Santa Monica Mountains, Field and sky
My attempt at a minimalist landscape, but maybe the cloud makes it not minimalist?
I struggled with the editing of this shot. Tough lighting with the bright sky underexposing the foreground. I had to brighten it up a bit using DRI techniques. I think I'm happier with it now. If you don't apply the gradients in the right spot you end up with a bright patch at the horizon that looks unnatural. A GND filter on the camera would have been even better, but I'm not sure I'd have the patience to fiddle around with one of those while I'm on these walks. I end up having to run after Petra and Matthew as they walk on ahead.
Taken on a short hike to a nearby waterfall in the Santa Monica Mountains, April, 2006.
Comments and faves
Archist, meowhous, PhotoJoe09, | Andreas |, and 123 other people added this photo to their favorites.
peejaybird (74 months ago | reply)
Great cloud. Works really well with a little meadow in it like that, too.
galileosong (74 months ago | reply)
Gorgeous- I love it.
juanmiguel [deleted] (74 months ago | reply)
Wonderful!!!
Archist (74 months ago | reply)
Very Lovely!
meowhous (74 months ago | reply)
Spooky too!
macrotim (74 months ago | reply)
Not sure what minimalist is, but this sure is a cool cloud!
joyzgr8 (74 months ago | reply)
Very Magritte.
cmrowell (74 months ago | reply)
Thanks all.
The minimalist landscapes group has some strict rules regarding what they consider to be minimalistic. Not a lot of elements or colors and only a few lines. I think they struggle to keep the photos to that rule. This one qualifies much better than some of the stuff I'm seeing in there. I saw it as a challenge, so I've been looking for scenes that might fit that group. Plus, this cloud was cool.
Strange that there isn't a Magritte-like group. There is one for Monet-like photos. I'm too lazy to start another group. Maybe I will.
Dot Moss [deleted] (74 months ago | reply)
Very Beautiful, A Fave!
prokoudine (74 months ago | reply)
Nice shadow on the grass!
Raggs56 (74 months ago | reply)
Very pretty!
PhotoJoe09 (74 months ago | reply)
Great shot, love the clouds! :)
(What's your style?)
mike nl [deleted] (74 months ago | reply)
Beautiful effect! Great work!
Thanks for adding to ThE sKy'S tHe LiMiT
blue_home_bandit (74 months ago | reply)
like the affects
brucenotbrian (73 months ago | reply)
Very cool. I love shots like this, because they really require you to be in the right place at the right time. Hmmm....is there a Flickr group for that?
cmrowell (73 months ago | reply)
Thanks. Right place at the right time? The Magic Moments group probably qualifies. Yes, this was something where I just happened to turn around while we were walking and noticed this cloud hanging there. It didn't hang around for long. I have a few other shots of it from a different vantage point, but none of them are as interesting as this one.
www.flickr.com/groups/magicmoments/
LAKAN346 (73 months ago | reply)
The clouds seem SO close to the ground. I imagine that one can almost touch them if they tried. Nice photo.. :o)
Nicki817 (72 months ago | reply)
Beautiful & fantastic!! Wonderfully done. :-)
Mike Pedroncelli (72 months ago | reply)
Missed this one before. Maybe you weren't a contact then. Sweet.
I like the dark horizon. Is it from the gradient technique or was there a shadow?
cmrowell (72 months ago | reply)
Thanks Mike.. I have to admit that the dark horizion is mostly due to gradient technique. I want to say there was some shadow there to begin with, but it was not anywhere nearly as well defined before the gradient was applied. I essentially pulled the shadow back towards the horizon. That was another reason it was so difficult to edit this photo. The shadow looked completely unreal if the gradient wasn't placed correctly. You start to recongize these tricks in other's photos after a while. I'm not suprised you noticed it.
sketchySteven (72 months ago | reply)
This is slick. Great job. Wow wee.
Annadriel (70 months ago | reply)
Great Photo, really nice sky and nice vivid green grass :)
Mark Griffith (69 months ago | reply)
Nice shot
--
Found in your popular shots. (?)
Jason (Audrey's Dad) (68 months ago | reply)
I can almost see the shadow moving across the grass. Excellent tone. I wish I had shot in that meadow at the end of Wendy when I lived in NP. Moved to OR last fall.
cmrowell (68 months ago | reply)
Thanks. I have a few shots from the area at the end of S. Wendy. N. Wendy near the freeway is being turned into an office complex.
A few shots at the end of this set are from there:
www.flickr.com/photos/cmrowell/sets/720575941 23263962/
This hike started and ended there:
www.flickr.com/photos/cmrowell/sets/720575941 08805048/
Routavelo (67 months ago | reply)
Beautiful photo. I like especially the shadow of the cloud.
kuba kowalski (63 months ago | reply)
the cloud looks like its coming out of the picture. you did good with the lighting on the horizon.
Simon Grenfell (54 months ago | reply)
i agree with these comments. its amazing how sometimes what you intend to shoot is not what you get (mostly). this is a great shot and excellent colouring and the clouds are great. cool
cmrowell (54 months ago | reply)
Thanks. I'm happy I was able to coax enough out of the foreground.
jeremy! (52 months ago | reply)
nice
Tynny ;] (52 months ago | reply)
Amazing ;)
cmrowell (52 months ago | reply)
Thanks again everyone. How did I only just realize that I had a typo in the title of this? Fixed it. Better late than never.
Anthony Thomas [aka wabberjocky] (51 months ago | reply)
Your photo is a work of art, please consider adding to our Group …
Sky as Canvas
(Open Membership ~ Post 1 ~ Comment 1 ~ Invite 1)
Please Tag: "SkyAsCanvas"
veenii (51 months ago | reply)
its really beautifullll...............
agustingianni [deleted] (51 months ago | reply)
Your photo is a work of art, please consider adding to our Group …
Sky as Canvas
(Open Membership ~ Post 1 ~ Comment 2 ~ Invite 1)
Please Tag: "SkyAsCanvas"
herculanopinto (51 months ago | reply)
You are invited to display your image in:
Super Photos
stevieboyuk (51 months ago | reply)
great shot, thanks for your tips
Kai Livingston (50 months ago | reply)
Cool & Fave!
Extra Medium (48 months ago | reply)
dude, almost 13k hits???
galileosong (48 months ago | reply)
Just amazing what an impact this photo has had.
cmrowell (48 months ago | reply)
Yeah, how did that happen? It is my most interesting shot. Although, this one of Anza Borrego has more favorites:
flickr.com/photos/cmrowell/110158000/
I finally went over 100k views this last week, too. Thanks everyone.
David Sedlmayer (48 months ago | reply)
gorgeous!
Dimitri Depaepe (47 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The Moulin Rouge - Invite Only (+15 FAVES) - COMMENT ON 2, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
gagzsingh26 (47 months ago | reply)
terrific view
Célia Roque (46 months ago | reply)
Amazing photo!!!
;)
sleepless721 (46 months ago | reply)
I would like to make a clip for my friend who has got very sick and place it on YouTube so that he can watch it. Can I include this photo in the clip?
cmrowell (45 months ago | reply)
Thanks again everyone. Oops, forgot about your question sleepless721. I was going to send you an f-mail about it. Using the image is ok. I assume it will be a small low-res copy of it in the video.
[SuperBem.SuperMara] [deleted] (45 months ago | reply)
Oi! Sou administrador de um grupo chamado THEORIES OF THE UNIVERSE... (Mundo dos Sonhos/World of Dreams) e nós adoraríamos ter isto adicionado ao grupo!
pearlofafrika (43 months ago | reply)
absolutely love it
sophie.addison (43 months ago | reply)
Hey there Chris, Sophie here :)
I created a group for photographers who agreed to be part of the MSWalk book project. This will most likely make it a little easier to get questions/answers/updates around...
The group is private to keep all contact information private. See you there!
Super Cities Walk 2009 - Addison Team