I was going to say this looks like neon Canyon. It turns out I was right. It is a beautiful place to visit. I like your first image the best. I hope you had a great time there.
Jeffrey wrote:
Ben, I knew this was Neon as the first image was loading. Did you camp in there? All are such soothing scenes of that environment. I prefer the third as I am always drawn to those bold vertical stains.
I've been lucky enough to get the great campsite right at the mouth of the canyon for the past 3 years in a row. This year there was more competition for good campsites, but I managed to grab that one first. Next year I hope to spend some more time exploring the various other side canyons along the Escalante.
Bart Carrig wrote:
Ben: I thoroughly enjoyed the videos and love the images. These are a great, non-traditional, approach to this beautiful canyon. Like, Jeffrey, I knew it was probably Neon from the partial download of the first image. Neon's one of my favorite hikes in the SW, the long draw down isolated, Fence Canyon is good for the spirit. And then you land at this beautiful spot.
Well done. I can't really pick a favorite; the work is so fine.
I've got to go back to make by contribution to this great work.
(Caught up with you in the Subway a few years ago, when you had your 8x10; and admired that great effort as well.)
Thanks for the support Bart! Very much appreciated. For the past three years, I've done the bee line hike to Neon where you cover all that ground cross country. You shave almost a mile off the fence canyon route, and only have one river crossing. On my way out, I decided to do go up Fence canyon, and that was much appreciated as opposed to climbing the giant sand dune that you descend via the bee line route. I look forward to returning there next year and photographing some of the other scenes I didn't have time for this year.
blueshadows wrote:
#3…the glow on the trees, and the rocky foreground, and the overall balance, make it my favorite. The other photos…for me…are lacking in foreground interest/color, compared to those rocks in 3. If you crop out the nearest rock form in #2 to the right top corner, there's a nice mostly-square photo.
I also watch your videos and enjoy them; small suggestions are just that, and we all understand the logistics of using such a large camera for landscapes.
Thanks for the feedback! That's exactly the sort of stuff I was hoping to hear. It's a bit odd, but I'm not very attached to the photos because I still don't quite know what to think about them yet. It's been a while since I've captured them so the memory of those moments have faded a bit.
xjtian wrote:
Big fan of #3, the glow and color contrast between the green trees and orange canyon is great.
I feel like #1 and #2 are both slightly unbalanced because of how strongly they pull my eye to the lower left of the frame. In #1, the tree is such a strong visual element and and there's not quite enough glow on the right to rebalance the frame. In #2 the closest rock on the left is really heavy compositionally, I agree with blueshadows that the shot would be nice if you cropped that out.
Btw - your videos are incredible! I love how much thought and planning you put into each and every shot - as a digital shooter, your patience for each single scene is seriously impressive!...Show more →
Thank you for the feedback! When I was setting up the second shot, I thought I had something a bit different than I ended up with. I was hoping to see the part where the foreground rock on the left touches the ground to anchor the photo a bit. When I got the film back, I realized that I wasn't seeing things quite right on the ground glass, and I hadn't captured where the rock connects with the ground. Instead, it just sort of pokes into the frame. That's when a normal viewfinder would have made things quite a bit easier. :-) I definitely see where going with a square on that one simplifies the photo.
Alan Brock wrote:
Really enjoyed the videos from this trip. Painted a picture of a very peaceful atmosphere. Looked like a lot of fun! In all three images, I really like how the cool greens play against the warm glow of the sandstone walls. Weirdly enough, I think this is one of those rare times where the trees look better here than if they were photographed in full fall color. #2 is my favorite here, but I also like how the tree trunks in #3 are picking up that reflected light glow. Question about the focus on #2. Did you use camera movements to the left foreground and tree in focus? If so, were you able to keep the back left corner in focus too?...Show more →
I did indeed have to use some swing to get the foreground rocks and the trees in focus on #2. The passage down the wash and where it cuts left around a sharp corner is indeed a bit out of the depth of field, but not in a bad way. What you'll notice more than that is the fact that the leaves on the tree behind the main tree are moving because of the wind. It would have been hopeless to get a photo without any leave movement in the far tree, but I did have a nice window of calm where the foreground tree is almost completely still.
mstrickland wrote:
I agree with Alan. #2 is my favorite, followed by #3. To me, I feel like it's the strongest composition and I love the color palette. The only thing I'd change is I'd really like to see a moon rising behind the tree. My $.02. I'm also curious about the movements. Is swing not dead after all?
Next time I'll be sure to moon the camera from behind the tree. :-) On the second shot, I did indeed use a bit of swing. I don't often have to use it, but this was a great case for it. I think I might have used some rear movements for the 1st and 3rd shots to help balance things a bit.
roguecoolman wrote:
Classic Ben Horne series. I'm torn between #1 and #3. I just love the canyon walls, their patterns, the shapes and lines. The light glowing off the wall in #1 is great. My only nitpick is the cut blades of grass in the fg in #1. Other than that, great series. I like to wait till you finish your series of videos and binge watch, it's a side effect of cutting off cable tv and going all netflix/hulu :P
Jason
Thanks for the feedback Jason! I think I actually have a tiny bit more foreground in #1, but not much. Because of the way I was scanning the film, I gave up just a tad of the bottom. That being said, I don't think it would be enough to make it not feel a bit cut off. There was one particular plant that was quite tall and poking into the foreground. While taking the photo, I gently bent it over and weighted it down with a rock so it wouldn't stick into the photo. As soon as I was done, I removed the rock and let it stand straight again.
Ben,
Congrats and really nice set.
Loved the videos as well. Great stuff.
I remember lugging my Toyo 4x5 around the mountains of Colorado in the 80s and 90s. Lot of work but a lot of fun. Wasn't uncommon to be carrying 60+ lbs.
My back won't let me do it any more though.
Keep shooting it up!
Klaus Priebe wrote:
Ben,
Congrats and really nice set.
Loved the videos as well. Great stuff.
I remember lugging my Toyo 4x5 around the mountains of Colorado in the 80s and 90s. Lot of work but a lot of fun. Wasn't uncommon to be carrying 60+ lbs.
My back won't let me do it any more though.
Keep shooting it up!
Thanks Klaus! I really admire your work so I appreciate you taking them time to comment. I know I won't be able to lug this equipment around forever, but I'm having a blast with it in the mean time. Truth be told I tweaked something in my hip on my last trip, but I can loosen it up with a stretch and all is well. My legs have become accustomed to carrying this gear (80lbs for backpacking trips), and even without going to the gym in the months between my trips, they stay in shape and I can pick up exactly where I left off.
Great work and dedication Ben. I had to do a double take when I looked at the camera you were using haha! Glad to see folks still shoot with old school cameras where composition and light are the only factors required for taking a winner of an image.
