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| Sedona Arizona at Dawn. A city in a cradle of Red Rock. @15 Seconds with Singh-Ray Gold -N- Blue polarizer filter |
fall color back home
I usually spend most of the color season away from home. This year was no exception. In years past, workshops have taken place in the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Canyonlands and once again this year, in the Eastern Sierras. One of the nice benefits of photographing fall color elsewhere is the opportunity to see and photograph fall color on the desert southwest when I return.
Normally fall comes late here in northern Arizona. Due to where we are situated, the conditions usually see the foliage start changing at the higher elevations in late September, although some years we do not see the fall colors until November. This longer time frame can be a very nice second, or sometimes third opportunity, to once again do ... fall color back home!
Working with a small group this fall, (my field/studio workshop), was a chance to both show off the city of Sedona at its best and at the same time, slow down and revisit places that provide the most photographic opportunity.
A few of the images serve to make some photographic point about opportunity and technique and might well serve to as an opportunity for discussion on our Blog.
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| Sedona's most famous landmark, Red Rock Crossing. Canon 45 mm tilt/shift lens |
As afternoon approached sunset, we found ourselves at Red Rock Crossing, not far outside the city. A frequent place for both photographers and sightseers alike, you will at most times find company there. Fall colors certainly will guarantee it!
Afternoon light was subdued and muted. If not for the fall color that would set off a strong composition, I don't think I would have set this one up to begin with. Plus, with the workshop participants there with me, I wanted to work with what was presented to me at the time.
If the color was going to have to carry the composition, and it was a long way away from me, then I needed to somehow bring it closer, or get closer. Getting closer was not an option, or at least one I did not want to explore at the time. Instead, I began to look for a place and angle that might allow the reflection to become more prominent. This was not as easy as I first imagined.
As I got lower with my angle I ran into the problem of not being close enough. Close enough? I had water in front of me that had negative value and only served to make my reflection, and the formations in the distance, smaller. What I needed was to be at the low angle but closer and to make the image I wanted, higher!
What I'm describing is a natural for a tilt/shift lens or a large format camera. Since I don't shoot large format, I only had one choice. Since this was a single sunset opportunity shoot and I know the area quite well, my Canon 45 tilt/shift was one of only two lenses I had with me. The process of using a tilt/shift lens can be seen as a tutorial on the Canyonlands/Arches issue of the DVD series Steve Kossack Photographing the Great American Landscape.
To begin, I placed my tripod as low and close possible without actually being in the water. My tripod without a center column allows ground level access which comes in handy in situations as this. First the rise of the lens brought me to a level just before the floating leaves and I set the focus. What you see in the viewfinder using a t/s lens is what the film/sensor will also see. A t/s lens is not dependant on aperture for depth of field, rather "what you see is what you get" for depth of field. I next adjusted the tilt to straighten the distant formation as to make it level and not fall away from me. I have changed both my t/s lenses to work on the opposite axis as they are set at the factory. This is a question of preference and how you use your lenses more than anything technical. I then refocused. Shutter speed and aperture were set to a desired combination remembering that while I could use most any combination, I had to take into consideration any movement of the trees and water.
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| Cathedral Rock and Oak Creek at post sunset with color reflected glow |
After working with the others, making my image, and then putting the equipment away, I began to work with the workshop participants on thoughts of what the composition was giving us and what it wasn't. A plus was certainly the color in the trees but there just wasn't much light and the sky had little information, no matter what the exposure. After trying many combinations we considered the days shoot mostly "behind us" and began talking with all the people that had gathered to witness this beautiful location at sunset.
The problem was we didn't have a sunset to witness. As most onlookers began to pick up and leave, we instead continued our conversations casually for a few minutes when out of the blue .. or lack of same, came a glow that was almost unreal. The remark was made that this kind of glow had never been witnessed before quite like this, and as I thought about adding my confirmation to the statement, instead I encouraged the photographers with their equipment still set up to "go after it!"
I then struggled to quickly set up a frame of my own. I realized that I was unprepared and this light might disappear as quickly as it had appeared. The sky was now a pale blue and the single cloud over the formation had gone a magenta cotton candy! I knew that including the entire cloud was not a possibility without having the rock formations appear to fall away from me so instead I used the reflection with the tree to give the composition a base. The use of a 2 stop graduated ND filter helped darken the cloud and give an even exposure to the mid tones and shadow areas in the final print.
While the first image is much stronger in both concept and composition, the second image gave me an opportunity to be in the moment and make a statement about the fleeting beauty of the landscape. Both images are quite different and both images are very satisfying to me.
Color season is a good time to be back home!
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| Sedona as the moon sets at sunrise to start a new day |
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View the DVD series Steve Kossack Photographing the Great American Landscape.
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