Life On Mars?, a photo from Wyoming, West

Photographer's Note

This is a view of Grand Prismatic Spring, the third largest hot spring in the world. The red colour results from pigmented bacteria that thrive in the mineral-rich but slightly cooler water around the edges of the spring. The bacteria produce colors ranging from green to red; the amount of color in the microbial mats depends on the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoids. In the summer, the mats tend to be orange and red, whereas in the winter the mats are usually dark green.

The weather on this particular day in Yellowstone was changeable. I waited over an hour at Grand Prismatic Spring, in the hope of getting some brighter pictures. In the end though, I was happiest with the deep reds and threatening sky of this shot.

rigoletto, fleopold, SamB, siolaw, jwillie44, ls7902, Charo, veve, Silke, jwmunro, Henryk_Bilor, paulalex32, Swissguy, zeca, claire526, cobbydale, robiuk, jcdurka1, Anna--, gunbud, rushfan2112, omixlistilimni, espanek, drofykceb has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

marcbedingfield (342) 2007-07-28 3:47

Love the colours and the sense of mood you have captured in this shot. Well done.

Best wishes
Marc.

captainsgirl (3450) 2007-07-28 4:23

Hello Phillip,
Amazing site, one which is going on my list of places I want to see. What an amazing world it is we live in! Awesome photo with this orange/red earth steaming against the stark peaks...great shot, like the pov. TFS
Donna:o)

jernej (1113) 2007-07-28 9:52

Hi Phillip;
What a scenery! There is just enough of texture in the red mud to keep it interesting. The dead trees in the background and threatening sky - it makes a hostile atmosphere. I like it.
Cheers;
Jernej

SamB (1948) 2007-07-28 14:44

Hello, Phillip--
Great work here, this is a very moody piece. The smoke, clouds, and dead trees give a feeling of foreboding, adding significance to the red foreground.
Thanks!
sam

Tbud (25) 2007-07-28 18:32

Hi Phillip,
Great photo! I like the contrast of the red form the spring and the dark of the clouds. The rising steam and the lack of vegitation make the place look other worldly.
Have a good weekend,
Tony

siolaw (38294) 2007-07-28 18:57

Hi Philip,
That is a nice photo! with a good title too! I like the vertical framing and POV giving us a lot of this reddish foreground... the fumes look very good in the compo, and so does the silhouette hill with dead trees on top..
Good work man!
Friendly regards!
Laurent

rigoletto (34279) 2007-07-29 2:10

Those warm spring bacteria are lovely things, may become the dream of a photographer as i see here in your photo. First i thought there is too much red in the compo, than i got the point of the shot, it is already your aim to show this red to us. The dead (?) trees at the BG are adding a lot to the weird atmosphere. Thanks Phillip for this nice share...
Regards,
Deniz

jwillie44 (1236) 2007-07-29 2:49

Definately has a mars effect to it :) Nice Depth of Field. I like how te red is dull aligning with the mood of the weather. I like the threatning sky but also feel the photo would have more complexity for me if the sky was cropped; looking at it again, the sky does give it a nice balance.
thanks
michael

ls7902 (7380) 2007-07-29 7:40

Wondrous colors & design on the bottom of the hot spring pool. Moving up the photo gives more desolation but in an exciting way. The foreground is well & strongly emphasized giving much depth to the rest. Love the wafting steam & the dead forest too. Regards. Latiff.

claudeD (47754) 2007-07-30 6:50

`Hello Phillip,

very good picture of the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone.However the weather wasn't very fine you have realized a good shot.Well seen and well done.Thank you for your detailed note.

With regards from Luxembourg

Jean-Claude

veve (4189) 2007-07-30 11:06

Hello Phillip,
This is a very fine shot,Phillip!
Very good pov and depth of image!
Excellent colors and textures!
Best regards,
Veronica

Manamo (3710) 2007-07-30 19:34

Fascinating!Crazy how nature do things sometimes! I like how you allowed so much space for the orange water. I guess it was difficult to choose what angle to take, what proportions, focal lenght...so many possibilities here. I'm glad you decided to include the sky because it has so much character and it contributes installing a strange mood to the scene.

Very nice work Phillip!

Marc

Silke (3027) 2007-07-31 4:15

A fascinating image of a place I've never seen. Superb colours in the foreground -- are the colours really that dead in the BG?
Excellent details and composition
TFS
silke
:)
P.S. Thanks for your honest evaluation of my "Red Door"

jwmunro (286) 2007-07-31 5:49

Hello Phillip -

You are so right that the changeable conditions let you down. But I think you were able salvage a good image of spring. I do like the bright red color of the spring and the almost monotone sky and background. The steam rising off the surface of the spring makes the image, without it I don't think the image would work at all. Sometimes the blah conditions can work for you - did you get to Yellowstone Falls under these conditions? My best Yellowstone Falls image came on a cloudy and snowy day. Well done!

Thank you for sharing.

John

Charo (51290) 2007-08-01 2:43 [Comment]

Show Comment

Henryk_Bilor (20803) 2007-08-02 10:44

Hi Philip
Extraterrestrial colours ;). Very interesting phenomenon and nice composition.
Regards

AmiBe (6042) 2007-08-02 14:00

Hi Phillip,
are you the first Extra Terrestral traveller from TE ? :)
Looks like a part of hell, excellent composition.
rgs

danyy (0) 2007-08-03 2:32

Bonjour Phillip,
une note tr鋊 compl鋈e pour nous expliquer le pourquoi de cette couleur rouge bien rendue sur le photo. Une prise tr鋊 bien cadr嶪 qui met l'accent sur ces eaux chaudes.
Best regards.
Daniel.

crckt (7222) 2007-08-05 10:14

Hi Philip,
I love the Yellowstone National Park, especially the Grand Prismatic Spring. Your picture is absolutely stunning!
Well done,
Shaeri

kensimage (8563) 2007-08-08 23:05

We seem to go to the same places, Phil! First Peru, now Yellowstone. Anyway, this is very nice--you got rich color in the spring due to the overcast skies, and those skies and the stark burned tree trunks do add to the otherwordly atmosphere. Regards, Ken.

donluicu (24741) 2007-08-12 0:48

yes..
good image nice title..
the portrait framing is good here

bye

paulalex32 (4) 2007-08-12 6:15

Hi Phillip,
This image really caught my eye right from the thumbnail. Very interesting colours and framing. Something about the background that I just cannot put my finger on kind of ruins it for me though. I think it may be the contrast between the dynamic foreground and the bland background. Anyways, I still like it. Cheers, Paul.

Swissguy (154) 2007-08-15 2:30

Phillip, such extraordinary colours and exquisite texture. I really appreciate this shot! See if you like my image of Mars from a trip to Egypt: http://www.treknature.com/gallery/Africa/Egypt/photo80532.htm

Cheers,
Scott

zeca (19762) 2007-08-21 10:30

Hello Philip!
What a interesting shot! The colous are nice and the textures are even better! I like the down framing, using the nice foreground very in a nice way. Well taken!
Regards,
Zeca

toto (0) 2007-08-23 1:42

Belle photo de cet endroit desertique,vous avez bien choisit le titre, on pourraitse le demander,jolies couleurs,belle brume, mais d廥olation a l' arri鋨e, tous ces arbres je suppose brul廥,ou par un incendie ou par ces bact廨ies, je n' ai pas bien compris. Amiti廥 Thomas
je reviens

gilou530 (34) 2007-08-24 4:13

salut phillip
a photograph which in spite of the beautiful colors of reds, lets see that the forest burned, and such a landscape will not have to undergo of such 憝enement, a pretty framing which supports the color of water, well done
gilbert

claire526 (1267) 2007-08-25 11:58

Hi Phillip,
How interesting! It looks out of this world indeed. Very clear and sharp. Well seen image. I like the visible texture on the ground. A lot of good elements here to create that mysterious atmosphere including the heavy clouds, dead tree, and the smoke. Great composition.
Cheers,
Claire

cobbydale (1958) 2007-08-27 5:34

Hi Phillip, I really like this. The red colours are really well rendered and the rising steam gives a very eerie effect. The sky is a bit overexposed (esp on the very top left where there's an area of burn-out) but this is still a shot worthy of a "dark green smiley". TFS.
cheers
Leon

robiuk (10807) 2007-09-07 13:11

Outstanding quality to this photo,
Phillip!
Everything - from composition, colours,
details, PP-in and the note itself is
spot on and I'm really not surprised you've
got so many visits for this one.
Congratulations,
Robi

Sekhmet73 (4189) 2007-09-09 13:46

Hi Philip, the weather wasn't maybe as good as you'd wish, but you really achieved great colours!
Sabrina

aralda (1240) 2007-09-23 9:11

Hi Philip,
I agree, that red water is otherworldly. Interesting that the color is due to bacteria.
Raluca

jcdurka1 (1950) 2007-10-01 1:49

This unusual color, for the ground, attract very well your attention and give a spectacular effect. I will be very interested to see a long exposure shot of the same scene.
Jean-Claude

Anna-- (7801) 2007-10-01 13:01

Ciao Phillip,
very good colors for this stunning landscape.
The title is very enigmatic :)
Anna

dilane (861) 2007-10-03 8:42

Spectaculaire que la couleur de cette eau, ambiance sur Mars, ou vision de fin du monde, avec les arbres brul廥 en arri鋨e plan - le ciel lui aussi est interessant reprenant les couleurs de la fum嶪 - bien vu -
daniel

gunbud (34066) 2007-10-12 19:41

Hi Philip,
Great capture of this dramatic natural scene. The colors are fantastic with wonderful details and sharpness to this fine natural wonder. I love the depth achieved with this vertical prespective as the bright orange lead to the muted fire damaged mountain and cloudy sky.
Regards, Tom

rushfan2112 (2965) 2007-10-13 2:32

Hi Phil. Amazing colours and textures. It really does look "apocalyptic". I'm surprised that anything can live in a soup that colour!
Excellent work. Paul.

omixlistilimni (3299) 2007-10-13 6:06

Hi Phillip

Very very good shot!! Splendid composition and colours!!

Regards

Marina

JDDeming (294) 2007-10-15 7:47

Fantastic colors, and you have taught me something new about my own country. Thanks!

espanek (1001) 2007-10-20 8:47

Hello Phillip.
This is really spectacular view. Very well captured.
I like the different layers on the picture. Dark sky, dark hills, mist and intensive red of the spring.
Well framed.
TFS
Wojciech

Signal-Womb (13048) 2007-10-26 4:11

Very good and interesting capture Phillip, I would love to see this someday. Very well done.

chicken (1557) 2007-12-09 8:01

This one is perfect. I like how the red foreground works against the black hills and the white steam rising.