Arrived in Albuquerque this morning after another night on the road. Was able to get my little Canon's sensor cleaned which is a big relief. Had worries that the contamination was so bad it would be hopeless. Also visited the shop that ordered my cap and they are sure it's on the way and will arrive sometime tomorrow (Friday) and I might even get it installed. That means I can blow out of here tomorrow night and start the long trek to California. Really antsy to get to LA and start working on my big project which I will talk about more once I get there (it's kind of a secret maybe). Also got the new Wacom tablet and wireless kit but haven't tried it yet (it's charging and needs 6 hours to finish). And, just like that, it's ready so I'll see how good it works before going to bed. All in all it's been a good trip so far.
Painted Desert
Driving down I40 in eastern Arizona I saw signs for the Petrified Forest National Park around exit 285. I was ahead of schedule and wanted to see this small but very special park. The southern part is the petrified forest, a 220 million year slab of rock covered with the crystalized remains of ancient tropical trees. A long time ago this area was a swamp filled with trees and ancient amphibians related to alligators. According to the resident experts, when these trees fell, the geology was down south around Peru and a whole lot warmer and really wet. But conditions changed and the trees, along with their resident creatures, were buried under high silica content sands. The silica kept the trees from decaying and, over millions of years, converted the trunks into crystalline rock. Time and erosion brought them all to the surface where they were discovered by settlers and railroad surveyors. Unlike most national parks, this area is as much a scientific laboratory as a place for the curious to visit.
The northern extent of the park is the painted desert. Vermillion reds mix with other colors to create a riotous range of impressions ... like an artist's pallet. In full sun, of course, the colors are muted and not much to photograph. Unfortunately, the park closes early and I didn't want to be driving after dark so I was resigned to getting nothing but luck was with me again ... there were lots of clouds in the area and rain. Clouds can create the most interesting patterns while muting the sun's full intensity and the rain gives any image a darker and more interesting texture. So, I pulled out my camera (with the very dirty sensor) and did a single row panorama. There weren't deep chasms to lend a more ominous aura so it made little sense to waste shutter cycles photographing dirt under my tripod. The result is interesting and certainly pleasing to the eye. You decide if you like it ... I do.
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| Painted Desert - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0 |
Nothing really all that different with processing. In photoshop I did use some overlay layers to bring out the reds and greens (selected using the color range tool from the Select menu) which were muted even in the HDR panels. That's the only divergence from my usual workflow on panoramas. This is a 3 image bracketed series. You know the drill for the rest.
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