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This is a section of the virgin river in Zion National Park that is quite picturesque, and has been seen many times before on this forum for very good reason. The elements align quite nicely. I was alongside Bob Ross while he shot his photo, and I shot mine a couple days later. This glow does not last very long -- maybe 10 to 12 minutes tops. It shows some signs of life in the afternoon and teases its appearance for a while, then shows up with full force very quickly. When you see it, you need to work fast because it will fade away just as fast. If you happen to stumble upon it by chance, you're very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.
I tried to shoot this glow on a winter trip in early 2014 but that didn't work out so well, so it was a personal goal of mine to return in the fall and give it another shot. For the full story, check out my video journal from that day on my YouTube channel. " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Zion 2014 Video Journal (Day 4)
I shot this on both Velvia, and also Ektar 100 color neg. This is a relatively high contrast scene, so color neg did much better and that's what I went with. The exposure was 2.5 minutes @ f/45. To ensure that the most important parts of this image were sharp (foreground rocks, boulder, low canyon walls, and the distant rock piles), I used a hair of tilt to give me enough DOF. This sacrifices a bit of sharpness up top (impossible to tell at this low resolution), but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.
Excellent image of this magical place, Ben. Impressive how you calculated the perfect exposure time. Yes this bend and it's rock, are popular but it is not necessarily easy to leave with a compelling image of them. Interestingly, a print of this exact place is among the LF B&W images hanging in my current gallery show.
One sweet image from Zion, Ben. Shows the strength of LF in detail and tonality. I like the composition, how the water flow changes hues from white, green to orange.
Sweet! Like others, I would also be interested in seeing your Velvia shot sometime. Mine was around 6 minutes on Velvia so I didn't have time for any Ektar. The foreground rocks lost detail in the shadows and oddly enough, the top of the rock was hotter than the white water, but it held up pretty admirably. Fun fact: after we talked about it, sure enough someone popped off a flash taking a selfie during my exposure! I searched the transparency thoroughly but couldn't find any ill effects. And you're right about the glow; it doesn't fade, it just stops!
beautiful shot and very inspiring video blog, love your Minerva pocket watch!
this is the Ektar sheet correct? curious to see how the Velvia turned out as I agree, it would be too contrasty for it
Jan 17, 2015 at 11:41 AM
Mark Metternich Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
finnphotos wrote:
Fantastic shot, Ben. Ektar was definitely a great choice. I'd be interested in seeing the Velvia shot as well.
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Alan Brock wrote:
Sweet! Like others, I would also be interested in seeing your Velvia shot sometime. Mine was around 6 minutes on Velvia so I didn't have time for any Ektar. The foreground rocks lost detail in the shadows and oddly enough, the top of the rock was hotter than the white water, but it held up pretty admirably. Fun fact: after we talked about it, sure enough someone popped off a flash taking a selfie during my exposure! I searched the transparency thoroughly but couldn't find any ill effects. And you're right about the glow; it doesn't fade, it just stops!...Show more →
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It would be interesting to use this scene as a comparison between Ektar and Velvia. I haven't scanned the Velvia shot, but I'll do that when I return from the trip I'm heading out on. It would be pretty cool to see them side by side to show how much better the Ektar does in this situation. That's a great idea!
taemo wrote:
beautiful shot and very inspiring video blog, love your Minerva pocket watch!
this is the Ektar sheet correct? curious to see how the Velvia turned out as I agree, it would be too contrasty for it
I got that stopwatch from my grandfather, and have used it to time almost all of my large format shots for the past 5 years. I love the simplicity of working with that stopwatch -- no batteries! I'll definitely scan the Velvia sheet when I get back from my latest trip. You'll see why I definitely went with the Ektar sheet for this image.
. I never get tired of seeing the glows from the narrows.