Roaming around Bisti Badlands in New Mexico, there are so many different rock formations to see. One that was a surprise to me as I explored was Bisti Arch.
I heard there was an arch somewhere, so I was keeping my eye out for it, but I was looking for something much larger. It turns out – it’s just tiny! The arch is probably only a few feet off the ground. So when I first saw it, it took me a moment to realize it was one of the formations I was looking for.
To make it look a bit more impressive than it looks in person, I made my image from a very low perspective and angled my camera upwards which makes it look larger. This is where the articulating LCD screen on my Sony NEX6 comes in handy because I didn’t have to lie on the ground or anything to do it. I also used a wide-angle lens to get the width of the arch as well as some foreground in the frame. I had to wait until the last light of the day to get the warm golden rays on the arch – I love how the gold and blue look together.
Once I made this image, I went around to the other side of the arch to make my silhouette shot with the sunburst.
To make the sunburst, I used a small aperture of f/22 and partially hid the sun behind the arch.
Now the only problem was that I had to hike back to the RV after sunset, and this is a very very easy place to get lost with no landmarks. I had to follow my GPS back and even then it wasn’t easy. But it was all worth it!
Such a cool shot!