Escaping the Pit of Despair

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CarpeyBiggs
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p.1 #1 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

I know this is perhaps not the best forum to post this image in, but I wasn't really sure this counted as "sports" either, so I opted for here.

A little background. This image is perhaps one of my favorite from this year. Not necessarily because it is technically or aesthetically that impressive, but because of the subject matter and what it took to get there.

This is a remote slot canyon on the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. Takes some serious effort just to get there, let alone descend the canyon. The canyon has some of the largest potholes I've ever seen, this one measured about 22 feet deep on the downcanyon side, 26 feet across. Scary thing to come on in a canyon...

A group of us are working on a project to document the technical descent in a short-length documentary, shooting it all on a 7d.

video preview is here: http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/?p=266

Be interested in hearing your thoughts on the image.

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Edited on Nov 04, 2009 at 01:07 AM · View previous versions

Nov 04, 2009 at 12:19 AM

redsoxdesign
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p.1 #2 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

A great shot...the sky really adds that extra element
cheers Andrew

Nov 04, 2009 at 12:26 AM

mike717
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p.1 #3 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

That's just a plain cool pic with a great title. I'd like to see the color version too.

Mike

Nov 04, 2009 at 12:41 AM

dswiger
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p.1 #4 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

I agree with the other comments. A very unique image.
I can see this as a book cover too!

Dan

Nov 04, 2009 at 12:49 AM

ckcarr
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p.1 #5 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Cool!

Nov 04, 2009 at 01:05 AM

JimFox
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p.1 #6 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

This is cool! I bet it looks really cool printed big. Did you push the contrast in it when you processed it? Or did you simply do a B&W conversion? I like it for sure, it has a cool abstract quality to B&W.

Jim

Nov 04, 2009 at 04:03 AM

bsteffine
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p.1 #7 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Great shot! Almost other-worldly.

Nov 04, 2009 at 04:09 AM

Tim Hallam
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p.1 #8 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

That is nice! Good shot for a climbing mag..

Tim

Nov 04, 2009 at 04:39 AM

Zeph
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p.1 #9 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

The sky really adds a dramatic edge to an already very interesting image.. Love to see the color version...
Thanks Dan for sharing this..

Nov 04, 2009 at 04:44 AM

alichty
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p.1 #10 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Wow - nice scene. Definitely not the kind of pothole I would want to encounter on my daily commute

I like the contrasts in the BW as you have presented it here - nice work.

Alan

Nov 04, 2009 at 04:57 AM

pearlstreet
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p.1 #11 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

I LOVE this! I think it is incredible.

Sharon

Nov 04, 2009 at 04:59 AM

Pazzaz
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p.1 #12 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Perfect title.

Boy, have I been in that hole before!!!

Sincerely, I can see tremendous commercial potential for this image. Great capture.

Patrice

Nov 04, 2009 at 05:13 AM

ScaryFox
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p.1 #13 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

That is fantastic. I love the sense of grandeur in this and the story it tells. The BW version is perfect for it.
My only really tiny nit is that I would like to see just a bit more of the wall at the top, it looks a touch cut off. Other than that - outstanding.
Ute

Nov 04, 2009 at 06:50 AM

Jarvone
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p.1 #14 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Outstanding. The poistion of the climber is perfect as he struggles up the sandstone to the warmth of the sun leaving his wet path behind him. You captured the experience perfectly. BTW, nice B&W conversion. Thanks for sharing the image. Jarv

Nov 04, 2009 at 03:49 PM

Two23
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p.1 #15 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

I like the detail of the water on the rocks from where the climber was. Shot probably does work better as b&w than as color. It gets rid of the overcast sky and brings out the textures better.

Kent in SD

Nov 04, 2009 at 03:56 PM

CarpeyBiggs
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p.1 #16 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

JimFox wrote:
This is cool! I bet it looks really cool printed big. Did you push the contrast in it when you processed it?

Hi Jim, yes the contrast is pushed in post.

My only really tiny nit is that I would like to see just a bit more of the wall at the top, it looks a touch cut off. Other than that - outstanding.

Hi Ute, this is entirely uncropped, the difficulty being trying to get the top of the pothole, and the waist deep water we are standing in. Need just a hair wider lens, methinks.

As for the color, it doesn't look interesting, because it was overcast and the rock didn't have much of a glow. I greatly prefer the black and white.

Thanks all for your comments!

Nov 04, 2009 at 06:28 PM

kschweichhart
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p.1 #17 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

I think this photo is worth to show in this forum, very vibrant with the person in it, I like it very. Thank you for sharing.
Karl

Nov 04, 2009 at 06:51 PM

aFeinPhoto.com
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p.1 #18 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Oh, that is freakin awesome. Great work. Should be epic docu. Well worth the effort

aF

Nov 04, 2009 at 07:26 PM

Ray Still
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p.1 #19 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Very cool a great title and conversions here, really like on the person gives a sense of scale, watched the video as well and have to say i was very impressed , very nice work here

Ray Still

Nov 04, 2009 at 10:22 PM

Dpic_arctic
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p.1 #20 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

This is an amazing image. Very well composed, and I love the sky. So the question is...did you have to "escape the Pit of Despair" too?

Nov 05, 2009 at 12:40 AM

Jim Sanderson
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p.1 #21 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Very creative, very cool shot. I can see why it's one of your favorites.

Nov 05, 2009 at 02:06 PM

gdanmitchell
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p.1 #22 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

CarpeyBiggs wrote:
I know this is perhaps not the best forum to post this image in, but I wasn't really sure this counted as "sports" either, so I opted for here.

Just a quick comment. I think it is perfectly appropriate to include figures in landscape photography. There is actually a long tradition in landscape of doing so - and it sometimes seems a bit strange that we landscape photographers don't do so a bit more often.

Dan

(A few of my photographs are, I think, transformed by the inclusion of a small figure.)

Nov 05, 2009 at 04:18 PM

bshamilton
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p.1 #23 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Excellent! Striking and very cool shot!

Barry

Nov 06, 2009 at 02:18 PM

teked
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p.1 #24 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Wonderful, image. It's terrific with or without the human element. However, in this case, the inclusion certainly adds to the storyline.

Cheers,
Ed

Nov 07, 2009 at 03:45 PM

Icypeak
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p.1 #25 · Escaping the Pit of Despair

Dan, that's a very dramatic image, and well suited to the high-contrast BW treatment. Your film trailer was great to watch, can't wait for the full production to watch! You did a really nice job on the editing, and the route looks amazing!

-Dave

Nov 09, 2009 at 05:55 AM


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