Slickrock and Shadow

Sidewinder curves in the depths of Crack Canyon Crack Canyon in Utah's San Rafael region is another of Utah's less-known gems.  Down a dirt road in Central Utah, this trailhead is not even listed on maps.  The canyon makes for a pleasant stroll on a clear or cloudy day.  A short slot section resembles the "Subway" of Zion but I liked the impressive rust-colored walls and Swiss-cheese holes in the sandstone.  This place has more holes in rocks than any other location I've seen.  It's quite "holy".  Here are a few pics from this wonderful little location. Cave-like Crack Canyon with light at the end of the tunnel A glimpse of the amazing holes, cavities and caves in this canyon -- and the namesake "Crack".

Redwall Cavern:  fun big magic sandbox! Redwall Cavern is the biggest sand box in the world.  I know.  I've been there.  The size is huge and comparable to a soccer field, a football field or a giant parking lot.  Except this is nature made and much prettier.  We pulled up on day 3 of our rafting trip for a lunch stop.  Everyone broke out their favorite toys:  frisbee, soccer ball, bocce, etc.  We played and played for an hour.  Then ate lunch.  It's great to explore here by walking from one end to the other but it takes a long time .  Then go from the back to the front.  It also takes a long time .  This is just so big and wonderful that walking in sand feels fun. Redwall Cavern dwarfs these otherwise huge rafts and people.  It's so big and beautiful.   Photographing Redwall Cavern is no simple feat.  It's too big.  With my 16mm lens I took several shots and then had to stitch them ...

Purple Stalagmite Fantasy My family and I visited the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana.  This state park has and adventurous tour through the cold caves that is truly fun for everyone. I highly recommend visiting. Stalagmite Tower From a photography standpoint, the darkness adds some complexity to the task of shooting.  In addition, I discovered before arrival that they did not permit tripods inside the cave.  I would have to hold my camera very still.  The more light a lens could allow, the better the image would be.  So, I chose one really sharp and fast and sort-of wide lens to take:  the Canon 35 f/1.4 L.  It's extremely sharp and very fast in low-light situations.  This shot is hand-held with ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/40 second. The minerals seem to melt all over one another here, creating tiers of stalactites and stalagmite joining in the middle of the cave.  Stalactites come from the ceiling and the stalagmites grow from the gro...