Marli Miller
Who is she ?
Marli Miller is an American photographer who specialises in geological photography, she has extensive experience in rock formations and landscapes, her images focus in on geological structures and their processes over time. Miller’s photos are widely available on the internes for free and are mostly used for educational purposes.
She studied at Colorado collage and earned her bachelor’s degree here in 1982, Miller then went on to complete an M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Washington for structural geology in 1987 and 1992. Nowadays, she is a senior instructor and professor for Earth Sciences and the University of Oregon.
Marli Miller has authored and co-authored many influential geology books like ‘Roadside Geology of Oregon’ and ‘Roadside Geology of Washington’.
Examples of her work
Why did I decide to study her ?
I decided to study Marli Miller because her photos are really interesting and they are something I would like to try and copy. Furthermore I think that she would fit really well with my theme of Geology.
How am I going to replicate her work ?
I will attempt to replicate her landscape and geology work by going to different costal areas around Jersey to take some similar photos.
Some ideas around Jersey
Image analysis
Technical – This image has clearly been taken with natural light and has a good mix of under and properly exposed areas. This image will have likely been shot on a small aperture, something like f/8 or upwards, this is evident because everything is sharp and in focus. Moreover the shutter speed will have likely been something like 1/200 or 1/300, this is most likely because there is no motion blur in the image but there is also plenty of light in the image so it can’t have been much higher. There is no apparent grain in this image, so the ISO will have likely been 100-400.
Visual – This image depicts sand dunes in a desert environment. There is no vegetation or signs of human life, this shows a fully geological landscape, furthermore this image was most likely shot during golden hour (early morning or late evening). This is apparent because of the vibrant, warm colour, the shadow size and the grazing light. Because of how low the sun is in the sky, there is a very high contrast between the light and dark in this image, this image, however, is properly exposed and has a great dynamic range. This image mostly follows the rule of thirds as the sky and crest of the hill is in the top third, the main subject of the hill is in the middle third and the foreground is in the bottom third. Furthermore The vertical and diagonal hill crests act as leading lines that draw the views eye to the top of the hill.
Contextual/ Conceptual – This photo was taken for educational use on the formation of sand dunes at the University of Oregon.
