Grandview Point

[FrankMi]

From this vantage point looking South East, you can see 1,000 feet down to the White Rim of Monument Basin. The white coloring comes from salt deposits. It is another 1,000 feet down to the floor of ‘The Needles’ and lower still to the Colorado River off in the distance. There are 60 miles of trails in The Needles, some of which can be seen in this photo. This panorama was created from 4 hand-held JPEG images as I did not have a DSLR or tripod with me at the time.



Grandview point is at the southernmost tip of the Islands in the Sky section of the Canyonlands National Park, in South East Utah. The Canyonlands National Park preserves one of the last, relatively undisturbed areas of the Colorado Plateau, a geological province that encompasses much of the Colorado River and its tributaries. Carved out of vast sedimentary rock deposits, this landscape of canyons, mesas, and deep river gorges possesses remarkable natural features that are part of a unique desert ecosystem.

Known as a "high desert," with elevations ranging from 3,700 to 7,200 feet above sea level, Canyonlands experiences very hot summers, cold winters and less than ten inches of rain each year. Even on a daily basis, temperatures may fluctuate as much as 50 degrees.

[Donald]

Firstly - if people don't know about the Lytebox, then just click on the image to open it up. This has GOT to be viewed at the larger size.

Frank - sorry to be negative, but the thing that really irks me about this one is that bluff of rock on the left hand edge.But you can't crop it, because I think that bush at bottom left is super in teh image. Crop that rock out and the bush gets squeezed against th edge of the frame. I think it's the fact that it's different tone to the rock immediately in front of it; i.e. nearer us. Don't know if a little dodging to juts lighten it up a bit would help?

Anyway, you and others may not agree and you.

That little moan aside, it is a super image. Majestic is the only word for that view. And you've put it together wonderfully well.

[FrankMi]

the thing that really irks me about this one is that bluff of rock on the left hand edge. I think it's the fact that it's different tone to the rock immediately in front of it; i.e. nearer us. Don't know if a little dodging to juts lighten it up a bit would help?

You know, Donald, you spend sometimes spend so much time trying looking at the trees (to get these four images lined up) that you don't notice the overall look of the forest. Thank you for pointing out the issue. It should be easy enough to correct. Just make a duplicate of the image, change the duplicate's color tone, then just blend back into the original just the wayward rock. I'll take a crack at it later today as time permits. Thanks again. I hope that if there are other issues that folks will point them out.

[FrankMi]

OK, I had a chance to do some more with this image:



Any better?

[John C]

The bluff in the new version is less distracting. This photo just increases my desire to get to Canyonlands.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Frank,

That's very nice at the large size and I think the second version is better.

I hope that if there are other issues that folks will point them out.

I do wonder about whether the WB is just a touch too red though?
Even the bushes look red in their greens, but possibly they are (with all that red rock reflecting light on them)

Cheers,

[FrankMi]

Thanks John! If you decide to go, here is a map: http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisi...ad/canymap.pdf thast shows the area. The closest town is Moab and Arches National Park is just across highway 191 so it's a great place to hike and take photographs.

Hi Dave, I took a look at the SOOC image and see that some red has crept into the final image. Here it is with the Red dropped by 30 points in CS5. Thanks for noticing and letting me know!

[SpiderBob]

Frank, what a beautiful picture, been there several times in the last 50 years. Seen it in several different locations, but not the one you took this picture. My kind of photography. Well done.
Happy New Year.

[FrankMi]

Thank you Bob!

Once stitched together, the image above was over 7,000 pixels across and had to be shrunk down to 1,600 pixels for display purposes. Below I have a shot of part of The Needles where you can get a sense of the detail that is available when you visit the Canyonlands.



This is SOOC with some contrast boost so the red is brighter than the SOOC or the full size panorama. In this image it is easier to see the white salt deposits from when most of North America was below sea level.

[Suede]

I have a couple of photographs of the same place taken in August 2011. I upload them for sharing. These are single shots done with a Tamron 17-35mm/f2.8-4 lens and were taken in strong unforgiving sunlight.

C & C welcomed.






I'm not sure why the pictures show up so large. I'm sure I've done something wrong here. Moderator, please help!

[Dave Humphries]

I'm not sure why the pictures show up so large. I'm sure I've done something wrong here. Moderator, please help!

No problem, they are fine as they are Pritam.

Cheers,

[FrankMi]

Nice shots Pritam! I particularly like the feeling of depth in the second one. I find it SO hard to capture the full impact of the of grandeur you experience when you are actually standing there.