Where Dinosaurs Roamed

[BlackRockArt]

Where Dinosaurs Roamed

After an arduous trek through the blistering southwest wilderness, a shallow valley beckoned my weary legs for a short reprieve. As I dabbed away rivulets of sweat from my forehead, I reached for my water bottle. But before a single drop could meet my lips, a curious sight gave me pause.

Gingerly I tiptoed closer. They weren't mere unusual rocks, but what seemed like gargantuan eggs that had burst open!

Goodness, had I just gatecrashed a dino brunch? Or had I uncovered an alien spaceship parking lot? Were these cosmic eggs waiting for the right moment to reveal their contents? My inner Kubrick was tingling with possibilities.

I whipped out my camera and snapped a few shots, hoping that I wasn’t about to be greeted by a cosmic chicken with a penchant for privacy.

I then retreated cautiously, not wishing to upset whatever might dwell beneath the wildland.

Back at home, I was awestruck reviewing the images. The radiant cores, the sheer size, the broken shells on the ground! The Bisti Badlands had truly delivered a spectacle of egg-ceptional proportions.

Fingers crossed that someday, a particularly astute egg-spert deciphers this scrambled enigma!

Bisti De Na Zin, NM

Oliver

 

[Ken Rennie]

Beautiful, all it needs is Raquel Welch in fur bikini to complete the illusion. Of course I may just have a fixation about Raquel W and it is complete in itself. Ken

 

[AlanLichty]

Neat shot Oliver - one of my favorite places in the Bisti. I like the DoF in this capture. You had some nice clouds to work with during your visit down there.

 

[JimFox]

Ha ha, love your write up Oliver! The drama in your words matches the drama in this scene.

A really well done photo. I like the angle on this, and that's a really great mood in the sky.

I remember the first time I was there, I was struck by how the Alien Eggs are all in a long row instead of it just being an area where they are all spread out in a field, it's like looking at a narrow football field. Which made for some composition challenges as you typically have to shoot at an angle, like you did here, to get the eggs to fill the whole frame of the camera.

 

[JimFox]

Beautiful, all it needs is Raquel Welch in fur bikini to complete the illusion. Of course I may just have a fixation about Raquel W and it is complete in itself. Ken

Okay.... now I will admit to having a crush on Raquel Welch back in the day. And now.... I need to see her in this image as well.

 

[Ken Rennie]

Okay.... now I will admit to having a crush on Raquel Welch back in the day. And now.... I need to see her in this image as well.

Generative Fill couldn't / wouldn't generate Raquel W with or without the fur bikini

 

[BlackRockArt]

Beautiful, all it needs is Raquel Welch in fur bikini to complete the illusion. Of course I may just have a fixation about Raquel W and it is complete in itself. Ken

Ken, you don't say !

Omg, now I can't unsee the babe in deer skin bikini !



Oliver

 

[BlackRockArt]

Neat shot Oliver - one of my favorite places in the Bisti. I like the DoF in this capture. You had some nice clouds to work with during your visit down there.

Thanks, Alan, that was some serious rain clouds on the South, we did get thunderstorms on our way driving back.

Oliver

 

[MonikaC]

Nice write-up, Oliver. You got some nice light & clouds at the egg factory.
Gotta admit, Ms Welch does nothing for me.......

 

[BlackRockArt]

Ha ha, love your write up Oliver! The drama in your words matches the drama in this scene.

A really well done photo. I like the angle on this, and that's a really great mood in the sky.

I remember the first time I was there, I was struck by how the Alien Eggs are all in a long row instead of it just being an area where they are all spread out in a field, it's like looking at a narrow football field. Which made for some composition challenges as you typically have to shoot at an angle, like you did here, to get the eggs to fill the whole frame of the camera.

Thanks, Jim.

I had 14mm lens with me, it was really handy; these eggs are still being carved by the force of nature. Halfway through the trek, we were hit by the almost gale-force wind; we could barely keep our eyes open; luckily my 25-lb backpack kept me planted on the ground.

I will be back there in a few weeks, hopefully,

the weather has cooled down.

Oliver

Nice write-up, Oliver. You got some nice light & clouds at the egg factory.
Gotta admit, Ms Welch does nothing for me.......

Hear, hear.

 

[John Holbrook]

Good story and great image! Good use of the 14mm in your composition.

 

[ckcarr]

If you were over in Goblin Valley the rocks might have come alive like in Tim Allen's movie Galaxy Quest and you would have to fight..

Images like this are awesome.
Raquel would fit in, but I still prefer Ann-Margret.

 

[Beth]

jurassic park #7? you had me at dinosaurs. great scene and fantastically captured.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Sorry I missed this! I love these type of images that do seem to evoke an Earthscape of the very distant past. Yours certainly fits that bill, and the fun story. Lovely light and the wonderfully deep DOF makes it.

I actually have a couple shots I took just stepping out of the car in a nondescript portion of Utah on the way to Capitol Reef NP that gave me a very similar feeling - like a big dinosaur could come walking out from behind one of the big rock formations any second! Great stuff.

ML

 

[Marcy]

Ha ha, love your write up Oliver! The drama in your words matches the drama in this scene.

A really well done photo. I like the angle on this, and that's a really great mood in the sky.

I remember the first time I was there, I was struck by how the Alien Eggs are all in a long row instead of it just being an area where they are all spread out in a field, it's like looking at a narrow football field. Which made for some composition challenges as you typically have to shoot at an angle, like you did here, to get the eggs to fill the whole frame of the camera.

I was reading the rules of the Bisti Wilderness area and drones are prohibited - I was hoping to use mine out there but probably won't risk it

 

[BlackRockArt]

I was reading the rules of the Bisti Wilderness area and drones are prohibited - I was hoping to use mine out there but probably won't risk it

Hi Marcy !

It wasn't too bad, I took this photo with 14mm lens with a Sony camera, which has a flip-out screen, just handheld; but really, anything from 12mm ~ 17mm focal length will do the job, the trick is to hold the camera steady.

I doubt the drone will be any better though, at least to me, the image quality won't be satisfactory.


Oliver