While in Southern Utah last month, I used the drone twice in the morning at Factory Butte. Both times I drove up the east side road and either flew west towards, or a bit south of, the butte.
I had excellent flying and photography conditions both times -- no wind, nice skies, and plenty of light coming in from the east as the sun came over the horizon.
This image was taken about 10-15 minutes after the sun came up, and I was south of the butte, catching the nice side light on the badlands in front of it. A little earlier, the clouds were red, but in this image, I waited for the shadows to form in the foreground.
DJI Air3S, altitude about 200 feet, F1.8, 24mm, ISO400. As always, I bracketed but needed only one exposure; this one was the middle exposure at 1/2500. Not much processing -- set levels, added contrast especially to make the shadows in the foreground more dramatic, and then quite a lot of miscellaneous dodging and burning.
6 comments posted
Drema Swader
Absolutely beautiful image, Pete! Lovely sky! There's not much I can say to make this a better image, except perhaps cropping off a little on the left side? That butte pulls a lot of attention, and the sky there is not as exciting as the rest of the sky. I'm ok with the image as is, but take a look to see what you think if you crop to the right side of that break in the skyline on the butte on the left. I feel it might frame in Factory Butte a little better instead of being a subject on its own. Posted: 10/05/2025 15:03:00
Richard Stauber
Another great photo! I like the sky and shadows on the landscape. The Butte itself looks just a little too yellow compared to some of the other geological features but this was very early morning light. Posted: 10/06/2025 23:45:52
Patrick Campbell
Beautiful image, Pete! This one jumped out from the page! The detail and color in the land and sky are gorgeous. I wish the blue tones in the sky were a little less cyan and more towards blue, but that is personal preference. I also agree that cropping on the left a bit would put more attention on the main subject.
I'd love to see the unprocessed image to see what you started from, especially as you mentioned that you did a lot of dodging and burning. But the end result looks fine to me! Posted: 10/10/2025 05:14:41
Lou McLove
Great image Pete. How many times have you visited this area? I have several images similar to this and I debated whether or not to crop from the left, anyhow, I think it looks good either way and you can't please everyone. I think that the colors of the rocks and land look great. I like the sky too and did not even think about it until I read Patrick's comments. Posted: 10/16/2025 16:05:48
Alex Andrews
Good job again i like the leading lines. this looks more like ground shot to me might be the angle. Maybe different camera angle the focus in in the middle, youknow I always wonder in this shots B/W. Ansel, Lovely conditions and image. Posted: 10/17/2025 21:05:24
Lisa Cirincione
Beautiful capture, great clouds... how long does it take to get to this spot? at that time of the morning! Posted: 10/26/2025 21:22:24
