Slickrock and Shadow

French Canyon:  The Jungle in Zion that nobody knew existed As I kid I'd watch Indiana Jones movies and wonder at the world's most exotic and adventurous locations.  I'd imagine hacking my way through the jungle to discover an amazing secret spot.  I felt like a kid again this month as I hiked up French Canyon, a branch off of the East Virgin River, also known as Parunuweap or the Barracks. French Canyon begins mysteriously as a slot canyon immediately off of the Virgin River.  A gorgeous tree obscures the view into this narrow slot canyon, yet the clear water flowing over the sandy stream bed invite further exploration.  The canyon remains narrow for 1/3 mile.  In that short distance, you will trek over trees and through vines all the while in a pleasant 2-6 inches of clear water.  Nothing is really difficult.  The obstacles really create a special feeling of mystery and excitement.  Hiking here is fun, beautiful and Indiana-Jonesish....

Dead twisted tree at the trailhead for Boulder Mail Trail:  taken at dawn after a stormy night. Dawn after a storm welcomed me to a new adventure.  I was about to hike down the Boulder Mail Trail (BMT) to Death Hollow but this awesome twisted tree and developing sunrise made me stop and enjoy a little pre-adventure beauty.  I set up my tripod several minutes before this shot and took a photo about every 2 or 3 minutes.  The clouds grew more colorful and purple.  Then the light touched the treetops around me and I took this exposure.   This is the apotheosis of a beautiful dawn.  

Fallen Leaves in the Sacred Grove with Green Trees lit up I visited the Finger Lakes of New York in Autumn and explored some of the nearby attractions.  There are so many, it was hard to choose.  One worthwhile stop if the Sacred Grove in Palmyra.  This special grove of trees is where Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ.  Held sacred by the LDS faith, this lovely spot is ideal for wandering and reflection.  I arrived just as leaves were falling yet the trees still had plenty of green foliage.  To capture my best pictures, I got quite low to the ground and focused on one or two colorful leaves while aiming the camera up to catch the tall trees. Typical path through Palmyra's Sacred Grove Rough wooden benches allow time to sit and reflect Gordon's hike rating: Hike Difficulty:                   ★ Easy Trail Condition:                  ...

Mangrove Jungle at Low Tide:  a transient photo opportunity This post we're leaving the beautiful beaches and diving headlong into the jungles of Vava'u.  Plenty of photo opportunities with natural and cultural charm await the jungle trekker. Hunga is a dirt-poor island with very nice residents who wave, smile, come out and talk and make a wonderful friendly impression.  We stayed in the inner bay of Hunga one rainy night  At low tide, the mangrove jungle becomes walkable.  I sauntered in and around many jungle plants looking for the right composition.  Here are two of my favorites. Mangrove branches reach out like a parasite! Inland on Hunga we had a wonderful time with the people but I also enjoyed photographing all the pigs here.  They wander openly around.  Most pigs on other islands are wary of people but the Hunga pigs seem to not fear or flee. Pigs of Hunga, Tonga Kenutu is a fantastic anchorage with a legitimate jungle t...

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...

Waterfall, flowers and redrock located in Zion's Right Fork of North Creek Ever since hiking to Double Falls in 2011, I have wanted to return and explore further.  I made it happen this year and hiked all the way into the deepest part of the canyon possible without ropes, harnesses and such:  Barrier Falls.  While Barrier Falls is not particularly scenic, seeing the "Barrier" remains quite an accomplishment because the hiking here is so slow, rocky and wet.  The last mile is pure bushwhacking and bouldering. Below Barrier Falls, this smaller and idyllic pool and waterfall are located.  The waters are cool on my legs.  I'd often wade up to my thighs and sometimes higher.  I loved the sound of falling water on the rocks and a breeze through the trees.  No other disturbances in this remote location. I loved these little red flowers.  As I saw them, I wanted to include them somehow in a grander photograph of the surroundings.  Getti...

Purple Blossoms of Spring as seen on the Hellhole (or Hell Hole) Trail in Red Cliffs Desert Reserve The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve is a vast area north of St. George.   The reserve was initially formed, in part, because of the desert tortoise.   These seldom-seen residents are a threatened local species.   The reserve status protects this land for recreational use and I’ve enjoyed several jaunts into various parts of the reserve.   Some have famous names like Yant Flat or the Vortex.   Others are unknown.   On this day I hiked into an unknown area named “Hell hole” because of the miserable heart in the summer.   My visit had clouds and rain and I felt it more like a desert garden than a pit of despair.   I know that a waterfall can appear from the high cliffs if it rains enough.   I hoped for a waterfall appearance . . . but got something different.   The trail heads up a wash on the west side of Red Mountain.   The san...

Palms, Ocotillo and Barrel Cacti are primarily seen in Mountain Palm Springs Canyon In the heart of Anza Borrego Desert Reserve are the oases giving palm trees a life in the midst of harsh surroundings.  Mountain Palm Springs is one such oasis.  In my digital explorations using Google satellite images, it appeared that several small oases are interspersed throughout these canyons.  I came for sunrise and early morning photography (they face the east) and found small paths leading over the hills of one canyon into another adjacent canyon.  These hills are not very high so climbing to the top and then discovering another oasis in the desert was kind-of fun.  This is a delightful and easy place to explore.  (It made me feel like a Victorian-era explorer.)  I could have stayed a lot longer but had some other adventures planned this day. There is a small BLM-style campground with plenty of room here.  You'll be totally alone with nature. ...

Marbles in Suspension Ansel Adams is justifiably famous for his incredible black and white landscapes.  Yosemite, Sierra Mountains and Joshua Tree National Park are all associated with his masterful skills.  Two of his famous photos comes from the Jumbo Rocks campground at the heart of Joshua Tree.  Many photographers have seen what he saw and taken the same picture he took.  Spending a few extra moment to capture the scene as he did is what I did here.  I copied the master and enjoyed nature while doing so. Tree and Standing Boulder

Algodones Sand Dunes resemble the Sahara On my 1st and only trip to the North Algodones Sand Dunes located in the Imperial Valley of California, I was hoping to experience some untouched sand dunes.  The Algodones Dunes are segregated into the North and the South.  The North is designated wilderness and off-road vehicles are forbidden.  The South is a designated site for off-road vehicle fun.  When I drove into Glamis that was quite clear that the South receives a lot more attention than the North. I slept in my car beside the North dunes and got up well before sunrise so that I could hike out onto the dunes and be there when the sun came up.  I was surprised at how much walking I had to do simply to reach the dunes.  It was very flat but seems to take about twice as long as I expected.  The dunes began fairly abruptly on the edge of some brush and trees.  Yet a few questions and even a tree or 2 are located in the midst of the dunes as far...

Zion Narrows with High Cliffs and Autumn Trees Tackling a worldwide icon such as Zions National Park Virgin River narrows is a wonderful opportunity.  People wisely come from around the world to visit this magical location.  I live within a 1-hour drive and made my most recent trip here in October.  The leaves had changed to a greenish-yellow which made them stand out from the orange and black canyon walls.   I'll bet there are literally millions of photographs taken here each year.  This is not a place where I'll discover something never seen before.  Rather it's a place where I can shoot my best and then measure my work against the very best photographers in the world.  They all come here.  They all shoot in the same narrow canyon.   That being said, here are a few other photos from this beautiful icon of the Southwest. Virgin River Bend in Zion Narrows Zion Narrows in a wide canyon section Zion Narrow, a shot upstream ...

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...

Green Pastures of the Big Island Beautiful green meadows are about the last thing expected on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Beaches, waterfalls, jungle and even volcanos are more characteristic of this rugged land.  Nevertheless, on my drive back from Pololu Overlook I witnessed some beautiful scenery of a different sort with green rolling hills and occasional solitary trees.  In the distance you can see the ocean far below.  This particular tree maybe stop and pull over:  the verdant and fertile scene along with the solitary tree make a great photo! A wider view of the meadow

A-Bay Sunset with Palms Trees, an Orange Sky and the Pacific Ocean Highly contrasting situations landed themselves to photography of silhouettes.  On my recent trip to the Big Island I found myself gazing at a wonderful sense over "A-bay" in Waikaloa.  The palm trees clustered together in a way that allowed the sunshine to come between a couple of them.  Moving slightly to one side I was able to get the composition I desired. The next artistic decision related to exposure.  If I decided to try to expose properly for the trees, the sunshine and the sky would be "blown out" white.  That would lose the beautiful colors of red and orange.  Instead I exposed for the sky and allowed the palm trees to simply go to black. In another situation on the other side of the island, I did the same thing at sunrise. Pololu Silhouette at Sunrise

Sandy Cay as seen from the water Sandy Cay is a national park of the British Virgin Islands.  A visit here is highly recommended.  The islands is a tropical paradise with beautiful sandy beaches and a wonderful trail circling the island.  The trail is not long at all but highly pleasant. On the same island, cactus and palm trees co-exist.   You'll start by landing your watercraft (in our case a kayak) on the beach.  Then walk around the beach to the right where you'll discover a trail leading through the trees.  After a few hundred feet, the trail climbs onto rockier and higher ground.  Here the cactus thrive and you'll have a splendid view back toward the beach.  Keep circling around the trail and you'll drop back into the forest canopy.  Finally, you return to the beach.  Total time:  20-40 minutes.  Memories:  priceless. When you land with your kayak or dinghy, this is what you see. Looking back to the beach...

Entering Buckskin Gulch Buckskin Gulch is so spectacular.  Much better than I anticipated and a very rich area for photography.  Here share photos which all have trees as a common theme.I was quite surprised to find so many beautiful green trees and buckskin.  The narrows do not allow any of these to grow but there are small portions throughout buckskin gulch where the canyon becomes wider and allows enough sand and sunlight for this small oasis to thrive. Rolled Up Mud Buckskin Gulch Around the Next Bend

Cow Wreck Beach, Anegada, British Virgin Islands Sporting an atrocious name, Cow Wreck Beach doesn't attrack many visitors.  On the north shore of the northern-most British Virgin Island, this beach is hard to reach.  Most visitors take a plane, a sailboat and then some ground transportation to sink their toes into powder-soft white sand.  Of all the beaches in the world, this is one of the most beautiful and lonely.  If you ever get to Anegada, be sure to visit Cow Wreck.  It's much less crowded than Loblolly bay and truly gives you an "at-the-end-of-the-earth" feeling . . . and that's a good thing.

Geiger Beach:  Pretty but not much of a beach To get off the beaten path in the Florida Keys, I took a trip to Geiger Beach.  This is a small drive off the main overseas highway.  It is located near the military base on Boca Chica Key.  Here you will find free spirits, some beautiful trees and pleasant water.  Sand is not very common here. I visited this beach on a February afternoon.  The weather was beautiful.  I was hoping to hike farther along the beach and find some isolation, solitude and a beautiful photographic location for sunset.  Here you do find all of those things but they do not come with a beach.  The trail is very simple at first but after you reach the first estuary, the trail becomes overgrown with trees and vines.  You just walked past the best easily accessible areas. You can continue going but there isn't any beach reward further down.  Also, you will wade up to your knees in mud in order to cross the e...