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.

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Stephen · Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 16:30 · 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.

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Stephen · Saturday, May 01, 2010, 20:51 · 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…

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

Sunday Apr 11, 2010 at 00:07

Monument Valley revisited

A couple from Monument Valley. I was here once before a couple of years ago, but we didn’t have enough time to do it any justice, photographically.

This time round I hired a guide for a sunrise tour of the valley (well, in fact, I booked a sunrise and sunset, but it transpired that only the morning was going to be possible…). It was an early start, but worthwhile – there’s no way you can get to these locations on the self-guided drive, nor at the right time of the morning.

The nice thing about the tour was that for the available light, the sequence of stops was carefully worked out to ensure that you could maximize the number of worthwhile subjects. After shooting the silhouette of the totem pole (above), there was a nice view back across the dunes to the west…

…before driving to catch the totem pole once again, side lit:

I must admit, I’ve have been quite happy just shooting the totem pole front side and getting some even better light on it, but still, I’m quite happy with the results.

I’m now in Page, Arizona in preparation for the “big three”, Coyote Buttes North (aka the Wave), Coyote Buttes South and White Pocket, starting Monday. Better empty those compact flash cards…

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Stephen · Sunday, April 11, 2010, 00:07 · Permalink · Comment [1]

Thursday Apr 08, 2010 at 00:04

Chaco and Bisti

Quick update after an excellent couple of days. I visited Chaco (or, to give it its full name: Chaco Culture National Historical Park – what a mouthful) yesterday, and spent the night in a chilly campsite.

I checked out Pueblo Bonito before setting out on the Pueblo Alto hike. Rather than do the full loop, I headed straight to New Alto, then Pueblo Alto, then returned to the overlook to try to catch the good light.

This afternoon was Bisti, around 40 minutes south of Farmington. It’s an unbelievable place with endless photographic possibilities. In one visit you can really only scratch the surface.

There are a few characteristic rock types to be found (I’m no geologist, so apologies to anyone reading this who is) and they can be found in very close proximity. The dark brown hard layer that still sits as a capstone in some places is, in others, fragmented and scattered around the pale softer rock.

Some more shapes:

Off again tomorrow, headed west…

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Stephen · Thursday, April 08, 2010, 00:04 · Permalink · Comment