Slickrock and Shadow

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...

Bark detail of a Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree Rainbow eucalyptus trees are a sight to see with your own eyes.  Their unreal colors made me think someone had photoshopped a little too much when I first saw pictures.  Then I saw the real thing and learned that these trees really are fluorescent green, bold orange and deep brown.  I only know of their existence in Hawaii and they are difficult to find there. On Maui, you can see these beauties on the road to Hana.  Some of our sitting next to the road.  You cannot really stop to see them because of the traffic.  A great place to experience them close up, away from the traffic is the Ke'anae Arboretum.  There is a small sign on the road and a place to pull off.  A paved pathway goes into the forest.  Informative signs can teach you about many different plans but the ones that are most interesting to me are the rainbow eucalyptus trees.  A pleasant 10 minute walk brings you to a small grove...

Rainbow and Old Faithful Rainbow formation is actually a very predictable event.  With the right alignment of light and water in the air a rainbow will happen every time.  A rainbow in Yellowstone Park can be a nice photographic companion to a geyser eruption.  Old Faithful on a sunny afternoon, later in the day when crowds have thinned a little bit demonstrates this phenomenon. The sunshine is coming from the West.  The prevailing wind also comes from that direction.  This spreads the water into the air on the east side of the geyser.  In order to see this in the best light, I would recommend being on the south west or directly south of the geyser itself.  The effect is short lived.  You may see it for about 30-60 seconds before it disappears.  Enjoy.