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I found this fantastic area of eroded sandstone while hiking the trail up to Devil's Bridge, near Sedona in Arizona, USA.
My wife Liz and I were out in the midday sun (mad dogs and English persons come to mind!) on one of our regular walks while on holiday in Sedona and it was hot!
Worse than the heat (for me the photographer anyway) was the intense sunlight which caused me no end of contrast problems while trying to photograph the dramatic scenery in this part of the world.
However, this particular patch of sandstone was hidden in the shade under an overhang, and lit with soft reflected light from the surrounding rocks which imparted a beautiful red glow.
If the sun had been shining directly on this rock I couldn't have made this image as the contrast would have been too great, blowing out highlights, blocking up shadows and bleaching the wonderful colour out of the sandstone.
I took about a dozen different images of this patch of rock, refining my composition as I went along, with this image giving the most interesting combination of lines, patterns and textures.
Filename - rock 01.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 29mm
Exposure - 1/40sec @ f8, ISO400
Location - Sedona, Arizona
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Lens stabilisation used to prevent camera shake.
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.