The featured photo is from a place I did not know existed at the time I was planning my latest trip to Arizona and Utah. The place is called Kodachrome Basin State Park in Utah. I discovered it by accident.
The park is famous for 67 monolithic spires or chimneys spread across the park and a spectacular view of Bryce Canyon. The moment I entered the park I could see that it was a photographer’s heaven and there was no way I would leave without exploring it first. So instead of driving to Lake Powell as I originally planned, I stayed in the park for 3 days, camping in paradise.
Loc: 37.521560, -111.992315
Shooting
I keep experimenting with my new Fujifilm setup. I really like the Auto ISO setup on Fuji XT2 and how flexible it is. Plus, I find the RGB Histogram is extremely valuable when accessing the exposure. Because of the Auto ISO and RGB Histogram, I find myself using tripod less often. Even during the sunset hike, I did not bring the tripod with me and I did not miss it.
- Camera: Fujifilm XT2
- Lens: Fujinon 10-24mm
- Focal Length: 24m (Hyperfocal Distance: 3.6m)
- Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority (A)
- ISO: 200
- Aperture: F8
- Shutter Speed: 1/180s
- Tripod: handheld
Editing & Processing
It was a single RAW processing workflow.
Lightroom (50%)
I kept the original aspect ratio (3 x 2) but I cropped the image to improve the composition (The Crop Overlay Tool).
Next, I used Point Lobos preset from my Landscape Preset Collection as the base for Lightroom Rapid Editing. Then I used TOOLKIT to boost the Contrast and the Clarity.
The Lightroom Preset Editing Formula: Point Lobos (5, 10, 13, 21, 32)
Photoshop (50%)
In Photoshop, I used the Stamp Tool to cover the road sign and part of the road. The rest was a simple boost of details and noise reduction.
Plugins: DeNoise (noise reduction), Topaz Detail (local contrast boost).
Total time: 10min
Before & After Transformation
