Slickrock and Shadow

Yovimpa Point is the end of Bryce Plateau and looks over a vast south land Yovimpa Point and Rainbow Point are the south-most views in Bryce Canyon National Park.  The lovely drive down takes time as the road curves and wanders.  Rainbow point is right off the parking lot and looks to the north and east.  This is a wonderful and classic Bryce-type view.   Rainbow Point has the delicate spires typical of Bryce Canyon As lovely as Rainbow Point is, it's not really unique nor are the spires near enough to make you feel like you're touching the heart of Bryce.  The views are too distant.  Better viewpoints are to be had along the road and at Fairyland Point, Agua Canyon, and other spots.   Yovimpa Point is a 10 minute stroll on a paved path through the pine trees and then ends at the south-most point of this plateau.  The views here extend 70 miles to Mollie's Nipple, Coyote Buttes, Paria and many other landmarks visible to the educated eye....

Schist Narrows:  a geologic rarity! Schist is the stuff that doesn't belong in the southwest.  It's not sandstone.  It's weird metamorphic rock that seems marbled and smooth, dark and evil, even mysterious.  Making it more mysterious is the fact that it's so old and only exposed in some of the deepest parts of the Grand Canyon.  You've got to reach far back in time to see schist. Even more rare is a slot canyon with flowing water and schist walls.  Such a place exists only in Monument Creek, by Granite Rapids, deep in the Grand Canyon.  The black is schist.  Pink stuff is granite (hence "granite rapids"). Monument Creek is pretty but the rocky surface makes hiking a trudge.  Also, beware of schist.  Shoes do not stick to schist and you can just slide right down the slick surface.  It's not like any other rock I've been on.  Smooth schist is like ice in many ways. Some other pics from Monument Creek: Schist, Granit...

Jailhouse Rock stands hundreds of feet high on a stormy day. Lower South Desert Overlook in Capitol Reef is a gorgeous remote treasure.  As part of the Cathedral Valley loop drive, this should be on everybody's to-do list.   Park your car and walk 1/2 mile to the amazing views of Jailhouse Rock and the vast empty South Desert.   White rocks of all shapes and sizes surprised me here.  I thoroughly enjoyed walking around these white goblins and hoodoos looking for a photogenic angle.  I highly recommend this locale as a place to get in touch with the vastness of natural desert landscape.  Enjoy! Goblins of South Desert Overlook Jailhouse Rock and White Badlands Temple Rock:  300mm lens captures this distant pinnacle

Half and Half Rock:  Yellow and Purple Strips run through everything here! Half and Half Rock is an extension of the surrounding stripes running throughout Coyote Buttes South.  Not only is it amazing that the stripe runs exactly though the middle of the rock but it's mind-blowing that the same stripe continues across the ground and up onto the northern wall of sandstone.  It's like someone with purple chalk drew a wandering line through the whole landscape without regard to obstacles.  This small wonder is one of the first places the casual visitor to Coyote Buttes South discovers.  He sits right on the eastern border and the sandy trail leads to this general area from the parking lot.  If you seek, you will find.  If GPS coordinates help, then here it is:  N 36°57'39.3"  W 111°59'16.9". A literal rock star, this little guy has been photographed by some of the most famous landscape photographers.  Fatali flipped his photograph ...

Lost Pencil at Sunrise Scouting locations in Joshua tree before arriving, I combed the Internet and found several different unhelpful sites.  It was not until I discovered the "Joshua Tree 3D" site that I found a place that actually told you where to find specific rock formations.  I decided to hike to one location mentioned on this site called the "lost pencil".  I hiked out before sunrise so that I could be there when the sun came up.  The wind had been blowing throughout the night and there were no clouds at all.  The harsh desert sky did not provide anything interesting to complement the rocks.  Therefore I tried to include a lot of different objects on the ground as I was making photographic composition choices. Sometimes photographers only show their very best work.  This case, I feel that this is not my very best work but given the weather conditions, it is the best that could occur on this particular morning.  Oh, there is not a lo...

Snow Canyon State Park:  Sunrise Snow Canyon State Park in southern Utah is close enough for me to visit at sunrise without really disrupting my weekly routine.  Landscape photography could not be much easier than that.  I found a new location and this wonderful part that is an excellent sunrise spot.  Light is wonderful here.  There are so many different colors in the sandstone.  In my chosen picture above, the sandstone right in front of the camera has a light pink color in it.  The cliffs in the mid-ground have rich golden tan color.  The distant cliffs are red rock, very characteristic of this area.  Being able to capture all these different hues of rock with the morning light barely touching each one of them is unique.  That's what makes this spot very special.  Please enjoy.

Near Pahoa, Big Island This just caught my eye while I wandered along the coast near Pahoa, Big Island of Hawaii.  The lava rock is so acutely jagged but somehow produces fertile soil for the jungle to thrive.  This process  happens at a speed we don't normally witness on the Big Island.  I got down low with tripod to include all the elements you see here. 

Paria Mud Cracks:  when the mud is moist, these are extremely slippery! It had rained the previous week.  The mud was still moist and very slippery.  This is what I hoped for:  dramatic puzzle-piece mud cracks leading through the canyon floor. In composing this photograph, I wanted the cracks to take center stage.  I wanted them to lead to another interesting photography subject as well.  I found a very shallow pool and a rock standing in front of a dark wall.  I tried several compositions with a 16-35 mm lens but I was not satisfied.  I switched to a 17 mm tilt shift lens and took several pictures, shifting the lens up and down in order to have a very good view of the mud cracks at my feet.  These were stitched together in Photoshop.  Black-and-white processing seemed appropriate for this dramatic subject.

The Nautilus, a wonderful sandstone formation Up a short wash from the Paria River is an interesting white sandstone formation known as the Nautilus.  It is so named because of the curve it has back on itself.  It is very much like a seashell in shape and color, simply expanded in size.  Having never been here before, I arrived late in the day.  Light was disappearing quickly.  I took several compositions using my tripod for long exposures.  What really amazes me is the white sandstone.  This is very unique and stands apart from the orange/red tones of nearly everything else.  Sweeping lines drawing you in.  You can actually walk into this structure, go around the corner and up to the top.  Another wonderful discovery inside the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument!

Lacy Rocky Spire of Coyote Buttes North The "wave" is world-famous, one of the most in all landscape photography.  Pictures like the one below have made it an icon.  However, one wants to explore and discover.  That's part of our nature and certainly is a goal when I set out to photograph a location.  I want to find some place new, an undiscovered gem. Well, this time I hiked to Coyote Buttes North (the Wave) and did so in snow.  The beginning temperature was 17 degrees Fahrenheit.  The sun did come out and warm me up.  I can't complain too much.  Snow made everything different, making it a little more challenging to find any classic Southwest picture. I had heard of a cliff that had lacy rocks on the very top. However, the climb up to the top was on the north side of this mountain and covered with snow. Climbing up snow-covered slickrock is an exercise in persistence, gravity, friction and sliding down.  It took quite a while to ma...