My first sunset at Alabama Hills turned out to be quite memorable. An almost completely overcast sky unexpectedly fired up with the most amazing colors and textures, reflecting off the snow in the high Sierras and the monzogranite shaped into round building blocks and captivating arches. Mount Whitney with its sibling peaks is just to the right of the arch.
Unlike the morning light at this location, which often lasts literally seconds, sunsets are longer. This allowed me to capture this scene with both a focus stack for sharpness and an exposure stack for the sky. Nikon Z7, 14-30mm at 24 mm, f8, 1/8 sec., ISO 64.
Tags: Alabama Hills California Sierras Cyclops Arch sunset granite spring
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This is a famous butte on Smokey Mt. Road. It has the ability to pull you in like a magnet. So photogenic, intriguing, and always different, depending on the season and the light. It often steals the show from another famous location nearby discovered by Alstrom.
This was a waiting game of patience. I knew there was a shot with that gorgeous patch or dry mud in the foreground and I took my time to compose. There were storms in the area that blocked the light for most of the afternoon but eventually the sun came out at the last possible minute and kissed only the grass lumps with a breath of light on the mud cracks. A quick focus stack of six images and some cleaning in postpro was all that was needed.
This is not my typical "end of the world" sky but I actually prefer the subtle accents of torn altocirrus pointing to the hero as well as the contrast against the off-blue sky. Via Appia that only lasts a few days but lives forever on Flickr.
Tags: desert sandstone sunset Utah Smokey Mountain Road butte mud cracks
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This is another version of the previously posted Epilogue, this time this is a single shot instead of a pano with emphasis on the thick leading lines and the way they seemingly continue into the sky in an alternate pattern of light and shadows. The light was a bit more intense in color, which gave the rocks a stronger touch of warmth.
Nikon Z7, 14-30 mm at 14 mm, f14, 2.5 sec., ISO 64
Tags: Arizona desert Paria Plateau Paria wilderness sandstone storm sunset Vermilion Cliffs National Monument White Pocket
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This is by far my most elaborate and dangerous shot I have ever taken. Walmart had mini black holes on sale, buy 5 get 1 free, so I got 6. Then, I used two vertical mirrors facing each other and two colored flashlights. The black holes were carefully placed to bend the light beams. Three were placed at t he bottom to achieve the beam compression towards the bottom of the picture. Good thing I kept uploading the imagers to the cloud because at the end I got a bit less careful, the black holes coalesced and swallowed my Nikon. I barely escaped to tell the story.
The less likely explanation: this is from inside an elevator at Binghamton University :) Shots pop up at unexpected places. I want to think that this makes my portfolio more diverse rather than imbalanced.
I should add that this is not an obvious shot when you are in the elevator. It took some finesse to find the right angle and camera settings, and then some corrections in postpro.
Also, fun aside, math in, these are hyperbolas created by the cone of light intersecting the walls. Brushed aluminum of the walls gives the beams
an interesting texture.
Tags: abstract elevator brushed aluminum light beams black hole hyperbola
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Goblins are awesome but creating an engaging foreground is challenging. In this portrait, I scooped up the nearby wash to create lines leading to the goblin heros capped by an emerging Milky Way.
Nikon Z7, 14-30mm at 25mm, f11, 30 sec., ISO 800 for the foreground. Sky stacked from ten 10 sec. exposures at f4 and ISO 2000.
Tags: Utah Goblin Valley sandstone Milky Way sky night astrophotography horizon glow hoodoo
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