Intimate Landscapes

Water Woman
©Joe Bridwell
A woman walks toward you,
Shrouded in deerskin cloak,
Providing an Anasazi woman’s care…
Carrying water home in an Olla!

Bisti Hoodoos
Many Bisti hoodoos provide an intimate landscape setting. To some, this is simply a rock statue caught near sunrise.
To others, the brief poem captures deep native feelings often written about in Tony Hillerman’s masterful Navajo mystery series.
Either way, a hoodoo is usually a sandstone cap underlain by a soft clay base. Water’s incessant drip-drip (or occasional raging desert flow) acts as God’s sculptured response, leaving creative fine art as our heritage.
I am sure when you trek the Bisti, your choice of creative fine art will differ. One of the Bisti's indelible beauties is just that ~ a timeless, almost limitless combination of intimate hoodoo landscape and variation of Enchanted Light.

Other Intimate Bisti Landscapes
You can investigate other intimate landscapes in our Bisti Chronicle series; Anasazi Drummer, Bisti Dementia, Pharaohs’ Saddle, Surreal…

Bisti Badlands
A small, yet provocative area for digital photographers to ‘catch their limit ~ off-world surreal shapes’ during Magic Hour’s enchanted light. Nature’s sculpted hoodoos provide an almost never ending panoply of intimate landscapes to titillate the most discerning eye of a fine artist!

The Bisti (Navajo for badlands) is south of Farmington, NM.

Enjoy…

Luck of the Draw

Alcove House
©Joe Bridwell
Canyon walls like protecting ramparts, a kiva, crumbled remnants of multi-story rooms…
Mostly lit afternoons and perhaps early evening,
Hidden far up a canyon above the Rio Grande,
Yet some deep shadows,
_A late-to-post Pueblo III ruin.

Storm’s Doldrums
“Should I load the car - or _not?”
It was early morning and raining; rain forecast most of the day. Was lazy going to win and stay home? Finally, no – we started north…
I’d seen a gallery print taken from the back wall, looking out past the kiva, and was intrigued. The idea was to get an HDR of that scene…
On site, another print caught my attention. If I made it up the 500’ south canyon wall, could I shoot a long telephoto HDR with polarizer to enhance rain’s softening effect? It was cloudy – misting outside.
It’s been one of those delightfully capricious springs. Occasional water, intermittent clouds, sun always a heated threat. Today didn't differ one whit...

Bandelier
One hundred and forty feet above the canyon floor there is a naturally eroded alcove about 65 feet wide. Rows of holes in the alcove walls originally held roof beams. Seventeen first-floor rooms were capped by a second story of six rooms. Three cave rooms were carved into the walls. Turkey pens occupied the far wall behind the kiva. A refuse heap contained potsherds, corncobs and shucks, red and yellow corn kernels, beans, fur and feather cloth, squash rinds, turkey droppings, and possible human waste. Pottery sherds indicate the alcove was occupied 1250-1550 A.D.
The 12 foot Kiva was reconstructed in 1910. Excavations showed a floor of hard, blackened plaster, a fire pit 2 feet from the ventilator shaft, and loom anchor holes in the floor with loops of reed or willow is still intact in three holes.

Alcove House Handout, Bandelier National Park.

Sunshine’s Blight…
That last part of the climb, up the 2nd cooling unit to the backcountry mesa top was swift. As I struggled up, sweat-filled eyes not protected by the customary bandana, vision-retarded, it was – climb, stop, sop with stinking sweater sleeve, then trudge on. Writing this reminiscence, I'm sunburned back up into the hair on my forehead.

Jemez Volcanism
The Jemez Volcano created these rocks in several magnificent eruptions over a million years ago. Gaseous lava would erupt, blow high into the sky, flow down the volcano’s sides, then spread outward, quickly cooling on top, but leaving ash below to cool more slowly and be softer. Many eons later, Anasazi found these delightfully soft rocks, carved rooms, and built Bandelier…
At the top – either open mesa or brush and tree filled canyon edge dipping steeply away. Ants, occasional but non-penetrating cactus, blessed juniper shade, ever present slap-slap to try to rid annoying bugs in the ears. Across the canyon, just below the lower cooling unit’s top, a magical alcove, a kiva, and awesome visual memories reminiscent of bygone Anasazi times.

Shootin’ Time
Feet hanging off the edge, tripod carefully braced, camera set up for 5 HDR shots, it was time to wait for visitors to leave those brief 2 seconds when images could be captured, trying to catch the ancient, sunlit essence of this magnificent, lonely ruin. The gray sky was now blue, clouds scudding east off the Jemez Mountains, patches of dark shadow occasionally interspersed with bright dashes of sun highlighting patches of canyon wall…
Between visitors who simply did not belong in this memorable photo of our past and scudding clouds, time passed slowly, letting me sit, absorb, dream about what was, yet be very much in each moment.
The first try let a few too many junipers draw my eye away above the alcove’s top; the last exquisitely framed walls, alcove, shadows, and strong kiva. Later, this simplistic scene _sans Anasazi_ would strongly remind me of realistic dioramas I saw many years ago at Mesa Verde.

You NEVER Know…
What started as a rain filled day to shoot in a hidden alcove turned into a day of exercise and sunlit capture of an exquisite memory from our Anasazi past. Sitting there, waiting to shoot, I recalled a morning at Fallen Roof ruin on Cedar Mesa, Utah. While waiting for the sun to really warm the exquisite roof and reflect magnificent colors, I heard children’s excited laughter up canyon well before I saw them.
A couple of striplings – big brother and little sister with parents – he climbing any wall, she enjoying the flowers – almost like ancient Anasazi children, natural, world-class climbers, as if monkeys from our distant past…
Were they premonitions of “How to think like an Anasazi?”

Technics
Nikon D300, 270mm, ISO 200, f/11, 1/250-1/15, 14 bit, 5 shots, -2/+2 EV
Photomatix, Tone Compressor @ Default Settings – 32 bit to 16 bit tif
Alternating Lightroom 2.4 / CS4 Tools.
LR2 Tools – Raw Camera Profile Nikon DX2 mode 3, Basic, Tone Curves - medium contrast, HSL Targeted Adjustment Tool (H&S), Detail – Landscape Sharpening w masking.
CS4 Tools - Curves Black and White Points, Photokit Sharpener final 3D sharpening (varying opacity, brush size), patch, clone, Dodge & Burn.

Enjoy…

Been to the Bisti Lately?

Sphinx

©Joe Bridwell

Nope, you're not on Mars... but in the Bisti Badlands. Is this really a Sphinx? Or, you might be looking at Darth Vader on some distant planet. Maybe, you might come up with a different interpretation... numerous hoodoo shapes seem to fertilize a creative mind. You're actually looking at an ancient beach combination of sandstone and lava where dinosaurs once roamed the Bisti.

Let your creative imagination run...
If you can find such unique Hoodoos like our Sphinx, just think about other shapes, colors, and textures available to the inquisitive photographer. Although it's a land with no trails, no water, and no trees, nevertheless, the perceptive eye can also find tree stumps, as well as occasional ancient trees where dinosaurs browsed.
The Bisti Badlands, near Farmington, New Mexico, is a hidden jewel amidst what appears to be a deserted area. Hoodoos, sandstone caps standing atop slender clay bases, have been cut by water over millennia.
Just trekking through the Bisti is one of the most spontaneous adventures available to digital photographers. Of course, it's best at Magic Hour, that hour near dawn and dusk.

If you get the chance, get up to the Bisti and find your own unique hoodoo. The Bisti is best trekked in spring and fall; without adequate water, you can become dehydrated rather quickly in summer.
Enjoy...

Natural Elements

I See You…
©Joe Bridwell

Munch, munch... he stood there - in natural element.  I'm sure he was aware of color contrasts between hide and sky.  As he was aware I stopped on high slopes above the Pecos River, just to capture him.
On recent perusal, I know this picture had potential.  Thanks to Photoshop, I present I See You...

Why the Silence?
On return from Escalante country, I found myself with numerous high dynamic range (HDR) images from classic 4 Corner’s landscapes.  Captured mostly during Magic Hour, that hour around Dawn and Dusk, said images require advanced processing.
Tone Mapping HDR images without 'over processing' is an important consideration.  Additionally, emphasis on rain streaked cliffs, times patina's, and other captivating natural aspects (arches, ruins...) requires time to properly paint and sharpen individual nuances.

What Progress?
Each of five Utah areas presented its own unique lighting situation.  In one case, the final composite image resulted from three sets of five HDR shots per orientation. 
Complex HDR pano's may become huge.  I didn’t expect to hit a RAM limit during computations...

In other cases, development is simpler; create a 32-bit HDR image, save as 16-bit tiff, do initial color balance in Lightroom, and final Tone Map touchups in CS4.

Rapid, More Accurate CS4 Workflow
After the unusual experience with RAM limit, I asked Eric Jones to suggest simpler workflow patterns.  His mastery of Photoshop, generosity, and valued time spent quickly took me to newer, simpler understandings of CS4.
Thanks, Eric!

I am completing another project, but on target to soon finish production of my Utah HDR experiences.

Enjoy...