Slickrock and Shadow

This summer at Lake Powell the monsoon storms coincided perfectly with a week in Navajo Canyon.  Some mild rains came at night but nothing terrible.  I'd checked out a drainage near our campsite our first day.  Then we had a HUGE afternoon storm.  Noisy, wet and amazing.  As soon as it slowed, I went with a few others to the drainage.  What I saw was incredible!  This was the real deal flash flood!  We stood beside the flow a few moments before seeing rising water erode the bank away.  We quickly departed.  30 seconds later that bank was gone!  

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....

Sunrise near Face Canyon, Lake Powell Lake Powell is a place for recreation but also incredible beauty.  It remains controversial of because of the Glen Canyon dam which is really beyond the scope of my power.  As a visitor to Lake Powell, I did enjoy the beautiful combination of water, sandstone cliffs, clear skies.  One challenging thing about Lake Powell is the changing water level.  What is present in one year is not necessarily going to be there the next year or even the next week because the water level will go up and down depending on the amount of rain in the Colorado mountains.  As a photographer, I found my best pictures by walking around, looking at the land very carefully and trying to find interesting aspects of each visit. Sometimes I get lucky and a rainbow will appear right in front of me.  Other times I do a lot of walking.  This last year I found a wonderful curve in the cliffs that formed a perfect S.  The S-curve is...

Face Canyon Narrows Face Canyon is a beautiful location in the southern portion of Lake Powell, also known as Glen Canyon recreation area.  Before the Glen Canyon dam was completed, these narrow slot canyons were much like Buckskin Gulch or Antelope Canyon.  As water has filled the canyon, these narrows have become very unique indeed!  Although the walls of the canyon are close enough to permit touching both sides at the same time, the water is profoundly deep.  This is not something that can be waded. I discovered this particular branch of Face Canyon while traveling in a kayak.  I made 4 visits to this location.  On my 2nd visit I attempted to wedge my tripod against the wall so that I could take a photograph.  The walls are too steep, too slippery.  On my last attempt I realize that is photos would have to be taken handheld.  This is difficult to do when you are sitting in a kayak and a slight breeze is blowing in the canyon.  ...