Mount Rushmore, a photo from South Dakota, Midwest

Photographer's Note

Mount Rushmore

The Black Hills
South Dakota

The single largest tourist attraction in South Dakota is Mount Rushmore National Monument. More than two million visitors a year visit the site.

Supervised by Sculptor Gutzon Borglum the monument was carved from 1927-1941 contains 60 foot likenesses of American Presidents Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt, & Lincoln ... (President Coolidge insisted the monument contain Washington and 2 Republicans and 1 Democrat).

The monument is of huge controversy in the relationship of the United States to the Lakota (Sioux) .. Borglum chose Presidents who had a relationship to the unity and "manifest destiny" of the United States.
The Hills are a sacred place (Paha Sapa) to the Lakota .. and carving this mountain .. known to the Lakota as "Six Grandfathers" in seen by many as a very offensive symbol of the United States' conquest of the West.

Information from:
http://www.nps.gov/moru/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore

ls7902, happypoppeye, testmaniac, robertosalguero, adores, imtiyaz, dip, Atousa, evanrizo, P-S-I-G, delic, Angelillo, asajernigan, jhm, claudio74, riclopes, jonathan_hart, lilimih33, AROBN54, ptibelo, saylan-cb, jwmunro, lucasgalodoido, alainh, Clementi, NellyD, Greg1949, Charo, john_c, papagolf21, Silke, xavshot, Cricri, bakes888, xuaxo, vbbreizh, Didi, gunbud, fulvio52, worldcitizen, nbj, erhanterzi, faganrodney has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

kinginexile (2598) 2007-08-14 20:31

people tend to zoom in on these 4 faces, but you give us here the full scope of the work, in a dramtic setting, with a great light, and the right shadows to add gravitas to their features. Well done!

happypoppeye (4819) 2007-08-14 20:32

Great shot John. I'm glad you used more a wideangle instead of telephoto type shot to show the mountain. Colors and composition are excellent. Extremely detailed and perfecly sharpened. I love the deep blue sky and how the four president's seem to be "overlooking" their surroundings with this POV.

Great work.
Good note also.
John

ls7902 (7380) 2007-08-14 20:37

Hi John,
It appears that you took the same vacation route as I did. Nice photo of the Presidents with dark blue sky. I may upload a scanned photo of these Presidents in the future. Did you get a side profle of Washingston's head? Greetings. Latiff.

testmaniac (13508) 2007-08-14 20:40

Hi John, very nice photo at this great place. I hope to visit this place some days.

TFS

Philip

robertosalguero (292) 2007-08-14 21:01

Without a doubt, one of the grand monuments of the world. I like your perspective of tis beautiful place. Such artistic rendititon in a natural place. The colours seem a bit underexposed but overall this is a nice composition with good details. Thanks John.

Roberto

adores (46979) 2007-08-14 21:04

Hi John!
Great shot of this famous place. I like the pov, the colours are that fabulous sky behing the mount. Great work!

dip (21408) 2007-08-14 23:26

Hi John,
a superb composition of the famous rock!
POV and colors are great,very good sharpness and clarity,
very well done!
Regards.
Dimitris.

Atousa (7131) 2007-08-15 0:21

Salam John,
This is a revealing shot of this tourist place ..very good POV..
Regards,
Atousa

evanrizo (462) 2007-08-15 0:34

Hi John.
Yes a very known place, but never seen it so closely and with this perspective it makes more impressive.
Everything works very good here, the light, sharpness contrast, especial with this superb blue sky.
Cheers
Evan

P-S-I-G (25536) 2007-08-15 0:46

Hello John,
Very good shot. Sharp and colourfull.
I enjoy this place because it reminds me of the Hitchcock movie "North by Northwest", a movie that I like very much. Interesting note.
Very good work.
Best regards,
Fabrice

delic (6735) 2007-08-15 1:59

Good one, John, to show the relative altitude of the monument. Totally polarized sky provides nice contrast. Regards,
Hakan

Angelillo (9374) 2007-08-15 2:21

Hi John,

At first glance, thanks for your interesting and useful note about this monument I've seen inf movies from my childhood, I was ever very shocked by it! It's symbolize very well the ability we the humans have to change the nature and the history, for good or for bad! The shot is impressive! I like the wide-angle, the entire mountain captured, the feel of bigness. Good colors too! Great shot! Thanks.

Greetings,
Angel.

asajernigan (21427) 2007-08-15 3:13

John,
I like you composition here showing the mountain and not just the sculpture. Your POV is great giving us an upward view of the mountain framed by a nice deep blue sky. The lighting and colors are great with nice sharpness and DOF.
TFS,
Asa

jhm (211738) 2007-08-15 4:05

Hello John,

I find this very spectacular with these heads from the four presidents.
You took this picture with a very great sharpness and clarity, my compliments for this one.

Best regards,
John.

[2]

claudio74 (7263) 2007-08-15 4:34

Hello John
Great picture of this really famous place.The light is perfect and colours and contrasts are great.
well done
Greetings
claude

riclopes (35577) 2007-08-15 4:40

2 million a year and I haven't been there, yet! Ol� John, this is a spectacular general view of this well known site. Most photos are a detail of the faces and it's a pleasure to see the context of the surroundings, here. So high above, they are. What a great sight they must have from there. Splendid shot, with excellent quality and colors.
Best regards,
ricardo

UnTrained (0) 2007-08-15 6:00

Hi John,
with this upview they are more majestic as only them in the frame. Great colour and contrast in that wonderful composition. Also an informative note on various backgrounds of this.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

jonathan_hart (21276) 2007-08-15 6:04

hello John
good framing of this famous place, that POV makes the mount very imposant, good light and colours, well done
regards
jo

pablominto (53746) 2007-08-15 6:06

Hello John,
This is even better than the "official" photographs of the place!
You include a tad more surroundings than what is usual, and the rich colours is a plus too...
Well composed presentation, I like that little fuffy white cloud!
Greetings,
Pablo -

lilimih33 (9918) 2007-08-15 6:59

Hello John!
Beautiful colours and perfect clarity and detail in your picture!
Nice point of view!
Excellent done!
Best regards!
Lili

AROBN54 (11475) 2007-08-15 8:25

Oh man, John,
this is just extraodinary. The POV, the color, contrast, everything is perfect! I love the rich color and those excellent details. That is just incredibel. Beautifully done!! Warm regards,
Shelly

goodwill (4274) 2007-08-15 10:07

Hi John,
How did yu achieve such a wonderful clairity of sky? Did you use filter?
What is this shot?.....Going up...up and up. and finally ...you reach the apex.
Wish you had some floating clouds infront of the images.
Buit if wishes would horses.......
Rajeev

vincz (19113) 2007-08-15 12:29

Classical place, with such a beautiful execution. The deep blue sky contrasting so well with the white rocks, the POV from below. An excllent one.

ptibelo (3380) 2007-08-15 13:01

Deep Purple in rock...toute ma jeunesse.
Superbe prise en contre plong嶪 , avec un ciel super contrast�.
Ne reste pas trop longtemps dessous John..on ne sait jamais!!!
amiti廥 de Corse
JMarie

jwmunro (286) 2007-08-15 17:11

Hello John -

For an iconic image you handled this one very well. The composition is spot on because the main subject is on the upper third. Even though there is not a lot to see in the FG we can see the amount of material the artists removed to bring us the faces of our great 18th & 19th century leaders. The image is properly exposed throughout with no compromises. I think this is a real keeper and should be printed large and displayed. Well done!

Thank you for sharing.

John

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2007-08-15 18:04

Hi John!
Good work in this mountain! The photo is very nice, with good colors and sharpen!
Congratulations and Hug!

Malyshev (2522) 2007-08-15 19:18

Hi,John!
Great place and wonderful picture!
Superb colours and POV!
I like sunlight and small cloud in the right side of the sky!!!
Best Regards!
Yuri

dsidwell (9783) 2007-08-15 21:12

Hello John! How here's a nice postcard! This is a very clear, very well composed image. Nice work. I wanna go here soon!

marioana (2256) 2007-08-16 0:00

Hi John.
Great view of one of your national treasures. It really shows it in great colour and detail. It shows how dificult it must have been for the sculptors. Great POV. Well done.
Regards, Steve.

saylan-cb (12738) 2007-08-16 0:35

Hi John
Great colour and contrast in that wonderful composition.Nice light and POV here...
Excellent work.

alainh (33209) 2007-08-16 0:43

hello John

as a pocket single of deep Purple !!
splendid light and blue sky to give strongness a the rocks presidents ! good thing to let place for the forest. a beautiful capture.
regards
alain

Clementi (52514) 2007-08-16 1:32

Great shot John.
very nice photo at this great place.
I like the pov, the colours are that fabulous sky behing the mount.
Giorgio

NellyD (1874) 2007-08-16 4:46

Hi John,

What a great view of mount Rushmore. I' m hoping to visit it myself someday, but for now your picture is giving me a beautiful and clear view of this place. Great POV and sharpness and beautiful colours.
Thanks for sharing!

Greetings, Nel

Greg1949 (9011) 2007-08-16 4:49

John, a truly great shot, and a bit wider than the classic view I think, Color and asaturation are rich and the detail is crisp. I wish I had such a great shot from when we took our grand kinds there a few years, Great capture.

Greg

feather (51130) 2007-08-16 7:15

Excellent shot John. Of course I know about Mt Rushmore but not about the controversy with the Lakota. Before I read that, I was wondering if the intention at the time was to sculpt future presidents sometime, as we can see by the shape of the rocks that places are "ready made". Nowadays people are more sympathetic to others' cultures. Great shot with that beautiful polarised sky.
Kath

Charo (51290) 2007-08-16 7:37

Hola John,
Un monumento muy conocido para el resto del mundo por las pel獳ulas rodadas en 幨. Al natural debe ser impresionante.
Excelente toma y muy buena resoluci鏮.
Have nice day
Cordialmente
Charo

bracasha75 (24591) 2007-08-16 23:11

Helo John
This trade mark for South Dakota,right? Lovely details and thanks for sharing.
Cheers,Braca
Stugis is close there or?
One greath festival hapend there every year...

mesutilgim (0) 2007-08-17 0:36

Hello John,
Great capture; wonderfull dark blue sky, which gives to the rocks a wonderfull deepness and dimension.
TFS
MESUT ILGIM

papagolf21 (152607) 2007-08-17 5:02

Bonjour, mon ami John,
Je reste toujours sous le charme � travers vos photographies. Du travail soign�, parfaitement ma褾ris�, l'幦otion du sujet et technique passe avec brio.
F幨icitations.
Amiti廥.
Philippe

john_c (24666) 2007-08-17 7:41

Hi John,
A knockout shot, classic view or not. The depth, lighting, and clarity of detail carry high impact, as the eye can barely accept that the rugged mountainside should have such artistic engravings at the summit. The photo gives me the itch to pack my bags and travel here in person. Fine work, John...later.
John

Silke (3027) 2007-08-18 10:46

I have vague memories of seeing this on a cloudy day when I was 19 and travelling in a crowded station wagon with my parents and four younger siblings. It did not impress me as much then as it does here and now
superb colours, details and composition
TFs
silke
:D

xavshot (69835) 2007-08-18 14:19

Bonsoir John
l'endroit est impressionnant et la qualit� de la photo le met superbement en valeur. J'aime beaucoup la lumi鋨e au moment de la prise. Bravo
Xavier

Cricri (176) 2007-08-19 1:07

Hi John,
Je trouve que ce travail est une pure merveille, l'id嶪 est magnifique, le pola qui rend bien bleu le ciel, une lumi廨e parfaite qui montre les moindres d彋ails, le cadrage tr廥 bon, vraiment une tr廥 belle image, compliment
good sunday
cricri

bakes888 (18499) 2007-08-19 1:34

Hi John. I have seen a few pictures of this iconic site before but never really looked at them until now. The foreground trees put the carvings into perspective to show the real scale of the achievement, controversial or not. Well captured and thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

rushfan2112 (2965) 2007-08-19 2:29

Hi John. Excellent photo of a well-known place (though I wouldn't have had a clue where it was in the USA!). Great colours and sharpness. Reminds me of the album cover for Deep Purple's "In Rock". Maybe Mount Rushmore was based on this? (Only joking!). Kind regards, Paul.

xuaxo (6854) 2007-08-19 7:06

Hi John,
I've seen before other photos of this monument, but usually more pointed to the top. Here in your shot I like to see the several trees at the base.
I didn't know about the controversies on this monument.
Regards,
F

rzidaroff (14) 2007-08-19 19:17 [Comment]

Show Comment

vbbreizh (2622) 2007-08-20 2:01

Hi John
Really great shot of this place !
and interesting note.
Regards, Gilles

Didi (61589) 2007-08-20 10:33

Hi John
I remmeber the Hitchcock film, North by Northwest with Cary Grant who shows this place.
Very fantastic place and good point of view.
I appreciate well your composition.
Cheers.

gunbud (34066) 2007-08-20 18:55

Hi John,
Great capture of these American icons that contrast so beautifully with the deep blue sky. Wonderfully framed by the stubborn trees that manage to gain purchase all around these famous hills. Very informative not that show the other side of the story.
Regards, Tom

fulvio52 (8314) 2007-08-22 21:47

Hi there,
I surely got to catch up with your work. Which unfortunately I wasn't able to do for the past 2 1/2 months due to... MY WORK! And unfortunately again I ain't talking about photography... wish that had been the case!
Anyways, another masterful shot.
In my own opinion your blues and greens, annex sharpness, are absolute classics.
The light and POV are simply superb, and you seem to be pretty damn awesome in using that polarizer of yours...
My compliments.
I was there in September 1996 on a crappy cloudy day and didn't manage to get anything decent out of this beautiful spot. Hope to get back one day under better conditions.

Hugs,
Fulvio.

Angshu (56760) 2007-08-23 0:27

Hello John
The wideangle view is excellent. Wonderful colours, especially the polarised blue sky & the details are superb. It's a wonder of manmade creation & the way how you showed it is excellent. Lovely one John!
Best Regards
Angshu

worldcitizen (16226) 2007-08-23 16:40

Hello John,
As many others have already said, you captured this monument very well! This is a great POV, with the hillside leading up in a diamond shape to the giant heads. I am still in awe that this monument was even made. The sky is fabulous, and I like the pulled-back view, showing lots of the surrounding area.

Emiel_Skyfreak (3002) 2007-08-24 4:46

Hi John,

Great capture of mount Rushmore! Fine POV from below (ofcourse) and great work with the polarizer, nice dark intense blue sky. I like the presence of a little cloud..good colours and detail overall. I like the light on the heads of the presidents..they are the real eyecatchers in the scene, just like it should!

Regards,
Emiel.

nbj (2097) 2007-08-25 11:22

you have some really beautiful shots in your gallery. this one is a great picture of a place i so much want to see. it must be amazing to experience live.

capthaddock (28790) 2007-09-01 11:45

Hi John - most people photograph it with a zoom lens, it's good to see it in its entire setting here, the trees give scale, and the 5th natural "president" to the left of Washington looks like an alien bug creature from Starship Troopers.

erhanterzi (2130) 2007-09-02 14:58

Hi John,
Rushmore looks bright and you photographed it well and neat.
Thanks for sharing.
Erhan

fserajian (2299) 2007-12-12 13:49

Hi John,

Nice composition with a very well captured details. The contrast is well maintained too. TFS

Fara

banyanman (7797) 2008-01-25 19:22

I've seen a few close-up views of Mt Rushmore on TE before, John, but yours is the first wide shot that I have seen. I like this better than the close-ups as it gives a better idea of the scale of this monument. Good technically too. I wonder if you could carve up a mountain like this anywhere these days? Maybe in China, but probably not in the US.

foozi (7101) 2008-07-16 16:56

Hello John, used to see them in books. now i see them from the horse's mouth. you did a great job catching this.
Great pov with dense colour and clear wide angle shot.

Excellent composition and thanks for sharing this famous rock.

regards,
Foozi

guitianmiranda (22) 2009-12-10 13:21

Hi John, this is provably the best point to shot the Mount Rushmore, just in front of it. Nice natural colors under hat amazing dark sky.

To me it is really estrange that there is no several pictures of this place in TE, it is one of the of famous places in the world, a place I always wanted to go after seen North by Northwest from Alfred Hitchcock.

Regards.