Rex: an image of mine that was recently chosen to be displayed at the Dahl Mountain Culture Photo Competition, came about, like a lot of great images, because someone else – namely my brother-in-law Ken Nichols – noticed it first (he’s got another great link HERE). I call the image great because the judges liked it enough to give it third place and because I’m quite fond of it.

It’s a common malady. You go to a new and spectacular natural setting and are so overcome by the immensity and the grandness of it that you can’t find the images hiding in the vastness of the potential images. I’m not immune. The only cure I’ve found for this disorder is familiarity. Returning repeatedly to a great spot seems to smooth out the grandness and allow you to see the specific beauty in this or that scene. So on this day I walked right past Rex. Never saw it.

Rex, if you’re having trouble with it, is the likeness of a Tyranosaurus Rex skull in the horizontal tree mid-frame.

Once Ken had pointed it out to me I spent several minutes making images there, playing with the composition. Rex can also be viewed at photophart.com.

Wasn’t a great day for image making. Cloudless sky, Howling wind. Blazing sun. The one thing we had in our favor this day was late afternoon sun cutting across the landscape. Not ideal but doable. The absence of rattle snakes and large mammalian carnivores was helpful as well. A raging thunderstorm with violent lightning blasting the distant mountains would have helped this image. But… you get what you get and, like I said, I like it as it turned out. Thanks Ken.
PP