Serendipity in Monument Valley

HFMarshburnJR

On a recent trip through the Southwest corner of the US, I made my first trip into Monument Valley. As we entered the valley, we stopped where many had before for an iconic view of the Mittens and Merrick Butte. I took the shot anyway, fighting off lens flare due to the harsh early morning desert sun. I thought it would be a throwaway shot, but to my surprise I think I may have come away with something a little more special than that. C&C welcome.

Enjoy.

HFM

MYSTICA

This shot is very elegant!
I like the rays of the sun (did you use a filter?), and the skyline!
bravo!

theinlawjosie

I think this is an awesome shot, I love the fact that the buttes are silhouetted, and the suns rays add a very nice touch!

LilleG

That is special, indeed! Fantastic!

HFMarshburnJR

Thank you for all the kind words. There was a circular polarizer on the camera, but no other filter was used.

HFM

ian408

I like the composition and the flare. I might work on the monuments themselves to lighten them up a bit.

Marc Muench

HFMarshburnJR wrote:

On a recent trip through the Southwest corner of the US, I made my first trip into Monument Valley. As we entered the valley, we stopped where many had before for an iconic view of the Mittens and Merrick Butte. I took the shot anyway, fighting off lens flare due to the harsh early morning desert sun. I thought it would be a throwaway shot, but to my surprise I think I may have come away with something a little more special than that. C&C welcome.

Enjoy.

HFM

Great composition and use of the sun. I thought it became more graphic without the dark and expected ground.
HFMarshburnJR.jpg

HFMarshburnJR

Thanks guys. I appreciate the notice.

Mark - I like your crop. I do think that you might have cropped it a little tighter than I feel comfortable with though. Is there any specific thinking behind taking all of the dark foreground out? I almost feel like you lose the sense of scale by doing that. But what do I know - you are the pro here!!!

Thanks again.

HFM

Marc Muench

HFMarshburnJR wrote:

Thanks guys. I appreciate the notice.

Mark - I like your crop. I do think that you might have cropped it a little tighter than I feel comfortable with though. Is there any specific thinking behind taking all of the dark foreground out? I almost feel like you lose the sense of scale by doing that. But what do I know - you are the pro here!!!

Thanks again.

HFM

Because of the backlighting this image was more about the shapes of the monuments and sunstar, so I just took out everything not needed for that to become evident. I have seen soooooo many images of this location and this one struck me as unique especially given the time of day it was taken. Great job