UPDATE!
This photograph will be on display at the Smithsonian "World View" Exhibit from July 1st, 2009 through January 17th, 2010 in the first floor of the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall in Washington DC.
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Over the past week we've been in Moab Utah -- base camp for
photography expeditions to the vast areas in Southeast Utah. The shoot
is over and I'm sitting in the Salt Lake City airport in the 3rd hour
of a 4 hour layout. If you don't already know, when you travel to
obscure places and the last leg of your journey is in a twin engine
turbo prop the odds of getting good flight connection times, with
limited layover, is slim to none ... this trip is no exception.
I've not yet gone through all the imagery I took on this trip but there were a few I jumped forward too in anticipation that there might be something good. You know, that feeling you get when you take a shot and you think to yourself "I think I got it!". I did that a couple times on this trip...the rest of the time I was saying things like "why the hell did I hike 3 miles for this??" or... "I think this is a cruel joke of the National Park Service...surely they could have built the road another mile up this hill??!". Actually, all the exercise and adventure is great, I'm just whining. (but damn the hike to Delicate Arch is a biotch!)
Ok, to the shot -- this is an Ancestrial Pueblo Kiva (commonly known as, but mislabeled, Anasazi) in Mesa Verde National Park. I climbed down into the kiva with my fisheye lens, plastered myself as flat against the wall as humanly possible and fired off a few exposures of this scene. This is a small space, about 12 feet wide, perfectly round and entirely lit only by the hole in the ceiling. I could stand up inside, just barely (I'm 6' 1" tall). A kiva, for those of you that don't know, is a place for ceremony and worship by ancient indians -- no women allowed. Designed with a firepit in the middle, the shaft to the right is an air vent. The escaping heat from the fire creates a vacuum, drawing in fresh air through the vent. The short rock wall is a barrier to divert the fresh air...otherwise a comfortable and safe kiva would quickly become an uncomfortable...well, unsafe kiva becuase it would be totally ON FIRE!!
http://www.lighttheexpedition.com
utdesertduo, HeterodonPA, and 160 other people added this photo to their favorites.
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Snuffy 53 months ago | reply
Traveling the world.
*World Trekker*
Please tag your photo with
"World Trekker"
bobo_kwan 53 months ago | reply
A+++ Grade Photo
Dave Palugyay [deleted] 53 months ago | reply
Very very interesting shot!
I agree, this is definitely a
If you have not already done so, please add your photo to www.flickr.com/groups/supershot/
After you add it to the group pool, please tag this photo as a SuperShot
Hartmut Bardtke 53 months ago | reply
This Beautiful lmage was viewed in:
"Quality Pixels"
And your pic deserves a lot more love!!!
Post One...Award Two
ENTER A PHOTO CONTEST NOW!!!
Luis Marín 53 months ago | reply
Amazing light captured.
Congratulations!
--
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/stephenoachs/popular-interesting (?)
A time for refreshing 52 months ago | reply
I congratulate you! thank you for sharing such a fine complimentary letter with us all.....sometimes we have to do what we have to do to get the project we need done...done.
I don't know if you know of the story of the two young women held in captivity by Talibans.....but they are missionaries. I heard their testimony on TV and was impressed at the boldness of the one woman to make the extra effort that she did.
When the helicopter was looking for them in the field at night...they saw that the helicopter might miss them....so one woman said to the other...do you have a match in your purse? (she wanted to ignite a fire to let the helicopter see them more easily)... the other one said 'no'. There evidentally was a great burden (and perhaps a divine word cause of the emergency) for she proceeded to demand, "you must have a match" and then yanked the purse from the other woman and started going thru the purse herself....and sure enough there was a matchbook! That unexpected behaviour of the one woman to the instance of taking charge of the situation led to the helicopter finding them and rescueing them!
www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?id=12171
and this is a sentence from another media press report about the fire they started:
The lanterns were too dim for the helicopters to spot. With the choppers thumping in distance, ransom-seeking villagers reportedly heading toward them, and fearful that hostile Taliban troops were still in the area, the increasingly panicked women tore off their headscarves and set them on fire. Everyone then began ripping off outer clothing to add to the blaze.
so it is you may have behaved like a child but there was ultimately a divine purpose for you to take this photograph....and it is so wonderful and you did have to go an extra mile (even if it was some childlike behaviour as you said above) to get it!
unicorn 81 49 months ago | reply
super !
it makes to a lot of joy her pictures to enjoy
Qba from Poland 49 months ago | reply
Absolutely stunning shot ! Woooow.....
Mascu1973 44 months ago | reply
Wow!!!! increible
warpa [deleted] 43 months ago | reply
awsome
Dan Wiklund 40 months ago | reply
Excellent lightbeam.
Heartslice 40 months ago | reply
Awesome texture and light.
tookytooky 30 months ago | reply
Superb!
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fototker 30 months ago | reply
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Photo--Graphy [deleted] 27 months ago | reply
The Picture is a dream ...
philip.shultz 23 months ago | reply
This shot is spectacular man ! I love it.
ZhouYang2011 19 months ago | reply
beautiful light
VitajuliaLee 12 months ago | reply
wow!
davidjoaquin 4 months ago | reply
perfection!
cowlishaw 2 weeks ago | reply
Wonderful Photos!