A cold and bleak afternoon on Lunatic Hill in the dusty township of Lightning Ridge. Lightning Ridge is famous for its black opal.
I didn’t notice the sky’s orientation when I was working on the image, but now I see in the smaller version here it looks off, and the colour seems a bit off as well. I’ve chosen to leave the discarded beer bottles in the foreground which may not appeal to the majority.
Is this a composite: No
Glennie, this is a very stark and dreary setting, with the cloudy sky adding well to that feeling. It looks like somebody put a lot of work into dismantling that truck, leaving just the metal of the cab. The discarded beer bottles take some looking to find and fit the rest of the scene well. I do see the yellowish/brownish bits in the clouds near the horizon, but that may be natural since the rest of the cloud bank look right.
Hi Glennie,
As Mark says, this has a dreary feel to it, which, I think works very well. I think the colors are a perfect match for the subject. I can’t tell about the sky, but it doesn’t look off to me, and the foreground bushes look properly vertical.
Great image.
Based on the conditions of this truck it seems that the opal mining stopped a while ago. I think you have framed this image very good, the bottles and the sky works well for me. Nice find and catch!
This put Mr. Bad Example by Warren Zevon straight into my head. Great find. I like the angle, but wish the bush in the foreground was off to the side. I don’t find it dreary at all since it seems like a lot of open space and sky. Was the truck bed anywhere around? Looks to be AWOL. Great color management, too. Everything is pale and adds to the feeling of enervation.
Wonderful find!! The processing looks like an excellent fit to the lighting. I love the angle you shot from, and the beer bottles are perfect!!!
I must admit I didn’t have Warren Zevon in my head when I found the old ute. But, the song has some great Aussie overtones.
The tray off the old truck may have been lying around somewhere, but I didn’t see it. This truck was very near the edge of an abandoned, open-cut opal mine. I must agree, the shrub would have been better a little off to the side.
