To the Spanish explorers of the Eighteenth Century along the Old Spanish Trail through what is now Moab, Utah, they were the Sierra La Sal, the Salt Mountains. Twenty-eight million years ago they were igneous intrusions into the less resistant sedimentary rocks of the Colorado Plateau. As the surrounding sediments eroded away, the fire-born La Sals remained, with heights reaching near to thirteen thousand feet. Some years ago a runaway fire above the community of Castle Valley roared up the lower reaches of the mountains badly scorching the extensive forest of Gamble oaks spread across the flanks. The oaks are recovering, but there are reminders of their ordeal everywhere you look. I wanted to vertically isolate a section of burned trunks interspersed by the fall foliage now showing in places where new growth has sprouted. It became an abstract pattern of lines and shapes highlighted by color. Southeastern Utah is not all desert, as the La Sals remind us. A moderate telephoto focal length of 180mm allowed me to isolate the forest without mountainside or sky in the frame. An aperture of f/20 provided depth-of-field; and a shutter speed of 1/5th second at ISO 100 gave me an overall slightly darker-than-medium exposure.
Don, I must say you have truly captured the essence of this place. Having been there and struggling to do this area justice, I am glad you were able to do just that. Have a safe trip. John
stunning image! where is this? I am heading that way next month!!
Don, great capture and really interesting mini-landscape. Fall here best I’ve seen with leaves changing in phases, igniting out our beloved Great Smoky Mountains with great contrasts go red, gold, and still much green.
Drat that spellcheck. Again…
Don, great capture and really interesting mini-landscape. Fall here best I’ve seen with leaves changing in phases, igniting our beloved Great Smoky Mountains with great contrasts of red, gold, and still much green.
Sorry about that.
Were you inspired by Van Gogh? I see some similarities. Art majors look at photos and see paintings from the past and present.
Fall color is perfect here in Virginia. Come home soon and enjoy some of it.
Absolutely magnificent.
Wow! This is absolutely beautiful. I love the colors, and the composition is so nice.
Congratulations.
I agree with Aileen Fletcher. Van Gogh came immediately to mind with I saw this beautiful image.
Don, I just love this one! The bands of color are exquisite. I am still sad we are not with you and Bonnie. Sounds like you are heading towards our favorite Burr Trail. Enjoy!
You nailed it! It would make a great motivational poster. In time this will all be healed and thicker and more beautiful than before. I like the contrasts in the old and new, the black and golden colors. Also like the repetition of the dead trees and the repeating lines of color in the new. The only thing I don’t like is that I wasn’t there to see it. Thanks for sharing.
One of the more intriguing images you have posted recently. The gold colored leaves that form a “c” leads us through the image from bottom to top. The repeating diagonal bands of different colors complete the abstract palette which is then overlaid with the texture of the dead tree branches. This is an image you should be especially proud of.
Hello Everyone. Thank you all so much for joining me for this Image. Perhaps I should become abstract more often; anyway it’s great to hear from all of you. Larry, check out the La Sal Loop Road, and thanks for your kind words. Duke, I’m really glad to hear that the colors at home are as wonderful as you describe. I hope you are taking full advantage of them and enjoying every minute. Also, I hope your post-op recovery is going very well. Thanks for your comments. Hey Aileen and Marcia; I am flattered to be mentioned in the same breath with Vincent; but no, actually, Mother Nature is the best inspiration I can imagine. She is so much more intriguing that anything people do, and being in the Southwest these past weeks has constantly reminded me of that fact. I’m glad to hear about the colors in Virginia. Please enjoy every moment that they give you in memory and in image. Thank you, Michael; I am truly honored by your kind words. And yours, likewise, Jessyca. You seem more readily drawn to my landscape work; so it is especially gratifying to receive your comment on something more abstract. Thank you. Judy, thank you for joining me and for those good words. We have really missed having you guys along with us. I’ll have to share my petrified wood stories with y’all and all of our Burr Trail adventures as well. We’ll call when we get home. Nancy T., you know how glad I am when you join a conversation and when I read how you see an image. Contrasts, lines, and colors were certainly on my mind as I looked over this scene; and you expressed my only regret exactly: that you were not there to share it with us. Dorsey, my friend, your kind words could not be more appreciated. The “C” curve and repeating bands of color, contrasted by the gray lines of dead wood and the textures of the living and dead trunks and limbs were exactly how I saw this. The challenge and the fun of this were in composing so tightly so as to include exactly what I did want to reveal and to exclude everything that was superfluous. I’m glad that I achieved that in your estimation. Thanks for joining us and for your well-considered description. Thanks, again, everyone. You’ve given me a good challenge for the coming week.