Exploring Arizona an Utah – Square Butte (Arizona)

It was an eventful day during my driving trip through Arizona and Utah.

I woke up early in the morning in Bluff (Utah). I drove straight away to the Valley of the Gods with the goal to capture the morning light.

I made a quick stop at Goosenecks State Park where I photographed unforgettable curves of San Juan River.

After a short drive with the 10 min stop at Forest Gump Point, I was in the Monument Vally where I spend the majority of the day exploring the park.

I was on my way to my final destination of the day the Horseshoe Bend where I was planning to be at a sunset hour.

In the middle of a beautiful 2-hour drive from the Monument Valley to the Horseshoe Bend, I stumbled upon the Square Butte. I only had time for a brief stop and 10 min walk, but I still got rewarded with the few interesting photos.

Shooting

It was uncomplicated shot. I took 3 bracketed shots from the side of the road in Aperture Priority mode, handheld. That was it.

Camera: Sony s6000
Lens: Sony 16-70mm
Focal Length: 34mm
Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority (A)
ISO: 100
Aperture: F8
Shutter Speed: 1/250s
Tripod: handheld

Editing & Processing

It was a simple and uncomplicated a single RAW processing workflow.

Lightroom (90%)

First, I used the Crop Overlay tool to straighten the photo and to make composition a bit tighter. I used the process I outlined in the article: How to Straighten a Photo in Lightroom.

Next, I used the Natural 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: Natural (10, 13, 21, 32)

Photoshop (10%)

In Photoshop all I had to do was to boost the details and reduced the noise.
Plugins: DeNoise (noise reduction), Topaz Detail (local contrast boost).

Total Time: 10min

Before & After Transformation