This Image marks the conclusion of four years of Image for the Asking, my weekly conversation on photographic beauty and creativity. The number “4” seems rather small, but when I expand it out to 208 weeks, it begins to take on a different meaning and context. I wanted to conclude this fourth year with an image from a place that is as special to me as any cathedral. This is Fajada Butte which sits at the entrance to Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. It must have been sacred to the ancient Ancestral Puebloans for high up among its crevices they carved a spiral glyph which, on the day of the summer solstice is pierced exactly down the center by a dagger of light passing through rock slabs. As the butte appears to have had no “utilitarian” purpose, it seems to have had important spiritual and ceremonial significance for the Chaco people. It seems appropriate that I should offer this image as a “wide-angle” landscape since that is how I typically see the world. The sun was steadily setting in the west and the day’s last light was illuminating the butte when we found some rabbitbrush, blooming-to-seed, to serve, by way of being a foreground element, as an invitation for the eye to continue across the chaparral to Fajada. There was absolutely no wind. A focal length of 33mm allowed me to be wide-angle but to eliminate unwanted information in the sky and surrounding landscape. An aperture of f/16, given the camera-to-subject distance, provided depth-of-field; and a shutter speed of 20 seconds at ISO 100 gave me an overall slightly-darker-than-medium exposure. Happy New Year to All.
Spectacular, Don. The humility of the flower and the pride of the rock!
Don,
Thank you, and Happy New Year to you as well. Four years of well taken and generously offered images IS noteworthy. This week’s image is wonderful; while most of us carry the rule of thirds very loosely in our background thoughts, sometimes it is simply dead-on perfect. And, here you showed that to be true. Strong confident composition! And, I’m so intrigued by a 20-second exposure.
Looking forward to many more images to come. Ray
Beautiful in both the physical and spiritual sense. What a rich story that photograph paints.
Happy New Year!
I am glad you chose the wide angle. It shows the relationship to the surroundings which is very important to this story. I also like the color contrast between the sky and brush. The flower in the foreground is awsome.
Another splendid image that captures the soul of an awesome place. Thank you, Don. Happy New Year!
Classical compsition with foreground, middle ground and background
Don, you scared me for a minute. You open with “the conclusion of four years…” My first thought was you’re signing off. Took me a minute to realize you mean the conclusion of your fourth year. I’m correct, right? Keep up the great work. You’re inspiring a bunch of us. Duke.
Beautiful image Don! I love the effects you get with a wide angle lens. Nice work!
Hello Everyone; thank you all very much for joining me for this conversation. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Bonnie and I have always celebrated Solstice, and we have had a good holiday this year as well. Rosemary, I always appreciate your thoughtful observations, and the contrast between humility and pride as seen in flower and rock is an interesting one to be sure. Hey Ray, I was thinking that I must have begun offering the Image not too long after you and I met in Haywood County. As you may recall, I believe that it is in knowing the rules of composition well that you gain the capacity to understand when to alter, or break, them. In this image it so happened that the rule worked well, so…. I was so grateful that there was utter stillness – so rare in this place – and if you notice, I still needed to use f/16 as an aperture in order to achieve even 20 seconds. I was far enough away from the rabbitbrush that with the camera-to-subject distance I could achieve depth-of-field at the wider setting. I look forward to hearing from you often as we go down this path. Thank you Warren. I hope we can figure out a way for you to return here with me in the fall. I believe you will have a reaction similar to mine. Hey Nancy T., thanks for joining us. I could not help but end the year on a wide-angle note. I think it’s the story-telling aspect of the lens that always pulls me in. And you are right, the warm-cool color contrast will be noticeable just about every time. Hey Pat. Same to you. Coming from someone who lives in “soul” your comment is all the more meaningful to me. You and I have got to see this place together. Hi Aileen; thank you very much. You are so right; this is classic wide-angle work: foreground, mid-ground, background. As Chief Dan George said, “It’s always great when the magic works.” Hey Duke, it’s great to hear from you. I want to have a conversation with you very soon. Call me when you have a chance. I’m not going anywhere just yet, but I appreciate your concern. I’m hoping to spend some time with you in the New Year, and I’m grateful that you enjoy and benefit from what I do. Hi Ron; thank you for being with us and for appreciating my wide-angle adventures. I’m glad they resonate with you. Happy New Year, Everyone. Thank you again for being with me and for all of your support and connection throughout the past four years. I hope we may all continue down this path of Beauty together for many years to come.
I don’t usually comment [because I usually don’t have anything useful to add] but I always look. I want to thank you for posting these pics and your always thoughtful comments. I always enjoy them and receive inspiration. I love that this picture gives a real feel for what earth life is like in the chaparral.
Hi Helen. Thank you very much for joining us. I do sincerely appreciate your kind comments, and I hope you will allow me to respectfully disagree with your sense of having nothing useful to add to the discussion. The mere fact that you gain a greater appreciation of life in the chaparral from seeing this image is saying that it has a value to you as a nature education resource, That, in itself, might prompt someone else to realize the same awareness; and you have thus added something of value to all of us. So thank you for being with us, and I hope you will join us again.