# Desert Plains



## abraxas (Feb 3, 2008)

Some days I just like walking into it.


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## Renair (Feb 4, 2008)

Very nice....


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## abraxas (Feb 4, 2008)

Renair said:


> Very nice....



Thank you.


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## plentygood (Feb 4, 2008)

This one is really nice too.  My only nitpick is the signpost or whatever it is about a third of the way from the left.

You seriously take some awesome photographs from what I've seen.


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## abraxas (Feb 4, 2008)

plentygood said:


> This one is really nice too.  My only nitpick is the signpost or whatever it is about a third of the way from the left.
> 
> You seriously take some awesome photographs from what I've seen.



Thanks!- The glob to the center left is a Joshua tree.  If I'm in doubt, I tend to leave it alone.  I ended up walking out closer to it, but couldn't fit the radical clouds in the shot with the rainbow.


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## spiffybeth (Feb 4, 2008)

stunning.


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## abraxas (Feb 6, 2008)

spiffybeth said:


> stunning.



Thanks Beth!


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## Mesoam (Feb 6, 2008)

great shot! the only thing that slightly bothers me is the thing sticking up to the right of the rainbow...nothing a little heal tool can't fix if you wanted though


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## abraxas (Feb 8, 2008)

Mesoam said:


> great shot! the only thing that slightly bothers me is the thing sticking up to the right of the rainbow...nothing a little heal tool can't fix if you wanted though



yep.  looks better now.  thanks.


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## Jermz_01 (Feb 8, 2008)

wait, wait... the rainbow is not post-process??  awesome!  neat picture!


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## IndieMe (Feb 8, 2008)

Nice shot!

The photo is going to the right a little.

Really sick shot either way.


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## Arch (Feb 8, 2008)

great shot :thumbup:


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## abraxas (Feb 8, 2008)

Jermz_01 said:


> wait, wait... the rainbow is not post-process??  awesome!  neat picture!



I'm not sure I understand, but thanks. It was an incredible day to be out.



IndieMe said:


> Nice shot!
> 
> The photo is going to the right a little.
> 
> Really sick shot either way.



Cool.  Kind of a tricky composition for me.  I know it may look a bit subtle, but I tried getting kind of an 'X' shape going with the shadows and what-not along with the clouds and rainbow.  Thank you.



Arch said:


> great shot :thumbup:



Thanks Arch!


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## MarcusM (Feb 8, 2008)

this is an hdr right?


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## abraxas (Feb 9, 2008)

MarcusM said:


> this is an hdr right?



Why would you ask something like that?


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## Trenton Romulox (Feb 9, 2008)

Because people are HDR-crazed. 

This is a really great capture, Abraxas. And if this says something about your picture, I was enjoying the shot for the three seconds before I even noticed the rainbow HAHA. Then it went from 'ooooh' to 'Aaaahhh!'


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## GeorgeUK (Feb 9, 2008)

Wow! Well done. :thumbup: Wish there was material like that to work with here.


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## GeorgeUK (Feb 9, 2008)

Wow! Well done, wish there was material like that to work with here.


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## abraxas (Feb 9, 2008)

GeorgeUK said:


> Wow! Well done. :thumbup: Wish there was material like that to work with here.



Thanks-  I've seen some beautiful scenery produced from out your way though.  



Trenton Romulox said:


> Because people are HDR-crazed.
> 
> This is a really great capture, Abraxas. And if this says something about your picture, I was enjoying the shot for the three seconds before I even noticed the rainbow HAHA. Then it went from 'ooooh' to 'Aaaahhh!'



Thanks Trenton.  I suppose I shouldn't be mean, it just seems that sometimes the technique is used to determine whether they like a shot or not, or at least as an excuse.  As a reformed 'purist' I guess I can understand that point of view, but I changed once I found the 'pure' shots weren't reflecting either what I remembered seeing or felt when made the shot.

Ok, so...  the original version I posted of the shot was a 5-exposure HDR from .jpg files.  I wasn't happy with the sky at all.  Since I don't auto bracket and prefer to use as long as an exposure as possible with the tiniest aperture I can, the clouds came out very 'fizzed.'  Sometimes the effect works, most times it doesn't.  I've been wanting to try a fix for this, so I took the best exposure for the sky and took the RAW file and reprocessed it and and overlaid the existing foreground on the new image.

The photo initially, most likely could have been produced from a single RAW and was probably an unnecessary roundabout workflow, but a learning experience that adds a new tool to my box.


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## MarcusM (Feb 9, 2008)

abraxas said:


> Why would you ask something like that?



well, I wasn't trying to offend, I simply like to know how people captured great shots. It is a great photo - I just noticed it looked like everything was exposed correctly, so I was wondering if it was an hdr.

Was that a rude question to ask? I don't know why if it was, especially being that it is an HDR.


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## Alex_B (Feb 9, 2008)

wohaa! what a crazy combination of colours and elements.

the only thing which bothers me is that the sky looks rather muddy/dirty near the horizon in the right half. But one cannot have it all probably


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## abraxas (Feb 9, 2008)

MarcusM said:


> well, I wasn't trying to offend, I simply like to know how people captured great shots. It is a great photo - I just noticed it looked like everything was exposed correctly, so I was wondering if it was an hdr.
> 
> Was that a rude question to ask? I don't know why if it was, especially being that it is an HDR.



Sorry, some days I'm just an asshole.

& Thank you.


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## abraxas (Feb 9, 2008)

Alex_B said:


> wohaa! what a crazy combination of colours and elements.
> 
> the only thing which bothers me is that the sky looks rather muddy/dirty near the horizon in the right half. But one cannot have it all probably



It was kind of a busy day for both me and the desert.  The muddy area on the right is a dust storm blowing through.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=110659

The alternating high winds, dust and sun and rain and wet sand I ended the day standing in along with feeling a bit squeezy even before I went out led to the last few sleepless nights of barely being able to breath and what appears to be some type of crappy, near-vicious attitude.  I'm thinking I best go lay down for another day or two.


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## NJMAN (Feb 9, 2008)

This is one of your best ever IMO!  Excellent work as usual. :thumbup: :thumbup:

NJ


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## abraxas (Feb 10, 2008)

NJMAN said:


> This is one of your best ever IMO!  Excellent work as usual. :thumbup: :thumbup:
> 
> NJ



Thanks.  I'm hoping the wildflower bloom will be good this year.  I got some ideas.


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## lockwood81 (Feb 10, 2008)

Wow, beautiful capture.


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## cameramike (Feb 10, 2008)

mind blowing shot man, love it


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## MarcusM (Feb 10, 2008)

abraxas said:


> Sorry, some days I'm just an asshole.
> 
> & Thank you.



Don't worry about it. It can be really hard to tell people's tones on the internet, which is really one big downfall of the communication aspect online. I could see how the way I typed the question could seem like I was brash, but I wasn't trying to be.


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## Terri Walsh (Feb 10, 2008)

WOW!  Just beautiful!


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## abraxas (Feb 11, 2008)

lockwood81 said:


> Wow, beautiful capture.





cameramike said:


> mind blowing shot man, love it





Terri Walsh said:


> WOW!  Just beautiful!



Thanks everyone. I appreciate your comments.


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## abraxas (Feb 11, 2008)

As a side note that may be of interest to any desert rats that may be lurking-

I'm using this on my Creosote bush scrub habitat page on my site;

http://mojavedesert.net/desert-habitats/creosote-bush-scrub.html

Pretty cool doc-shot I think although it is little tiny.  

Creosote bush, the darker, larger plants in the shot (about mid-shot and back) are thought to be some of the oldest living things in the world.  There's one in particular (King Clone) that through cloning itself is thought to be between 9,000-11,500 years old.  

More about the creosote bush here;

http://mojavedesert.net/plants/shrubs/creosote.html


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## duncanp (Feb 11, 2008)

Wooooah great picture


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## mdw (Feb 11, 2008)

Either way, it is a great shot with everything in it to add interest to the picture! Beautiful place!

gr,
Roger


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## Rocky (Feb 11, 2008)

abraxas said:


> As a side note that may be of interest to any desert rats that may be lurking-


 
I count myself a member of that group, of the Chihuahuan part of the family. 

The smell of greasewood after a rain... Nothing like it!


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## Mesoam (Feb 11, 2008)

:thumbup:



abraxas said:


> yep.  looks better now.  thanks.


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## abraxas (Feb 13, 2008)

duncanp said:


> Wooooah great picture



Thanks



mdw said:


> Either way, it is a great shot with everything in it to add interest to the picture! Beautiful place!
> 
> gr,
> Roger



Thank you-  I really like it myself, it seems that if it were any different and didn't have everything it has, it'd suck.



Rocky said:


> I count myself a member of that group, of the Chihuahuan part of the family.
> 
> The smell of greasewood after a rain... Nothing like it!



It's a good group.  I'm sure you know this, but I'll use it as an opportunity to reveal the secret to the rest of the world; If you miss the smell in a dry season, just cup your hands around the leaves, rub and take a whiff.  Smells just like the rain.



Mesoam said:


> :thumbup:



:thumbup:


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## MissMia (Feb 13, 2008)

Awesome capture! How did I miss this one?


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## Antarctican (Feb 13, 2008)

Missed this 'til I saw it as a PotM nom and came looking for it. Wow, what an awesome shot!!! The colours really grab you, the rainbow is so vibrant, and you really feel drawn into the shot. Incredibly well done.


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## NJMAN (Feb 13, 2008)

abraxas said:


> Thanks. I'm hoping the wildflower bloom will be good this year. I got some ideas.


 
Great!  Cant wait to see.


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## abraxas (Feb 14, 2008)

MissMia said:


> Awesome capture! How did I miss this one?



Thanks!



Antarctican said:


> Missed this 'til I saw it as a PotM nom and came looking for it. Wow, what an awesome shot!!! The colours really grab you, the rainbow is so vibrant, and you really feel drawn into the shot. Incredibly well done.



Thank you Anti.  



NJMAN said:


> Great!  Cant wait to see.



I'm very anxious.  I'm trying Death Valley in two weeks and have a couple other locations lined up in March and April as well as some renegade forays and sorties in between.  The 4x4 is running great and I'm hoping I'm reaching some kind of artistic something or other.  With the economy absolutely and totally sucking I have nothing better to do.  My glass is finally half-full.


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