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Big Bend #3

#3 – Rio Grande Sunset

The Rio Grande serves as a natural border between the United States and Mexico and is one of the principal rivers in the southwestern United States. You can access the river throughout the park, however, this photograph was taken outside the park boundaries. I wanted to focus on the water and the nice, round rocks that are found throughout the Rio Grande, so, I positioned my tripod very close to the ground and pointed my lens straight down. The angle of view on 16mm is quite large so I had a lot of room to work with.

Original Post: November 14, 2015

Location: Near an overlook on Highway 170 west of the park. A medium-range drive from Terlingua.

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

Camera Settings: Aperture Priority mode, lens at 16mm, f/11, 1/8th of a second, ISO 100. I took five bracketed images (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). I took the bracketed images so I would have more options for the water flow effect.

Post Processing: I processed the five bracketed images into a single HDR image in Photomatix and completed the processing in Photoshop.

Comments: This photograph required a very sturdy tripod as I had to place it in the water. The vibration from the water passing could have resulted in a blurry image. I recall that I put my weight on the tripod as I took the series of photos in order to add more rigidity to my setup. What would I do different? Well, a nice sunburst would have been a great addition to the composition. Boosting the aperture to at least f/14 and waiting a few more seconds would have accomplished that effect.

On The Border
Big HIll Sunset – Big Bend National Park

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T. Kahler Photography
© 2016 T. Kahler Photography

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