Chimayó Badlands Sunset
My drive home, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, takes me through this wonderfully undeveloped area referred to as the Chimayó Badlands. On a late-October afternoon,...
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My drive home, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, takes me through this wonderfully undeveloped area referred to as the Chimayó Badlands. On a late-October afternoon, as I came around a curve I was confronted by this scene. Fortunately I did have my camera with me, and not stopping was not an option! Details: Canon EOS 20D, Canon 100-400 mm IS lens at 119 mm, handheld; ISO 400, f-9, 1-100sec. Every fall since this image was captured the fiery tree on the near left has failed to produce any colorful foliage. Lesson learned--never tell yourself, "Oh I can get it another time."
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Mar, 2018Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
My backroad drive, from Santa Fe to our mountain village of Truchas, New Mexico, takes me through this wonderful undeveloped landscape. Referred to as either the Chimayó, or Nambé, Badlands, it contains a number of artistically eroded sandstone structures. On this particular late-October afternoon, I rounded a very familiar curve just as the setting sun illuminated the tree and the sandstone "monolith." Fortunately I had my camera with me ("don't leave home without it"). I pulled over and was able to get one or two shots before the sun set below the Jemez mountains. Every Fall, since then, that tree has lost all of its leaves before they could change color. This is a confirmation that "I can get it tomorrow" is a never a good idea.Time
October 30, 2005 at 5:54 P.M. Mountain Time.Lighting
The warm sunset light was perfect for bringing out the peak fall colors of the leaves, and the reddish sandstone. Also, at that time of day the Sun's low-angle creates shadows that bring out lots of detail in the sandstone. Earlier in the day the bright New Mexico Sun and clear sky would have washed out the color of the leaves, and made the sandstone look flat and uninteresting. Fact---I got lucky. I definitely recognized the significance of what I was seeing. But unlike the late/great Galen Rowell, I did not pre-visualize this scene!Equipment
Hand-held Canon EOS 20D. Settings: ISO 400, Auto Exposure-Partial , f/9, 1/100-sec, Normal White Balance, TIFF. Canon 100-400 mm lens at 119 mm (no filter).Inspiration
The great sunset light made this otherwise very familiar landscape scream out,"Stop the car and capture me!"Editing
Photoshop CS (it was in 2005 so I don't remember which version. No extreme processing was done.In my camera bag
All Canon EOS bodies: 5D-MK2/IR, 5D-MK3, 5DRS, EOS-90 Variety of Canon and Tamron lenses---8mm (Fisheye) to 600mmFeedback
1. Have you camera with you. 2. Be very familiar with your gear. 3. Be prepared for the unexpected. 4. Don't expect a scene to repeat itself.
