{"id":23358,"date":"2016-07-13T07:07:55","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T11:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/?p=23358"},"modified":"2022-05-24T14:25:36","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T18:25:36","slug":"landscapes-american-west-photographic-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/landscapes-american-west-photographic-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Landscapes of the American West: A Photographic Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The bright overcast light following a patch of rain was a blessing, bringing out the lush colors in the badlands of Big Bend National Park. I minimized the sky but kept it in the picture to show the shape of the distant mountains.<\/div><\/div>
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To get a true sense of the steep canyon walls in Big Bend National Park, there\u2019s no substitute for getting on a dingy and floating on the Rio Grande. I included the people in a nearby boat as a foreground elemenbt to give the canyon scale and a human touch.<\/div><\/div>
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I was intrigued by the soft light on these hills in Big Bend National Park. I took some shots of the hills but then decided to include in the foreground an ocotillo plant typical of this region to create a better sense of place.<\/div><\/div>
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The West is dotted with geologic formations like this butte. Capture these iconic forms when the light makes them glow. In this shot, I wanted to go beyond the norm so I came back in the morning after a downpour and shot the same butte reflected in a nearby puddle. To get this shot, I got down low, focused on the reflection and used f\/16 for maximum sharpness.<\/div><\/div>
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Here I combined the rippled sand dunes in the foreground with the needle-like rock formations further back into a simple abstract composition based on two color blocks: earth and sky. Shot in Monument Valley with a moderate wide-angle lens (35mm) at dawn and polarized to deepen the blue of the sky.<\/div><\/div>
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I was at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley at sunrise but there were clouds in the sky that cast a shadow over some of the eroded badland formations the area is known for. By eliminating the sky completely, I was able to put them in the perfect light to show their shapes and subtle colors. Shot at 60mm with my 24-70mm zoom lens at f\/30 for sharpness.<\/div><\/div>
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I arrived at this wetland area in Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge before sunrise and saw the Sandhill Cranes wading in the water. The sun was about to rise over the hills and the cloud cover, reflected in the water, turned brilliant colors. My dilemma was how to avoid a mass of black silhouetted against the bright sky. I decided to expose for the land to retain some detail on the birds and background. This would overexpose the sky and water, but I knew I could correct that in after-capture. Not only was I able to restore the colors that were originally overexposed, but I also decided to add a wash of bluish cyan and then diffuse the image a bit to soften the scene.<\/div><\/div>
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For this sunset image taken at White Sands National Monument, I was mainly interested in creating an abstract composition based on color. I was especially intrigued by the glow of light and chose a very simple dune for the foreground. I metered the sky, then overexposed by 1 1\/2 stops to brighten the golden color. In after-capture, I reduced sharpness to soften the sand dune and finish with two bands of lush color.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
For this shot taken in White Sands National Monument, I was using the workings of nature -- the ripples on the dune, the insect trail and a cloudless sky -- to create a very abstract composition. A small aperture of f\/16 gave me the sharpness I needed to render the surface textures. Then in after-capture, I stripped out the color, for an even starker, black-and-white abstract image.<\/div><\/div>
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The low-angled light of the late afternoon sun casts the kind of shadows that bring out surface texture, as on these gypsum dunes in White Sands National Monument. I watched as the clouds let the sun through in some places more than in others and took the shot when the second dune was highlighted while the closest dune was less brilliantly lit. I metered the brighter dune to maximize the texture on the first dune. Taken at 300mm with my 28-300 zoom lens at f\/16 for sharpness.<\/div><\/div>
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The two elements that most attracted me at this location in White Sands National Monument were the yellow tufts of dry grass and the dramatic cloud formations. I chose a vertical format that showed much more of the sky than the land to give the clouds star billing. And in after-capture, I removed the blue of the sky to bring out the yellow color against black-and-white surrounding.<\/div><\/div>
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I bring students to Mesa Arch before dawn so they are all set for getting spectacular shots of this iconic location in Arches National Park. I took a series of pictures, including this one at the moment when the sun was partly hidden by arch and washing the surrounding in rich color. I was able to maintain sharpness and create the star effect by stopping down to f\/32 and checking through the viewfinder using my preview button.<\/div><\/div>
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Thunderclouds swept over Monument Valley one late afternoon but our Navajo guide urged us to stick around despite the chance of rain. We watched as a downpour hit nearby (luckily we were spared) and then saw a fabulous rainbow in the distance where sunlight had returned. I found a vantage point that would show one of the buttes together with the rainbow, used a 300mm lens and polarized to concentrate the colors of the rainbow.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
For a dramatic star effect in this image taken in Monument Valley, I arrived before sunrise and positioned myself facing the sun with my camera on a tripod. Using my 300mm lens and a small aperture (f\/22), I began shooting as soon as the sun came up. (You should be able to see this star effect using your camera\u2019s preview button.) The long lens concentrated the yellow color of the sunlight at dawn.<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
The bright overcast light following a patch of rain was a blessing, bringing out the lush colors in the badlands of Big Bend National Park. I minimized the sky but kept it in the picture to show the shape of the distant mountains.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
To get a true sense of the steep canyon walls in Big Bend National Park, there\u2019s no substitute for getting on a dingy and floating on the Rio Grande. I included the people in a nearby boat as a foreground elemenbt to give the canyon scale and a human touch.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
I was intrigued by the soft light on these hills in Big Bend National Park. I took some shots of the hills but then decided to include in the foreground an ocotillo plant typical of this region to create a better sense of place.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
The West is dotted with geologic formations like this butte. Capture these iconic forms when the light makes them glow. In this shot, I wanted to go beyond the norm so I came back in the morning after a downpour and shot the same butte reflected in a nearby puddle. To get this shot, I got down low, focused on the reflection and used f\/16 for maximum sharpness.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
Here I combined the rippled sand dunes in the foreground with the needle-like rock formations further back into a simple abstract composition based on two color blocks: earth and sky. Shot in Monument Valley with a moderate wide-angle lens (35mm) at dawn and polarized to deepen the blue of the sky.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
I was at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley at sunrise but there were clouds in the sky that cast a shadow over some of the eroded badland formations the area is known for. By eliminating the sky completely, I was able to put them in the perfect light to show their shapes and subtle colors. Shot at 60mm with my 24-70mm zoom lens at f\/30 for sharpness.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
I arrived at this wetland area in Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge before sunrise and saw the Sandhill Cranes wading in the water. The sun was about to rise over the hills and the cloud cover, reflected in the water, turned brilliant colors. My dilemma was how to avoid a mass of black silhouetted against the bright sky. I decided to expose for the land to retain some detail on the birds and background. This would overexpose the sky and water, but I knew I could correct that in after-capture. Not only was I able to restore the colors that were originally overexposed, but I also decided to add a wash of bluish cyan and then diffuse the image a bit to soften the scene.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
For this sunset image taken at White Sands National Monument, I was mainly interested in creating an abstract composition based on color. I was especially intrigued by the glow of light and chose a very simple dune for the foreground. I metered the sky, then overexposed by 1 1\/2 stops to brighten the golden color. In after-capture, I reduced sharpness to soften the sand dune and finish with two bands of lush color.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
For this shot taken in White Sands National Monument, I was using the workings of nature -- the ripples on the dune, the insect trail and a cloudless sky -- to create a very abstract composition. A small aperture of f\/16 gave me the sharpness I needed to render the surface textures. Then in after-capture, I stripped out the color, for an even starker, black-and-white abstract image.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
The low-angled light of the late afternoon sun casts the kind of shadows that bring out surface texture, as on these gypsum dunes in White Sands National Monument. I watched as the clouds let the sun through in some places more than in others and took the shot when the second dune was highlighted while the closest dune was less brilliantly lit. I metered the brighter dune to maximize the texture on the first dune. Taken at 300mm with my 28-300 zoom lens at f\/16 for sharpness.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
The two elements that most attracted me at this location in White Sands National Monument were the yellow tufts of dry grass and the dramatic cloud formations. I chose a vertical format that showed much more of the sky than the land to give the clouds star billing. And in after-capture, I removed the blue of the sky to bring out the yellow color against black-and-white surrounding.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
I bring students to Mesa Arch before dawn so they are all set for getting spectacular shots of this iconic location in Arches National Park. I took a series of pictures, including this one at the moment when the sun was partly hidden by arch and washing the surrounding in rich color. I was able to maintain sharpness and create the star effect by stopping down to f\/32 and checking through the viewfinder using my preview button.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
Thunderclouds swept over Monument Valley one late afternoon but our Navajo guide urged us to stick around despite the chance of rain. We watched as a downpour hit nearby (luckily we were spared) and then saw a fabulous rainbow in the distance where sunlight had returned. I found a vantage point that would show one of the buttes together with the rainbow, used a 300mm lens and polarized to concentrate the colors of the rainbow.<\/div><\/div>
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
For a dramatic star effect in this image taken in Monument Valley, I arrived before sunrise and positioned myself facing the sun with my camera on a tripod. Using my 300mm lens and a small aperture (f\/22), I began shooting as soon as the sun came up. (You should be able to see this star effect using your camera\u2019s preview button.) The long lens concentrated the yellow color of the sunlight at dawn.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>