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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Two: Travel Incongruities > Raven Mavens, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, 2007
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20-FEB-2007

Raven Mavens, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, 2007

This is one of those intuitive incongruous ideas that kept getting better and better. I was trying to photograph a raven sitting on the stone wall in front of Zabriskie’s famous landmark, the Manley Beacon, when I noticed my shadow kept getting longer as I approached. I thought my shadow would create an incongruous foreground and included it in the composition. Suddenly another raven flew into the frame, and just as he did so, pbase photographer Tim May, who was shooting with me on this trip to Death Valley, walked up next to me and began shooting his own shadow and his own raven. And there it was – the incongruity of twin shadows and twin ravens, with the golden morning light on the Manley Beacon as a background. As we were shooting this picture I also noticed another incongruity – the rocky mosaic in the wall is echoed by the patchwork of colors on the Manley Beacon.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/500s f/8.0 at 29.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis03-Jul-2007 17:26
Thanks, Daniel, for this comment. I like to believe that luck in photography comes to those who think ahead and create the circumstances that makes such luck possible. Somebody once said that luck is the "residue of design," and that is what has happened here. Tim and I were shooting together, and we started talking about our shadows, and then about the ravens circling overhead, and pretty soon both of us were concentrating on shadows and ravens exclusively. When this pair decided settle down in front of us, we had our shots. Tim stressed the length of the shadows in his image athttp://www.pbase.com/mityam/image/75506049 and his ravens are looking at each other. I chose to stress the rock formation that gives Zabriskie Point much of its identity, and I caught one raven admiring the vocal abilities of the other.
Guest 03-Jul-2007 17:12
What a coincidence! Isn't it funny how sometimes (or in my case, most of the time) the best photos are the ones that happened accidentally / coincidentally? :)
Phil Douglis16-Jun-2007 05:40
Your poetic comment is on the mark. That was exactly what Tim and I were discussing as we both made this image.
Guest 16-Jun-2007 04:38
it's an interesting photo
carrying the charm of the double
two men in caps with two ravens black
chatting something about the image value
Phil Douglis04-Apr-2007 07:14
Raven Mavens! That should be my title. I am going to change it in your honor, Iris.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)04-Apr-2007 00:38
Two ravens and two raven mavens at a Zabriskie sunrise....three portraits in one!!
Phil Douglis03-Mar-2007 20:34
Thanks, Tim -- this image is really as much a portrait of you and I as it is of the two ravens before us. I am sure your own image of this scene will bear this out as well. These ravens are no doubt quite bored with Zabriskie Point's magnificent scenic beauty by now, and much prefer to be on the lookout for a possible freebie. You are also right about the "what else is to be seen" comment -- both of us spend as much time looking beyond our subjects for ideas than looking at them.
Tim May03-Mar-2007 18:55
As one of the "ravens" I notice that the ravens are not looking in the direction that most of the photographers that morning were looking but rather surveying the scene for what else is to be seen. Rather like you (and sometimes I) meet the environment we place our camera in front of.
Phil Douglis02-Mar-2007 23:04
This was one of those strange coincidences that happen so rarely. Two ravens, two photographers, two shadows, and a perfect background in perfect light. You are right. The odds are pretty long against such things as this.
Carol E Sandgren02-Mar-2007 19:53
Great! You each have your own ravens! Photographers AND ravens in tandem. What are the odds??
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