Notes from the Woods

seeing · environment · exploration · photography

Stone Windows

Arizona Rainbow Petrified Wood

Arizona Petrified Wood

Written by Mark

Born and raised in Detroit, c. 323 ppm CO2, Mark Graf is a Michigan photographer, naturalist, and diver whose muse is summoned by exploring the endless connections in nature; land, sea, and sky.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

I have finally got back into my growing rock collection and actually revisited an older piece of Arizona Petrified Wood I have.  This small slice has some of the most incredible micro landscapes within it as you can see above. These two images are of the front and back of the slice, and I think they are quite complimentary of each other.

The concept of “Stone Windows” came to mind to me looking into this small piece of stone and seeing not only something of your imagination, but it is also a window into the past.  Imagine what was going on in the world when this piece of wood was being solidified!!. It is actually quite hard to believe this was once wood actually!

I did something with these images I don’t normally do – I used the Auto-Tone Develop preset in Lightroom.  Of course, normally I like to adjust myself, but once in a while, I will hover over this preset just to see if it is close to what I want. Raw files are typically a bit flat. Auto-Tone really did well with these particular images and just made them sing. I didn’t adjust anything else, except to decrease the luminance of the red a small bit, it was just too red.

graf nature photo divider

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10 Comments

  1. Mark

    Thanks Richard and Howard. Richard, that is why I thought I’d post a pic of it in my hand, just to give people an idea of scale since it is so absent in the images themselves.

  2. Howard Grill

    Lovely….and I like the way the sharp arounge ‘pieces’ seem to float within the white background as it gives the image a very three dimensional look.

  3. Richard Wong

    Amazing macros Mark. I didn’t expect the rock to be that small.

  4. Mark

    Thank you so much Petra. The colors are quite enchanting!

  5. petra voegtle

    Mark – these are exceptionally beautiful. My imagination goes wild with these pictures and they let me get some images of the landscapes in Scotland on a very sunny day in my head, when the fog is slowly dissolving. The colours! There are no words. Very well done! I love it.
    Greetings, Petra

  6. Mark

    Marti – thank you very much. Trust me, I have been looking for a sample similar to this one for awhile! 🙂

  7. Marti

    Hi Mark,

    These are just lovely. Being an abstract fan, these are the kinds of images that make my heart sing. And, your post-processing adds so much.

    Wow!!

    I’m heading out for Tucson for a brief visit tomorrow — will have to keep my eyes open (as Ron said)!!

  8. Mark

    Thanks guys!

  9. Ron Niebrugge

    Those two images are beautiful Mark!

    I should be on the lookout the next time I pass through Arizona – there are lots of rock stores, and probably tons of cool stuff!

    Ron

  10. Michael Brown

    Outright stunning!

    I have yet to find myself a piece of petrified wood that gives me the overall look that I want like this that you have here.
    Incredible colors and the chosen comp you have really nails it for me.

    Excellent!