Shiprock, NM

ShutteredEye · Jan 5, 2006

Just got back from Farmington, on the high desert of New Mexico where my parents live and I grew up. About 30 miles from my parents house, on the Navajo Reservation, is the core of an extinct volcano, called Shiprock. It is widely viewed as a sacred site by the Navajo Nation, and outsiders are not reeeeaaally welcome. We got up before dawn to catch the sunrise on the rock, and actually got right up to the base of it before turning around out of respect. The power of this place is incredible and as proud as I am of the images I captured, they don't even come CLOSE to conveying what it was like in person.

I don't fancy myself much of a landscape photog, but here are my attempts. These are straight out of the camera with only a small (5%) contrast boost and a resize. The color is untouched.

JTHphoto · Jan 5, 2006

wow, beautiful shots, you captured it very well, i like them all. i especially love the warm sunrise light on the rock in the first two... and the composition of the third! :thumbup:

I don't fancy myself much of a landscape photog, but here are my attempts. These are straight out of the camera with only a small (5%) contrast boost and a resize. The color is untouched.

you better start fancying... i could see #1 on the cover of Outdoor Photographer!! :thumbup:

ShutteredEye · Jan 5, 2006

JTHphoto said:
wow, beautiful shots, you captured it very well, i like them all. i especially love the warm sunrise light on the rock in the first two... and the composition of the third! :thumbup:

you better start fancying... i could see #1 on the cover of Outdoor Photographer!! :thumbup:

Thanks JTH!

woodsac · Jan 5, 2006

Neat place. The sky adds a lot to these photos. Good job.

bjfowle · Jan 5, 2006

really nice shots

Luciano · Jan 5, 2006

amazing photos .. I like the last one the most, natural hue?
very nice

LaFoto · Jan 5, 2006

The changing hues on this must be as intense (and equally fascinating) as those on Ulury (Ayer's Rock) in Australia, I would think. Not surprising that such spectacular landmarks are considered sacred by the native people, is it? I appreciate your respect.

ShutteredEye · Jan 5, 2006

woodsac said:
Neat place. The sky adds a lot to these photos. Good job.

Yeah, the NM sky is pretty amazing. I have some shots of the sunrise I haven't processed yet. Need to get onto that.

bjfowle said:
really nice shots

Well howdy neighbor. Thanks!

Luciano said:
amazing photos .. I like the last one the most, natural hue?
very nice

LOL, that's the thing. They are ALL natural, the color really was that intense, I didn't boost saturation or play with hue at all.

LaFoto said:
The changing hues on this must be as intense (and equally fascinating) as those on Ulury (Ayer's Rock) in Australia, I would think. Not surprising that such spectacular landmarks are considered sacred by the native people, is it? I appreciate your respect.

I haven't heard of Ayer's Rock, I'll have to google it! I was amazed at how bright the rock got. We had literally 10 mins as the sun came up over the horizon and then slipped behind a cloud. In fact #2 up there shows the sun going behind the cloud, that's why the rock was dim.