Trajectory

I have been talking about the composition of this image in an earlier post, and today I want to tell the story behind the scene...

It was the 2nd October 2013, we will not be visiting Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park if the US government wasn't shutdown. Instead, we were planning to be in the Zion National Park, although we still had the chance to pass by Mt. Carmel Highway of the Zion National Park. This is how we end our day in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.

After a day long of walking, we wanted to try something new, something exciting but without involve extra walk. We wanted to rent an ATV, and we thought that ATV can bring us to the site where we are not able to reach by foot, and get some nice sunset shots. However, we can only do this if we are the only people on the ATV tour at the particular time slot, I don't think we will be free to stop at any place we want and scouting around for photography sweat spot, if there are other people in the tour. Ok, we decided that if there is no one else on the ATV tour at 5pm, we will be in. Eventually, there were a group of people joined the ATV tour, so we gave up. Let's go back to the sand dunes, keep walking to find a sweat spot for golden hour shot.

The golden hour is approaching, I was standing on a higher elevation dune with my camera and tripod ready. To the east, it is the nice abstract patterns form by different elevation of sand dunes. I was hoping that, when the sun is getting low, I was able to get a nice and simple abstract shot with vibrant color. Suddenly, an ATV was just hurtling across the piece of land within my frame, creating the trajectories all over the place. With no time to think further, I intuitively pressed the shutter. This is an unexpected moment, but in a good way! When I view the image on the computer screen, I really love how the final image looks! Moreover, if you zoom in the image or view in a larger print, you will see a man riding the ATV with a dog at the back!

If the government wasn't shutdown, if the ATV tour wasn't fill up, if the ATV (with the driver and his dog) didn't invade into my frame, this image will never exist! What's an amazing coincident! Is this what the meaning of Alexander Graham Bell's quote "When one door closes, another door opens"? In this case, three door close and one open!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend ahead!

Award from "EyeSights" Photography Show

My image and the medal

Great news! My image "Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park" was awarded Honorable Mention at 11th Annual "EyeSights" Open Juried Photography Show, Guild of Creative Art (New Jersey, USA) during the opening ceremony on 2 March 2014.

The 11th Annual "EyeSights" Open Juried Photography Show will be held from 1 March 2014 to 1 April 2014. If you have chance to stop by the gallery, there are plenty of great images on the exhibit.

Opening and Awards Ceremony with Mike Menendez, EyeSights Show Chair (Photography by Vincent Matulewich)

The medal

White Domes Trail, Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire State Park is the oldest state park in Nevada. The name is derived from red sandstone formations which appear to be on fire when reflecting the sunshine. The park is located just 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas. It is a place with full of surprise, regardless whether you are a nature lover or a photographer!

This picture was taken at the trail head of White Domes Trail. The trail leads the way to a beautiful White Domes slot canyon. The trail itself is extremely photogenic, thereby provide endless creative opportunities particularly for intimate landscape photography. This picture is one of my favorite creation, where I spotted the tree and glass lie on the beautiful stripe-patterned cliff. What's a perfect combination!

Noteworthy, White Domes area was the location for the 1966 movie "The Professionals", a typical 1960s western genre starred by Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale.

Seeing Abstractly - Valley of Fire State Park

This picture was taken in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. Over the last 150 million years, compression, uplifting and erosion of sand dunes form the park fiery red sandstone that we seen today. Although the color is awesome, the wavy and swirling patterns of the sandstone stand out very well, and these combined provide endless creative opportunities. I decided to go for black-and-white conversion, which is the best way to see these shapes and patterns without much distraction of color.

Ok, what's next? The composition. I recalled a very useful composition strategy from Visual Flow by Ian Plant (it's a great ebook!!) - to create a better compositions, you must learn to see the scene abstractly. Instead of seeing rocks, mountains, and trees, you see the shapes, lines, and pattern. Importantly, organize them into the frame is the key.

This is the corresponding abstract diagram of the picture above:

The lines form by the sandstone and clouds point toward the triangular rock in the background (red). Perhaps, you may seen as the interplay between the five triangles formed by the sandstone and sky (green). All these lines and shapes guide you to go deeper into the scene.

Sometime we can be distracted by the beautiful scene. To get a great shot, we have to learn to see the scene in different ways. The lesson is, sit back and think before firing the shutter.

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Abstract in the Forest

Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park, NJ

Forest can be a great subject for abstract photography. One of the most popular techniques is vertical panning. The technique itself is simple - set your camera to long exposure, let's said 1/8 sec to 2 sec, press the shuttle, and pan vertically (or horizontally, rotation, whatever you want). You can swipe from top to bottom once, or vice verse, or back and forth. The key is to experiment, there is no rule to follow.

Duke Farms, NJ

I love this type of abstract shot, it's minimize the detail and leave only the major element to focus on - tree or grass. The interplay between the element and light is the important to make a good abstract. Autumn foliage render a colorful and painting-like abstract. Different time of the day render very different effects, e.g. heavy fog add the sense of depth to the scene; golden hour add the magical color to the scene.

Experiment is the key! Did I said that?

"Dissecting" the Coral Pink Sand Dunes

This picture taken at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah. This is one of my favorite, of course, with plenty of reasons...

1. Golden hour - at a low angle, the sun cast a magical, golden grow across the sand dunes. Did I tell you light is important?

2. Composition - if you think abstractly (imagine everything in their abstract form - shape, color, contrast, etc.), you will notice the picture is formed by five triangles of different size and configuration. The contrast formed by light shade significantly enhance the formation of abstract triangles. Imagine if the picture taken during mid-day - can you see still the imaginary triangles?

3. Sense of scale - the ATV in the background gives a sense of scale to the picture. Wow! the sand dunes is huge! Don't you think so?

4. Gestalt principle - despite the discontinuity of the ATV trail, you might imagine the ATV is moving across the sand dunes, from the bottom right of the picture to the top right.

5. Simplicity - golden sand dunes plus an ATV. Is it simple enough? Sometime, less is more:)

Thanks for reading! What do you think?

p.s. This picture also published as Picture of the Day (October 11, 2013) at TodaysPhoto.org:
http://www.todaysphoto.org/picture-of-the-day/coral-pink-sand-dunes-s-p/

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park - often overlooked by photographers on their way to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Park, is nonetheless a must see destination. It is as stunning as many national parks in US. The ever-changing landscape and light on sand dunes are one of the most beautiful, dynamic, and inspirational place on earth.

There are many good reasons to visit Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It's located between Mount Carmel Junction and Kanab, south and west of US-89 in southwestern Utah. It is just 33 miles from Zion National Park, 75 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park and 88 miles from Grand Canyon National Park. Plus, there are plenty of photography opportunities at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park - the light is fantastic at dawn and dusk, while the mid-day is great for capturing small detail and abstract. You can even join one of the ATV tour!

There is a good tips on photographing sand dune, which I recommended to whom interested to visit and photographing sand dunes: http://www.shutterbug.com/content/locations-sand-dune-parks-tips-shifting-sands.

I learnt two things from this trip. First, never change lens in the middle of sand dunes. Second, for grand landscape - wait for the good light; otherwise, keep your eye sharp and look for small detail for abstract shot - there are plenty of great subject out there!