Tuesday May 11, 2010 at 16:30

Blooming Arches

Spring is sprung in Arches National Park. The image above is from this morning, right by the roadside at Courthouse Towers, minutes from the park entrance.

I shared this spot with Joe Zinn who I’d previously run into at the Pawnee Buttes last June.

Joe told me that this particular plant has been around for at least the last ten years. So long as you’re equipped with a suitably wide-angle lens, it is perfectly situated for this shot (as other, more famous, photographers have long known!)

Off to the Fiery Furnace now.

Posted in Locations

Stephen · Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 16:30 · Permalink · Comment [3]

Friday May 07, 2010 at 00:43

New images posted

I’ve reprocessed and uploaded a selection of images to the New Mexico and Arizona Galleries. Please feel free to take a look around…

Posted in Miscellaneous

Stephen · Friday, May 07, 2010, 00:43 · Permalink · Comment [3]

Saturday May 01, 2010 at 20:51

It was chilly in New Mexico

Sand, Snow, Sky (click image for larger view)

Courtesy of the Icelandic volcano, our friend Jim from the UK ended up staying for an extra week. Thinking what best to do with the additional time, we decided a brief trip back down to Santa Fe was the thing to do.

Santa Fe has great food and interesting architecture, and the prices for accommodation at this time of year were fantastic! I hadn’t expected to wake up to snow there last Friday morning however. Not too surprising I suppose, given that Santa Fe lies at 7,000 ft.

On the way back north we stopped for one night at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. They had received 18” of snow the previous night and much of it was still left. We headed out for dawn the next morning.

Sunrise was blocked by clouds, but there were still some interesting shots to be found. The image above shows the snow blending into the wind-blown dunes. The patterns and gradients contrast well with the clearing skies above, I think.

The image was converted using Nik Silver Efex Pro, which does a wonderful job at this sort of thing. I pulled the brightness down a little, increased contrast and structure before applying a red filter to darken the skies and then going further and reducing the blue sensitivity to add a touch more drama. A small amount of grain emphasized the textures found in the lower half of the shot.

Medano Creek was flowing with a wonderful mix of ice shelves and frost all being gradually eroded away by the continuous surge waves that make this such a unique place to visit.

Posted in Locations

Stephen · Saturday, May 01, 2010, 20:51 · Permalink · Comment [2]

Friday Apr 16, 2010 at 10:37

Wave Goodbye

A quick update on the last few days activities:

Having successfully procured an online permit to visit the wave at 6:45am on January 1 (in Edinburgh, with a hangover), the appointment finally came around last Monday. Jim Talaric and I trekked in, arriving mid-morning and found ourselves almost last to arrive, but also last to leave.

The light was pretty decent, but things soon started to cloud up and the wind picked-up as forecast. We had planned on hanging out until late afternoon in order to shoot the Second Wave, but the deteriorating weather convinced us to high-tail it out by 2pm. Sure enough, by the time we got back towards the sandy stretch beyond the saddle, the wind was blasting us with sand and the temperature was falling. (We also encountered a grimly determined Frenchman and his young family just heading out to the Wave as all this was picking up – nuts, if you ask me.)

The temperature had fallen by around 35 degrees Farenheit by the time we got back to the car, all the way down to 39°. On the drive out along House Rock Road, it even started snowing. Not quite what I had expected. Not sure when I’ll be back to the Wave – the permit situation makes it tricky and you need to have plenty of flexibility in your plans and dates.

Things cleared up the next day and we headed out up the tricky sandy roads to White Pocket, somewhere I hadn’t planned on going by myself given the risks of getting stuck. However, Jim’s Jeep Rubicon ate up the sand and we got there with ease.

Very glad we did as the area is spectacular, although somewhat overwhelming to shoot when it’s the first time you’ve seen it – so much to point the camera at!

Next it was on to Coyote Buttes South, the last stop on my tour (as it turned out). Sunrise was clear with some nice light, but things blocked up for sunset. However, the subdued light still allowed some flattering tones to be captured in the rock formations:

After camping out two nights, it was back to Page for a fat-boy breakfast, then time to hit the road. In the end I drove the full 635 miles back to Boulder, awaking this morning to my first overcast skies in two weeks. (I needed to get back – after all, I have a product to launch tomorrow…)

Stephen · Friday, April 16, 2010, 10:37 · Permalink · Comment [2]

Sunday Apr 11, 2010 at 18:23

Around Page, Arizona

I hit a couple of the Page “classics” last night and today, Horseshoe Bend and Lower Antelope Canyon.

I’d guess that on an average non-winter’s day, on the basis of this morning’s attendance, there are probably at least 3000 photographs taken in Lower Antelope Canyon per day, so taking something original is going to be a challenge. But that’s not really the point – it’s such an amazing place, that, original or not, it’s well worth the visit.

Lower Antelope is far less of a circus than Upper. Fewer visitors and no need to be shepherded around, if you pay for a photographer’s pass.

Horseshoe bend – again, originality isn’t the theme here, but, what a view:

Off to Stud Horse Point with Jim Talaric now…

Posted in Locations

Stephen · Sunday, April 11, 2010, 18:23 · Permalink · Comment