Taken at Badwater, this shot was a long exposure (25s) taken about 30 minutes before sunrise. (6am)
I used the 17mm TS-E lens and did some shifting to avoid distortion and tilting to keep aperture to about f/9. A 3-stop grad was also used. My goal was to create a contrast between the sharp salt sculptures and the rapidly moving sky.
Your comments are appreciated!

Wicked shot Fred! Great contrast between the harsh surface and the cloud layers.

Phil

Fred, very neat shot the texture of the salt poly's at this perspective are a great Fg element and I also like the way you used the long exposure, the cloud movement works great here. The nice color doesn't hurt either Dean

Great light and atmosphere Fred. A couple things and this is only personal taste is that the foreground seems too bright in comparison with the rest of the scene. The centered horizon is also something that I am not sure about. Since the fg is such a dominate feature maybe a little more of it to anchor the image better. Now it is a visual battle of fg vs sky. Both of which are great but both are fighting for the viewer's attention. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just my 2 pennies.

Excellent work!

Beautiful...makes me want to go to Death Valley and try Landscape photography!

Greg

Hey Fred,

What a cool shot. One day I need to get me a TSE lens! You got some cool clouds and some great color in the sky which contrast well with the white of the salt pans.

I certainly like the look of this a lot, but Scott does bring up an interesting point as to the composition. For me, the sky is really taking center stage, the salt pans just set it up. So I do think an option would be to crop a bit off the bottom. You were shooting more in the uplifted salt pan area anyway, so to lose a bit of the detail at the bottom, when one can still still the uplifts between the polygons further on, doesn't hurt the shot.

Jim

Fred,

Excellent photo. I really like the drama and color of the clouds. I am torn between the suggestions on un-centering the horizon. On one hand I can see by cropping you will focus more on one of the elements on the other hand I do like the stark contrast between the sky and the ground at an even contention. So its hard to pick :P


Jason

Fred

Nice work here. I like how you kept the salt white instead of the tendency for reflected color from the sky.

Mike

Lovely shot Fred!

Lovely shot! I've been wanting to visit the death valley for years...

Makes me want a TSE more than I already did. Killer shot.

Dave

philtax wrote:
Wicked shot Fred! Great contrast between the harsh surface and the cloud layers.

Phil

Thank you Phil,
I was going for that effect. I appreciate your feedback.
Love your latest SF shot!
Fred

Wicked cool...I love it!

Great shot, love the sharpness and the "moving" clouds.

Marcelo

Absolutely brilliant shot. Simple but effective

Fabulous work, Fred. This image represents a lot of your longtime work here. I clearly remember that, besides Yosemite, Death Valley is a favorite location of yours that you posted images from 10 years ago. And of course, the 17mm ts-e filter holder project served you well.

The effect of the strong grad is apparent, yet it did what you were after. Some distortion of the clouds is apparent but acceptable. You had the conditions necessary for the image you wanted to make and got it done. Thanks for posting here!

DSC01 wrote:
Fred, very neat shot the texture of the salt poly's at this perspective are a great Fg element and I also like the way you used the long exposure, the cloud movement works great here. The nice color doesn't hurt either Dean

Hi Dean,
Thanks for your comment. The winds were very strong that morning with the clouds moving towards me. I remember now I has a 2 stop nd together with the gradual.

Scott Kroeker wrote:
Great light and atmosphere Fred. A couple things and this is only personal taste is that the foreground seems too bright in comparison with the rest of the scene. The centered horizon is also something that I am not sure about. Since the fg is such a dominate feature maybe a little more of it to anchor the image better. Now it is a visual battle of fg vs sky. Both of which are great but both are fighting for the viewer's attention. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just my 2 pennies.

Thanks for the feedback Scott. The foreground color and luminosity are always a difficult decision for me when preparing images like this one. I usually have more color and less exposure on the foreground. For this one however, I was going for a different look. I will try your suggestions.
Fred

Stunning shot as usual Fred.

Julian