Best of 2009
Portfolio

White Sands Sunset, New Mexico





Britlecone Pine Roots, California



Ancient Bristlecone Trunk #1, California





Ancient Bristlecone Trunk #2, California




Aspen Reflections, Sabrina Lake, Eastern Sierras

Grasses, Mono Lake




Canyon Walls Panorama


Sabrina Lake, Eastern Sierra Nevada



Mountain Lake, Eastern Sierra Nevada



Three Trees, Eastern Sierra Nevada



Bristlecone in October Snowstorm





Four Tufas at Dawn



Volcanic Tablelands and White Mountains, Eastern Sierra Nevada



Mono Lake Sunrise

Sometimes things work just exactly the way you want. On the morning this photograph was taken we had an open sky in the East, giving us beautiful sunrise light, clouds in the West, providing an interesting sky, a light dusting of snow on the mountains (difficult to see on the jpeg but visible on the Fine Art Print), no wind, providing us with wonderful reflections because of the still water, clean air meaning that the sky and the reflections of the sky are pure blue, and red hills behind the lake due to the grasses on the hills having turned yellow.

Plus, I had found the perfect location for this shot while the light was not at its peak yet, a good thing because the scene as you see it in this image lasted only a minute or two at the most, not enough time to relocate myself and re-set my tripod and equipment had I not been there when it happened. After that the sun was too strong to hold the delicate highlights in the Tufa without having them overly bright, thereby distracting from the overall scene. Before that the light was too soft and did not express my vision of this scene as well as in this image.



Utah Sunset
October 2009 Print of the Month


Tilted Abandoned House, Utah



Mediterranean Bench, France



Canal du Midi, France, Black and White



Canal du Midi, France, Color



Surf Swirls, Séte, France
September 2009 Print of the Month



Historical Navajo Hogan, San Juan River



Navajo Sandstone Patterns
August 2009 Print of the Month



Moonlight Wash Reflections
July 2009 Print of the Month



Death Valley Playa Sunrise
June 2009 Print of the Month



Canyon Rim Details
click on the image to see a section of the image at actual print size (16"x20")
May 2009 Print of the Month



Horseshoe Bend Morning
Phase One P45 eight-images collage
24,000 x 20,000 pixels

Cropping, composition and creativity

Digital photography gives us the possibility of composing and image by stitching together multiple frames seamlessly to create an image not only wider than any lens could create but also create an image with a geometry far different from what we see or what a single lens sees. In that case cropping becomes not only a requirement but an integral part of the process since there will always be "bits" that are unecessary. In addition I also stretch, warp, clone and more in order to complete the composition and make the image look the way I want it to look.

This process is closer to painting than to the traditional photography approach. In painting, the composition is arrived at over time, by adding, removing and modifying elements, light, colors and contrast. In traditional photography, epitomized by Henri Cartier Bresson's approach, composition is arrived at instantly.

This image is an example of what I am describing. Although not apparent when looking at this image, the little tree, or bush, to the far right was actually almost behind me. The use of a linear projection when stitching the eight Phase One P45 photographs resulted in the bush being to my right. Also, the 4 sky photographs were taken 20 minutes after the 4 land photographs. I took multiple series of 8 photographs, over a 1hr span of time. When it came to making a final choice I liked how the land looked early on and how the sky looked later on.

As a point of reference in regards to how wide this scene is, an 18mm lens on a full-frame 35mm would encompass slightly more than the width of the river bend (the Horseshoe shape of the river going around the central butte), from left to right. As it is this scene shows over 160 degrees of view since, as I mentioned, part of the scene on the right and left were located almost behind me.

A detail of this image is provided below:

40" x 50" print size crop from Horseshoe Bend Morning
This crop shows the level of detail in a 40" x 50" print of this image
as seen when using Photoshop's "View at Print Size" command



Clouds Mesa
Phase One P45 multiple image collage
March 2008 Print of the Month




Hoodoos Sunset, Northern Arizona
Multiple images collage




Mesa Sunset
Phase One P45, Hasselblad 503CW with Zeiss 80mme
February 2008 Print of the Month




Bristlecone Pine, Eastern Sierra Nevada
Phase One P45, Hasselblad 503CW with Zeiss 150mm




Zabriskie Point at Dusk



Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2009-1




Barrett Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2009-2



Barrett Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2009-3



Barrett Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2009-4



Barrett Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2009-5



You can see additional new photographs here:
1-Print of the Month page
2-Online Portfolios

All images on this page are copyright ©Alain Briot 2009
All rights reserved worldwide