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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eighteen: Light and Landscape – combining personal vision with nature’s gifts > Desert glow, Saguaro National Park, Tucson, Arizona, 2009
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08-APR-2009

Desert glow, Saguaro National Park, Tucson, Arizona, 2009

The sun is low in the sky, backlighting the spines on the Cholla cacti as well as illuminating the outlines of the Saguaro cacti in the background. Just enough glare enters the top of the frame to inject a golden glow into the image. We move from the deep shadows in the foreground through the luminous strands of cactus in the middle ground to the fiery haze in the background. This is what it feels like to stand in the southern Arizona desert at sunset.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
1/400s f/5.0 at 45.0mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time08-Apr-2009 18:20:16
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-G1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length45 mm
Exposure Time1/400 sec
Aperturef/5
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.66
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis27-Oct-2009 20:44
Once upon a time indeed, Claudia. This is a story, and the main character is the natural world itself. And yes, it is also full of mysteries. But so, too, is nature.
BleuEvanescence24-Oct-2009 17:51
I could easily see this image in a fairy tale book, where some lessons could be learned..emphasized by the mystery.
I really like how this makes me feel.
Il était une fois...Once upon a time...
Phil Douglis10-Jul-2009 17:44
I am glad you see the message here, Nancy. The golden light and the glare of the setting sun have indeed transformed pain into beauty.
Nancy Good10-Jul-2009 03:10
The light has become a sheer curtain through which we get to view this desert scene. Without this shimmering softness, the sharp thorns and unforgiving heat would be forbidding rather than beckoning. Thank you for sharing your vision. Beautiful!
Phil Douglis21-Apr-2009 22:21
Thanks, Tim, for those nice words. You make a very good point here -- it is often helpful to include the light source itself in the photograph, and not just the effect of it. This image is as much about glow and flare as it is about backlighted cacti. As you say, I am painting with light here as much as I am depicting a particular subject. You are also right about keeping an open mind when shooting -- being willing to go beyond the images we are comfortable making and instead, as you say, "step back" from the subject itself and be willing to experiment, break the rules, accept things like glare and flare into our frame, and see what we wind up saying with it. Thanks for making these points.
Tim May21-Apr-2009 20:48
Again, a lesson here for me, I, as you know would have been drawn to the backlighting and concentrated on that - I have many, many (too many?) times - but by stepping back and infusing the scene with light, you have created art. This is a painting made by a camera, and an artist.
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