Douglas R. Winn Photography & Imaging

"Waterholes 06": Web Studio Image of the Month--May 2007

In the Fall of 2003 my shooting buddy John Goodman and I, with the well known Navajo photographer LeRoy DeJolie, visited the Waterholes petrified sand dunes near Page AZ.  The sun was just preparing to set when we got there, and we could hardly believe our eyes!  The sandstone is always wonderful in color but in this location the striations of the sandstone is layered in such a way that the image is one of soaring lifts of stone taking the eye heavenward in an inspiring sweep.  As the sun lowered in the west it cast a stunning hi-light on the eroded petrified sand dune that showed every edge and ripple in the upward-tilting heads of sandstone.  I was simply humbled by the glow of the light and the texture of the surfaces.

I used my Pentax 67II camera with Velvia 50 Fujichrome film, with a Veiwcamera Converter [VCC] and a Rodenstock Rodagon 150mm lens.  This allowed me to focus on the near surface of the sandstone, tilt my lens forward to bring the plane of focus from near to far so that the whole image fell into a near perfect focus.  Then I closed the aperture down to f-32 to bring in the most depth-of-field possible.  Then, a 2-second exposure, and I had the image I wanted.  We shot the scene for nearly 30 minutes until the light fell behind the horizon leaving the subject cold and lifeless.  We were able to set up on a number of compositions as we watched the light go from an intensive glow to a dim whisper.  This is an enchanted location and touches ones soul by its grandeur, texture and light.