Tripod Hole With a Twist

Turret Arch through North Window - Arches National Park Utah

There were two difficult things about this famous tripod hole location. Clambering up onto the icy rock shelf where you can best see this view, and getting here early enough in the day before too many footprints appeared in the snow. I know its a tripod hole scene, but the twist of having some snow adds a small bit of extra interest.

I normally like to post seasonally appropriate images here at NPN. But the pandemic has forced me to dive back into the archives (January 2016). Snow in the desert has always fascinated me. For a sense of scale, North Window Arch is 90 feet by 48 feet in size.

Specific Feedback Requested

any critique or comments are welcome

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No

3 Likes

Beautiful image; that line of snow along the top edge especially. As you know, I’ve been struggling with image sharpness on NPN. This image looks perfect. Would you mind sharing what you’ve done preparing for posting? I see it’s 1500 x 1000 px.

Wonderful detail in gorgeous morning light!!! I’m cold just looking at it. I’ve been on that rock shelf and I think you’re absolutely nuts to do it with icy rocks! But I’m jealous as hell! :laughing:

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Agreed that the snow adds some extra interest to this iconic scene. Nice tones :+1:throughout.

Ed,

What’s not to like about an iconic red rock location with snow? Wonderful eye candy, no nits!

The strong colors came out very nice Ed. You could make the blue above the arch to be like that inside the arch. It’s more luminous. The overall light is very flattering to the rocks.

You’re a brave man. I drove through the area and didn’t come away with a single shot (except iphone) . There were swarms of people at every parking area. Winter is likely much better though.

@Ronald_Murphy @Igor_Doncov @Michael_Lowe @Alan_Kreyger @Diane_Miller
thank you all for your comments, I appreciate hearing your thoughts

Alan, you keep telling me that I should post my non-New England images. Well here you go, the pandemic has finally driven me to the archives, since I haven’t gotten out to seriously photograph since last November. Iconic tripod hole locations don’t get much play here at NPN, so that mixes it up a bit as well.

Step 1 - virtually 99% of my shots are taken on a tripod using a cable release and mirror lockup. If you are not doing the same, you already are starting out in a hole.

Step 2 - Lightroom capture sharpening settings applied to raw file
Amount - 45
Radius - 0
Detail - 100
Masking - 30 (varies based on image, generally 25 to 35)

@David_Kingham, I know this is not your current advice, (it was your previous advice) but it usually works for me

Step 2-A I usually end up applying Lightroom Clarity of about 10 to 15 to add some midtone contrast, which affects apparent sharpness.

Step 3 this image was processed in Photoshop as well, and then the resulting TIFF file was brought back into Lightroom. The TIFF file was exported from Lightroom as a Jpeg sized 1500 x 1000 px, using Lightroom’s export sharpening settings of “Sharpen for Screen”, and setting = “High”

I think most of the experienced folks here at NPN would instead recommend creating a Jpeg using TK Actions Web Sharpening, since many say it produces superior results. But I am too lazy to go “Edit in Photoshop” and then run the TK sharpening action. It’s much easier/faster to just export the file using a one click Lightroom export preset. Apparently using LR hasn’t hurt my end product here too much :grin:

Ed,
I do appreciate the post from outside NE. In fact I believe one of your Utah posts was among the editors picks for last year! :wink:

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Gorgeous capture Ed, and I agree that the snow adds a great look to it. The only nit I have, and it’s a minor one, is the lightness of the sky in the ULC where the polarizer didn’t darken. I would blend that area to reduce the difference, but everything else looks great.

Bill just attended to the one nit I have about the image regarding the polarizer
Uneven lighting in the top blue section of the image. I have been here and good on you for going up there and shooting from your vantage point. The snow makes all the difference with exceptional contrast between the orange rocks and the blazing white snow. Well done Ed.

Excellent Ed.

Well composed. I enjoy the repetition of shapes / tones / subject and the spacing works well in terms of the foreground/ background framing.

Processing looks spot on. It’s vibrant with plenty of natural contrast, but also tasteful and understated to my eye.

Critique-wise, I notice a reddish cast in the foreground shadows - I’m not sure if this natural or some form of artifact. I wonder if I’m also seeing a hint of cyan in that area although very subtle and it could easily be my monitor/ tired eyes!

I also had a play at cropping off a little of the left side to resolve the slight brightening ‘issue’ (it doesn’t actually bother me) possible caused by a polarizer (which Bill pointed out) and also to remove some of the shaded snow in that area. I’m not sure if it helps the image though. I actually quite like the wider crop which helps with the sense of space and also gives a sense of the light coming in from that left side.

Ed, usually I shy away from images with bright blue skies, but this one works well. The sky just becomes a contrasting negative space as we focus on the magnificent arches. You were fortunate to see this with snow - even more so to manage the necessary climb to get the view. I did a double-take looking at this since I associate your images with simple, foggy New jangled scenes. Thanks for this terrific image.

Nothing wrong with grabbing your own icon shot, Ed. The snow here sets this lovely image apart from most of the others from this location, so in a sense this is not an icon shot. I hope that makes sense. I particularly like that bit of snow up along the top of the North window as it contrasts beautifully with the blue of the sky along with the red of the sandstone. Kudos for making it up to the rock shelf for this image. My only suggestion is the already mentioned ULC. Beautifully done.