Water Play

Damn it's cold...

I'd grown lazy down in Zion Canyon. Thousands of feet below the plateau, nights were moderate and comfortable for sleep. Last night wasn't nearly so pleasant. No wind (probably made things a bit worse) but it was so cold. Slept fitfully and awoke around 5 to find the truck covered in frost. It's almost MAY ... hasn't the weather god been watching the calendar? Well, I think I'm heading south anyway, so it probably doesn't matter. Think the next stop is Vermillion Hills National Monument. Won't get to the 'Wave' as I haven't made any reservation and it is the weekend but maybe I can find some beautiful formations to photograph for my growing collection.

Update on the Bryce Canyon Snowfall Photo

The response to that photo (see it on my April 17th blog post) has been so universally positive that I'm now planning to offer the print for sale. Not sure yet of any specifics but hoping to provide smaller sizes from my commercial site (in the works but not ready yet) and a full sized print (roughly 45 x 27) in a framed and matted limited edition sighed by me ... probably through a gallery. It's going to take a while to get all that prepared so watch this space for updates. I really want everyone to enjoy that special image as it is very unique.

The facts and only the facts (I think)...

The big car chase is long over and some facts are emerging. Don't know the guy's name but, according to people here at the campground, he was a wanted fugitive and the cops had been surveilling his hideout for some time. He stole a car, the afore mentioned Hyundai, and made a break for it. Unfortunately, he chose Zion National Park as his getaway route. Not wise as the road forces one to drive very slowly with many switchbacks and a mile long, narrow tunnel to traverse. A park ranger told me he hit the south entrance at 50 mph (in a 15 mph zone) and then he really let fly. Virgin, UT was the last town he blew through, at 100 mph, and just outside of town he ran over some puncture strips. All 4 tires came apart. Understand the little, black Hyundai is now a twisted piece of modern art. He was apprehended and the story ends.

Water Play

I was hiking along the Virgin River, looking for interesting features to photograph. I've already alluded to my interest in long exposures so I was concentrating on the water cascading over all the rocks. Saw an interesting little waterfall and wandered across the sand to investigate. I took pictures there but as I sat on the rocks I noticed this little pile of boulders and the water merrily dancing over and around them. I must have watched this wonderful play for 5 minutes or more and decided to take some photos. Got really close using my 70-200mm and went to work. Once again I was interested in the idea of getting that wonderful misty look when exposures are really long (over a minute) combined with a blending of a fast image (1/2000 of a second) to get something unique. Below I've shown both of the base images along with the final result.

Double click to get larger versions. The stop motion image was rather dark so I lightened it first. Both images went into Photoshop layers with the misty image on top. I dropped it's opacity down to around 50% but I didn't like how muted the rocks were or how washed out the water looked. To correct this I put an adjustment layer between the two images and make it an overlay. Using a dark brush I worked around the rocks and the muddy areas of the water until I got the effect I wanted. Finished the composition in Lightroom with some clarity and vibrance enhancement plus a bit more blacks. Also warmed the image up a bit by increasing the apparent color temperature. It's a fun image and a learning experience which is good enough for me. Not every image can be earth shattering ... don't you think? Problem is I like all three images ... 

Water Play - 78mm (1.6 crop), f/18, various exposures, ISO 100 - license CC BY-NC 4.0