Three weeks ago I shared an Image of a single cottonwood leaf at the edge of a small waterpocket in the upper slickrock in Zion National Park. This week I want to share with you the image that first attracted my eye when I initially reached the bottom of the wash. The single leaf came with some exploration. This, of course, is a wide-angle landscape, whereas the other was most certainly an intimate landscape of a very small portion of the scene you see here. Perhaps you prefer one to the other; I do not. For me they are just different ways of “seeing” the same world. Here, just as in the intimate scene, I was very conscious of camera location and perspective, of element relationship and arrangement, of angle-of-view and especially what was included and excluded. I also waited for a small passing cloud to reduce as much contrast as it would. So often it’s all of the various ways you can engage the process of communicating what you have seen that make for your creativity in the visual world. I encourage you to never believe there is only a single way of seeing what is around you. A focal length of 35mm gave me the angle of view I wanted (anything shorter would have been too much information for me). An aperture of f/20 provided depth of field; and a shutter speed of 1/5th second at ISO 100 gave me an overall medium exposure. Don’t stop looking until you are sure there is nothing left to see; and then look one more time just for good measure.
Wow — I’d like to just hang out there…
It looks enchanted! Many critters lurking. The old tree seems to be in charge of showing the way. The reflections are awesome. They blend in so well, it’s hard to tell what is real… I keep looking and looking. It’s fun! Thanks for sharing the magic.
I very much like the subdued color and texture left by the flowing water. The scene in the upper right makes me want to discover what lies beyond.
As you would probably guess, Don this is my kind of scene. You handled the harsh contrast very well. The colors, textures, and light all balance out very well as I would expect from you. The one area that is causing me some problems is the bright white spot in the lower left. It is brighter and of a different color palette than the rest of the image. The rocks, etc. that make up that portion of the scene create a distinct image of a monkey’s face. (I am really looking too close, aren’t I?)I have looked and looked at that area and I simply cannot tell if I am looking at water and if I am how the water got that high on the rocks considering the level of the stream reflections. This is one I might have to see in a larger size to really appreciate what I am seeing. I don’t get to comment as often as I might like and I hope you don’t think I am being too critical of this image. I do like it very much and would love to have been there myself. Riding with you every Sunday morning through “Image for the Asking” is the best I can do right now and I look forward to you sharing your vision for many more Sundays to come.
Thanks for the advice on seeing. I’m not big on looking for animals hidden within images, but since others have started the thread: I had to look and look to see Dorsey’s monkey; but what popped out at me was a duck-billed platypus.
Good morning Everyone. Thank you all so much for joining me for this Image. I really appreciate all of your thoughtful and thought-provoking comments.This Image was one of the more interesting challenges for me that I have experienced recently. Robert, I truly enjoyed your reaction. This is such a wonderful, hidden away little spot that once you get into it you do want to “hang out” for quite a while, especially in autumn when the cottonwoods in the drainage are exploding in gold. Nancy T., it was indeed enchanted, and since you know about the “critters of a location better than I, I’m curious as to where you found them. I agree, the old cottonwood seemed like a Mother Tree directing the activities of the gulch as changing conditions come and go. But it’s true, it was the myriad of reflections that drew me down in the first place. The water pockets in Zion that day were amazing. I’m glad they gave you such moments of interest; thanks. Warren, thanks for your comments. My biggest concern was that all of the flowing water had created too much mud to work in, and I did have to be fairly careful moving around; but you are right the textures that had been left by the water’s flow were incredible. I played with nothing but those fora good while. And there is an adventure waiting over the slope in the upper right.This part of Zion is so richly complex that all you need do is turn around and there’s something beautiful staring back at you. Hey Don, thanks for joining us. I did find Dorsey’s monkey, but your duckbill remains a mystery. I really appreciate that you are enjoying my comments on the creative part of landscape photography. I hope they will serve you well. Dorsey, I saved your for last for a good reason: you have raised such interesting and thought-provoking concerns that they deserve careful response. First, thank you for all of your kind comments and thoughtful observations. This, as I alluded to previously,was one of the most complex scenes I have worked with lately and it was great fun doing so. As you can imagine, when the recent storms passed through the area, the water in this narrow little defile must have been very high.My guess is that it reached the base of the big cottonwood before receding. And it was moving fairly rapidly as well, but as it dropped and slowed, there were all sorts of mud deposits and textures left in its passing. As the mud was coming from several sources, the coloration in it can be quite varied. If you notice the area in the mud to the right of and slightly above the largest of the cottonwood reflections, you see that there are some smaller deposits of similar color. Another factor, I think, may be the contrast you mentioned. The sky at that moment had very few clouds, but I did manage enough patience to wait for a slight one to reduce the contrast just a bit, but even so, there was more than I would have wished for in a perfect world. It did even out the overall dynamic range just enough, but I do think it may still be impacting the ways the variegated coloration in the mud is seen. In the moment this was taken the water line was between the two sets of ripples at the bottom right of the monkey; and it can be followed down between the mud ripples and the reflections, narrowing and then widening again as it passes the sandstone outcrop on the right. Your comments are always well-considered, and I appreciate all of them as words that stimulate my own thoughts and reflections. Thank you all, again, for a wonderful conversation.