Busy Day at the Jackrabbit Ranch

abraxas · Jun 29, 2008

Notes:

Use blustery/rainy weather, and lighting in exceptionally busy/off-centered composition to use every last pixel. Work fast to affect tree branches with fast moving clouds (make stuff touch).

Roger · Jun 29, 2008

I like this a lot, the colour and processing really makes an impact....the tips of those dead branches would have been nice to include, just a nitpick

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danjchau · Jun 29, 2008

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poppy67 · Jun 29, 2008

Very powerful image i'm loving it!

NJMAN · Jun 29, 2008

I agree with everyone else. Great image! However, it looks a bit too centered for me, and I would love to see more of that dramatic sky fill the top part of the frame. Maybe even a wider angle than this would be suitable. Just my 2 cents.

NJ

abraxas · Jun 29, 2008

Thanks everyone.

DadeCountyAnthony · Jun 29, 2008

What a great image. I love the colors.

abraxas · Jun 30, 2008

DadeCountyAnthony said:
What a great image. I love the colors.

Thanks.

Senor Hound · Jun 30, 2008

This is a very newbie remark (but I'm trying to learn what I like in order to replicate, and this helps me

), but I like the wide angle... distortion? (whatever you call it where vertical straight lines aren't straight in wide-angle shots) to the sky and ground. It makes them very vast-looking. As always your post-processing work is great, as you've really gotten every last drop of saturation and detail from the photo without it feeling processed.

Thanks again for sharing your great work. Please tell me this isn't where you stay when you go out to the desert for monsoon season.

abraxas · Jun 30, 2008

Senor Hound said:
This is a very newbie remark (but I'm trying to learn what I like in order to replicate, and this helps me ), but I like the wide angle... distortion? (whatever you call it where vertical straight lines aren't straight in wide-angle shots) to the sky and ground. It makes them very vast-looking. As always your post-processing work is great, as you've really gotten every last drop of saturation and detail from the photo without it feeling processed.

Thanks again for sharing your great work. Please tell me this isn't where you stay when you go out to the desert for monsoon season.

Thanks. I have to admit, and this is what I like about posting from my own personal standpoint, that it seems as soon as I stick something up to share, I see all kinds of mess ups. This one, I'm very happy with everything except for the ~skritch~ of the clouds on the right side.

Unfortunately, in my chunk of the desert we have no monsoons- at best we get a storm or two in August. We're under a different weather pattern than Arizona. We suffer for the rain shadows of the Sierra Nevada and the Transverse Ranges (running east-west, north of the Southern California Basins). Our winters tend to get a bit more moisture I believe than the Sonoran though, often with snow, and occasionally up to two feet of it.

I just got back from a trip up to my friend's ranch about 60 miles from here out in the hardcore desert. It was 112 up there today. He has a nice natural hot springs feeding into a couple concrete pools where I like to get a good soak. Other than a quickie barbeque and trying to get some decent sunset shots, I spent the afternoon and early evening (about 4 hours) in the tanks. After sunset I watched the bats bombard the water and nighthawks hunt the bats. I love the way the desert comes alive after dark. Walking the 300-400 yards back to the cabin, there was a bzillion stars in the sky. It was so quiet. I got back and the ladies were packed and ready to go home. I felt fine, but they weren't ready to spend the night in what the thermometer said was 100. There was only one fan

But anyhow- I have a nice little camper shell on my truck when I do go out and the rain starts acting up.