The iconic Alien Throne in Bisti Badlands of New Mexico.
The Alien Throne in Bisti Badlands is likely one of the top three iconic formations in this 45,000 acre area. The general daily plan for the Muench workshop is to arrive at such an area mid afternoon, providing ample time to explore the surrounding formations. Basically we are trying to find compositions suitable for sunset and sundown. It is always very difficult to accurately pre-visualize scenes as they will be at sunset. This just keeps the workshop participants busy until we are to shoot the Milky Way at about 10:00PM and crawl into your tent dead tired after midnight.
Alien Throne in Bisti Badlands
Sunburst on the alien Throne
While not a rule I consistently follow, if color is not a critical part of the photo it should likely be a black and white image. This B&W version is much better than the color version, in my opinion. What does the color really add to the photo? The sunburst and the shapes are the subject here, not the color.
I thought I was going to the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico to photograph a unique landscape, unknown to most of the world. As I stepped off the plane in the Farmington, NM airport, I was greeted by this 10 X 15 foot photo… By the way, the first five miles or so exiting the Farmington airport was a dirt road. That was a first for me.
It is seldom a good idea to chase after an iconic photograph. They are iconic for a reason. The light and other conditions were perfect at the time… You will likely never achieve the same high level photograph.
Petrofied Wood
In addition to this reasonably interesting scene, the petrified logs added an extra interest level for me. Many parts of the Bisti Badlands are completely covered in petrified wood. At times the trail you are walking on is covered in petrified wood bits.
Sometimes the ground was covered in petrified wood fragments. There was no way around it, so it was our path at times.
Get Ready for the Stars
A photo such as this often requires two exposures blended together. The depth of field is too narrow or limited to get the silhouette and the moon in focus at the same time. So one photo is taken of the rocks and a second of the moon. They are then blended together in Photoshop. Your iPhone does not require this as that lens is generally a very wide angle lens with a greater depth of field. The exposure of the moon should also be changed as the light from the moon is really just noontime daylight to your camera.
It is hard to describe the jostling and competition among the group of photographers for this photo. Eight to ten people cannot all get into the single best position. We huddle together and think or hope we have the best spot. Some have strong feelings, others care a bit less. Eight or so of us are huddled together, nearly shoulder to shoulder for the next three hours, taking many photos of this scene. It is a complex photography process of many shots at different exposures and a unique processing method in Photoshop which I have yet to master.
Watching Mud Dry
The workshop needs to keep us busy all day long, so here they took us to watch some mud dry… Actually, it was already dry and I enjoyed it, after all it is quite abstract. Not all in our party agreed. Some refused to get down into the dry arroyo to photograph this. I enjoyed it, but I understand the limited appeal.
Triptych of dried mud. You can see the clay gets washed onto sand. When the clay dries, the sand easily gives way so the clay mud curls. Hummm… maybe more than you wanted to know, but it looks like that is what is going on to me….
Once the sun sets, it is easy to pull mauve colors out of the scene, with the occasional juniper berry.
So much of this landscape is abstract, so it all appealed to me. Below, the dried mud hillsides offered many abstract designs and color tones.
Erosion designs. Evidence it really does rain here on occasion.
Some desert residents were very happy to see us.
Star Gazing in the Bisti Badlands
This was our last evening on the Muench workshop. It was most successful with great leaders. Wayne Suggs and Matt Payne of Muench Workshops Workshop Link did a terrific job and helped me explore this area of New Mexico which had eluded me. I thank them both.
Exploration On My own
With the professional workshop over, it seemed like a good idea to stay another week and explore this great area with a fellow outdoorsman and great landscape photographer from Idaho, Shane Davila. Shane’s Web Site He is much younger, stronger, more in tune with the wilderness and camping. Plus he had a Jeep, so I felt I would be in good hands. He drove down to New Mexico and off into the desert we went…
Evening comes to the Bisti Badlands.
Some sites are just not conducive for nine people in a workshop to huddle around a small site to get a photo. So we would explore these new areas on our own. Our goal was to visit some of the places I had already seen and explore those areas the workshop we did not venture to.
We re-visited Alien Throne and got to see it in different light. There are too many opportunities for photos and it is impossible to get to them all in one visit.
It is somewhat easy to see how the top of the Alien Throne was once the bottom of the ocean.
Alien Throne in Bisti Badlands with the setting sun.
After the workshop, we had clouds every night. They are often better for photography, but not conducive to night time photos.
In the evening sun, much of this land can turn mauve in color.
My treachourous hiking adventure with Shane occurred on our very first evening. All of it was my own fault. Falling down the mountain side would haunt me not only the rest of the week but for 60 day afterwards…. Stay tuned….
