Slickrock and Shadow

Pinhead Pictograph Portrait! Because of its' near-ness and "secret" status, Shaman's gallery pictographs in Tuckup Canyon are often discussed like they are legendary.  My local contacts have told me about this place for years and I finally decided to make the trip.  If you search a little bit, you'll discover these are on the main Tuckup Trail that descend into Tuckup Canyon. Finding it on Google Maps is easy.  Finding it in reality is a bit more difficult because the roads have no signs and they criss-cross a lot.  Without my GPS and some waypoints I'd entered ahead of time, I would not have found the right road to the trailhead.  If you go, take a GPS and make sure you know what roads you should be taking.  It will not be obvious once you are there. The trail is well-maintained and going down it quick and easy.  The descent is about 2,000 vertical feet over about 3 miles.  The canyon is pretty without being gorgeous. GPS is also very ...

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...

Abyss Pool at West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Abyss Pool violently erupted in the 1990s before settling into a placid phase.  This green goddess is one of the most beautiful pools in the entire park.  Like many pools in Yellowstone, the colors defy description and even photography is challenged to show the brilliance and full spectrum of greens on display! I chose this as my  Photo of the Month  pick for June because of the wonderful colors, the clouds sweeping across the sky, the absence of humans and the balanced composition.  This was my best landscape shot from Yellowstone this year. Some Technical Information: To photograph such colors I used a polarizing filter to reduce the surface reflection.  This allows the greens underneath to shine better.   I shot 4 vertical pictures from left to right with identical aperture and shutter speed and then stitched these photos together in Photoshop back home.  My widest lens, the 17mm...

Yellow Rock within Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is one of many fabulous natural beauties! Yellow Rock, Utah remains one of the most unique and beautiful locations I've ever visited.  I've traveled in pursuit of great photo locations for 12 years now and Yellow Rock remains one of the most photogenic in memory.  I visited this remote location once, in 2008 (before blogging, so I thought it deserved a blog post now).  After 9 years, this photo remains one of my favorite.  I'd ascended the monolith, huffing and puffing, until I reached the top.  I searched around, looking for good photo subjects.  I discovered this wavy line of white and deep purple etched on the yellow sandstone.  Just about this time, sunset happened and the last sun rays shone on the distant cliffs and clouds. Processing note:  This photo was before HDR and multiple exposure blending.  I shot with a Lee graduated neutral density filter to balance out the...

Mount Kinesava Sunset The Chinle trail in Zion National Park has been overlooked by me for years.  I know it existed but had felt the motivation to trek there.  This trail is sun exposed and lacks the encircling canyon feeling for which Zion is famous.  Instead this is open desert.  Mount Kinesava is the beautiful monument standing for everyone to see.  I figured a winter visit would be best for photography because the southern-facing mountain would receive more lighting at sunset. I hiked here in late November, getting up on the Rockville bench before sunset.  However I found that the cloud color and lighting got better just after the sun set.  Using my Lee neutral gradient filters, I took this and several other photos to capture this fantastic light.  

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...