I just returned from a 2-week long driving trip to the Southwest.
I started the trip in Phoenix and after driving through Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California, I completed the journey in Los Angeles.
This time, I set a personal record by covering a distance of 5200 km (3200 miles).
I did a similar trip 2 years ago but what made this year trip different was my goal to visit less popular destinations.
If I had to choose a single image that the best represents my latest trip, it would be the photo I took in Valley of the Gods in Utah. The main reason for choosing this photo was the extensive dirt road driving I did during the trip. When I was returning the rental car at LA airport it was covered with the layers of the dust of different colors from various dirt roads of the Southwest.
I took a total of 5700 photos. But, since most of them were bracketed shots it approximately represents 2000 of unique captures.
Loc: 37.274765, -109.806056
Shooting
Valley of the God road is a 30km dirt road that becomes unpassable when it is raining. I entered the road about 90min before the sunset and completed the ride when it was already dark. During the 2 hour drive, I probably stopped 20 times and took a bunch of shots from the side of the road.
I strategically kept the tripod unfolded to save time. All I had to do is to stop the car, open the hatch and grab the tripod with the camera, ready to drive to the next spot only a few minutes later.
Camera: Sony a6000
Lens: Sony-16-70
Focal Length: 16mm
Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority (A)
ISO: 100
Aperture: F10
Shutter: 1/80s
Bracketing: 3 (-1, 0, 1)
Tripod: FEISOL Tournament CT-3442
Ballhead: FEISOL CB-40D
Processing
It was a single RAW file editing.
I used Point Lobos preset from my Landscape Collection as the base for Lightroom Rapid Editing. Then I used TOOLKIT to boost colors and contrast.
The Lightroom Preset Editing Formula: Point Lobos(1, 9, 16, 20, 34)
Photoshop: color correction, contrast, cleaning.
Photoshop Plugins:
- Topaz DeNoise was used to reduce digital noise (sky).
- Topaz Clarity was used to enhance details and boost colors (foreground, mountains).
