"Yucca Dawn"

A fine piece of work, Mark, both compositionally and technically. This is one of those exposures that would be extremely difficult to get right with film.

Thanks John! I just uploaded before having to run my daughter over to her music theatre. I didn't expect a look, much more a comment. I am running the paces on my new outfit (Canon 60D with the Tamron 18-270mm). The 15X Tamron zoom seems risky for a landscape shooter, but for the price and the quality, I'm impressed. One thing that a "edges of the day" shooter like myself has to iron out is how it will render a sunstar. Obviously it is a 7 blade aperture which produces 14 flares (or whatever they're called). These flares are narrow to wide quite a bit more than my Sigma lens, but I think stopping down to F22 should narrow them more (this was shot at F16). In this case, I was composing something else. As the sun emerged, I simply turned my camera into it, shot two bracketed exposures, and then resumed my other composition. After processing, I had to ask myself why I didn't hunker down on this shooting direction and spend more time with the possibilities. The backlit grasses always work well with these extreme lighting conditions. Luckily, there was no breeze, which enabled me to blend in some detail on the yucca bloom. One other thing that is immediately obvious; hardly any erratic flare. Finally, the Canon delivers amazing results all the way up to ISO 6400 with minimal noise. The conclusion is: I didn't waste my money and I don't expect any buyer's remorse regarding this setup. Thanks again for the comment!!

Thanks for your impressions! Please view Larger!

I've been waiting for a new posting from you Mark and, as usual, it's a stunner.  The yucca rendition is beyond my abilities for sure.  The detail and sharpness at every level is superb. 

Mark...  You may find it gratifying to know that even when scanning the "critique forum" at advanced speed, your shot brought me to a stop and even before seeing your name I said, "Mark's posted another shot".   A fantastic morning and it exudes tranquility... well done... Mike

WOW I say again WOW!  GReat moment, wonderful capture.  Congrats, rek.