The upper slickrock in Zion National Park is one of my favorite places. While Zion Canyon is truly incredible, the opportunity to play among the petrified dunes of Navajo Sandstone ignites a creative spark that never seems to be extinguished. In the never-ending folds of varicolored rock, waterpockets are often found; and in the right conditions these small pools provide wonderful expressions for the hardrock that shelters them. Late one afternoon in May I found a small pocket deep inside a crevice between two towering dunes, which has eroded slowly over the passing millennia and has formed a repository that only dries up in the midst of the dry season. Its reflecting waters caught the light from the dune high above and created a small view of magic. I knelt in the sand at the edge of the pool and used the lines of the crevice as a reverse-C-curve. This allowed me to use the diagonal lines of the dunes’ surfaces and the shadow cast by the afternoon sun as lines along which the eye could travel. The pines on opposing dunes became frames to direct the eye finally upward to the great dune in the background. The passing clouds added nice touches as actual shapes and as reflections. A focal length of 24mm gave me the angle-of-view I wanted. An aperture of f/22 gave depth-of-field and a shutter speed of 0.8 second at ISO 100 gave an overall medium exposure.
The lines in this are so you! I especially love the capture of the reflection in the pool. Beautiful!
This is a great find. It looks like there is enough there to keep you busy for hours if the light cooperates. Your choice of camera position and focal length created a mirrored reflection of the triangle shape from the ridges onto the reversed triangle below. All the “c” shapes, and diagonal lines create a lot of energy in the image while the contrasting horizontal lines keeps us grounded. Thanks for sharing.
Ok, I have to ask. When we were shooting creeks near the Smokies, you emphasized arriving early enough that both sides of the creek were in shadow, without direct sunlight making contrast. But here you have made the shadow line an intentional element of the composition. Why does it work here? Because it’s afternoon light? Did you, or would you ever, open up the shadows in Photoshop?
Hi Everyone. Thank you all for joining me for this Image.Nancy K., you know me too well. It is true I see lines more readily than any other single element of graphic design, and everywhere I looked in this location I was lines of all kinds. It was just a matter of figuring out how to relate them together in the image. The reflection was like a little gravy and it would have been completely different had I arrived on the opposite end of the day. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Nancy T., it’s good to have you back with us. I think you have analyzed this image very well, even down to the tension (and its resolution) between the diagonal and horizontal lines; and it all takes place as you have described – the creation of the energy and its ultimately being balanced. Don, I really appreciate this observation. You have somewhat answered your own question. It works here because the light, though direct, is very late afternoon light, and the contrasted areas do not contain the shadow depths that would be present if the sun were more directly overhead. The dynamic range is being slowly compressed as the sun slips away; so there is really no need to open up the shadows except for the slight adjustments needed to render the scene in the way my eyes actually saw it. Bring this question with you in September and we’ll go into greater detail with it at the barn workshop. It’s a very important piece of the light puzzle that we all must constantly evaluate as we create from what nature provides. Thank you for raising it. And thanks, again, Everyone for joining me. Hope you have a great week.