# Hot Links



## abraxas (Jan 30, 2009)

Devil's Golf Course - Death Valley


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## Slaphead (Jan 30, 2009)

Abraxas, having seen these wonderful, almost alien, landscapes that you post, I'm warming to the idea that you could, in fact, be one of the Mars Rovers 

Seriously though, I always enjoy your work, and this one is no exception.


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## LarissaPhotography (Jan 30, 2009)

Awesome shot!  Is that stuff tough to walk on?


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## Al-Wazeer (Jan 30, 2009)

really nice
really weird!


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## 93rdcurrent (Jan 30, 2009)

Another fantastic landscape. This is one of those images that would benefit tremendously by being large...


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## abraxas (Jan 30, 2009)

Slaphead said:


> Abraxas, having seen these wonderful, almost alien, landscapes that you post, I'm warming to the idea that you could, in fact, be one of the Mars Rovers
> 
> Seriously though, I always enjoy your work, and this one is no exception.



Thanks.  There's really not much else to do other than take pictures.



LarissaPhotography said:


> Awesome shot!  Is that stuff tough to walk on?



Thanks. Yes, especially out a ways from the parking lot where they get deep. These salt formations are as hard as rocks. A person's leg will break before one of these do.  The parking lot is in the middle of this wonderful mess.  The lot and the road to it were part of an old road to haul borax across the valley.  The Chinese laborers that built it had to pound it flat with sledge hammers, flat enough to roll 20-mule team wagons across it.



Al-Wazeer said:


> really nice
> really weird!



Thank you.



93rdcurrent said:


> Another fantastic landscape. This is one of those images that would benefit tremendously by being large...



I agree. There's a lot of detail in the mountains beyond as well as in the salt crystals up close.


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## Roger (Jan 30, 2009)

lovely shot, perfect b&w.


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## abraxas (Jan 30, 2009)

Thanks Roger.


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## rufus5150 (Jan 30, 2009)

Exceptional tones and execution and I agree that this might benefit from being larger.

My only criticism of this one might be that your images are always so harmonious front to back but this one ... my attention keeps jumping from the foreground patterns to the background white mountain. I generally step back (lean back) to look at your landscapes but this one seems to keep me from focusing on the image as a whole.

On the grand scheme of things, that's a minor nit pick because I'm drawn to interest points even when my attention to the image is divided.


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## Stillwater (Feb 1, 2009)

Beautiful, as always with your work.


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## myopia (Feb 2, 2009)

Very nice. Although the brightness of the foreground makes it hard to concentrate on.

edit: maybe it's just my laptop


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## abraxas (Feb 2, 2009)

Stillwater said:


> Beautiful, as always with your work.



Thank you.



rufus5150 said:


> Exceptional tones and execution and I agree that this might benefit from being larger.
> 
> My only criticism of this one might be that your images are always so harmonious front to back but this one ... my attention keeps jumping from the foreground patterns to the background white mountain. I generally step back (lean back) to look at your landscapes but this one seems to keep me from focusing on the image as a whole.
> 
> On the grand scheme of things, that's a minor nit pick because I'm drawn to interest points even when my attention to the image is divided.



Thanks for your comments.  The original size is quite nice. Due to past issues with posting any larger than 800 pixels width, this is as good as it gets.



myopia said:


> Very nice. Although the brightness of the foreground makes it hard to concentrate on.
> 
> edit: maybe it's just my laptop



Thank you.


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## invisible (Feb 2, 2009)

This has got to rank among my personal favourites from your work. 

The horizon is perfectly even, yet my eyes seem to feel that there's a slight tilt to the right. I'm guessing you didn't shoot this one perpendicular to the road but slightly looking to the left. If so, I suppose you did it to better capture the light/shadows/texture?

Really, I can't stop looking at it.


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## abraxas (Feb 2, 2009)

invisible said:


> This has got to rank among my personal favourites from your work.
> 
> The horizon is perfectly even, yet my eyes seem to feel that there's a slight tilt to the right. I'm guessing you didn't shoot this one perpendicular to the road but slightly looking to the left. If so, I suppose you did it to better capture the light/shadows/texture?
> 
> Really, I can't stop looking at it.



Cool! Thanks.

As far as I can tell, the thing is dead level.  It must be something with the bajada on the right pouring out of the canyon that gives it the look.  I had a bit of distortion from the wide angle in the center, but the valley is so flat it didn't seem to be much of a problem.  I triple checked it before I saved the result.  I tried to cath the radiating shadows from the left horizon to the right and toward the bottom, using the salt flats to lead to the left and the clouds and mountains back to the right. If my little strategy worked, the viewer should be quite familiar with pretty much the entire shot before moving on.


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## invisible (Feb 2, 2009)

Then it has to be because the left-hand side is darker than the right-hand side, maybe due to the way the light hits the salt formations I guess. The effect is kind of Escher-y, gradually going from darker to lighter, left to right.

That, or I am just losing it.


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## abraxas (Feb 3, 2009)

Too tired to split the hair right now.  I'll check it again on the original before I put it in my print gallery.  Spicy tomato juice, an antacid and off to bed for me right now.


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