Early in the morning of my second day in Bisti, I returned to the area that I had scouted the day before for sunrise and early morning photography. In this area I had found rock forms similar to the Cracked Eggs of The Nursery, only not so many as in The Nursery.
This post will be long on photos and short on words. I will make a few comments on the photos and maybe the editing, but there is not much else to say about the area that readers have not already heard.
I began shooting just before sunrise, when the colors are muted due to minimal light on the subjects.
I attempted to make an HDR with multiple exposures of the scene above, but I ran into problems and now I do not recall exactly what edits were applied to get the image above, hence the ? in the image caption.
The image above is actually a crop from a much larger scene. As I edited that image, zooming in to check details, I noted that the erosional patterns at the base of the hill far in the background looked like giant feet. So I cropped that portion of the image to get the one above. This has given me an idea of how to shoot such patterns at the base of these hills, rather than ignoring them as I had been.
The above image is also cropped from a much large scene and is an HDR made from multiple exposures. The blackish hill in the upper left is one of the navigational markers that I use to get to this area. It is visible from a long distance in the mostly flat desert here.
This is one of the rocks that is shaped like those in “The Nursery”, where they are called “Cracked Eggs”.
Another of the Cracked Egg like rocks with a rounded rock behind it.
A monochrome version of the previous image. I think monochrome works well with these type images.
Another view of the same two rocks as in the previous two images with a bit more background.
More rocks in the miniature “nursery” area with colorful hills in the background just beginning to be illuminated by the early morning light.
I spotted these two small rocks as they were getting the first rays of early morning light and I was struck by how much the upper one looked liked a cartoonish animal character, maybe a bird or dinosaur. With a bit of a change in the perspective, the closer rock can be made to look like a body for the upper “head” rock.
A larger view of the area with the cartoon face rock, providing a setting for the smaller rock features. Note the long early morning shadows. Many years ago this area was a lush green forest and there were dinosaurs roaming here, perhaps making the creature faced rock more pertinent.
More rocks casting early morning shadows along with the cartoon faced rock with colorful hills in the background.
Another animal like faced rock casting early morning shadows.
More of the “Cracked Eggs” like rocks with long early morning shadows.
And even more of the “Cracked Egg” rock forms with long early morning shadows.
The image above is cropped from a larger view that I did not think had sufficient sharpness over the entire range of the original image. Anyway, that rock on the right has a unique shape and I am at a loss as to how to label it. It does look like some sort of creature, I just do not know what. Maybe you have an idea?
Cracked Egg or Hamburger Rock?
A monochrome version of the previous image. In editing these type images for monochrome, I like to keep the shadows dark, so I might bring down the shadows and/or darks in the process.
Just a couple of interesting rock shapes with early morning light highlights and shadows.
A closer view of the “Dog Face” rock.
A monochrome version of the “Dog Face” rock. Note how much darker I’ve made the shadows in the monochrome version.
I’m calling the rock in the foreground “Reclining Bear”, since the upper left most portion looks like a bear face to me.
I’m intrigued by the shapes of the shadows cast by the various rock shapes. I’ve noted that using a Detail Extractor filter in DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4 brings out details in the shadows, which sometimes is preferable, but sometimes I like to keep the shadows darker, so this filter might not be a good choice in those cases.
A monochrome version of the previous image. Note how I’ve kept the shadows dark, not allowing any detail in the shadows.
More rocks and shadows. The rock on the left is in the previous image. I like the shapes of the shadows of the rocks on the left. Shadows sometimes take on a shapes that are surprisingly different that one might expect.
A monochrome version of the previous image. I’ve purposely kept the shadows deep and dark for a more dramatic appearance.
A row of rocks and their shadows. Note the uppermost rock shadow shapes and the middle rock jagged shadow shapes that one might not expect by looking at the rocks from this perspective.
A monochrome version of the previous post, emphasizing form, highlights and shadows.
A “lumpy” rock and its mitten like shadow.
A monochrome version of the previous image again emphasizing shape, highlights and shadows. Somehow the monochrome version seems more “artistic” and “mysterious” than the color version.
A group of rocks and their shadows.
A monochrome version of the previous image, emphasizing shape, highlights and shadows. Which is more appealing? I like the monochrome version best.
Many small rocks and long, early morning shadows.
A monochrome version of the previous image. Which image has more mystery?
A semi-circular pattern of rocks and their shadows. I like the way the shallow wash passes to the right around these rocks with the empty space on the left. The vignetting is added to focus the eye onto the main subject.
A monochrome version of the previous image for comparison without vignetting. I like the monochrome version best, but if I left off the vignetting in the color version, would that look better?
The only thing unusual about the large rock is its shadow, which has a “Halloweenish” appearance.
And Halloweenish should be monochrome, shouldn’t it?
Ok, I’ve beaten this topic to death. I can’t promise that I won’t do it again, though.
Next up sunset photos on day 2 in Bisti, March 2019.
Ken