Part of our Fall 2021 trip took us to US 50 in Nevada. We spent a couple of nights at Ft. Churchill SP on the Carson River. We’d been here before, but never in a drought. The river was dry except for a couple of pools, which were surrounded by the telltale hoofprints of range cattle. I wanted to tell a story about drought, about the harsh conditions, about how scarce the water is, and about competition for water. I used the dead tree and the sunflare to anchor the image on the diagonal, the reflection to make water the main interest of the photograph, and the treeline to illustrate the distance between water sources.
Specific Feedback Requested
I don’t usually work with contrast this much, and rarely shoot straight towards the sun, but that seemed to be the best options for this story. I’m interested in feedback on both the composition and the processing as it relates to the story of drought in the West.
Technical Details
Nikon D850, Tamron 24-70 at 24mm, f11, iso 200. It’s a 3-exposure blend, so the shutter speed varies. Mounted on a RRS head on Gitzo legs. I processed it in LR to add light and contrast to the foreground, and lightened and lowered the contrast in the distance. Trees were brushed and accentuated using light and saturation.