# Alien Landscapes



## @!ex (Jul 22, 2012)

Post your best otherworldly landscapes. This is one I just processed from a couple weeks ago...




Life on Mars by @!ex, on Flickr


----------



## wickidwombat (Jul 23, 2012)

cool shot
not keen on the vignette though but as usual your subtle processing looks very tidy
you should do a tutorial on your processing technique

or write an ebook and seell it for $10 on trey ratcliffs site flatbooks
http://www.flatbooks.com/

I would buy it


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

wickidwombat said:


> cool shot
> not keen on the vignette though but as usual your subtle processing looks very tidy
> you should do a tutorial on your processing technique
> 
> ...



Thanks Wombat, really appreciate it. Interesting idea on the book, I can always use a bit more money to throw at this hobby. I just finished writing/defending my doctoral thesis, and am writing a research grant as we speak, but maybe this winter I might have a break in writing an could dedicate some time to this project.

Also, here is a version w no vignette...


----------



## dr croubie (Jul 23, 2012)

Mmm, nice. I can't decide which is the best of vignette or not, maybe halfway in between would get my vote?
Anyway, what was it, a dry riverbed, to get that kind of erosion?

Wombat, you're from Melbourne aren't you? Ever get over to Tassie? Around Queenstown there's some insanely Alien landscapes, going back there once I get my MF body with a few rolls of Velvia is pretty high up on my list. here's an example from wikipedia.

(actually, I took some shots like that with a film P&S when i was there maybe 6 years ago, i'll have to see if I can find the negs now that i've got a proper scanner...)


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

dr croubie said:


> Mmm, nice. I can't decide which is the best of vignette or not, maybe halfway in between would get my vote?
> Anyway, what was it, a dry riverbed, to get that kind of erosion?
> 
> Wombat, you're from Melbourne aren't you? Ever get over to Tassie? Around Queenstown there's some insanely Alien landscapes, going back there once I get my MF body with a few rolls of Velvia is pretty high up on my list. here's an example from wikipedia.
> ...



It's a picture from the Badlands in South Dakota, here is the entry from wiki explaining what badlands are:

The term badlands represents a consensus in North America. The Lakota called the topography "Makhóšiča", literally bad land, while French trappers called it "les mauvaises terres à traverser" – "the bad lands to cross". The Spanish called it tierra baldía ("waste land") and cárcava ("gully"). The term badlands is also apt: badlands contain steep slopes, loose dry soil, slick clay, and deep sand, all of which impede travel and other uses. Badlands form in semi-arid or arid regions with infrequent but intense rain-showers, sparse vegetation, and soft sediments: a recipe for massive erosion. Some of the most famous fossil beds are found in badlands, where erosion rapidly exposes the sedimentary layers and the scant cover of vegetation makes surveying and fossil hunting relatively easy.

That Queenstown landscape looks very striking. Very cool.


----------



## wickidwombat (Jul 23, 2012)

I'm in perth, I havent been to tassie but its supposed to have some great scenery I'd love to go sometime
my wife want to take pictures in the lavender fields over there in her wedding dress, I can see that being an epic shoot when we do get over there eventually


----------



## daniel-barton (Jul 23, 2012)

I like the vignette-ish one better. Here's one:




Alvord by daniel-barton, on Flickr


----------



## Ahven (Jul 23, 2012)

Hey first time here, long time reader. Wanted to post a pic to this particular thread from my Norway trip last spring.




Green Volcano by Julius Koskela, on Flickr

At least the atmosphere being there was totally otherworldy


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

Ahven said:


> Hey first time here, long time reader. Wanted to post a pic to this particular thread from my Norway trip last spring.
> 
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahven1/7064449405/#
> 
> At least the atmosphere being there was totally otherworldy



Ahven, beautiful borealis, and nice composition, welcome. Just for future reference if you click on the "share" button above your picture in filckr and copy and paste the "bb code" into your comment, it will link a pic into the thread.


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

daniel-barton said:


> I like the vignette-ish one better. Here's one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I love shots into the sun (if you haven't already noticed). pleasing textures.


----------



## jabbott (Jul 23, 2012)

Here are a few of my otherworldly favorites... the first and second are from Colorado, the third and fourth are from New Mexico, and the final shot is from Utah.

























​


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

jabbott said:


> Here are a few of my otherworldly favorites... the first and second are from Colorado, the third and fourth are from New Mexico, and the final shot is from Utah.



Great tones and composition. Clouds might be a bit overly tonemapped, but nice overall.


----------



## jabbott (Jul 23, 2012)

@!ex said:


> Great tones and composition. Clouds might be a bit overly tonemapped, but nice overall.



Thanks for the feedback. Tone-mapping is always a challenge for me to strike a balance between flat/boring and highly varied... in some cases I just say "screw it" and crank the knobs to 11.  Even then I've seen pro photographers do even more intense tone mapping, so it's all on a spectrum I suppose.

Your photo is very nice as well - I like the framing and texture a lot. It's remarkable how much of the sun is visible given the amount of cloud cover.


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

jabbott said:


> @!ex said:
> 
> 
> > Great tones and composition. Clouds might be a bit overly tonemapped, but nice overall.
> ...




I know the feeling about tone mapping to the extreme (check out some of my earlier work). That said B&W really hides excessive tonemapping pretty well most of the time. It's really only an issue in the 3rd one down and the last one. I'd like to see a color version of the last one as well....


----------



## jabbott (Jul 23, 2012)

@!ex said:


> I know the feeling about tone mapping to the extreme (check out some of my earlier work). That said B&W really hides excessive tonemapping pretty well most of the time. It's really only an issue in the 3rd one down and the last one. I'd like to see a color version of the last one as well....



Agreed regarding B&W hiding a lot of tone-mapping. Also agreed that it doesn't hide entirely well in my shots. :-\

Here is a color version of the last one:


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

jabbott said:


> @!ex said:
> 
> 
> > I know the feeling about tone mapping to the extreme (check out some of my earlier work). That said B&W really hides excessive tonemapping pretty well most of the time. It's really only an issue in the 3rd one down and the last one. I'd like to see a color version of the last one as well....
> ...



cool shot. Have you tried removing the color cast?


----------



## jabbott (Jul 23, 2012)

@!ex said:


> cool shot. Have you tried removing the color cast?


Thanks! Here's the original with a small amount of highlight adjustment:


----------



## DomHanzak (Jul 23, 2012)

Glyder Fach, Snowdonia, North Wales






Larger version

My Photoblog


----------



## blaydese (Jul 23, 2012)

@!ex said:


> Also, here is a version w no vignette...



I like it without the vignette.

Nice stuff lex

Peace! 8)


----------



## expo01 (Jul 23, 2012)

Nice image, great scene. Without the vignette for sure.

I'm always getting jelous of the US landscape diversity. It seems like you guys just have it all.

Greetings from Switzerland


----------



## Kernuak (Jul 23, 2012)

This always makes me think of a prehistoric world.




Jurassic Evening by Kernuak, on Flickr


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

jabbott said:


> @!ex said:
> 
> 
> > cool shot. Have you tried removing the color cast?
> ...



Yes, much better. Sky looks smoother and more tonally correct as well.


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

DomHanzak said:


> Glyder Fach, Snowdonia, North Wales



Very cool. Do you have any compositions where the rocks are much closer and more prominent in the scene?


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

expo01 said:


> Nice image, great scene. Without the vignette for sure.
> 
> I'm always getting jelous of the US landscape diversity. It seems like you guys just have it all.



Ya, we have a little more area than switzerland, but you do have some really stunning vistas...


----------



## CTJohn (Jul 23, 2012)

Goblin Valley Utah


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

@!ex said:


> expo01 said:
> 
> 
> > Nice image, great scene. Without the vignette for sure.
> ...



Speaking of Switzerland, here is a shot I took inside the Eiger. It is an otherworldly place, a stone cut walkway follows an ancient glacier meltwater river with waterfalls, all under ground. This is from probably 6 or more years ago (right as I was first getting into photography). An oldie, but a goodie.




6th circle by @!ex, on Flickr


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

CTJohn said:


> Goblin Valley Utah



Those formations sort of look like little goblins. Nice colors and the DOF gives it a 3d feel. Cool shot.


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

@!ex said:


> @!ex said:
> 
> 
> > expo01 said:
> ...



Here is a pic I was lucky to get of me and my buddy on our way into the falls (pretty alien as well). I set my camera up on a tripod, and hit the 10sec timer, then sprinted down the stairs to get into position in time before it went off. Took about 3 sprints to get it right (its farther than it looks from camera to pose point)...




Scary Stairy by @!ex, on Flickr


----------



## daniel-barton (Jul 23, 2012)

I really like the goblin shot. Here's another one:




Bumpass by daniel-barton, on Flickr


----------



## @!ex (Jul 23, 2012)

daniel-barton said:


> I really like the goblin shot. Here's another one:



Not Bad, definitely fits the ledger for Alien landscapes. In this case might I add a bit of constructive criticism? I'm not really seeing a subject in this shot, or a center of interest. In all landscape (or street, or portraiture or all photography) it really helps draw interest and visual pleasure to you work if you really think out how all the lines and structure in the shot will lead the viewers eye toward the visual center of the composition. Think of it as a sort of visual crescendo. I think that in wide-angle shooting, and landscape work this is one of the most challenging obstacles to overcome at first. With portraiture it is much more simple, because the subject is always obvious, but in landscape you often have to open your mind a bit and "see" past the overall beauty of the scene, and nail down what it is you wan the viewer to take away from the shot.


----------



## DomHanzak (Jul 23, 2012)

@!ex said:


> DomHanzak said:
> 
> 
> > Glyder Fach, Snowdonia, North Wales
> ...



Thanks buddy  This one's a little closer to the rocky goodness


----------



## westr70 (Jul 23, 2012)

This is where Captain Kirk battled the Gorn, Season 1, Episode 18.


----------



## dryanparker (Jul 23, 2012)

Not really a landscape, but it does appear to be alien...


----------



## @!ex (Jul 24, 2012)

DomHanzak said:


> @!ex said:
> 
> 
> > DomHanzak said:
> ...



WAAAY better. Awesome shot, and that is a much better comp than the first one.


----------



## @!ex (Jul 24, 2012)

westr70 said:


> This is where Captain Kirk battled the Gorn, Season 1, Episode 18.



Truly alien....


----------



## Ahven (Jul 24, 2012)

I like this topic, some great images. Alien is always fascinating. I will go again with a second entry! (and thanks for 2lex for the bb- code tip, I was scratching my head over it) This is actually one still from a timelapse movie we made with my friend, which will be released in the future as a part of a bigger project. That's also why it's 16:9 aspect ratio, although I've started to like this aspect ratio overall 




A Dream of Beauty by Julius Koskela, on Flickr


----------



## Frost (Jul 25, 2012)

First time post.

Having some fun with my new macro lens. These seem pretty damn alien to me. 




Alien Landscape Sunset by MRG Photo, on Flickr




Alien Landscape Dawn by MRG Photo, on Flickr


----------



## @!ex (Jul 25, 2012)

Frost said:


> First time post.
> 
> Having some fun with my new macro lens. These seem pretty damn alien to me.



Very cool. Which macro?


----------



## Frost (Jul 25, 2012)

@!ex said:


> Frost said:
> 
> 
> > First time post.
> ...



Thanks.

I picked up the 60mm 2.8 EF-S Macro a few weeks ago. 

Loving the sharpness and ability to shoot 1:1. Those pics are of extremely tiny moss-like tubular growth on a really old wooden fence beam right beside the backyard pond. 

Cheers.


----------



## wickidwombat (Jul 26, 2012)

heres my crack at this i thought it was such a good idea for a thread i went out last night to shoot one for it


----------



## AdamF (Jul 26, 2012)

That's gorgeous WickedWombat.

Where is that location ?


----------



## wickidwombat (Jul 26, 2012)

cheers 

just a beach near my house in perth

Shot with 5Dmk3 and the little voigtlander 20mm at f22 iso 50 and hoya CPL to get the exposure to 20 seconds
love this little lens is a great friend for my 40mm f2.8 STM supper small and the both take 52mm filters which is heaps easier than carrying the big stuff for the 16-35

single exposure too no tone mapping sinanigans going on either


----------



## wickidwombat (Jul 26, 2012)

a few more


----------



## insanitybeard (Jul 26, 2012)

One from Skye, Scotland, Uk. Some of the rockforms in the Skye Cuillin are most surreal (may not be particularly high quality, was only shot on a Lumix compact!).


----------



## rambarra (Jul 26, 2012)




----------



## inter211 (Sep 13, 2012)

Here's a recent sunset shoot at a local dry lake bed:




Dante’s Inferno by Willie Huang Photo, on Flickr


----------



## @!ex (Sep 13, 2012)

inter211 said:


> Here's a recent sunset shoot at a local dry lake bed:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Great colors and the reflection breaking up the cracked earth really makes the comp pop.


----------



## angox (Oct 14, 2012)




----------



## rwmson (Oct 15, 2012)

Wow, where was that top shot taken?


----------



## angox (Oct 15, 2012)

It was in Singapore. A park called Garden by the Bay.


----------



## @!ex (Oct 17, 2012)

more cool shots.


----------

