tree 2
Sep, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Ghost Ranch. Ghost Ranch as many people know was made famous by Georgia O'Keeffe where many of her paintings were created. Today Ghost Ranch is a retreat and education center outside Santa Fe in north central New Mexico.Time
Ghost Ranch covers over 20,000 acres of rocky hills, green forests,and amazing vistas at the top of the mesas. The Ranch is open to the public and offers several hiking trails for any one interested in a short day trip when visiting Santa Fe. This photo was taken along the Kitchen Mesa Trail around 12 noon in late September.Lighting
Middle of the day the light is harsh and intense. But what Ii think made this image work was the position of the tree and the rocks to the angle of the sun. All the pieces of the image were evenly light and that's what made the tree and its leaves stand out.Equipment
Nikon D300, 18-200 lens,Shutter release cable, tripod and ND filterInspiration
Every fall I'm looking for photo opportunities to capture the changing color of the leaves. I had heard and read about the Kitchen Mesa Trail and made the drive from Santa Fe for a day trip to check it out. Its a strenuous trail about 5 miles round trip and will take about 3 to 4 hours. The trail starts out slow and gentle and gradually becomes more difficult as you approach the top. This tree is near the beginning of the trail and single tree with it's yellow leaves really stood up against the red rock cliff and pinion and juniper trees.Editing
I usually under expose my images a 1/3 to 1/2 stop at the camera and punch this up in post-processing. In Camera Raw with Photoshop I increased the exposure a half of stop, made adjustments with the contrast, shadows, and saturation and the final step with the unsharpen mask.In my camera bag
I keep it simple, my bags is usually the clothes I'm wearing, shorts or pants with big pockets, because the less I carry the easier the climb. My gear is my camera a Nikon D300; my lens a Nikon 18-200mm f3.5/5.6 DX; a tripod; two filters, circular polarizing filter, ND filter and a shutter release.Feedback
New Mexico has some of the most beautiful landscapes and wonderful skies. The sun shines almost 365 days a years and can be intense. This hike starts at 6500 feet and climbs to 7100 feet and most of the trail is in the sun. Make sure your sure your batteries are charged and bring plenty of water and sunscreen, you'll need it.
