Ocotillo Landscape

Well, I put the horizon at the center of the image to try to assure myself that I wouldn't get a severe wide-angle distortion. I'm happy with the perspective ... but wish I had more sky. It was somewhat difficult to compose an image around the ocotillo. This is one of only one or two that I'm satisfied with. Your thoughts?

Any comments or ratings are appreciated! :-)

The desert is hard to photograph. I've always found it to be. I think you've done a nice job with the design. The clouds seem to compliment the land quite well, and in a larger version, I think you'd be able to see the ocotillo blooms quite nicely. Where'd you take this?

One of your better desert landscapes, IMHO. It is becoming my experience that as the ocotillo is such a spindly plant and sort of disappears against the background, as here; that the best thing to do is get closer and go low. In that fashion, it seems to better convey the unique character of this desert denizon. The ocotillo works pretty good in a sunset against the orange and pink sky too. Nice work on this one. Are you in NoVa now? I'm in the process of moving too; just across town, thank God! ;>) Take care, Lou Ann! Cheers! Chris

This was taken at the Saguaro National Park West off of the Scenic Bajada Loop Drive somewhere. And, yes, Chris - that is exactly what I meant about having difficulty shooting the ocotillo - it would disappear in the composition. But I don't know about "getting close". I didn't "get close" to many of the things in Arizona that had spikes or spines on them. :-)

I didn't mean to hug the darn thing! LOL! I meant just move a little closer to it, get low, and put a portion (e.g., the upper portion) against the blue Arizona sky. I have been toying with different ways of photographing these guys myself. Have a look at my ocotillos. Cheers! Chris

 

BTW, I wear tile-layer's padded plastic knee-pads ($10 at Home Depot). Sure makes it a lot more comfortable on this 50+ year old's knees; and keeps the thorns away. :)

Yeah - except look at what's near the ground all around the ocotillo. You don't need to hug IT to get STUCK. :-)

You're just a big 'fraidy-cat! It isn't that bad, come on...Guess I've spent far too much time in the desert the past 30 years! I don't know that I've ever stuck myself on a cactus; generally only when I'm gettin' cholla buds off one of the dogs (now dogs; they do get into this stuff, off and on - Ouch!) . Quit fightin' the idea; and just say, "Yeah, good thought, Chris!" :)

Yeah, good thought, Chris....

Lou Ann, I'd say the other thing that helps is softer light. Looks like this was taken with the sun pretty high and that's hard on color. With the sun lower on the horizon, the sides of the ocotillo flowers will be lit up, and will be easier to get the color across. Since the light here is coming from the top and you're looking up to the flowers, you're seeing the bottom shady side. Chris is right, the easiest way to see the flowers is against a blue sky (or against as monochromatic a background as possible). But the light does need to be from the right angle. Hope that helps for next time.

You know, Laurent - I knew that was a problem. I knew it would be a problem before I even went out to shoot. I was SO annoyed - they have this 7:00a.m. to sunset law (law!) about being in any of those parks (they all connect - to get to one, you have to drive through the others). This shot was taken on a drive along a dirt back road. There would have been no possible way to get up there in time for the magic hour or to get home afterward because I was told that they ticket and/or arrest you for being out there in the off hours. They told me that it has to do with the drug dealers. Absolutely no exceptions. It was a bummer!

Not that it matters now; but I always park on Sandario Road, just west of the west unit's boundary, and then hike in. I got 'caught' walking out one morning about a year ago as the NPS ranger came to unlock the gate on the west unit's loop road. He just waved at me as I walked by him. I'm pretty much an anarchist when it comes to "sunrise/sundown." There's their interpretations, and then there's mine ("Rules - we don't need no stinkin' rules!"). When I visited Buenos Aires NWR; which is right on the US/Mexican border; I spent the entire day being contacted by the Border Patrol, no matter where I was. It was a real pain in the patootie! Cheers! Chris

Thanks, Chris - and if it were an area with which I was familiar, I would most definitely have been into "hiking in". But since I would have had no idea where I was and it would have been dark, I figured that I would settle for harshly lit photos rather than none at all........

No, no; I totally understand the situation you were in. I agree with you on areas that are new to me; I'm the same way. I think Laurent's comment, and my subsequent comments, were geared more toward our own local knowledge. Laurent lives in Tucson, as I recall. I think you did a great job on this photograph; it has that wonderful wide-open expansive Sonoran Desert feel. Good job! ...And good on you for not landing in U.S. District Court for illicit perambulation on federal land before 0700! Cheers! Chris