The high desert is beauty in innumerable forms. Just south of Taos you can look westward across the long slash of the Rio Grande River Gorge and into the convergence of that great river with its tributary, Rio Pueblo de Taos. Beyond this, the La Madera Mountains rise up to greet the sun as it slowly fades away. As the cloud masses gathered I went searching for a vantage point from which to watch the gathering dusk. A small county park was just what I was looking for. As the beams of the setting ball began to break through the overhead gray, I was ready for the show and was not disappointed. Since the main feature was primarily about the sky, I chose to include only a tiny portion of the distant landforms. A moderately long telephoto focal length of 315mm allowed me to isolate the beam pattern that I wanted. An aperture of f/16 provided depth-of-field; and a shutter speed of 1/6th second at ISO 100 gave me an overall slightly darker-than-medium exposure.
Don, lived most of my life near water and never considered taking 300 mm’ stop a sunset. Thanks for the inspiration!
Darn spellcheck. Never considered taking 300 mm’ s to a sunset!
It looks like you were chasing sunbeams and caught them! Beautiful!! I like the camera placement that divided the light values so the top and bottom were dark, then moving towards center, a section of brights top and bottom with the medium brightness in the middle. Again, it’s all about light and all those lines enhancing it. Thanks for sharing.
All I can say is WOW. Nice work Don.
I like how the sunbeams in the darker middle section tie together the bottom rays and the brighter top. This is a nice image without a lot of clutter. It is about the sunrays and you captured those well.
An image of biblical proportions.
Don, Your recent images from your trip this year to the Southwest bring back such vivid memories! Your capture here is perfect, but what would I expect? I’m in agreement with Duke Miller, never thought about a 300mm for sunset. I certainly will now.
two words come to mind. Patience-waiting until the right moment to capture the image and intelligence to know exactly how to do it. Bravo!
Don, I’ve never seen God’s rays captured so intensely and dramatically. This image fills my soul with wonder. Thank you.
Don,
You are amazing with your camera. God’s glory is amazing! It’s awesome to capture some of it to share with all the world.
Hello Everyone, thank you all for joining me for this Image. It’s always amazing how strongly we seem to resonate with images of God beams. There is something about this particular form of light that seems to catch and hold us. Duke and Chuck, this is what practicing the idea of “seeing like a lens” will do for you. If you have a scene which is amenable to a long telephoto focal length expression, then God beams will render well just as will any other composition. It’s the seeing that has to be practiced. Tammy, Hinda, and Pat, thank you for your awfully kind words. I really appreciate them. It was an exercise in patience to watch as the clouds and beams developed and changed, and then to see the relationships the formed and changed, and then to consider how best to express the images as they unfolded. Just a lot of fun. Nancy T., you recognized that old principle of contrast at work exactly. I love using contrast as a guiding idea behind image composition and creation. It is such a powerful concept and once we begin to consciously work with it, it’s amazing what we can come up with. You are so right; it’s just about the light. And Dorsey, to the principle of “contrast” you have added the principle of “relationship” and recognized the connecting of light and shadow in ways that form a visual wholeness. Thanks for your kind comments and observations. Michael, I am humbled by your comment. When we, any of us, bring light forms and dramatic atmospherics together, we nearly always have the chance to express something biblical. It seems to me that this is what the symbolisms of light do when we apply them effectively. And Lisa, thank you for joining us. It’s been since Wilderness Wildlife Week, I believe. Thank you for taking the time to express your response and for your kind words. What a wonderful diversity of thought and expression we have shared here. Now here’s a thought: consider if you will that not all light forms will be as dramatic as this image; but it remains true that all imagery is at least in part about light. When the light is more of a supporting element, look carefully at what remains – the elements and principles of composition – and see if you can find in those things as much to respond to as when the light is filled with drama. My thought is that imagery can touch us in many ways if we open ourselves to seeing and responding to what we see. Thank you all, again, for being part of a wonderful conversation. Autumn is just around the corner.