Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: Mjollnir on February 20, 2016, 11:25:58 am

Title: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Mjollnir on February 20, 2016, 11:25:58 am
I am a lifelong devotee of taking every back road, side street or fire road that I reasonably can, and I've had my eye on this one for some time now.  Some of the most amazing light I've seen in some time, and I'm still kicking myself for being impatient with myself, as my wife and I had had a long weekend up in Big Sur and wanted to get home.  The light was acid-trip worthy when we got out of Drum Canyon and progressed to the Santa Rita Hills AVA, but comps were tough because of wires, us not being familiar with the area, the rush of wanting to be traffic in SB and LA, etc...

I'll be back, because the area between Dieberg Winery and where the road begins to go uphill offers a lot more comps with some needed patience.

First time I've used a zoom in recent memory (Olympus 12-40mm 2.8), and I was surprised how much I liked the convenience of not having to change lenses so much.

(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1470/24782353969_e1314b928b_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/DKW3qZ)Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road (https://flic.kr/p/DKW3qZ) by tanngrisnir3 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/87368247@N00/), on Flickr
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Rajan Parrikar on February 20, 2016, 01:49:49 pm
Very, very nice.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 20, 2016, 02:03:52 pm
Ahhhh!!!
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on February 20, 2016, 02:06:53 pm
Superb!
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: John R on February 20, 2016, 02:54:39 pm
Yes, superb!

JR
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Arlen on February 20, 2016, 04:25:23 pm
Very different from the normal fare, and in a great way.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: sarrasani on February 20, 2016, 05:51:13 pm
excellent light/geometry capture. And also the detail, at these dimensions, is good.
All the best,
sandro
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Jens Peermann on February 20, 2016, 08:25:41 pm
Nothing less than outstanding.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: luxborealis on February 20, 2016, 11:03:35 pm
Superb!

+1
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: sdwilsonsct on February 21, 2016, 09:01:30 am
Bravo!
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Mjollnir on February 21, 2016, 07:10:29 pm
Thanks, everyone.

I'm just kicking myself for not having captured two other comps that featured the same sort of dark background, screaming green color, but we just wanted to get home.

BTW, just came back from a whirlwind overnight of this general area, all the way up to the Friant area north of Fresno, overnighting in Tehachapi and then returning home.

All the ranges from the low western edge of the Sierra, to the Diablo, to the Temblor, to the San Emigidos, to the greater Transverse sub ranges, the Santa Lucias, the Gabilans and any others I've neglected to mention:  central and central coastal CA is looking to have an epic Spring in terms of color, lush, tall grass and hopefully flowers.

The only place we didn't hit was the Carrizo Plain, but I've seen reports that it's quite green, just not covered in flowers yet.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: pcgpcg on February 21, 2016, 08:03:46 pm
Superb! Congratulations on a very nice capture!

I just returned yesterday from a quick drive (sans camera) to LA and back from OR and noticed similar lush green hills on a side trip to SF and back from I-5. Now is the time to get the green!
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: maddogmurph on February 22, 2016, 12:14:14 am
The line is nicely framed.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Paulo Bizarro on February 22, 2016, 04:03:47 am
Well seen and executed.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: thierrylegros396 on February 22, 2016, 06:30:53 am
Everything has been said, superb!

Have a Nice Day.

Thierry
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Bob_B on February 22, 2016, 07:30:27 pm
+1 to everything that's been said. Absolutely stunning.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Mark20D on February 23, 2016, 03:58:43 pm
Superb image.  Wonderful color, light and lack thereof....

What time of day did you drive through the canyon?

Mark
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: MattBurt on February 23, 2016, 04:08:24 pm
Great light and a nice shot! I hate second guessing myself in these kinds of situations. Looks like you got something good, focus on that!
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Mjollnir on February 24, 2016, 09:28:43 am
Superb image.  Wonderful color, light and lack thereof....

What time of day did you drive through the canyon?

Mark

Thanks! I'm actually thinking of bringing the shadows up a tiny bit to show that this is, indeed a hillside where the black is.

Haven't checked the data, but it was close to 1700 hours, IIRC, and this was shot shooting due west.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on February 24, 2016, 11:12:01 am
Thanks! I'm actually thinking of bringing the shadows up a tiny bit to show that this is, indeed a hillside where the black is.

Haven't checked the data, but it was close to 1700 hours, IIRC, and this was shot shooting due west.
I'd like to see the version with the shadows opened a little. I suspect it will be hard to maintain the high drama of the version you originally posted.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Mjollnir on February 24, 2016, 12:22:28 pm
I'd like to see the version with the shadows opened a little. I suspect it will be hard to maintain the high drama of the version you originally posted.

The odd thing is, if I look at the shot on Flicker w/my iPhone 6, I can see what I intended to create, with a hillside clearly visible in the background, although it's very subtle (the way I wanted it to be).

Here, it looks like pure blackness.

Same with looking at Flickr with this computer I'm on now.

Maybe the iPhone screen is really just that much better?

I'm confuzzled.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 24, 2016, 12:34:07 pm
Dear Confuzzled,

We here typically have monitors adjusted for printing, i.e., with lower brightness than iPhones. That, plus higher resolution of iPhone screens might contribute to being able to present a more nuanced shadows.
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Miles on February 24, 2016, 01:04:09 pm
Superb image.  Please post if you bring up the shadows a little.  Would like to see the difference.
Miles
Title: Re: Sunspot, Drum Canyon Road
Post by: Mjollnir on February 24, 2016, 02:09:20 pm
Dear Confuzzled,

We here typically have monitors adjusted for printing, i.e., with lower brightness than iPhones. That, plus higher resolution of iPhone screens might contribute to being able to present a more nuanced shadows.

Oi.  That gets into a whole are about which I'm not confuzzled, but rather merely ignorant (printing)

But now that you mention it, if I hold up my iPhone next to the monitor where I am now, the iPhone looks really good, and the monitor is, well, rather drab.