Platinum

Silverdarkness

Painted Hills, Southern View

Apr, 2014

Views

1337

Likes

+297

Awards

Featured

Contest Finalist in Painted Hills Photo Contest

Peer Award

+109

Superb Composition

+36

Absolute Masterpiece

+21

Top Choice

+16

Outstanding Creativity

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Jaw Dropping

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 30 rank week 2

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 3

Top 30 rank week 1

PRO+

What an awesome shot.

Congratulations on your Contest Finalist win in Painted Hills Photo Contest!

stunning shot

See all

Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

After the Rain Storm from Above the Spanish Steps, Rome, 1981

Image taken in the hills in Northern California, facing the Pacific Ocean near sunset.

Sunrise on Death Vallley Floor from Zabriski Point

Fira is a city on the island of Santorini, Greece.

Image taken in Antigua, Guatemala as a noisy motorcyclist roared by belching smoke.

A very long glissade on a Mt. Rainier snow field ending in a shear drop off that necessitated climbing back up and transversing the ridge to safety.

Behind The Lens

Location

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Painted Hills Unit. Nine miles northwest of Mitchell, Oregon. Mitchell is the closest location where lodging is available but it is limited. The best breakfast is at the cafe closest to the highway. Diinner is best at the only restaurant in the middle of the town. 1 gas station, if you can find the guy to operate it (in the afternoon he is usually drinking a beer across the street in the shade). Several further away BLM and Forest Service-owned areas have rudimentary campsites (vault toilet, fire ring, and picnic table). Viewpoint is just off the entry road on the northern part of the Painted Hills, looking south.

Time

26 April 2013. 8:30 am. I have photographed the Painted Hills several times, targeting late Spring when the elusive yellow Bee flower blossoms in the crevices of the hills. This part of Oregon is east of the Cascade Mountains so it receives less rain than the western side. Many other wild flowers bloom there but in order to see the Bee flower, enough rainfall must have fallen.

Lighting

The viewpoint affords a look at how the rising sun illuminates the hills and creates almost a side lighting view. There are other viewpoints, notably the main walking trail that is slightly west and above and behind the formations shown in the image. This is my favorite location. It looks north and east. There are other beautiful formations west of location in the image but they lend themselves to closeups.

Equipment

Nikon D300, 28-300mm f3.5/5.6 Nikkor lens, Markins Ballhead on a Gitzo Carbon fiber Traveler-series tripod, UV Haze filter.

Inspiration

The light. The whole area is amazing for photographers. Strangely the place is not very crowded. Mostly tourists. In three trips to the Painted Hills, I have yet to see another serious photographer.

Editing

Post-processing done in Adobe Lightroom. Shadow areas were given a little more exposure to open them up. Highlight areas were significantly toned down due to the bright white sand at the bottom of the hills. Vibrance and saturation were slightly boosted.

In my camera bag

Currently I shoot with two systems: Nikon D750 and Sony a6500 (mirrorless) cameras DSLR Lenses: Tamron 24-70mm f2.8, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8, Nikkor 2x teleconverter TC-20III Sony Lenses: Zeiss 35mm f2.8, Zeiss 85mm f1.8, Sony G-Series 70-300mm w/Optical Stabilization f4.5/5.6; Zeiss 16-70mm f4 Tripods/Ballheads: Gitzo Carbon fibre, Traveler-Series with Markins Ballhead; Benro Carbon fiber with integral ballhead; Manfrotto Carbon fibre monopod 4 camera bags Other: Nikon Gp-1A GPS transmitter, Tripod "L" brackets, 4 batteries per camera, Sony & Nikon IR remote controls, Lens cleaning paper, Aero-Clipse sensor cleaner and swabs

Feedback

For landscapes: Use the desktop version of the app The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE) https://www.photoephemeris.com to determine where the sun and moon will rise and set and on-location have the mobile app installed on your cellphone or laptop Use a remote control to cause the camera to fire. That way no vibrations are transmitted from you to the camera while it is on a tripod. Always use a tripod if you can, be patient...wait for the light.

See more amazing photos, follow Silverdarkness

Silverdarkness

Silverdarkness

Painted Hills, Southern View

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Silverdarkness

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.