phyllographer

Zebra Canyon

Hole-In-The-Rock-Road
Escalante, Utah
20160331_2103-HDR-2

Hole-In-The-Rock-Road
Escalante, Utah
20160331_2103-HDR-2
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NIKON D810

settings

Aperture f/18 ISO 200 Shutter 1/10 Focal Length 140/10

upload_date

Mar, 2018

Views

Likes

+10

Awards

Action Award

Zenith Award

9Teen Award

Community Choice Award

Peer Choice Award

Superb Composition

+10

Absolute Masterpiece

+10

Outstanding Creativity

Top Choice

Peer Award

Superior Skill

Behind The Lens

Location

The canyon is located south of Escalante, Utah.

Time

The photo was made at 3pm.

Lighting

Direct sunlight did not reach the lower parts of the slot canyon so that the color of the rocks had a strong influence on the scene. However, I combined 3 bracketed shots to an HDR image to make sure that I capture the full tonal range. I stopped the aperture down to f18 to have enough depth of field. The closest parts of the canyon walls were only a foot away from the lens.

Equipment

I used a Nikon D810 with the 14-24mm/f2.8 zoom lens. It was not easy to take the backpack and a tripod into the canyon, but I needed the tripod. The exposure time was 1/10s and longer.

Inspiration

I had seen photos of this canyon on the internet a few months before my trip to the US. So I spent quite some time to find out where it was located, and how to get there during my RV trip through the American South West.

Editing

Lightroom did a good job merging the 3 bracketed shots. I set the white balance and saturation to match the colors I remembered, and increased the contrast to show the horizontal stripes. Some dodge and burn to level the brightness of both sides of the canyon.

In my camera bag

I had to fit everything but the tripod into the carry-on baggage, so I took the D810 body and only two zoom lenses: Nikkor 28-300mm, and the 14-24mm. When I do not have to follow these weight restrictions, I prefer the "holy trinity" set of three zoom lenses. The quality of the 28-30mm zoom is good, but it does not reach the sharpness of the 24-70mm/f2.8 and the 70-200/f2.8.

Feedback

Use the internet to prepare for your shots. Google Maps, Photo Pills, apps to spot the Northern Lights, there are a lot of powerful tools. However, do not forget to look for the surprising shots that you find while you pursue your planned ones.

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phyllographer

phyllographer

Zebra Canyon

Hole-In-The-Rock-Road Escalante, Utah 20160331_2103-HDR-2

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow phyllographer

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Hole-In-The-Rock-Road
Escalante, Utah
20160331_2103-HDR-2

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