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Mesa Arch Morning
3rd PlaceMesa Arch Morning
rjkstesch


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Ansel Adams II (Advanced Editing VII*)
Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.0G IF-ED
Location: Canyonlands NP, Utah
Date: Jan 17, 2009
Aperture: f/22
ISO: 100
Galleries: Landscape, Black and White
Date Uploaded: Jan 19, 2009

 I wanted to share the SW desert as a subject that Adams would have shot. The wide panorama, plus the detail of the arch, and the wonderful lighting all worked together to make this shot a possible contender. I hope others enjoy it.

Used Photomatrix to convert 3 exposures, tone mapped and opened in PS4. Cloned out all the awful dust on my sensor. Transfer to B/W, Levels, S/H, Curve, size and sharpened with PKSharpener. Saved for web

Expected 6.2
Hoped 7.1 - just because I'd like a new high score ;-)

++++++++++++++++++
Whahoooo! I really didn't expect a ribbon, even with the 7+ score. After 2 7+ scores without a ribbon and seeing the high scores from the last Adams challenge, I was hoping for an HM. Thanks for all the votes and interest. Thanks, too, to Zeuss for suggesting a trip to Yosemite which led me to Moab and the Arch. Here is the color HDR , just tone mapped & dust removed.

Statistics
Place: 3 out of 219
Avg (all users): 7.0458
Avg (commenters): 7.8333
Avg (participants): 6.8929
Avg (non-participants): 7.1282
Views since voting: 5626
Views during voting: 420
Votes: 240
Comments: 48
Favorites: 12 (view)

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AuthorThread
 02/02/2009 01:02:20 PM
Very nice Becky, nice detail. Makes a wonderful B&W
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/31/2009 05:37:55 AM
Congrats on your ribbon, beautiful shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2009 02:41:09 PM
This is stunningly beautiful. You are so blessed to have this magnificent scenery. Huge congrats on your ribbon, Becky.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2009 12:30:55 PM
VERY nice, Becky! Really makes it worth getting up so early! Wonderful to see the detail in the arch and that amazing light reflecting all around. As usual, You ROCK!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 07:50:01 PM
Beautiful shot(s) Becky! Great job with the HDR. I never made it out to Mesa Arch when I was down last time so I'll have to put it on the list for next time. Congrats on the ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 06:26:49 PM
Congrats Becki, good to see you back on the front page again
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 06:02:36 PM
Amazing! just wow. ANd the color one is absolulty stunning as well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 05:45:29 PM
For some reason, I keep thinking "Godzilla vs. Ansel Adams"
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 03:19:11 PM
Gave this a 9 as i thought it was most-Ansel-like and just totally beautiful... congrats on your 2nd ribbon, more to come i'm sure!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 01:53:57 PM
Congratulations, Becky!!! Amazing image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 01:49:39 PM
Nice job!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:44:18 PM
Lovely in both B&W *and* color - a feat in itself! Congrats on the ribbon!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:37:23 PM
Lovely image - the valley below and the details available for us to see is outstanding. Congrats on the ribbon
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:33:43 PM
Yay, congrats on the ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 10:21:38 AM
Excellent capture, congrats on your third place win!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 07:47:13 AM
Very nice, congratulations.

Mac,
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 07:46:35 AM
WOW!! This is absolutely breathttaking! Ansel Adams-esque inDEED! Congratulations on winning a ribbon for this most definite award worthy work of art.

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 03:52:18 AM
Congrats on the yellow ribbon, great work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 02:58:51 AM
Congrats on the ribbon and a wonderful image Becky!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 02:36:06 AM
congratulations, this photo is in my preferred...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 02:20:24 AM
well done , brilliant shot and conversion. Congrats on the ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 01:48:56 AM
BAM! This is fantastic! CONGRATS!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:51:40 AM
Great tonal range, nice composition, and a great 3rd place finish in a challenge with so many great shots.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:47:10 AM
Good Job Becky! I expected it to ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:38:38 AM
Congratulations Becky!! I know exactly how you felt with two 7+ scores and that didn't ribbon. I love this image and thought this would actually take first.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:30:54 AM
Congrats Becky!!! Beautifully done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:28:20 AM
I have been in that exact spot, what people who have never been don't realize is that if you were to walk through that arch you would fall 2000 feet straight down! You pulled alot of range out of those three images. Congrats on the yellow.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:16:42 AM
Great image! One of my top picks to win. I admire your technique very much here. Congrats on the ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:08:10 AM
the most stunning of the challenge, IMO

What a wonderful piece of art you have rendered here, and in the presence of such natural beauty!

You are so LUCKY to have been in such an amazing place..I am very jealous!

congrats!

ETA: PLEASE also post the original!

Message edited by author 2009-01-28 00:08:52.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/27/2009 11:56:21 PM
Beautfiul shot. It kind of looks abstract which is something I love.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2009 08:49:18 AM
Nicely composed, good range of tones, and a wonderful scene with nice light, particularly on the far background.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/26/2009 08:41:20 PM
Great perspective. Would like to see this one in color.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/24/2009 11:43:19 PM
This is a nice capture of this familiar landmark. It's the first I've seen in B&W.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/24/2009 12:03:45 PM
This is one of my favs.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/22/2009 08:45:42 PM
The only image I gave a 10 in this challenge. Awesome perspective, just an overall amazing photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/22/2009 07:56:23 PM
Wow! AA would like this very much. Great job of enhancing details in the shadows. Super control of highlights. Great tonal range throughout. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/22/2009 08:37:26 AM
Without the title explaining there's an arch, this photo has a very alein feeling to it. Awesome.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 09:30:18 PM
There's a LOT to like in this image, but it hasn't reached its fullest potential. I have basically two issues:

1. Overall the landscape tones are muddy, local area contrast is needed. Not a lot more, but some. If you look at it analytically, you'll realize that there's nearly as much contrast on the back of the arch as there is on the landscape itself, and that's just unnatural.

2. There's a basic sense of the two primary backlit portions of the image (the foreground and the arch) being "outlined" by lighter tonalities: see how the lightest portion of the near landscape is following the outline of the foreground rocks? And ditto the sky above the arch. It leaves the impression that you were dodging the arch and the rocks, and the dodging overlapped into the landscape and the sky. Even if this isn't the case, that's what it looks like, and it's a flaw, although not a seriously disturbing one. That is to say, the haloing is diffuse enough to not be totally distracting.

Withal, a strong entry and one of my good-scoring choices.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 06:11:09 PM
Great 3D quality to it!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 02:42:48 PM
Nice! I hate to rate something with a vote highter then my own iamge but hey I can admite when someone puts together a better image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 10:59:07 AM
you may have overworked the arch but the scene below is fabulous
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 10:06:12 AM
I'm smelling a ribbon. Excellent image - detail is amazing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 02:28:30 AM
You are SO lucky to have gone there!!! Is this Sedona? Gorgeous shot. Looks a bit oversharpened on the left cliff face.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 02:24:23 AM
No fair you guys who get to shoot the sort of scenery Adams was famous for. Nice shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 01:31:52 AM
Fantastisch kühl. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 01:25:47 AM
yep, here we go! First one i've seen that gets at Ansel
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 12:23:56 AM
fantastic! that's one of those "wow!" images.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/21/2009 12:17:56 AM
Wow! Very nice composition. Good luck 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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