The road to mirage.

[Sailor Don]

After many miles of complete boredom, driving on the flat and level, I picked my camera up off the passenger seat and shot this photo of a road mirage while driving through New Mexico. It was taken through a bug splattered windshield while traveling at 70 mph, so the technical merits ain't all that great, but the intent is to give a visual interpretation of the never ending scene and complete boredom while "chasing" highway mirages.

http://users3.ev1.net/~sailord/RkyMtn2/img28.jpg

[rick barclay]

Cool, Sailor. This is one of those photos where you'd run it through some
crazy Photoshop filter to make it extreme surreal. I don't think reality
suits a photo like this too well. Of course, the trick is to take the real and
make it appear surreal, or vice versa.

[cmM]

This is one of those photos where you'd run it through some
crazy Photoshop filter to make it extreme surreal.
That is EXACTLY what I though at first sight.

It is a great photo, but it has outstanding potential !

[Sailor Don]

Just to avoid any confusion, I made no changes to the original image file, other than cropping. The colors are slightly enhanced due to the "Vivid" setting I used when taking the photo. What you see in the photo is very close to the real thing.

[im2postal]

The wonder of this shot is that it has astetic appeal while not imitating every other photo of it's kind. I think the trick to being a great photographer is developing an eye for good unique shots. I hope by watching others I can train mine.

Robbie

[Radtech1]

okay, since this is a critique forum, I am going to get picky. Three things that sort of distract from the shot, in ascending order of annoyance. First, the speed limit signs need to be cloned out. Second, I wish there were greater contrast in the sky. (I wonder if changing the white balance would help on that?) Third, and for me most important of the composition, I wish this were shot with a wider angle lens. You indicated that "the intent is to give a visual interpretation of the never ending scene and complete boredom while "chasing" highway mirages." Because, narrow field of view, I don't get the "never-ending" that you're trying for. For me, what I see is a mirage that is "just up there a little way", and I miss the vastness that I think you're going for.

Nice shot, but for me, it falls short of your stated intention.

Rad

[Sailor Don]

I appreciate all your comments. I strive to create better images by learning from others points of view.

I didn't expect the issue of wider angle lens in the context that Radtech mentioned. Rad, I value your critique and look forward to your comments on my photos.

First of all, I agree with your comments on the speed limit signs and the sky contrast.
With respect to the focal length, in theory your observation is correct. The never ending scene would be better portrayed by a wide angle (perhaps panoramic) lens. But then I lose the mirage, which in my mind is a major feature of "chasing mirages". I took several shots while cruising down this road. The EXIF file for the first shot showed my zoom lens was set at 40.5mm (35mm equivalent = 159.4mm) That is definitely in the low end of the telephoto range. The image that follows was shot at 15.4mm (35mm equivalent = 60.6mm) which is not really wide angle, but very close to "standard" focal length.
http://users3.ev1.net/~sailord/IMG_3053_sm.jpg

Even in the "standard" focal length shot, the mirage has become insignificant, almost invisible.

So maybe something in between those two focal lengths would help the photo. How much wider angle lens would you have chosen?

Rad,

The issue of trying to find small details in a big scene reminds me a little bit of your photos of the climbers on Devil's Tower. If you show the entire rock formation, you can't see the climbers. Maybe an overall view combined with a detail photo is the best presentation.

Thank you again for your critiques. I feel we all benefit from this.

[Radtech1]

Did you think of a "Portrait" orientation?

This treament, (which by now is .jpged to uselesness, but is shows the idea) seems to get the best of both worlds. The Mirage is *almost* as promenent as your first post, and the upright orientation draws the eyes *up and into* the vasteness.

As a bonus, speed limit signs are now gone, and the sky has a nicer blue.

Rad

http://home.ripway.com/2004-2/78486/IMG_3053_sm.jpg

[Sailor Don]

Rad,

Much improved presentation. I like it. You can view the full res version that I cropped from the 8 megapixel original at

http://users3.ev1.net/~sailord/Mirage_IMG_3053.jpg

Two things are now more obvious. The wires crossing above the road and the reflections of the road signs in the mirage.

The mirage reflections surprised me. I never noticed them until I started zooming in using the photo editor. This is what I found.

http://users3.ev1.net/~sailord/Mirage_Reflections.jpg

I increased the size about 20% over the original, so some resolution has been "lost".