever I shoot landscape, I always shoot to process. Meaning, I have a vision of what I experience and what I see and feel. Thus, I strive for the optimal exposure, WB, and composition, to give me the most detail, color, and lattitude to work with in post processing. For this shot, I did the major adjustments and tweaks in Lightroom. Such as, match exposure and clarity, adding in grad filters to blend the overlap areas. Then the images go to Microsoft ICE auto stitch. In auto stitch I choose the perspective, make any perspective adjustments, and size/crop the image and take it back into Lightroom for final touch. Once back in Lightroom, I did minor exposure and color enhancements to specific areas of the photo to emphasize areas and create more depth and dimension.In my camera bag
I like to travel light when shooting Landscape. A Nikon D7100 and Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 for this shot, and a D3300 with Tokina 12-28mm f/4 for time lapse. A 3LT Tony tripod, for panorama shots, and a small ProMaster for the time lapse camera. This along with food, water, clothing is my basic Landscape kit.Feedback
For me Landscape photography is my passion. There's something exciting about the outdoors. No matter where you are there is always a landscape to photograph. It's a place where one can be part of nature, and feel the power and forces of nature. It can offer solitude, and peace. If you're lucky, you'll be in the right place at the right time, and get a chance to preserve a memory forever with your camera. For those that seek the Landscape adventure, I can only suggest learning the tips from others on line, like I did. Then go out and try it, experiment with it, and learn from your success and errors. With enough effort and understanding, you'll see the progress. Also, shoot in the good light, and use panorama technique. I learned a long time ago, while shooting film in college, that post processing is as important as getting the optimal composition. Processing can transform a simple boring shot into something amazing. As camera and software technology evolves, so will the way we shoot and process landscapes. We all have the option to explore the innovations, and incorporate new techniques in our work as photographers. It's an exciting time for photography.
