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sliding rock on The Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, California'just ran across this and liked how svelte my shadow looked and after the biggest rainstorm in the history of recordkeeping in these parts, the desert looks inviting. Peace Tags: -print available-, abstract, california, death valley, desert, nature events, pattern, people pics, phot expd, rock, self portraits, surreal
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Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California©2005 Ed BookPeace Tags: -print available-, blue, california, death valley, desert, intimate landscape, landscape, pattern, sand dunes, surreal, white
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 ©2005 Ed BookPeace Tags: -print available-, abstract, b/w, california, death valley, desert, intimate landscape, nature events, pattern, surreal, white
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 ©2005 Ed BookPeace Tags: -print available-, abstract, b/w, california, death valley, desert, intimate landscape, landscape, nature events, pattern, surreal
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 ©2005 Ed BookEureka Dunes at the south end of the remote Eureka Valley of Death Valley National Park, California
Peace Tags: -print available-, blue, california, death valley, desert, intimate landscape, landscape, sand dunes, sky, surreal, white
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 ©2005 Ed Book Gerea canescens, Desert Sunflowers (the plant grows about 18" tall and the flowers are about an inch across. In the other photographs that look like there are portions of yellow ground cover... it's the Desert Sunflower, they grow a couple feet apart and one has to get down to their level to 'bunch' them into view.
Peace Tags: -print available-, blue, california, death valley, desert, flowers, macro, spring, yellow
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Eureka Valley and the Inyo Range from Hanging Rock Canyon - Death Valley National Park, CaliforniaWhen I was leaving Eureka Valley in Death Valley National Park the end of March, I stopped along the Hanging Rock Canyon grade to look at some rocks along side the road. I made this composition along with many more of the valley floor and the high mountain ranges beyond. Because there were clouds crossing the sky, the scene had shadowed areas painted blue because they were lit by the blue sky and not direct sunlight. there was fresh snow in the mountains and combined with some scattered storms the day before a little haze had built up in the air during the day as snow melted and evaporated raising the humidity a little. The high altitude also added to the blue tint to the image. There was no white balance involved with the image capture as I was using RAW format. If I had been using film instead of digital capture, I would have added an 81B warming filter to neutralize the blue and may have also made exposures with both 81A and 81B filters. When converting the file in Photoshop, I saw that there would be a challenge adjusting for the blue without making other areas muddy looking. I adjusted color balance as well as I could and desaturated the blue channel a little. Then in Photoshop, I first used the healing tool to eliminate the many dust spots that were recorded because of dust on the sensor. (because the sensor has a static charge, it's a dust magnet and any time the lens is changed some dust enters the camera body and is attracted to the sensor when the shutter opens. Sensor cleaning is an ongoing maintenance item and I try do it every time I switch lenses. Even with my best efforts, dust still gets in.  I had to make multiple selections for sky, distant mountains and near mountains so I could adjust each individually for different amounts of blue and density changes. The file when I was done had grown to 3.82GB. That's what working with 16bit color and multiple duplicate layers each with adjustment layers and masks to allow the lower layers to show through. In each of the shadow selections layer adjustment layers, I chose a spot where there was a blue tint but was supposed to be neutral and used the neutral eyedropper in the adjustment layer palette to shift hue. The sky was too bright so I used a selection for it and used adjustment layers to get it where I wanted it. the clouds also needed to be desaturated a little too with a hue/saturation adjustment layer. more later, it's late and I have an early appointment. ( here's what the unadjusted RAW file looked like )Peace Tags: -print available-, california, death valley, desert
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Hanging Rock Canyon - Last Chance Range - Death Valley National Park, CaliforniaCamera: Canon EOS-1Ds MkII, 100-400mm lens at 100mm, with polarizer, 1/4 sec @ f/29, RAW 16bit capture with Adobe RGB profile converted using Photoshop RAW converter, tripod mounted, post conversion processing with Photoshop CS - minimal saturation adjustment for sky and curves adjustment to increase the contrast on the bottom surfaces of the clouds.I made this image as I was leaving Eureka Valley. The road leaves the flat desert valley to climb beside an alluvial delta spreading from Hanging Rock Canyon. Then it enters the canyon with high walls and curves around bends continually climbing. Sometimes, there are wider areas where views of the barren peaks and ridges on the range stand above against the clouds and in places the canyon walls close in tightly forcing the road to hug the wall with a dry stream bed lying far below. At one place, the vertical wall consists of shattered marble with stains from the minerals held within. The road continues to climb finally reaching some mining ruins and a pass, then descends through an equally precipitous canyon into the north end of Death Valley. Just before the washboarded road reaches the valley floor, it meets a junction with access to even rougher country-the junction aptly named "Crankshaft Junction" with engine backbones hung on the sign and strewn about it as a warning to the dangers to lesser vehicles that venture into this country. The road from Scottie's Castle to Eureka Valley is the washboardiest 43 miles I have ever traveled... and combined with washouts keeps the crowds away. I can't imagine what it's like in the summer when average daily temperatures are well above 100 degrees F. I wanna go see it then... ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) gravityslens, your vehicle, I'll drive... (till we get to the washouts) 'hope you have an oil cooler and good air conditioning... Peace Tags: -print available-, california, death valley, desert, moon
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