Very Large Clouds and Arrays

I have blogged previously about Very Large Array in New Mexico. It was one very special place for me and I ended up staying for four days. I have many images and a few timelapse sequences as yet unreleased from this quite extraordinary place on San Augustin Plain featuring 27 Very Large Arrays listening to the universe. One of them was from an overcast day and the soft light felt like an opportunity to further experiment with an alternative look and style.

vlc-vla. Flemming Bo Jensen

I am still attempting a “style like a beautiful old slightly faded print yet still saturated and gorgeous in a way that does not jump at you but requires you to slowly take it in and appreciate the understated magic”. There is a lot of processing on this shot but all done very subtle and all done opposite to my normal style aiming for a creamy faded look. I changed a lot of the colours. The blue is a dusty yet dark and saturated tone. The whites have a warm tint. The shadows have a blue hue. There are no primary colours here, only blended dusty desert colours. It is still very much a work in progress style, any feedback much appreciated and it seems it works much better in large format than a scaled down web version.  What are your thoughts?

13 Comments on “Very Large Clouds and Arrays”

  1. Flemming,

    I love the scale of the photo adn that sense of wide openness is conveys. I think the feel you are going for is there. Check out my latest photo on my blog. It is sunset over the Albuquerque valley. I think you will like it. Keep up the great work!

    Dan

    http://trvljunky.wordpress.com/

  2. Omigod there is a daytime version of this…. it would look so good on the wall opposite where the night time one is right now… I'm sure it wasn't in your gallery before, was it? Kicking myself for missing it if so.

    I'm partial to this post processing, because it makes everything look alien (F2 lightbulb!), and I like using it on my (non) landscapes a lot (it gives them a bit more landscape cred): http://charlenewinfred.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/a

    1. It would look stunning on the wall next to the night time version oh yeah. Yes there are plenty daytime versions, they just did not make it yet to the fine art gallery. After processing this one I really love it though, think it will be in the gallery. The rest will go in upcoming stock library.

      I cropped it square as I felt it called out for that, it accentuates the feeling of wide open space. Printed matte or semi-matte this will look stunning I think. I'll show you all the daytime versions when I get to Perth, you can have a print made of the ones you like!

      F2 Lightbulb Look I like much 🙂

      1. I hadn't even noticed the crop until you mentioned it. I agree it does add a dramatic scale to the whole image.

        Hehe, F2 Lightbulb. We're diversifying into hardware 😀

  3. I know exactly the look you are talking about mate. Almost a 50's look or something. I think your pretty close to that. I remember seeing on of Les Walklings photos that had that look and it was a lightbulb moment for me. We will discuss it more on True North very soon.

  4. Beautiful rendition of what you saw Flemming. The first thing I thought of with this look is some old (40 yrs) Kodachromes of my dad's – maybe it's a "faded slide" look rather than faded print (or faded Cibachrome). The clouds and lines lead my eyes out of the top of the image and onwards to the heavens – really nice work.

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