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Best of Big Bend

I’m off to my annual spring trip to Big Bend National Park with some of my photography buddies. I thought I would share my Top 5 landscape photographs from my 2015 trips to the Park. The countdown will begin tomorrow and it will conclude next week with my favorite photo. I will outline the equipment I used, why I chose the camera settings, the post processing tools I used and what I was thinking when I captured the photograph. I will also outline what I would do different if I had the chance.  In the meantime, the photo below deserves and “Honorable Mention”. It was a close tie with #5 but lost in the “tie-breaker”.

Original Post: September 11, 2015

Location:  Ernst Tinaja. This is a long drive but a short hike. Some rock climbing is required but not a rigorous effort.

EquipmentCanon EOS 5D Mark III, my Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8 Lens, tripod and a remote shutter release.

Camera Settings: Lens set at 21mm, f/18, 1/2 second, ISO 100, five bracketed images (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2).

Post Processing: I used Photomatix to blend the five images into a single image (see HDR). I then used Photoshop for the final touches.

Comments: We arrived before sunrise but the cloud cover was not very interesting. So, I thought that a reflection would be a better approach. I used bracketed images to close the gap between the bright light of the sunrise and the shadow of the tinaja. I chose f/18  to get maximum depth of field. I chose ISO 100 to maximize sharpness. In retrospect, I would change the aperture to f/8. That would have given me more sharpness to the image and reduce the risk of camera shake due to the longer exposure.

Ernst Tinaja Canyon with Water Pool
Ernst Tinaja Canyon with Water Pool

Click here to access my Big Bend portfolio. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions or suggestions.

T. Kahler Photography
© 2016 T. Kahler Photography

PS: Please don’t respond to this message as it will not reach me. Either post a comment or forward your response to my email address (terry@tkahler.com)

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