White Pocket is an isolated and notoriously hard-to-reach patch of featureless, bleached-white sandstone inside Vermillion Cliffs National Monument near the Arizona-Utah border. The area features domes and ridges with contrasting colors and shapes. Some geologists believe that the unusual landscape was caused by a huge sand slide triggered by an earthquake back in Jurassic times. The layered grey ridges are sometimes called 'brain rock' or 'cauliflower rock'.
White Pocket is a superb photographic location 'discovered' by photographers only a few decades ago. Until then, it was known mainly to local ranchers and a small number of adventurous photographers. However, after National Geographic ran a story on Vermillion Cliffs National Monument that included excellent photos of White Pocket, the place became very popular with hikers, outdoor enthusiasts, and photographers alike.
I took the picture a few years ago while on an overnight tenting trip with a small group. We had several clear and moonless nights, so we had the opportunity to photograph the night sky over the strange rock formations. The crest of this rock hill features a single evergreen tree that stands out against the star-studded sky. Soft light panels were used to side-light the scene. To add a sense of scale, a member of our group volunteered to stand at the top of the grey-rock formation while we captured the Milky Way over the scene.
I shot a 'focus stack' comprised of 15 frames for the night sky at a high ISO of 10000 and then took a 3-minute frame at ISO 800 for the foreground. The two photos were then blended in post-production.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor