Slickrock and Shadow

Secret Waterfall, Zion National Park Keeping secrets is fun if you know that your secret is highly desired by others.  I discovered a secret waterfall in Zion National Park and it is so much fun and such a wonderful find, that I have to post something about it.  However I will keep its location a secret.  What I will share is how beautiful it is.  I want to share the beauties of nature and how I can best capture it with photography. This particular waterfall was reached after hiking several hours.  There is no trail.  There is no trail head.  It was simply a rumor.  I can say that along the way I saw several small fish in the stream, climbed over multiple boulders, crisscrossed from side to side of the water countless times.  The journey was mostly enjoyable. As I was approaching the end of this hike, I saw the split waterfalls noted above.  My heart leapt with excitement.  I spent a couple of hours here taking a lot of photogr...

Wildflower Sunset A nearby location I have wanted to visit for a long time was the Red Mountain.  This is a landmark around St. George, Utah.  This spring we had prolific wildflowers.  After several days of storms, I hope to visit as the clouds were clearing.  I found a patch of wildflowers just at the right time, just before sunset.

The Nautilus, a wonderful sandstone formation Up a short wash from the Paria River is an interesting white sandstone formation known as the Nautilus.  It is so named because of the curve it has back on itself.  It is very much like a seashell in shape and color, simply expanded in size.  Having never been here before, I arrived late in the day.  Light was disappearing quickly.  I took several compositions using my tripod for long exposures.  What really amazes me is the white sandstone.  This is very unique and stands apart from the orange/red tones of nearly everything else.  Sweeping lines drawing you in.  You can actually walk into this structure, go around the corner and up to the top.  Another wonderful discovery inside the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument!

Paria Sundial on a beautiful day I know there is a lot of potential to discover new amazing rock formations in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.  Much of this land is relatively undiscovered and difficult to reach.  The West Clark bench sits north of the famous Coyote Buttes of Arizona.  The Arizona-Utah border and the Buckskin slot canyon separate these 2 formations.  Brain rocks and amazing colors are present in both locations. On my first visit to the West Clark bench, I was exploring randomly.  There is no trail.  Wandering around the sandstone cliffs and formations is the only way to go from one place to another.  I came across this unique formation which reminded me of a sundial.  The curve in the capstone as well as the curve rock gathered at the base caught my attention.  I took several photographs of this formation but I could not be satisfied.  Landscape orientation did not include the beautiful sky for th...

Gordon Smith, Utah Photographer -- hiking in the desert and sandstone While wandering around the West Clark bench, I found a unique rock formation.  The skies were not particularly good for a dramatic shot but I thought this formation was interesting nonetheless.  I decided it might make a good environmental self-portrait.  The self-portrait is something most artists do at one point or another.  Some people are very famous for doing several self-portraits.  It is a way to experiment artistically.  In this case, there was not much to experiment with.  My legs were tired after hiking about 10 miles.  I set up my camera and stood next to this wonderful formation and a Gordon Smith self-portrait was born.

Pine Glade Lake at Sunset (wonderful scene from the Everglades National Park) Everglades National Park is unlike any place I have ever visited before.  Much of this national park is a wide slow moving river.  It goes so slowly, it is imperceptible.  Miles and miles of soggy land never dry out.  It is like a continual flood.  I had great desires to visit this national park during my recent trip to Florida.  It is well known for amazing birdlife as well as unique scenery.  I did not have extensive time to see everything.  Instead I was hoping enjoy one full day. I started at Pineland for sunrise.  I heard this was a good location.  After driving around the entire day, I saw that there were many places that would be good for sunrise, several of them better than Pineland.  Wisdom comes with experience.  Skies were cloudless at sunrise which made this disappointing. Immediately after sunrise, I drove to Anhinga trail.  T...

Cannons of Fort Zachary Taylor Fort Zachary Taylor is located on the far west side of Key West.  This is extremely accessible (much more so than the Dry Tortugas National Park which requires a date to visit).  You can visit in a couple of hours and then spend more time enjoying the beautiful Florida Keys.  The scenery is similar to what you find at Dry Tortugas.  Ancient canons, very fine brickwork, rusty colored fort walls are all available for the light to play with. Wandering the corridors, I found many fascinating angles of light and shadows to photograph.  This is an excellent place for landscape photography.  This would also be an excellent place for a photo shoot with a model. A couple of things are strongly recommended.  In order to get the best light on the canons, I do not recommend coming in the morning.  Instead, just after noon.  In the morning direct sunlight will be shining into these corridors and the contrast is too ...

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...

Butterfly Profile from the Butterfly Conservancy in Key West The butterfly conservancy in Key West, Florida is a popular attraction.  I believe the beach and shopping are more popular.  In the middle of the day, a visit to this small but very colorful and interactive museum is a splendid way to spend one or 2 hours.  They have an incredible gift shop.  After paying admission fee, you can enter the conservancy.  This is a large glass dome filled with plants and flowers of all different colors.  Butterflies and flamingos live here.  If you have ever wanted to get some photographs of insects, this is the place to go.  The lighting is excellent and the subjects are numerous.  Although they tend to move around, you should be able to come back with some good photographs.

Road to Nowhere:  Bahia Honda Bridge After wonderful day at the beach, nothing can be better than a wonderful sunset.  I had planned to take photographs of the crumbling bridge at Bahia Honda state park.  There are several wonderful photographs of this location at sunset.  In general, these are taken from the east, looking into the sunset.  I figured that I would do the same. I arrived more than one hour before sunset and hiked up to the edge of the old bridge.  Looking into the West, there were no clouds at all.  The skies actually looked very bland and boring.  I immediately had a decision to make: should I stay here and try to make something out of nothing or should I leave? I decided to leave go to the west end of the bridge, hoping that the different angle of light might improve my circumstances.  Looking to the east, there were some lovely clouds.  As the sun got lower and lower, these took on a lovely yellow color with a ...

Bahia Honda clear waters and Red Sailboat I have seen some stunning pictures from Bahia Honda State Park.  When I visited the Florida Keys in February, this was on my "must-do" list.  I arrived on a sunny afternoon.  The water is beautiful.  There are lots of birds to photograph here.  For quite some time, it seemed like that was all there was.  That is okay but nothing spectacular. Then my luck changed: small red sailboat arrived as the tide was going out.  A sandbar just underneath the water level was easy to look right through.  Crystal-clear waters were spectacular.  I tried several compositions with this sailboat and some distant clouds.  Then my luck improved again and a small piece of seaweed rolled by with the outgoing tide.  It got stuck on the shallow sand.  This provided a wonderful foreground object. All the elements aligned in my favor.  I took several pictures and found this one to be my favorite of ...

Bridge in Fruita, Utah Cottonwood trees surrounding a green grassy park on a quiet evening in October.  The skies grow colorful and the trees take on a wonderful glow here in autumn.  Not only are the trees great photography subjects, but there are orchards, barns, buildings and bridges.  Wandering from the campground to the Fremont River and back is a wonderful stroll full of beautiful views. I wandered through the cottonwoods just before sunset.  Sunrise is a great time for visiting the Fruita barn, which is adjacent to the campground.  While at the barn, you may as well visit the Gifford house to eat a delicious pie for breakfast. Fruita Cottonwood Trees Sunrise by Fruita Barn

Narrow Rapids Above Fremont Falls The Fremont River is more powerful than the Virgin River.  I'd grown used to seeing the small and pleasant Virgin flow through Zion year after year.  The Fremont surprised me with how deep, wide and fast it is.  On the east side of Capitol Reef national park, the Fremont goes through a quick series of waterfalls.  Right above the big drop, the water speeds up into a narrow chute.  Here I stretched my tripod legs over the water to capture this photo. Possessing very dynamic motion, the rushing water shows up more in black and white.  I tried processing a color version, but the color detracts from the power of the water.