Devil's Golf Course

[David Eckels]

90 yo Dad did just fine with Death Valley. He wouldn't get up early, but at least we caught a few sunsets. Didn't do The Racetrack, but Titus Canyon was a rough road adventure; too bad it was mid-day. This is just a travel pic, but was experimenting with incremental focussing points down through the frame. Thought this was the best compromise viz sharpness of the salt/mud blocks and bkg mountains. Did something very interesting to the clouds; honest, I didn't touch 'em. FWIW, 1/250, f/16, ISO 400 at 28 mm.

[David Eckels]

Devil's Golf Course 2

Thought the strong graphic element required a B/W rendering.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Nice shots, both, David. This is certainly the right time of year for Death Valley, IMHO. It was a January when I was there and weather was beautiful. High temperatures about 75 degrees (F), and lows at night about 60.

Your second one really captures the Devil's Golf Course perfectly.

-Eric

[luxborealis]

Devil's Golf Course 2

Thought the strong graphic element required a B/W rendering.

The B&W sure does it. Overall, though, the thrill of this trip seems to be taking your Dad to a unique location. Seems like it's been well worth it on more than a few levels. Thanks for sharing the experience, David.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

...experimenting with incremental focussing points down through the frame...

If by that you mean that the end result is that both foreground and background (mountains) are super tack sharp, my comment would be that you are loosing a 3D feel that way: distant mountains are expected to be ever so slightly less sharp, if for no other reason than the existence of atmospheric haze (or our eyesight). Having that subtle transition from very sharp foreground to slightly less sharp background contributes to that 3D effect. On a side note, Rembrandt used that difference in portraits too.

P.S. Glad you are taking such a good care of your dad. Hat off!

[David Eckels]

Thanks, guys. Yes, Dad was having a great time and I was having a great time watching him having a great time. He got some nice shots too although he refused to use his tripod despite my admonitions! Even at 300 mm, however, he has a very steady trigger finger. He wanted just one pic to put on his wall at home; I think he succeeded.

Slobodan, understand fully what you are saying and agree about the focus cues we use to perceive depth in a 2D image. I was deliberately trying to stack the foreground and background on top of one another so that it was more of a graphic image; something different from the foreground salt crystals and bkg hazy mountains that you see a lot of in the tourist books. Nothing wrong with them, I just wanted to try for something different. Anyway, I guess I am trying to say that I want you to know that I was deliberately going for that 2D effect just to mess with your mind

PS Believe it or not, I actually knew that about Rembrandt!

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

...I was deliberately going for that 2D effect...

Nothing wrong with experimenting and trying something new. Now that you mentioned that, I was thinking if you lowered your viewpoint, as to eliminate that middle ground between the golf course and the mountains, you would achieve that graphic goal even more.

[David Eckels]

Nothing wrong with experimenting and trying something new. Now that you mentioned that, I was thinking if you lowered your viewpoint, as to eliminate that middle ground between the golf course and the mountains, you would achieve that graphic goal even more.

Are you saying shifted lower vertically or angled down steeper? I was already sitting and my tripod about as low as it could go and still be able to see through the viewfinder. The range of sharpness creates a bit of "perspective ambiguity" maybe.

[Jeremy Roussak]

The monochrome appeals to me; more than the colour.

Jeremy

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Are you saying shifted lower vertically or angled down steeper?...

Whatever it takes to get rid of the midsection. I would presume it would take getting even lower.

[David Eckels]

Whatever it takes to get rid of the midsection. I would presume it would take getting even lower.

Like golf ball level?