I am obsessed with finding new locations/formations never before photographed. Obviously in todays day and age this is not easy or common! Once in a while (especially in places like the US desert SW - which still has countless miles of unexplored territory) if you work/look hard enough (research, scouting, and lots of miles on foot) you can still find many new things that will truly amaze!
This is a really big rock (I'm guessing about 6+ feet long, maybe 4-5 feet wide, and on its thickest side maybe 10+ inches (next time I'm out there I will measure it). It doesn't make sense to me how such a huge and heavy rock can still be balancing on such a small sandstone stool/base! It blows my mind it exists and I am glad photographers, and maybe no-one, have found it yet. My guess is the moment it is ever touched, chances are it would likely fall. I can not even guess the weight of this rock but I think it would take at least 4-5 football players with very healthy lower-backs to be able to lift it. Each year that I go out to the area, I am expecting it to not be there any longer.
I have more similar content to share, but I thought some of you might like this one.
Technicals:
I used the Canon 11-24@11mm (on a Sony A7R2) on the ground using a small sandstone rock to prop up my lens, to get the most extreme angle I possibly could, to do the sacred formation justice.
Processing, as always was done in Lightroom and Photoshop using the ultimate lossless quality 32-bit Raw on Raw Layer workflow I advocate for. Robert B Park (Nevada Art Printers) has said it is ahead of the curve and the absolute gold standard workflow in the world today for true lossless editing! There are several claims about what is "non destructive" in Photoshop... I find some of the marketing a bit misleading. This 32-bit, Raw on Raw workflow is the true lossless workflow that few photographers are utilizing yet (they will be as it is the future now - and Adobe is developing it fully last I heard). Most of my clients are implementing it with amazing results especially noticeable when making prints/enlargements!
If you have any questions, feel free to message me...
Sorry I am hit and miss lately. With Covid and such (a bunch of family losses too) I am a little bit sporadic lately. Lost my mom, sister, cousin and some friends. None from Covid though.
*BTW, I can not wait to meet a few of you in Vegas late this month!
Gear:
Sony A7R2
Canon 11-24@11mm
f/11
ISO 200
1/80th
Camera on the ground for maximum angle.
Adobe RGB Monitor calibrated to 2.2 gamma, 6500 White Point (i1 Display Pro) and 128 Luminance/cd/brightness for web. (78cd for print).
Wow odd picturesque rock with curious formation shape that I never seen before.
beautifully taken at best angle in wonderful color that well matched atmosphere
Incredible shot and I appreciate you finding shoots outside of the beaten track. I think the "looming" feeling of the top of the rock balances well with the bottom fifth or so of the frame, which I think in landscape we tend to have increasing distance as we move up in the frame.
I see you're shooting with sony alpha. I was reading through one of your older posts from maybe 2018/2019 and it sounded like you were switching to Panasonic S1R. Did you end up sticking with sony? And do you use pixel shift?
'At any Moment' ...................that formation may change drastically Mark! Wow that is an impressive image in many ways.
So sorry to hear of your losses, I too can share in those feelings unfortunately, lost my wife of over 35 years.............gives simple things in life much more meaning and appreciation. Someday hope to learn much much more about your processing, right now life doesn't have room to quite absorb it but thanks always for the motivation
Best in travels and finds.............take good care
Karl
Lovely image Mark. Really like how you have composed this with the smaller rock at the bottom right and the top rock jutting out in the sky. Lots to learn.
