Very deep inside a remote and obscure canyon off limits to all but the natives of the area or extremely rarely those in whom they chose to take in.
Canon 5D MarkII
Canon 14mmL2
f/11
ISO 100
1 second
single exposure
Shot quite some years back...
Techie stuff for the Techie minded:
Having lived in the specific area for a couple of years (and not too far away for about 5 additional years) I have always gone out of my way to make friends with the Native Americans. This has, on a rare occasion, allowed me to places lessor seen. In fact last year I took my SW workshops into a couple of areas (NOT HERE) that they don't often allow people, but because I am friends with some key people (and support some of their local humanitarian causes) they were fine with us. This year I plan on taking some people to some places maybe never photographed! I highly respect the natives (read "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and you will to, if you don't already!) and in certain places, sometimes I will take an offering from my group to give to certain native groups to help them with causes dear to their heart. I LOVE building bridges of relationships and healing this way! In fact I want to do more! People often ask me "how do I get into that place." I often say, make genuine friends with them, don't use them, help them and they might allow you... Most don't do it.
This camera position was radically hard to get my tripod to and took hours of ingenuity to do so. Also, I used some post processing "Perspective Blending" techniques to remove some distracting elements and to get an angle on the image that is a bit unique. "Perspective Blending" is a very generic word that can encompass many innovative ways of blending multi-perspectives into the same image (via different images taken at different angles) and, or perspective shifts and masking in Photoshop. That is a long desired Video Tutorial I have been wanting to make for about 4-5 years, but have not had the time to make. Yet!
Admittedly this will not be quite as sharp (for print) because of the perspective techniques, so a 96" Lumachrome HD (the BEST super gloss photo paper in the world today) print out of Nevada Art Printers (innovated by friend and print GURU of gurus Robert Park) will likely not go so well. But a moderate enlargement is certainly possible.
Last thing worth mentioning is how the slightest touch of grain simulation (a very specific type, amount and targeted into specific tones via the Photoshop Layer Style "Blend If" sliders) can sometimes be what I call "the great equalizer." What I mean is that it can help camouflage slightly softer areas in an image (to a point). It was used here (for web - before downsize) at an extremely, extremely low opacity (almost 0!) and a very fine amount to try to compliment web sharpness.
A great shot. IMHO, the grain detracts from the picture, especially in the bottom half where it makes the picture appear "soft" due to the lack of texture.
Thanks for sharing snaps of places not always available to everyone.
erielake wrote:
that is one beautiful slot Mark.....love those wavy lines and the arch.....post work is perfect.....
Thank you very much! All the best to you and yours. Thank you for taking time to comment.
Sashi wrote:
Mark
A great shot. IMHO, the grain detracts from the picture, especially in the bottom half where it makes the picture appear "soft" due to the lack of texture.
Thanks for sharing snaps of places not always available to everyone.
Thank you very much! I appreciate the honest feedback.
Interesting about your take on the grain. A difference in monitors might play into it. I have two that I rely most on for detail (non 4K or 5K on purpose because of the problems associated with seeing real detail at the right viewing percentages on those) a Mac 27 inch Thunderbolt (which views detail exceptionally) and a Dell Ultrasharp Wide Gamut and I can barely make out the slightest indication of the grain (with my face close to the monitor). If I might ask, what kind of monitor are you using?
Also, the grain did not make the bottom look softer. It did the opposite. The bottom was much softer than what you see here, due to the extra perspective warp/blend there, and additionally because of some various cloning/smoothing techniques used to remove a ton of pockmarks, scratch marks and such (caused by flash floods and things slamming into that area) on that part of the wall. The grain used there made it more cohesive to the upper portion of the image than it otherwise could have looked. You might not like it softer down there (and I too would rather it have more of the detailed look of the above walls, but this is as good as it is able to be). The same type of natural contrast / detail just does not exist down there. The only other option was to crop it out, which would not allow the image to be taken at this perspective.
Nori wrote:
Beautiful image Mark, looks great
Thank you very much Nori! All the best and thank you for taking the time to comment.
Thank you very much! I appreciate the honest feedback.
Interesting about your take on the grain. A difference in monitors might play into it. I have two that I rely most on for detail (non 4K or 5K on purpose because of the problems associated with seeing real detail at the right viewing percentages on those) a Mac 27 inch Thunderbolt (which views detail exceptionally) and a Dell Ultrasharp Wide Gamut and I can barely make out the slightest indication of the grain (with my face close to the monitor). If I might ask, what kind of monitor are you using?
Also, the grain did not make the bottom look softer. It did the opposite. The bottom was much softer than what you see here, due to the extra perspective warp/blend there, and additionally because of some various cloning/smoothing techniques used to remove a ton of pockmarks, scratch marks and such (caused by flash floods and things slamming into that area) on that part of the wall. The grain used there made it more cohesive to the upper portion of the image than it otherwise could have looked. You might not like it softer down there (and I too would rather it have more of the detailed look of the above walls, but this is as good as it is able to be). The same type of natural contrast / detail just does not exist down there. The only other option was to crop it out, which would not allow the image to be taken at this perspective.
Thanks for the explanation. Much appreciated. Guess the lack of texture towards the bottom half of the image to start with is what's causing this perception.
Interesting about your take on the grain. A difference in monitors might play into it. I have two that I rely most on for detail (non 4K or 5K on purpose because of the problems associated with seeing real detail at the right viewing percentages on those) a Mac 27 inch Thunderbolt (which views detail exceptionally) and a Dell Ultrasharp Wide Gamut and I can barely make out the slightest indication of the grain (with my face close to the monitor). If I might ask, what kind of monitor are you using?
Also, the grain did not make the bottom look softer. It did the opposite. The bottom was much softer than what you see here, due to the extra perspective warp/blend there, and additionally because of some various cloning/smoothing techniques used to remove a ton of pockmarks, scratch marks and such (caused by flash floods and things slamming into that area) on that part of the wall. The grain used there made it more cohesive to the upper portion of the image than it otherwise could have looked. You might not like it softer down there (and I too would rather it have more of the detailed look of the above walls, but this is as good as it is able to be). The same type of natural contrast / detail just does not exist down there. The only other option was to crop it out, which would not allow the image to be taken at this perspective.
Danpbphoto wrote:
Just stunning Mark! Always appreciate your explanations of the "How To's". It helps techniques read but not seen.
Magical, insperational....
Dan
Tsmith318 wrote:
Beautiful! I really appreciate the details behind how you accomplished the shot, thanks!
Tyler
Thank you very much Tyler! As a full time educator, when time allows i love to help people with the details! All the best to you. Thank you for taking precious time to comment.
