This spot on route US-163 in Utah between Mexican Hut and the Monument Valley became famous after movie Forest Gump. This is the spot where in the movie Forest decided to stop running. Later it was named Forest Gump Point.
Loc: 37.101462, -109.990839
This was the first time for me visiting this area. After staying for a night in Bluff and spending the early morning shooting in Valley of the Gods, I was on my way to Monument Valley.
It was easy to recognize the spot because of the bunch of tourists blocking the road taking the pictures.
It took me probably 20-30 minutes patiently waiting until the place became empty and I could take some pictures without any distractions….
Shooting
It was a cloudy day, the sun was covered by thick clouds defusing the light, making it less dynamic. I did not have to bracket the shots. I took a bunch of individual shots handheld from the middle of the road.
And I was on my way to Monument Valley.
- Camera: Sony a6000
- Lens: Sony 16-70
- Focal Length: 46mm
- Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority (A)
- ISO: 100
- Aperture: F10
- Shutter Speed: 1/250s
- Bracketing: 3 (-1, 0, 1)
- Tripod: handheld
Processing
I took advantage of Rapid Editing PLUS for Landscapes workflow.
I used the Harsh Shadows preset from my Landscape Collection first and than dialed down the effect using the “virtual opacity” functionality of Rapid Editing PLUS workflow.
Next, I used TOOLKIT to boost contrast and clarity.
The Lightroom Editing Formula: Harsh Shadows 90% (9, 13, 17, 21, 40)
Photoshop: color correction, contrast. I had to do some extensive cleaning with the help of the Stamp Tool to remove the cars on the road, the fence on the left side and some derbies on the right side of the road.
Photoshop Plugins:
- Topaz DeNoise was used to reduce digital noise.
