Slickrock and Shadow

Candy Rocks of Coyote Buttes South Real yet unbelievable is what I experienced while exploring Coyote Buttes South.  The lines and colors swirl in ways I could never imagine to be natural.  Yet this was truly the handiwork of Mother Nature, that creative maven I've come to admire.  This photo was taken at the same sunrise location as my previous post and this high outlook truly is the place for sunrise  in all this land.  I backed away from these rocks a bit, went with a wide 17mm tilt shift lens and shot several frames.  This lens allows me to stitch the frames together later and create a larger, wider vast landscape.  Just as I was doing this the sky brightened and changed from purple to blue, making this a most-colorful photo.  Enjoy the pastels of this incredible landscape!

Artist Point, Yellowstone National Park looking up at Lower Yellowstone Falls In contrast to my previous post where I was all alone, at the incredible Artist Point in Yellowstone Park I had to wait for 30 minutes before I could find a place to park my car.  Then I walked out and was able to get away from civilization a bit to enjoy the spectacular view from artist point.  I've been here at sunrise when I had it entirely to myself.  I have also, in the middle of the day, such as on this occasion, and share the view that with many others.  Yellowstone National Park is a melting pot of all nationalities coming to enjoy the recent nature.  Under any circumstance, it is worth the visit.  I came with my family on this occasion but still enjoyed the photography.  If coming alone and primarily for landscaping purposes, I would suggest rising early or staying out late.  You will not be disappointed at this location. Artist point, looking downstream...

Alien Planet:  Dramatic skies with orange and purple reflected light shone over Lake Powell's Dungeon Canyon I've done some posts on Lake Powell before and this year I'll add to this growing category.  Each year Lake Powell gives me a surprise.  The changing water level reveals or conceals different things year to year.  A great beach one year is gone the next.  A picturesque promontory can disappear in a season. Dungeon Canyon is near Rainbow Bridge.  It's pretty small and cannot give anchorage to more than a handful of boaters.  This year I found a good beach to anchor a boat and enjoyed some family time.  Storms threatened but did not truly strike until the final day.  With these storms came some dramatic skies.  One evening the sky shone bright orange long before the last light of sunset.  I grabbed my camera with its' 16-35mm wide angle lens and began searching for a good photography subject to match the dramatic skies....

Pebbles, Rocks and the Lines of Yant Flat As I wandered around Yant Flat, I discovered more and more photo compositions.  This location is rich in potential.  It's pretty amazing to visit an amazing place like this and not have every great corner previously discovered by someone else.  I'm thinking of The Wave (Coyote Buttes North) when I say this.  That's an amazing place I've visited 6 times but I had to wander wide and work hard to shoot an original shot.  That is NOT the case at Yant Flat.  It's so new, so untouched that any shot may be the first time for this virgin rock.  So, enjoy some landscape shots of Yant Flat. Red Dot of Yant Flat All part of Utah's Red Cliff Desert Reserve Yellow Hill resembles a Shell Dead Tree in Shape of Cross Hiking around Yant Flat to discover many gems

Colors like Rothko If you find yourself bored someday and want to create a little colorful magic, try this.  Get a macro lens, grape juice, gatorade and diet orange drink.  The important thing is that the drinks be different colors and different sugar content.  The one with the highest sugar content, the heavies liquid, goes in first and then the next heaviest and finally the lightest.  The liquids separate in a nice colorful gradient.  Using a macro lens right up close to the glass surface, I shot this simply for the fun colors.  

Colors and Textures of Black Pool Yellowstone Park is filled with amazing discoveries.  Since 1984, I have visited the park every summer except four.  To satisfy my children, we see Old Faithful nearly every time.  But we also love to explore further off the beaten path (or at least away from the teeming crowd).  It'd been about 10 years since we last visited West Thumb geyser basin.  This is a colorful collection of pools and cinder cones right beside the massive Yellowstone Lake.  On a clear day the scene is breathtaking. My favorite feature from this area is Black Pool.  The orange-red bacterial mattes are outstanding and so close to the lovely blue depths of the pool.  You really can get up-close and personal with this feature.  The colors are similar to Grand Prismatic Spring but on a smaller scale.  I tried to capture the fine detail and contrasting colors in this photograph. Black Pool is no longer black.  A couple d...

Pont du Gard: second tallest Roman ruin in existence today.  Only the Coliseum in Rome is higher. A wonderful and busy way to spend a day in Provence is to have a theme.  With all the Roman ruins around the town of Arles, it made sense to have a Roman day.  In the morning we visited the Roman arena in Arles.  It is a spectacular sight.  Also in Arles, there is a Roman Museum.  This excellent museum is perfect to give background and meaning to the Roman ruins which still stand.  This museum is small enough to see in one hour.  The curators have selected high-quality original items to display.  This is able to show what a Roman life was like 2000 years ago.  There are also models showing what the town of Arles was like under the Roman command.  I highly recommend a visit. Statue at the Roman Museum in Arles:  Bad Hair day. Roman Theater in Orange From the Roman Museum, it is an easy drive to Orange.  ...

Gibraltar Rock Gibraltar rock is one of those things that makes you tilt your head.  When I look at it, I'll just feel like I'm a little bit off balance or that the earth is slanting one way.  That is because Gibraltar rock does not go straight up and down.  In the photo above, you can see that the left face has a significant overhang.  As you get closer to it, this becomes more exaggerated.  It looks like it is about to fall over any second. Visiting Gibraltar rock is easy.  It is on the trail to the "fire wave".  You walk right by it.  The photo above was taken about half way between the fire wave and Gibraltar.  Lots of small rocks strewn over the textured sandstone make for a fantastic view.  This is best at sunset when the shadows are long and the light is golden-orange!

Orange Tree Reflection Another photo from my visit to Zion last month.   This is also from Echo slot canyon, adjacent to the East Rim Trail.  The curves along the left canyon wall first caught my attention.  I hiked a little closer and saw I could line up the curves like a series of waves in my composition.  Then I noticed the orange tree in the distance and I knew I could make a winner if I just spent the time. I wanted this orange-leaf tree in the slot canyon to be the major photo subject.  I also wanted to line up the tree and its' reflection in the waters of the slot.  Sometimes an inch or two difference in the position of the camera (especially the vertical position) can make all the difference.  I took some with my standard wide angle lens, but the tree was so distant that it had no impact.  I switched to my standard zoom lens (24-105 f/4.0 L) and also my telephoto zoom (70-200 f/4.0 L) and tried different compositions.  This pho...

The Curve at White Pocket, Arizona Having spent a good amount of time and White Pocket, I still have a few interesting things to share and post.  This photo is from the Gateway section of White Pocket.  I call it "the curve".  The white-topped tower is approximately 70 feet tall.  Because of surrounding structures, this does not give direct light at sunrise or sunset.  However the midmorning is an excellent time to photograph this location.  The sunlight illuminates the red, orange, tan colors beautifully. I also discovered that laying on the sand dune behind the white-topped tower is an excellent place for shelter during a storm.