Searching for Arches, a photo from California, West

Photographer's Note

An arch points the way to Lone Pine Peak

Prior to our recent TrekEarth summit in Lee Vining, Peter Boehringer and I met up for a sunrise shoot in the Alabama Hills outside of the small southern Eastern Sierra town of Lone Pine.

Even if you've never been to the Alabama Hills you may have seen them without knowing as over the years they've provided the location for many Western films in addition to numerous car commercials and advertisements. In fact there's an unpaved road running through the area called Movie Road.

The Hills, which are actually more like large granite boulder piles, are a nice light orange-like color and sit beneath the massive wall that is the Eastern Sierra Mountains. The abrupt rise of the mountains (from 4K ft to over 14K ft) behind the Alabama Hills is part of the allure the landscape.

The Alabama Hills are riddled with fascinating boulder shapes and if you take the time to explore them, you will find several arches varying in sizes. The arch pictured is one of the larger ones I have seen here although I sense you could spend many days here and not find them all.

The composition here would not have been my first choice since there are some "access" issues with this arch. The arch is very narrow and tall and does not provide a means of climbing up to it. But the opening of the arch, if you could climb up to it or lean into it from another rock, would provide a great framed view of Mt Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous US. Here, I had to settle for an exaggerated foreground shot of the arch with Lone Pine Peak, which rises over 12K ft in the background.

Regards,
Doug

delic, gabrielpat, jwmunro, gunbud, derek3755, pboehringer, plimrn, Photo65Net, bakes888, Davidwh, bostankorkulugu, xuaxo, jmcl, keribar, Greg1949 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

devimeuxbe (58557) 2007-06-06 11:48

Bonjur Douglas
he POV is very nice, like throught a needle.
The contrasts are interesting also.Excellent picture for this beautifull landscape
Bertrand

tulemarcius (10) 2007-06-06 11:54

La composition et les couleurs sont superbes!

[2]

tauosu (53) 2007-06-06 12:07

Nice photo, love the sky and colors. One Minus is a shadow of something on the rocks near the center bottom of the photo, but its not a big minus thou :P

[2]

delic (6735) 2007-06-06 12:08

Hello Douglas,
Great composition, and contrast between foreground and background elements. Never had a chance to visit Alabama Hills, and should consider next time. Regards,
Hakan

fayeulle (27827) 2007-06-06 12:44

Hi Douglas
A very nice picture for this unknown natural arch. Very good note.
Cheers
JP

stevesieren (787) 2007-06-06 12:53

Good composition Doug with the circumstances given. You left out the pain sometimes involved in photographing this arch in this rugged terrain. The rock is granite or sandstone is very rough and tears up you hands.

gabrielpat (7163) 2007-06-06 15:05

hi Douglas,
a nice point of view.and fine colors.nice note too.

jwmunro (286) 2007-06-06 18:57

Hay Doug -

I did not find this one but I did find the one just west of Heart Arch where you can frame Mt. Whitney. You have a nice image with wonderful contrasts against the bright blue morning sky. Well done and well seen.

Thank you for sharing.

John

cdmonson (5304) 2007-06-06 19:18

Hi Douglas:

This is absolutely beautiful! At first I was expecting it to be some arch in Utah I'd never heard of--I wasn't expecting California. Looks like the TE meeting was quite productive. The pictures looks to be tilted slightly, but otherwise this is fantastic.

Clark

gunbud (34066) 2007-06-06 20:05

Hi Doug,
Wonderful contrasting colors from back to front on this photo. Excellent details to this barren landscape with lovely cloud patterns to the pleasing blue sky.
Regads, Tom

Cormac (26565) 2007-06-06 21:04

Great composition! I like the shape of these rocks, which is interesting and impressive, and the near/far type of composition really works well here. Nice balance to the frame too. One thing I noticed is that the sky looks a bit on the grey side, probably a result of using the warming filter, which brings out the colour in the rocks but has a negative effect on the blue sky. I tried a workshop to bring the colour back - hope you like it. Great work!

[workshop] [compare] +

derek3755 (2341) 2007-06-07 10:11

Hi Douglas

beautiful composition and the foreground rocks and arch really stand out from the rest giving a lovely sense of depth!

Derek

pboehringer (770) 2007-06-07 10:31

Doug, good title for what we did that morning, although looking at your shot and knowing what you got on your memory card and I on mine I have the impression that we "accomplished the mission"! Very fine composition and quite different from what I got that gives me the opportunity to post mine as a complimentary image. Did you know that this shot is the very first one at TE with an arch coming form the Alabama Hills? Congratulations on such task!

plimrn (21344) 2007-06-08 11:12

Hi Doug,
You're right, that would be an amazing way to frame mt Whitney; however, in your framing, the arch provides good balance for a snow-capped Mt Whitney. (That is Mt Whitney, isn't it? HLJ, Pat

Photo65Net (43144) 2007-06-08 13:13

Douglas,
I like a lot the compo seeming to compare arch and mountains sizes.
DOF, colors and sharpness are perfect,
Nice job,
Regards,
JB.

vincz (19113) 2007-06-09 4:01

Great composition showing us this mineral landscape in a very beutiful and colourful way. I like the 3 layers golden, gre and blue. Lots of depth.

bakes888 (18499) 2007-06-09 4:54

Hi Doug. Nice capture even though you have access “issues”. Maybe next time you can take a couple of ‘skyhooks’ with you ;-). You have made the most you have had to work with and come up with a great photo none the less. Nicely balanced composition with good colour and sharpness. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

pady (4800) 2007-06-10 14:51

What a nice landscape. The rock in foreground gives a real idea of the scale.
I really enjoy this place.
Cheers
Pierre-Andrй

umbrellaphotos (1901) 2007-06-12 0:58

Douglas,
This is a great photo. Perfect composition and amazing colors. Such a great subject matter.

Nicely seen and captured,

Brian

Davidwh (3662) 2007-06-13 16:40

Hi Douglas,
It looks like the landscape of another planet...what an amazing place.The quality of your image is very good:
- The deep earthy colours.
- Sharp and crystal clear with the texture of the rock clearly felt.
- Perspective and composition.
Even as a thumbnail it attracts the eye.You have a nice selection of images in your gallery.
Regards, David

xuaxo (6854) 2007-06-14 8:10

Hi Doug,
I didn't know the name (Alabama Hills), but I guess I've seen already images of it.
Very nice colors indeed.
Regards,
F

bostankorkulugu (42866) 2007-06-14 13:59

absolutely stunning view, doug... the warm colours on the foreground and the cold ones in the back are combined in the best way in this shot i think... congrats...

all the best

korkut

jmcl (14535) 2007-06-14 22:41

Hi Douglas,

Wonderful image .. the sharpness is striking .. especially against those clouds .. fore me it creates a sense of this timeless place beneath the moving sky .. the sense of dimension from your amplified foreground background relationship is great. The difference in tone between the foreground and background layers is really intriguing.

take care,

John

kebek (5438) 2007-06-24 15:54

Serwus Douglas !
Cleverly contrasted scenery with the different shades of ridges: in for- and background. The tiny-looking road really add scale to the scenery and works fine as a joint in Your composition. Superb clarity and light.
Best wishes and thank You,
Mat

keribar (43841) 2007-08-24 23:59

Hello Peter,
On first sight I thought I was looking at Arches National park, but something was not fitting, the hills in the back probably. They make quite a difference and you masterly composed the picture for a lovely balance of frames and colors.
Keep well - Izzet

Greg1949 (9011) 2007-09-09 3:21

Doug, I rhink stark is what I would describe this as but it is awesomly beautifyl. I got here from Peter's shot, you two do some great work.

Greg

daveRen (160) 2010-09-14 10:04

Good shot in an interesting area. I was around there but missed this view - you found it. The photo offers new perspective with a great balanced composition. I like the dark sky (polarizer filter, eh?)
I added this to the new "Mountains of North America" theme.

Photo Information

Copyright: Douglas Arrasin (darrasin) (2860)
Genre: МЕСТА
Medium: ЦВЕТНОЙ
Date Taken: 2007-06-01
Categories: ПРИРОДА
Exposure: f/8, 1/125 секунд
Версия: Оригинальная версия, Workshop
Темы: 1st California TE Meeting Mono Lake June 2007, Your Favorites, Arches, Mountains of North America [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-06-06 11:46
Избранное: 1 [view]