The Nature, Wildlife and Pet Photography Forum - Fine Art Landscape Photography

The Race Track - Death Valley

The Race Track - Death Valley - 04/14/08 03:07 AM

The Race Track is one of my favorite places in Death Valley (outside of the Dunes at Stovepipe). For those not familiar with the Race Track, the rocks actually move over time creating the tracks in the ground. While there are many theories as to what is causing the movement of the rocks, it has not been categorically proven, to my knowledge, what causes it.

Cheers
James

Posted By: glamson

Re: The Race Track - Death Valley - 04/14/08 10:26 PM

Quote:

The Race Track is one of my favorite places in Death Valley (outside of the Dunes at Stovepipe). For those not familiar with the Race Track, the rocks actually move over time creating the tracks in the ground. While there are many theories as to what is causing the movement of the rocks, it has not been categorically proven, to my knowledge, what causes it.

Cheers
James

James,

I'm really sorry we ran out of time and I didn't get to visit the racetrack. Actually we did have some time on the third day we were there, but the wind was really blowing sand in that area, so we decided to go down to Artist drive.

Now as far as critiquing this, my problem is that it lacks drama for me especially in the sky. Also the real subject here for me, the rock, doesn't really pop and the leading line of the mystery rock trail doesn't really take you anywhere. Now I guess if you just darkened the sky and brought some of the detail up in the rock that might help. But to tell you the truth if I was going for a really dramatic image here I would have to go more radical and do a little cheating. Now I know I'm taking great liberties here, but just for fun how about this. This would be the lighting conditions I would dream about having at this place.

Geo

Posted By: James Morrissey

Re: The Race Track - Death Valley - 04/14/08 10:49 PM

LOL, George, spectacular! I agree with you about the lack of clouds and great color in the sky. It does not really do much for me as a result. There is no question that your version just rocks.

I do have a fundamental problem though with adding in skies and other such features into a photograph - though there is no question that the special effects are great looking. It feels like legerdemain to me...though admnittedly it looks much better than what was really there. :P

James

Posted By: James Morrissey

Re: The Race Track - Death Valley - 04/14/08 10:52 PM

Let me take you to the other end of the track then with a different composition to it. The sky still has nothing exciting to it, but the rest of the composition may have more to offer...LOL, and if not, you can always add some more clouds. :P

James

Posted By: glamson

Re: The Race Track - Death Valley - 04/14/08 11:06 PM

Quote:

LOL, George, spectacular! I agree with you about the lack of clouds and great color in the sky. It does not really do much for me as a result. There is no question that your version just rocks.

I do have a fundamental problem though with adding in skies and other such features into a photograph - though there is no question that the special effects are great looking. It feels like legerdemain to me...though admnittedly it looks much better than what was really there. :P

James

James,

I agree with you about the cheating and adding things to pics that weren't there. Let me say that I never do the kind of thing I did to your pic to mine. I will remove things sometimes (usually man made things like trash and people) and as in the case of the moonset pics, drop in a properly exposed moon that I take at the same session.

The fun thing about your pic was that it wasn't mine so I could go crazy and have some fun with a low res web version.

All I can do is hope that someday I'm at the racetrack and get that kind of sky.

Geo

Posted By: Jim Rickards

Re: The Race Track - Death Valley - 04/14/08 11:09 PM

I would be tempted to just add some intensity to the blue of the sky and then not show very much of it. Crop the top, right through the left-most hill, which is enought to show the scale you want. The subject is the rock, so keep attention on it. If the sky disappoints, why show much of it? As with so many pics, everybody has a way they would do it.
The movement of the rocks is something I find facinating, and I would like to learn more about it.

Posted By: James Morrissey

Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/17/08 02:17 PM

Hey Everyone,

I like the 2nd shot a lot in terms of composition...but I also agree that the sky is relatively ho-hum. Would anyone want the full size file and to make a stab at it?

James

Posted By: JimmyD

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/17/08 10:47 PM

Hi James

I would take a stab at it. The biggest issue I see with it is the sun looks pretty harsh, looks like it was taken close to mid day?

Jim

Posted By: James Morrissey

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/18/08 12:08 AM

Hey Jim,

Thanks. Shall I e-mail you the raw, or would you like a jpeg? As to the time of day of the shots, take a look at the shadows, particularly on the first one. They were taken about an hour before the sun went over the mountain ridge...probably around 6 PM. The 2nd shot was taken was actually taken earlier, but not much earlier. I was shooting from a different angle attempting to keep the Race Track Playa in the photo (with a long lens stopped down).

Cheers
James

James

Posted By: JimmyD

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/18/08 12:22 AM

E-mail raw is good, bladman at rogers.com

I was referring to the second for the time, the shadow looks short. The other definitely looks like around sunset time.

I wanted to get to the Race Track but the time of day we had left we never would have made it on time for sunset. Will have to get there next time around.

Thanks
Jim

Posted By: daveman

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/18/08 04:57 AM

James,

I would be up for giving it a shot if you do not mind. I think it would be fun, and it is good practice for me.

My email address is in my profile.

Thanks for asking.
Dave

Posted By: James Morrissey

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/18/08 11:47 PM

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the interest. I am trying to find that file sharing site that we all used as my ISP won't let me send the raw files. As soon as I figure out a way to send off the files, I will do so.

Jaems

Posted By: daveman

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/19/08 03:08 AM

James,

Try www.sendthisfile.com

Dave

Posted By: James Morrissey

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/19/08 01:28 PM

Dave...

You rock. Thanks. That is what I was looking for. I will do this this evening.

James

Posted By: JimmyD

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/20/08 11:45 AM

James

Here is what I found with the original file. It appeared over exposed on my calibrated monitor. I am not sure if this was your intent but with the lens at 90mm F22 it lacks depth of field and the mountains in the background are out of focus, also at F22 diffraction starts to play a factor reducing the overall image sharpness. I would have gone with a wider angle lens and moved in closer to the rock bringing out more detail in both the rock and dried cracked ground, it would give more impact. I also found the amount of dust on your sensor to be incredible

Anyway this is my version although I'm sure it could use more work, I left the composition the same as yours. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to work on it and I hope my view has helped.

Jim

Yours

Posted By: daveman

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/20/08 04:17 PM

Here is my version; thanks for letting my play with it. I hope this is helpful.

Dave

Posted By: James Morrissey

Re: Post Processing Challenge!! - 04/22/08 08:08 PM

Hi Jimmy and Dave,

Nice work with my shot. I agree that my shot looks over-exposed by comparison to your shots. One thing that bothers me about the composition is all of the 'mashed' ground around the boulder.

As to the intent of the composition, I wanted to see if I could get the race track playa in the background in the composition and keep it there. I have many different shots focusing solely on the rock and ground around it, and I wanted to try something different.

The one thing about Jimmy's shot, for me, is that it looks under-exposed where mine was over-exposed. Dave's shot looks more accurate...but LOL, now that I am seeing all three of them together, I am just not happy with the shot as a whole.

Cheers
James