All of these were taken last spring on our trip to Las Vegas. Very few people venture out of the city but this is a place you should go if you at all can make it. The rock formations are essentially petrified sand dunes and even at mid-day, when these were shot, the colors are incredible. I used a polarizer on most to try to bring out the color some. All were shot with my K10d and either the 18-55mm kit lens or my old 100-300mm. Even in March it was pretty hot. We were there once before in July and it was up over 110 F. I plan on going around sunset the next time we are there. When I took these I had only had the K10 for a few months and was still learning my way around. Next time I would keep it in User, which for me is Av with the ISO set at 100.


1/45, f/27, 26mm, ISO 400, -0.5ev, with a Cokin Circular Polarizer


1/45, f/27, 28mm, ISO 200, -0.5ev, with a Cokin Circular Polarizer


1/45, f/27, 28mm, ISO 200, -0.5ev, with a Cokin Circular Polarizer


1/45, f/27, 33mm, ISO 400, -0.5ev, with a Cokin Circular Polarizer


1/90, f/32, 200mm, ISO 400


1/125, f/8, 55mm, ISO 100
I just happened to see the lizard scurrying across the sidewalk so I laid down as close as I could, much to the amusement of the senior tour group nearby, to catch him (or her) watching me.

[vievetrick]

That last shot is very cool.. Could bejust my taste but I think they all need a little contrast boost. Great work and I still wish I had made the time t o get out of the city as well. Next time for sure I will.

[mwcfire]

Love the last shot!

[AprilFool]

I like the first one best. I just gave it a little more contrast and lowered the brightnest. I hope you dont mind.

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Last edited by AprilFool; 05-09-2008 at 02:40 PM.

[vievetrick]

Now your talking. I am always amazed at what someone with some Pst Processing skills can do with an okay shot.

[jshurak]

Mark, you're shooting with a K10D right? I find that the internal meter tends to underexpose shots on a regular basis.

Now your talking. I am always amazed at what someone with some Pst Processing skills can do with an okay shot.

It really doesn't take that much work. At home its PS, at work the Gimp. Just taking a picture and fixing the levels will do wonders. add a little bit of sharpening and you've got a fantastic shot. I'm under the impression that all shots need at least a little sharpening. All that being said, I do a little PP on all the images I like enough not to trash. So if I'm doing PP work on them anyway, why not shoot RAW to get the full advantage.

Anyway back to the Valley of Death. I love the shots. The desert contrast nicely with the blue sky. I wish I had my K10D back when I was out in The Canyonlands two October's ago. These are great shots, but I do think they need some basic and minor adjustments. Sharpening and in the case of the first three, exposure adjustments.

That last shot is phenomenal!

[Mark Castleman]

With desert shots I have found just the opposite, that they tend to be overexposed because of the intense sunlight. The increased contrast does change the image but for me it makes things look too artificial. The asphalt, for example, has been bleached by the sun and is now more gray than black. The desert is mostly very muted colors, which is why the formations here are so spectacular with the vibrant reds and oranges.

All of these were shot in RAW and then minimally manipulated in Aperture

[jshurak]

All of these were shot in RAW and then minimally manipulated in Aperture

Oooh! How do you like Aperture? I swear by Lightroom, but would like to try Aperture. (don't have a mac)

[Mark Castleman]

I have never used Lightroom but I have been very happy with Aperture. It is very intuitive and can do quite a bit to the images when needed. I sometimes use CS3 when I need to do something like merging HDR images or fiddling with perspective but most of the time Aperture does all I need.

[daacon]

Nice series of a piece of Vegas not many get to see. Like the Cactus flower shot - well done.

[sajmmiller]

I like the rock colors in the third one.