Images from the Id – How Not to Shoot a Desert or Walt Disney Move Over.

In the mid 1950’s Walt Disney had a TV show which in one incarnation or another lasts to this day. I have vague remembrances of some of those early shows. The nature shows were the forerunner of the much of those we see now and in many ways were one of the things that pushed me to studying Biology and eventually photography.  Those were very different times with very different and even simplistic understanding of the world. Native Americans were admired for many reasons but other people did understand or concern themselves with the use of terms and words which the native people felt were derogatory and demeaning.

In a program dealing with American Folklore there was a song which describes how Pecos Bill created the Painted Desert (among other geographical phenomena). To paraphrase and make them slightly more acceptable, The Painted Desert was created by the Native American’s “jumping out of their makeup”. Please don’t condemn attitudes and words taken out of the context of their time. We knew no better and lacked a deeper understanding of the sensitivities of all minorities. It was wrong, but we didn’t know it. Yes, some people did it with derogatory  intent but like, Disney’s TV shows, most of us just did out of ignorance.

Also by the way 1931 Movie “The Painted Desert” was Clark Gable’s first “Talkie” – but with no concern about the origins of the Desert.

Geographically speaking the Painted Desert is huge and much of it on Navaho land. The Desert geologically consists of easily erodible sandstone with a great variety on metallic minerals giving it the colors. Many other kinds of “rock” are present. The area I was interested in is actually part of the Petrified Forest National Park. This area is a great place for photographers. We were coming from the west so we decided to enter the park from the south and meet I-40 on the both end. The Park Office is about 50 miles from Holbrook but there is a lot to see before you get there. The Petrified Forest gets its name from the great number of Triassic Period (Maybe they “saw” a T. Rex.) petrified trees scattered across the landscape. Their colors are amazing.  Don’t miss the huge rock store on this route. A great amount of petrified wood in all sizes and colors.

So what went wrong? Basically the weather! We had some sun at first but it disappeared quickly and then a little rain later. How do you handle the clouds and the color shift they cause? It’s primarily a white balance problem. Shoot a frame of a 18% Gray card. By doing this you can inform your software what gray should look like. In Lightroom 5, I use this to setup a preset I can use on all on the images I took during that time frame. Also don’t forget the wildlife. Best solution is to pick a better day

The iconic Petrified Forest image “Logs” 1/180 sec, f/11 -1/2 EV, ISO 100, 150 mm/225 mm. Worked on extensively in Lightroom 5 for white balance and colors.

“Log”  1/2000 sec, f/6.7, 0  EV, ISO 400, 95 mm. Worked on extensively in Lightroom 5 for white balance and colors.

“The Painted Desert”  1/180 sec, f/9.5, 0 EV, ISO 100, 40 mm/60 mm. Worked on extensively in Lightroom 5 for white balance and colors.

“Collared Lizard”  1/1000 sec, f/5.6, -1/2 EV, ISO 140, 200 mm/300 mm. Worked on extensively in Lightroom 5 for white balance and colors.