Hoodoos at Twilight - a photo on Flickriver

            The LaSal Mountains wrap themselves in evening cloud from the vantage point of The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, near the Elephant Hill trailhead, Utah.

At this point in the day, the light was fading quickly, and the temperature was dropping precipitously, so much so that the metal threads of my polarizer contracted with the temperature, and left me singularly unable to remove it as the light became more scarce. This little handicap, combined with my chronic lack of a tripod (carrying too many kid jackets and snacks), meant that the camera settings had to get a little desperate. Though I knew it really would be wise to hustle back to the car, since Elephant Hill is not at all close to Moab, and people were waiting for us there to make dinner, I couldn't help myself as this last light of the day softly touched the hoodoo formations. I am madly greedy for time in the red rock desert of the Colorado Plateau...

In the foreground the white bands of the Cedar Mesa sandstone were wind-deposited, and the red bands are thought to have been brought by floods that originated from mountains near present day Grand Junction, Colorado. All of these layers were then uplifted by the orogeny that formed the present day Rocky Mountains, causing cracking and fracturing. Over the eons, water has worked its erosive magic, and wrought the layered sandstone into a landscape like no other.

Technical notes: This is a manual blend of two exposures, one for the mountains and sky, and another for the foreground hoodoos.

Explored 2017-05-09

Taken in: United States / Utah / San Juan (show map)

Taken on: December 23, 2015

Tags:

Canyonlands

Canyonlands National Park

LaSal Mountains

Landscape

National Park

Needles District

The Needles

U.S. National Park

Utah

Winter

crepuscular

crepuscular light

desert

desert snow

evening

magic hour

mountains

petrified dunes

red rock country

red rocks

snow

snowscape

sunset « less

Sets appears in: • Colorado Plateau • Desert more » • Mountains and Sky « less

Groups appears in: • Utah Landscapes • U.S. National Parks more » • Mountains • The Cloud Appreciation Society • The American Southwest • Landscape photography • The Southwest United States • Nature Photography • Landscape Exploration • National Parks, Monuments and Historical Sites • The Nature Conservancy • Canyons of the World • Landscapes!!! • Clouds, Storms, Sunsets & Sunrises • Colorado Plateau • Landscape Beauty ! • Golden Landscape, Only The Best ! (Post 1, Comment 1) • ☆The Power Of Now ☆ • Un-enhanced American West • ☯ la quinta essenza ☯ • * Sunsets & Sunrises * NOT B&W Photos • in explore • Snap PhotoFrame • CIELOS Y NUBES, SKIES AND CLOUDS • Colorado - Arizona - Utah Landscapes • Discover Your World • A NATIONAL PARK • Life Through A Hole • Life, A New Perspective « less

Camera: Nikon D750, f/4.0, 1/125 sec, 120mm, ISO 5600 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D750
Lens:	24.0-120.0 mm f/4.0
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	120mm
ISO:	5600
Exposure Bias:	-2/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Scene Capture Type:	Landscape
Gain Control:	High gain up
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.10 (Macintosh)
Show full info

Stats: 53,401 views / 55 comments

go back

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: