Generally I strive to create landscape photographs that rely on the treatment of a subject to be successful, even if the subject itself is boring. This photograph is not compelling to me from an artistic standpoint, but like the weasel riding on the flying woodpecker, it is compelling because the subject itself is compelling. Hence I present it here for weekend entertainment.
Much of central Oregon is covered in ancient lava beds and lava tubes are plentiful in some areas. A lava tube is formed when hot lava flows out of a surrounding mass that has cooled. When the flow stops a tube remains – otherwise known as a lava cave. In this instance the roof of a lava tube has collapsed, leaving a hole in the ground about 100 feet across. I positioned myself on one side of the hole and shot across the abyss. I try not to do any gardening so I had to clone out a few stray blades of grass in the foreground and deepen some shadows to hide some boulders in the interior of the cave. After all, when you are looking at the edge of the world, there is nothing underneath, right?