Slickrock and Shadow

#1  Composition:  Standard view of the Lollipop from White Pocket The Lollipop of White Pocket is the most recognizable feature of this incredible area. It located right in the center of the sandstone goldmine and gets the late afternoon sunshine. I was shooting here after a summer monsoon as the clouds were just clearing. Blue sky was coming out but the light wasn't going to last forever with the clouds coming and going. They seemed to get thicker as time progressed, taking away the beautiful blues in the sky.    #2 Composition Sandstone swirls act as leading lines to the Lollipop Formation These three compositions were shot one after another, each with the 17mm tilt-shift lens to prevent vertical distortion. One features a classic shot with the whole lollipop with landscape orientation. That's the shot on top.  The second is the sandstone portrait orientation shot on the right.  This has great lead-in lines and a wonderful point...

Sunset Ignites Sandstone The golden hour it is often limited to a golden 10 minutes.  Such was the case as I took this photograph at White Pocket.  The sun was setting very fast, clouds were intermittently blocking the light but for 10 minutes, the light was entirely golden and incredibly beautiful.  During this time, I composed this photograph. Enjoy!

The Curve at White Pocket, Arizona Having spent a good amount of time and White Pocket, I still have a few interesting things to share and post.  This photo is from the Gateway section of White Pocket.  I call it "the curve".  The white-topped tower is approximately 70 feet tall.  Because of surrounding structures, this does not give direct light at sunrise or sunset.  However the midmorning is an excellent time to photograph this location.  The sunlight illuminates the red, orange, tan colors beautifully. I also discovered that laying on the sand dune behind the white-topped tower is an excellent place for shelter during a storm.

Lines of composition at White Pocket This will be a more technical entry featuring the sandstone wonderland of White Pocket.  I'm still sorting through and picking out the "keepers" from my photo trip there last month. Sharpness and vignetting are two key photographic characteristic related to aperture.  When setting an aperture, a very small opening such as f/16 tends to reduce vignetting and enhance the depth of field (how much will be sharp and "in focus" whether near or far from the camera).  This attitude of "I'm going to get the maximum depth of field" attitude works well for some and I've used it for years.  This is especially helpful in the corners of a photograph (where sharpness tends to deteriorate).  This problem is pretty exclusive to wide angle lenses. I changed wide angle lens from Canon's 17-40 f/4 L to the more pricey 16-35 f/2.8 L specifically to get more corner sharpness.  The 16-35 is sharper and I've not re...

 White Pocket, Arizona:  a natural pool in the desert  White Pocket: a jumble of sandstone like no other. White Pocket: a remote and small location in the middle of the Paria Plateau. White Pocket: the end of a journey across the desert on 30 miles of unpaved road, the last 5 miles being deep sand. White Pocket: a worldwide landscape photography location so much so that while I was there no less than 8 other groups came and went, one was a family of 6 from France.  None stayed as long as I did.  Most were there for 2 hours and then left.  That seems shameful as it takes numerous hours simply to reach this spot. Well, I planned a summer trip to the desert for photography.  Summer and desert usually don't equal a good time, but I had planned to hike the famous Buckskin Gulch.  This slot canyon would be cool and shaded.  Perfect for summer. Unless it rained. . . . A prolonged and more powerful summer monsoon season came through the so...

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 ...