Amanda on the rock

After about 7 years in Austin we finally made it out to Enchanted Rock State park, in the Hill Country. I have no idea why we waited so long! It is beautiful out there. The rock is a pink granite exfoliation dome (or big, bare rock in other words) that sticks up out of the surrounding trees and hills. We hiked up to the top, listening to the thunder booming off in the distance. There were a lot of people at the top, making the 0.6 mile trek from the car park and back. After taking a few shots up there, we worked our way down and around the side to the 4 mile loop trail. This was a whole lot quieter - we saw 3 people on the whole trail. You could stop, be quiet and just listen to the birds (and occasional thunder). Perfect. Clouds had rolled in and the light was much softer when we reached a sort of amphitheatre of rock half way around the trail. This rock was more orange than the generally pink batholith that the park is named after. It seemed like a perfect place to take some more portraits! For a change I shot this not with an 85mm lens. I'd finally taken that off the camera for a few moments, in favour of the 14-70 F4L (well this was a 'landscape' trip after all) so I thought I'd use that for the portrait and take in some more of the surroundings for a change. I do love shooting tight head shots with that 85mm though! I found this huge rock that Amanda is sitting on, framed with the ferns along the bottom and thought that'd make a great frame within the frame. The cracks in the rocks all lead towards where she is sitting, and the scrub and greenery to her left and right all seem to provide a good frameholder around her. She might only be about 10% of the picture but I think all those leading lines in the curve of the rock and the cracks make it clear where the subject is for this photo. Canon 1D MkII, 17-40 F4L @ 34mm. Lightly overcast sky