Four O'Clocks at 5:30 am!

Posted by Don Smith (California, United States) on 8 June 2008 in Landscape & Rural.

Colorado four o'clocks bloom in Sedona, Arizona at dawn. I came across this high-desert location about 10 minutes after the posted sunset time of 5:18 am. The sunrise light was just adding color to the clouds hanging over Castle Rock. A light rain had just stopped making for extremely clear air and allowing for the vibrant color. I used a low perspective and a Singh-Ray 5-stop soft edge split neutral density filter to hold back the light on the sky. A full moon (although small in scale) can be seen between the clouds in the upper left of the frame. To see more of my landscape images, electronically preview the first 15 pages of my book On the Edge, or learn more about my upcoming workshops, please visit my website at http://www.donsmithphotography.com

Comments (20)

Ivan Makarov from San Jose, United States

Don -
You certainly came out with brilliant images from this trip. The sky looks like you're in Hawaii - gotta love the pure unpolluted nature of Arizona. And again - brilliant choice of foreground object. How long were you there for?

8 Jun 2008 6:27am

SuziQueue from Oceanside, United States

This is so beautiful, it makes my chest hurt to look at it. I can't think of adjectives strong enough to do this photo justice, so I'll just settle for absolutely stunning.

8 Jun 2008 6:28am

Marie Le Corre from Dauphiné, France

Very beautiful colors

8 Jun 2008 8:09am

Helma from Tehran, Iran

WONDERFUL !!! Lovely place with Stunning colors ... technically capture ! excellent

8 Jun 2008 9:46am

Don Smith from California, United States

Hi Ivan, Suzi, Marie and Helma,

I would love to take all the credit but I can't - Sedona is just one of those "can't miss" places.

Ivan, I was in Arizona for five days. We were tremendously lucky weather-wise on this trip, but that is springtime in northern Arizona - the skies were alive with clouds and color! In fact, on the day we left Sedona to drive home to California, it was snowing in Flagstaff! We were going to detour back to the south rim of the Grand Canyon but I received a call from someone who was there and they said it was raining - so we continued home. It took 12 hours! Adding foreground elements to my images has been a personal goal of mine over the past year. David Meunch is a master photographer who utilizes foreground elements in most of his images. I believe they help create depth and serve as a starting point which leads your viewer's eye through the photo. The high desert was still showing an abundance of spring bloom, so foreground elements were plentiful. Thanks you all for your comments.

8 Jun 2008 12:39pm

Helma from Tehran, Iran

Hi Don !
I appreciate your kindly idea about my images and the beautiful nature of my country . If you notice the number of iranian photographers and american photographers in am3 photoblogs is more than other countries' and it is very good . there are very talented photographers among american, every day me and my friends in iran communicate with them, we are very happy that photography has become our common language .
thank you for your supprt I hope to see you in my country Iran .

8 Jun 2008 1:37pm

Don Smith from California, United States

Hi Helma,

Perhaps one day I will visit! Hope you get a chance to come to the United States to visit and photograph.

8 Jun 2008 2:24pm

Eric Fry from Houston, TX, United States

A fantastic image from a truly beautiful place. I appreciate your comment about foreground elements; I need to work on the quite a bit.

Your comment on Helma's blog about photography being a universal language is spot on. It can transcend politics and ideologies and let us connect with our common humanity.

Thanks for sharing your beautiful images with us.

8 Jun 2008 2:56pm

Don Smith from California, United States

Thanks Eric!

8 Jun 2008 3:05pm

bruno from les Ollières, France

Nice composition.Excellent shot!

8 Jun 2008 4:10pm

Don Smith from California, United States

Thanks bruno!

8 Jun 2008 4:33pm

Ana Lúcia from Leiria, Portugal

Magnificent colors!!!

8 Jun 2008 5:15pm

Anita from West Nottingham, United States

Stunning!

8 Jun 2008 9:08pm

Marion from Nanaimo, BC, Canada

Wow, what a beautiful photo of a very beautiful place. Thanks for the info on the taking of the picture. Much appreciate. This is how we learn from others.

8 Jun 2008 10:25pm

shahab from Qazvin, Iran

Wow!&just wow!I really love the colors!Spectacular shot!I found your blog lately but unfortunately I missed some fabulous works of you again!You know Mr Smith,you are a excellent pro photographer in my view & I think all of us should take something from you here!I think you make miracles with that splendid pricey toy in your artistic hands!Good luck man!:)

8 Jun 2008 10:31pm

dj.tigersprout from San Bruno, United States

aren't deserts just great places for photography? :) wonderful work here, all your pictures have this inner glow that is really unique and amazing. well captured.

9 Jun 2008 3:15am

Ivan Makarov from San Jose, United States

Thank you for your response, Don. After discovering your work, I now pay a lot more attention to the foreground.

Sitting in our boring no-cloud South Bay weather always makes me jealous when I see such rich skies full of color. I suppose I need to travel more!

In fact, I was just flying over the Grand Canyon few hours ago on my way to Texas thinking I wish I could just transport myself down and wonder around like you did.

9 Jun 2008 5:29am

Don Smith from California, United States

Ana, Anita, Marion, shahab,dj and Ivan,

Thanks to all of you for you nice comments. It is late and has been a long day of shooting. Time for some sleep!

9 Jun 2008 5:53am

Stéphane from Near to BXL, Belgium

Hi Don. The composition is good but I am less pleased by this one. May be it is because you can not directly see it is a sunrise picture. The colors in the sky are not as vibrant as on you other pics. I have also the impression that the absence of shadows due to the scattered light in the lower part of the image makes it less impressive. However I do wonder how you manage to use split filters with uneven horizons, the transition is unnoticeable.

10 Jun 2008 10:42am

Don Smith from California, United States

Hi Stephane,

I am not one to exaggerate color. When processing an image, I try to make the scene look as I remeber. When I first switched to digital, I was very heavy-handed with the saturation slider. As for the use of split grads, I tend to use soft-edge so the transition is as seemless as possible.

10 Jun 2008 3:17pm

from

PREVIEW ONLY

Add your comment ...

next day →

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III
16/5 second
F/16.0
ISO 100
19 mm