Gary Hart's Eloquent Images |
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Mt. Whitney Arch and Setting Moon, Alabama HillsPosted by Gary Hart (California, United States) on 9 February 2010 in Landscape & Rural. Consistently finding great photo opportunities isn’t luck, but neither is it a divine gift. It’s simply a matter of doing your homework. I take great effort to anticipate rather than react to my opportunities, to be in place before the shot happens. In my “Three Ps of Nature Photography” article this foresight is "P" number 1: Preparation. When I scheduled my 2010 workshops way back in early 2009, I pulled out the lunar tables and figured out that starting my Death Valley workshop on January 29 would give my group a moonrise and two moonset opportunities. I checked the altitude and azimuth of the moon on these days and determined exactly where I wanted to be for each. It turned out Mother Nature had other plans for Aguereberry Point, my Death Valley moonrise location; a few days before the workshop She deposited enough snow above 5,000 feet to render all of Death Valley's high elevation vistas inaccessible. So I countered with a sunset moonrise on the dunes and all was well. But this was just a teaser—by far the two moon shoots I most looked forward to were a sunrise moonset at Zabriskie Point, and a moonset behind Mt. Whitney from the Alabama Hills on our final morning. Of course despite the need for careful planning, there is indeed a luck component to nature photography—while the moon’s position and phase can be computed with precision, the weather is a complete crapshoot. I wasn’t too concerned about Zabriskie Point because blue skies are pretty much the rule in Death Valley. But Mt. Whitney in January is another story—I’ve waited days for it to peek from beneath a cloudy shroud. So I was quite pleased on the final morning of my workshop to see stars overhead as the group assembled for our sunrise shoot. My excitement grew on the drive to the Alabama Hills, as in the faint light I could see a few clouds on the western horizon—not so many to threaten our view of Whitney, but enough to catch some of the rich color I always hope for. When we pulled into the parking area near the Whitney Arch (aka, Mobius Arch) it was still fairly dark, but the group had learned long ago that this is great light for photography and they quickly scattered. Don Smith and my brother Jay (assisting me on this workshop) stayed with the people who wandered toward the boulders south of the parking area; I went with the group that set out for the arch (where we’d photographed the night before). A few words about alpenglow A little about my approach to this capture (for photographers only) I found that by moving left, lower, and farther back than I usually shoot here I could balance the moon with Mt. Whitney and the colorful lenticular cloud and frame them all in the arch. I zoomed as tight as I could without trimming the arch. Because focus was critical here I stopped down to f16 for extra depth of field (I try to avoid going smaller than this unless it’s absolutely necessary, as diffraction and lens optics at the smallest apertures degrade image quality). The texture of the arch is so important to this scene that I opted to focus on it rather than Mt. Whitney. I chose a focus point on the arch as far from my lens as possible (the back side a little beneath the cloud) to maximize my focus range. Before clicking my shutter I used my depth of field preview to confirm that all of my foreground was sharp. I spot-metered on the cloud and found ½ second would ensure that I’d keep all the color I could see—I wasn’t concerned about the shadowed area under the arch going a little dark. After the capture I checked my LCD to be sure the moon wasn’t blinking (blown highlights) as I always like to get lunar detail in my moon images. When a scene excites me like this I'm never satisfied with a single composition. So once I was satisfied I'd accomplished my original objective I bracketed a number of images, not for exposure but for compositional variety (wider, tighter, horizontal, vertical). * My book of images, "The Undiscovered Country," is now available at Barnes & Noble * Become a fan of my Facebook page Thanks for visiting. Even if I don't respond, your comments are always read and appreciated.
Comments (15)
Julie from Easton, United StatesJust an awesome shot! Colors, composition and detail are just spot on! 9 Feb 2010 7:08am Dulcie from Danville, CA, United StatesThat arch makes a natural frame for the mountains as you so clearly show. A beautiful shot! 9 Feb 2010 7:12am LM from Aix en Provence, Francevery nice capture, the point of view is excellent, well done 9 Feb 2010 8:38am Sarito from Basingstoke, United KingdomStunning photograph, Gary. This is one of those photos that make you feel, 'Wish I was there' :). 9 Feb 2010 8:54am KriKridesign from Cully, SwitzerlandI make a wish...If I win to the loto, I follow you on one of your workshop!!! 9 Feb 2010 1:08pm @KriKridesign: I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, Christine. Judy from Brooksville, Florida, United StatesWe can't win the Lotto if we don't play, but if we did, we'd ditto KriKri's wish! 9 Feb 2010 1:17pm Barbara Kile from Ft. Worth, United StatesLove the lighting on the distant hills and the sky is gorgeous, not to mention the framing with the arch! Great image, Gary. 9 Feb 2010 3:12pm Tracy from La Selva Beach, United StatesThis is wonderful! The textures and light in this image are stunning! I love getting some insights about how you go about shooting and thinking, Gary! I always gain something that I am able to take out with me each time I go! 9 Feb 2010 4:04pm Louloupix from NEW YORK, United StatesVery nice picture. 9 Feb 2010 5:34pm Barbara from Oakland, United StatesThis is lovely, Gary, I wish I could have cloned myself and been in both locations! I love the softness of the pinks and blues in this image and you did a terrific job of getting the arch sharp and well composed. 9 Feb 2010 6:44pm |
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III |