Hidden stairs...

It was quite interesting, just happen to be off the path a bit and noticed these.

Maybe from an undiscovered ancient civilization ?

Great find. My problem with the pic is that the stairs aren't obvious enough. I had to look for them.
I think closer with less background would work better.

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Originally Posted by Frog

Maybe from an undiscovered ancient civilization ?

Great find. My problem with the pic is that the stairs aren't obvious enough. I had to look for them.
I think closer with less background would work better.

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Hey Frog,

Nahh, I doubt from an ancient civilization... I kept it in that way to keep them hidden. I'll attach another picture where they are less secret.

How does this one work?

I like the second composition much better.
The harsh light is a problem though. Can you get there sometime with softer light?

I will be eventually, but was several years since I had been there. I'll play around some more with some post production and see if I can tone down the lighting.

Thanks for your comments.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Frog

I like the second composition much better.
The harsh light is a problem though. Can you get there sometime with softer light?

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Unlikely I will be able to get there again for a long while - back in Chicago now. It would be something nice to reshoot under better lighting.

I played around a bit with the exposure level (shot in raw). This tones down the harshness (or should I say the washed-out feel) I think, but I'm not sure if it's an great improvement or not ... Comments?

The second version of the stairs is a better composition but the stairs are too centralized and should be placed a little to the right. As to the harshness of the light, as mentioned by Frog, you could possibly try a warming filter in PP. A bit of sharpening might also help

Nice find, but technically the photo needs better technique with respect to sharpness, exposure and composition (in that the foreground blurry branch interferes with the view). I do like the way you showed the surroundings and didn't zoom in so close that you lost the context and that it is almost hidden. Maybe walking around and looking for a better angle, and using a tripod, would improve the composition and sharpness.

I've stumped across things like this out west, in the mountains, where people have carved stairs out of solid rock. I bet it was a lot of work .. but some of them look awesome :D

G