John, Paul, George, and Ringo Photo

Photographer’s Note

Location: Devils Garden area located along the Hole-in-the-Rock road in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.

About the Photo: This was taken early in the morning just as the first rays of light were hitting these giant stone sentinels in the middle of the desert. It was a cold morning, a very cold morning. I tried mostly wider shots at first, but then I decided to focus just on the glowing orange stones. I liked how they contrasted with the dark blue sky. These "trolls" as they are sometimes called, are one of the few landscape locations I've visited that are equally photogenic at sunset as they are at sunrise. If you want to see them at sunset from the opposite direction please turn to page 49 of your copy of Light and the Art of Landscape Photography to see how the master Joe Cornish photographed them.

Is the contrast too strong here? I was trying for a Velvia look, but I'm not sure I succeeded.

delic, crhieatt, Floydian, ribeiroantonio, Dpbours, marion44, chpp, avene, paololg, fulvio52, migzal, gracious, Clementi, npecanhuk, jusninasirun, TeresaT, patdeph, Elaine_Blath has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

delic (6735) 2008-04-24 14:18

Hey Ryan,
I have sunset photographs of the same rock figures from the opposite side, but I think sunrise offers a better angle. Very nice. I think the color and contrast are just fine. Regards,
Hakan

maximage (13369) 2008-04-24 14:41

Bonsoir Ryan,
Très belle compo, bien équilibrée avec un jeux d'ombres et de lumières superbes
Belle couleurs et ciel de rêve.
Amitiés.
max

crhieatt (5143) 2008-04-24 15:21

Ryan,

Oh yes, Velvia! I'd confidently take photos of anything with Velvia 50, safe it the knowledge that I'd been rewarded with a fantastic sharp, in your face coloulful shot of, well, just about anything!

The colour certainly catches the eye here, it's intensity well checked by the shadow areas of the bottom third.

Regards
colin

Floydian (30970) 2008-04-24 15:39

Hi Ryan,
Light my friend, you always seem to be on the right place on the right time. Some call it luck, i call it dedication. The play with light and shadow here, plus the contrasting red against the blue is simply beautiful. It's not that pure Velvia look and feel, i think the 30D sensor has not enough DR to produce that, so you have to do that in the pp. But nothing to worry, this looks impressive as always...!!!
Regards, Henk

tomescuc (2837) 2008-04-24 16:10

They never looked so good! :-)
rgds,
CT

ribeiroantonio (21905) 2008-04-24 20:05

Extraordinary light you captured here, right over the pinnacles. It could not be better. The iron rich rocks are fantastic and the chosen title is very funny and appropriate.
Antonio

pboehringer (770) 2008-04-24 20:58

Ryan,
to strong contrast? Defintively not! It looks like velvia? Oh yes, my first impression was that it was a real velvia and the correction to that impression came only after reading the camera settings.
This shot reminds me of Michael Fatali's work. Have you ever seen anything of him? His gallery is based at Zion Park and he covers every corner of the Southwest and more. He only shoots film and obviously develops his own shots manually. He states that his all favorite shot is a this photograph. As soon as I saw your post I had the impression that yours and his are siblings. By the way does this here remind you of another shot of yours?
Peter

jackart (5560) 2008-04-25 0:18

Hello Ryan!

Yeah! yeah! yeah!
Great group of rocks captured in amazing warm light of sunset. Splendid colors.

Well done!

Regards
Jacek

marietom (31898) 2008-04-25 1:08

Hello Ryan,

l'image est magnifique, la lumière exceptionnelle, bravo !
Marie

gilou530 (35172) 2008-04-25 2:01

salut ryan
excellent, belle imagination, une super lumiére et des couleurs polarisées au top, un POV magnifique, beau travail
amitiés
gilbert

Dpbours (220) 2008-04-25 2:56

Hi Ryan,

I don't think that the contrast is too strong. In the Velvia look, the tree in the right distance would have been greener ;-), but I think you did fine here in exposure and contrast.
Like the 'please turn to page 49 of your copy of ...'. You're a teacher in daily life?! :-)

Greetings! Dennis

gary91 (15321) 2008-04-25 3:08

Hello Ryan,
Yes ! you have it ! the Velvia look is here and these wonderful colors are coming straigth out of it ;-)
Fine weather + cold + morning = superb light that you have here. It is not by chance, it is simply the reward of people willing to make good pictures of a location. My congratulations for this great image.
Have a nice day.
Best regards, Christian

marion44 (4266) 2008-04-25 5:11

Hi Ryan,
Once again an amazing photo... I never let you critiques as I really don't know what to say except "Waow" ! which is not very constructive...
I like the humourous title a lot, seen the topic of the photo. Light and colors are sublime...
Well... Waow!!! ;)
Have a good day,
Marion

azleader (6) 2008-04-25 8:03

Fun title, excellent sunrise capture. :)

chpp (3980) 2008-04-25 8:37

Hi Ryan
very nice shot, i don't know whther they resemble the beatles or not but the light is great and the colour contrast is excellent and very appealing. Perfect sharpness and very nice compo
cheers
c

Philippe (11773) 2008-04-25 13:13

Hi, Ryan. I think you chose the right moment to shoot when the light struck the upper part of the rock structures. The contrast with the lower rocks and the sky brings them out wonderfully well.

paololg (13743) 2008-04-25 13:16

Ciao Ryan,
really unbelievable the form of these rocks. You have chosen the most suggestive moment to capture this beautiful image. Compliments for the idea and for the technical perfection of the photo. Bravo!
TFS
Paolo.

fulvio52 (8314) 2008-04-25 13:35

Hi Ryan,
it DOES look like VELVIA! Doncha worry about nothing.
Terrific shot, no need for technical chitchat, light and colors are simply awesome!
Have a great weekend, see ya around.
Ciao,
Fulvio.

migzal (485) 2008-04-25 17:30

Hi Ryan,
A very nice contrast of colors you got here, you were at the right place and and time. i like the quality of the picture too. excellent.
Miguel

gracious (20017) 2008-04-25 17:39

Hello Ryan,
Excellent composition of light and shadow displayed! just beautiful!
good pov with perfect sharpness, awesome colour and superb details in the shot
many thanks for the sharing
best regards
Tony

Clementi (44013) 2008-04-26 1:01

Ciao Ryan,
very beautiful use of the light and of the colour, impose the monument in all his beauty.
good job
Have a nice week end
Giorgio

rodgerg (23993) 2008-04-26 1:29

Hello Ryan,

Superb photo, a great composition, good use of light and very beautiful colors.
Regards,

Roger
.. tomorrow

stevesaba (3760) 2008-04-26 6:33

Hi Ryan!
I had look at your gallery the other day, after many months of missing it. I had forgotten what wonderful work you have!! This one is striking! I like the way you have focused on the "trolls" alone. For me the colors and contrast are perfect. I love the southwest. Fun tital by the way. Great work! cheers,
Steve

avene (10978) 2008-04-26 11:05

hi Ryan,
I see, blue and yellow-orange again, it truly is an irresistable combination :) I like the textures a lot, the gorgeous light really brings them out. and apt title too :)

have a great weekend,
Kristine

kensimage (8541) 2008-04-27 8:57

I think you got the Velvia look, Ryan, and it works for this shot. Warm vs. cool tones, set together about as strongly as they can be. You waited for precisely the right moment with the light, and you were rewarded with this shot. Now you will be rewarded further, with a green smiley, to make it all truly worthwhile.

Nice title, too. Regards, Ken.

npecanhuk (13845) 2008-04-27 17:52

Hello Ryan!
I really like the colors and shapes in this picture of yours!
Congratulations!
Neyvan

jusninasirun (10199) 2008-04-27 21:07

Hello Ryan. Nice contrast of these rocks. I like the detail and sharpness contrasting well against the spotless blue sky. Best regards. Jusni

toto (18709) 2008-04-28 15:58

Bonsoir
belle photo de ces roches de fort jolies couleurs et bien illuminées.
Les noms que vous leurs avez donnés sont très beau et nous rappelle beaucoups de souvenirs.

Amitiés Thomas

plimrn (19610) 2008-04-30 11:10

Hi Ryan,
I do like the saturation you achieved here, The red formations look great aginst the clarity of the blue sky. Great title, even though I think they look more like dwarfs straight form Snow White.
HLJ, Pat

derek3755 (2341) 2008-05-01 11:37

Hi Euryan

great early morning shot, with the sun hitting on the trolls, did not get any early morning shots when i was there, maybe next time

Derek

TeresaT (10733) 2008-05-05 11:42

Hello Ryan,
This is a fantastic composition.
The colours are wonderful.
And I really like this golden light.
Perfect.

Regards
Teresa

patdeph (17816) 2008-05-07 7:54

hello Ryan
difficult to believe that the weather was cold with these so warm colours!The light on the statues is fantastic,ad I like how thet are standing out the dark blue sky!Magnificent.
Regards.
Pascale

cdmonson (2751) 2008-05-08 21:47

Hi Ryan:

Not sure why I haven't commented on this one. I think you got the Velvia look quite nicely, but having never shot with Velvia, I'm definitely not the expert. The composition is great, but the thing that's missing for me in this shot is a sense of scale. I can't tell whether these are hundreds of feet high, or 20 feet. Otherwise, I think this is an absolutely fabulous shot.

Clark

P.S. I'm about to buy my first DSLR, and I've decided on the camera, the standard zoom lens, and a wide angle lens, but I'm agonizing over a polarizer strangely enough--vignetting is something I want to avoid as much as possible with my wide angle. What kind of vignetting do you get with your Sigma and your Cokin polarizer? Any insights you have would be great.

kmarscher (2881) 2008-05-10 6:25

Hi Ryan,
Outstanding title. You studied your subject well and seledted a beauty to present here. The shadows and polarized sky make this composition stand out. I can almost hear them "rock". Carefully seen and done. Nice work.
Regards,
Kathy

Elaine_Blath (6170) 2008-06-16 23:30

Hi Ryan,

great job, I don´t think that the contrast is too strong, the result is amazing, the colours so rich...and beautiful place, of course!

Take care, Ivana

Photo Information

Copyright: Ryan Thayne (euryan) (8347)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-05-19
Categories: Nature
Camera: Canon EOS 30D, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, Digital RAW 100, B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer
Exposure: f/16, 1/6 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): American Southwest [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-04-24 14:07