Slickrock and Shadow

A new lens can inspire any photographer to get out and try his or her hand.  After much internal debate, I recently purchased the Canon 17mm tilt-shift lens.  Tilt shifts are special lenses with special powers and certain limitations.  Having shot with the 24mm and 90mm tilt shift lenses for several years, I knew what it could add to my photographic abilities:  wide, sharp landscapes without the distortion normally introduced with wide-angle lenses. With excitement, I took off over the desert into Nevada in search of the Hobgoblin Playground, also known as "Little Finland."  Not sure how Finland comes into this, but Hobgoblins certainly live here and stick their faces out of rock in weird and wonderful ways.  I explored and enjoyed for 2 hours before the sunset with my two daughters in tow.  They loved the weird wonderland.  Another photographer from Germany also was there. Hobgoblin faces the setting sun. As the sun was about to go dow...

Storm Arrives over Coral Pink Sand Dunes Coral Pink Sand Dunes:  a jewel that should not be missed at sunset, according to Laurent Martres.  He describes the sand turning an exquisite shake of pink just as the sun disappears.  On my way back from a weekend phototrip to White Pocket, I decided to see if this would happen for me. Summer monsoon season is in full swing this year and I'd had intermittent rainstorms during the prior 48 hours.  Between storms, gorgeous sunlight lit up the world for stunning photographs.  I figured the sun would come out at the end of the day and reward me.  I was wrong. After wandering across the dunes to set up for sunset, clouds went from thick to thicker.  The sun never peeked through but I found the evening light turned the clouds a deep blue color.  Blue and pink are wonderful complimentary colors and I took this shot just as the night was coming on at f/11, 3/10 of a second and ISO 200 to prevent ...

Chimney Rock of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument Chimney Rock is an intriguing sandstone formation can be seen for several miles near the towns of Big Water and Church Wells, Utah.  Although it is easy to see, it is difficult to reach.  There are no roads that go directly to this monument.  Instead it is surrounded by sand, cacti, bottlebrush and very dry air. During my visit, I wandered across the sand to reach this monument and felt that this was a very typical view of southern Utah on a typical day:  fluffy intermittent clouds, beautiful blue sky, classic red rock surrounded by a dry environment.  This was not the golden hour when the light changes color.  This Utah in its' full, hot, desert glory! I took several pictures of this monument.  Ultimately I felt that the closer, wide-angle shot was the best.  I corrected some wide-angle distortion in Photoshop in order to accurately show this beauty.

Grey Mud Pool marks the end of Rainbow Slot Canyon in southwestern Utah. During the heat of the day, this spooky place stayed cool and quiet. Rainbow Canyon is a remote and seldom visited location in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.  It is located near the Wahweap hoodoos and Sidestep Canyon.  Exploring the vast wilderness on foot involves climbing over, through or around the different pathways for water has made in the sandstone. As I was hiking up a sandstone canyon to see if it would lead to the higher ground, I found that the walls became more narrow the farther I progressed.  Eventually came to the very deep slot canyon which did not allow much light to pass through.  It was like a cave:  temperatures were at least 30° cooler.  After my eyes adjusted, I enjoyed exploring a little bit further in this slot canyon.  The farther I went, the more beautiful it became.  At the end of the canyon there was an abrupt cliff fa...

Paria River Canyon overlook as it drains towards Lee's Ferry in the far distance On my latest outing to the desert, I visited a remote overlook that is both breathtaking and untouched.  Perhaps because the Grand Canyon is so close, this overlook is thought to be second rate.  Indeed, nothing can really compare to the Grand Canyon.  However I would rate this particular overlook as a spectacular sight and certainly worth the effort to reach it.  One can actually drive to this site, no hiking required.  The Paria River is filled with a huge percentage of sediment.  In fact it is one of the more cloudy rivers in existence and adds the greatest percentage of sediment to the Colorado River just above the beginning of the Grand Canyon National Park.  Following the river out towards the distance, one can see where the Grand Canyon begins at the site known as Lee's Ferry.  This is part of the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument.  This photogr...

Snow Leopard at the San Diego Zoo Going to the San Diego zoo causes 2 big problems for a photographer:  what animals to focus on, what lenses to bring. Of course easy answer is to see "all" of the animals and take "all" of your equipment so that you can be ready for any situation. However that is very impractical in my situation. I was traveling with my family. This included my son, who is in a wheelchair.  He becomes tired and need some pushing every now and then. There are some enormously steep hills in the San Diego zoo which would be extremely dangerous without some help. Therefore I needed to have enough free hands to help with him. Plus we wanted to have fun as a family. That was the primary goal. Lens choice:  one could make a case for simply taking an all-purpose lens. Something that will zoom out to wide angles as well as work for close-ups. The most practical lens that Canon makes for this is the 24-105mm f/4 L.  I have this and use it often but t...

I had a wonderful time in Maui. Everything (and I mean everything) went perfect:  weather, waterfalls, scenery, company, adventure, food, fun and more. Please enjoy my favorite photos from this trip.  Visit my Maui Landscape Photography Gallery for full-size photos of this paradise.

Lower Hanawi Waterfall, the best on the Maui The best waterfall in Maui is certainly a debatable issue for experts and locals. For me there is no debate at all.  After visiting multiple waterfalls throughout the nine days of adventure, this waterfall still takes my breath away. Not only was it extremely tall but the water flow pouring over the cliff was enormous and had such power as to fill the entire canyon with mist. The roaring water could be heard from a long ways away. What made this even more special was the solitude I enjoyed here. Yes, you heard that right: solitude. This was my own personal waterfall for an entire afternoon. There was no one else in sight. How could I be so lucky? This waterfall is not listed in any guidebook that I came across. I searched many. I learned of this waterfall's existence through a lot of research on the island, on the streams, and through the internet.  I'm certainly not the first person to visit this waterfall and I ha...

A trip to Maui would be incomplete without traveling the "Road to Hana".  This winding road is liable to make anyone motion sick. Besides the multiple curves and cliffs that are perched above the ocean, waterfalls are found in abundance.  I have never been in any location where there were so many beautiful waterfalls so easily accessible.  Most of these are located beside the road. Many of them are easily missed if one is driving too quickly and not looking down into the river beds as the bridges cross each ravine. In the interest of photography and also hoping to help other people who may travel this road, I will document the waterfalls that I was able to visit. There are many other websites that do the same that are catered towards the tourists. Mine is catered towards photographers. The waterfalls will be listed in the order they are found traveling from the middle of the island towards Haleakala National Park.  Two waterfalls which I visited are not pictured b...

Hawaii Beach Warning Signs One thing that I often hear and see a lot of are warnings. As a landscape photographer, I naturally enjoy going out and spending some time in nature:  the desert, a slot canyon, the beach, cliffs, mountains, forests, sand dunes. When researching these locations, I often come across warnings. There are warnings about dehydration, falling off of cliffs, being swept out to sea by large waves, automobile failure in the middle of nowhere including flat tires and dead batteries, getting lost, and so much more. This photograph is great example of this "attitude of caution."  Here there are warnings for jellyfish, man-of-war, waves breaking off of ledges, waves breaking on the shore, strong currents, unstable rocks and no lifeguard to protect you.  After reading the signs, one would be afraid to proceed. These signs were located in a state park on Maui, specifically Black Sand Beach. The beach was beautiful. I did not go swimming.  A wonderful...

Pondering the Beauty of Makamakaole 2nd Waterfall This is a trail that I could not discover in any guidebook. I found some references to it online as I was searching for unique places to visit on the island of Maui. What makes this location unique is the beautiful waterfall that is split into two forks as it goes down the cliff face. Another unique feature is the location in West Maui. Most of the other waterfalls worth visiting are located on the road to Hana. This is different. The first of the 13 Crossings Without really knowing much about the trail other than the trailhead location and the GPS location of the waterfall, I convinced my traveling partner to come with me and explore. We were both pleased to find that the trail is in excellent condition. The entire hike is around 3 miles round trip.it is fairly easy until the very end. At that point it becomes scary for about 15 feet. If you can pass that 15 feet of steep drop-off, you can reach this lovely waterfall.  The...

Pipiwai Trail through the Idyllic Bamboo Forest Waimoku Waterfall At the end of the road to Hana is Haleakala National Park, it's "seven sacred pools" (Oheo Gulch) and the Pipiwai Trail.  In my opinion, the Pipiwai trail is a much greater attraction than the seven sacred pools. It goes from the seashore up the canyon until ending at a 400 foot waterfall. Along the way there are two other major waterfalls, a picturesque banyan tree and a thick bamboo forest unlike anything else I have ever seen. The bamboo goes on for nearly 1 mile. I had previously seen several pictures of this beautiful trail. It is truly enchanting, peaceful and filled with sounds of the bamboo gently swaying in the wind. In reality it is also very dark . The bamboo comes together so tightly that most of the light is filtered out. Although the pupil can dilate to allow more light to see, the camera is not so complicated. To get a similar amount of light in, the camera has to have an open shut...

Koki Beach and Alau Island Hana is not just the location for waterfalls.  Because it is on the east side of the island of Maui, it is a great location for seeing the sunrise over the ocean.  Just south of Hana, Koki beach has gorgeous sand and the Alau Island off shore makes for a sight at sunrise. On the top of this jagged island, there are a few ragged palm trees. This is actually a bird sanctuary and cannot be visited by tourists.  Like most sunrise locations, I arrived in darkness and set up my equipment. Slowly the light started to come through the clouds and reflected off the water.  The stormy clouds gathered before dawn, but enough orange light came through to make my day. This is my favorite sunrise of the trip to Maui.