17 Jan
2011

Fortress of Solitude, Cathedral Gorge

Joe Rossbach and I are currently busy finishing up our next eBook, Five Landscape Challenges 2, which is the second in a series I launched last year. One of the images appearing in the book is from Cathedral Gorge State Park in Nevada. I took this image two years ago but have never before shared it with anyone. I’ve always liked this image, but I never published it because I figured that others would fail to share my enthusiasm. As is often the case, images that I think are my best are greeted with a ho-hum from most viewers, and images that I think are total shyte seem to be the ones that get the most oohs and aahs. Such is life, I guess.

This image is of scultped bentonite clay, eroded into interesting formations by water. I guess it’s a pretty straitforward view, and it lacks the big sunset clouds I often like to shoot. So, why do I like it so much? Well, for starters, I like the range of colors and the sharp contrast between the crystal clear blue sky and the lone spires lit by the last golden rays of the setting sun. More important, for me, is the total lack of perspective cues. Although these spires are no more than twenty or thirty feet high, because the image lacks any reference objects for scale, they appear to be massive desert mountains. The small erosion patterns at the bottom of the image frame further heighten the perspective illusion: they appear to be distant alluvial fans carved by an ancient and mighty desert river, rather than the puny remnants of brief spring rainstorm.

"Fortress of Solitude" - Cathedral Gorge, Nevada

Cathedral Gorge is a really neat place, and I hope to return there one day to make some more images. I only spent an overnight at the park, and didn’t really have enough time to thoroughly explore the area. With my busy travel schedule there are many places to which I would like to return, but unfortunately, the list is very long, and life is too short. Some day, perhaps. Until then, this image will have to do.

Technical details: Canon 5D Mark II camera, 14-24mm lens, ISO 200, f/16, 1/30 second.

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About Ian Plant (275 Posts)

Ian Plant's photographs and instructional articles have appeared in a number of books, calendars, and magazines, including Outdoor Photographer and Popular Photography. Ian writes a regular blog column for Outdoor Photographer online, and he is the author of numerous instructional eBooks and digital processing tutorials. Ian leads several photo tours each year.

Tags: cathedral gorge, desert, formations, nevada

4 Comments

Michael January 17, 2011 at 3:19 pm

Gorge-ous shot Ian. I passed by that place once in my travels and I am definitely wanting to get back there soon. Thanks so much for sharing. Best of luck with the E-Book.

Michael
Margaret January 18, 2011 at 11:18 am

Ian, I’m with you. Most of my favorite shots do NOT have the typical sunset/rise sky. Given a sunset, most reasonable photographers can get a good pic. But photos like yours of the gorge, although often harder to get, seldom get recognition. I like it BECAUSE it’s not a beautiful sunset!
Artist Boyd Greene January 19, 2011 at 12:13 pm

Ian, what I like about the photo is that it allows us to just enjoy the great beauty of the landscape instead of getting too caught up in the spectacular lighting that we often try to capture.
- Ian January 20, 2011 at 9:36 am
  
  Well said Boyd!