Slickrock and Shadow

Stone bench with a fabulous winter view! Another fun picture from my snow storm in Zion.  Above the lowest of the Emerald Pools I explored in the deep snow.  There were no footprints so I felt like everything was virgin land.  A rock slide and plenty of ice had closed a portion of the trail.  I went a little beyond the "closed" sign to see the view from a point across from the grotto.   Up at this higher viewpoint I found two benches covered deep in powder snow.  Careful to not put my footprints in the powder, I took several photos from a distance and slowly got closer and closer for additional photos.  This photo captures the bench and its' view. Another snowy bench view The trail through snow Trail Closed sign

Icicles hang at Emerald Pools during winter in Zion Two weeks ago a heavy snow was forecast for southern Utah.  I trekked over to Zion where several roads were closed but I could drive up to Emerald Pools parking lot.  A walk up the snow-covered trail led me to this magical spot.  Too cold for flowing water, the dripping springs had turned to icicles.  They hung 80 feet above my head and a few of these cold daggers broke off and fell onto the trail while I was there.  To spotlight these really cool (pun intended) features, I followed the trail all the way around until I got a view behind the ice looking back onto the grotto.  I wanted to show these clear cold wonders in detail and context.  Technical aspects of this shot:  this is a focus blended shot.  I took photos focused on three different icicles (far left, middle and right) to get these all sharp.  I took a photo focused on the canyon wall in the background.  These we...

Octopus Rock at Little Egypt The naming of rocks and locations is something in which I take part with my photos, social media, landscape forums and the public sphere.  As I see unique rocks, my imagination runs off with possible names or titles.  Such was my state as I walked around Little Egypt.  I came across the following large formation which sits near the Queen formation. Octopus Rock spreading its' tentacles Given its' size and central "head" with a spread of boulders in every direction, the shape of an octopus came to mind.   Near Octopus Rock is the Queen in the distance

The Queen in Little Egypt Geologic area Little Egypt landscape photography: Rain drizzled for 24 hours straight before my arrival at Little Egypt.  Clouds hung low.  I went here instead of searching for trickling waterfalls in Capitol Reef.  Laurent rates this place as less interesting than nearby Goblin Valley but the more colorful formations here appealed to me.  Many of the goblins here have a unique white stripe of rock running horizontal through them.  The most interesting formations were photographed from a distance using a telephoto lens.  With a focal length of 50-105mm, the plane of focus becomes small even with apertures of f/16.  Focus stacking is a technique to deal with this.  On site, I took 3 photographs of the foreground flowers, the midground bush, and the Queen rock formation.  These must have the same aperture and shutter speed.  They must align perfectly so a tripod is required.  They must be identical ex...

Jailhouse Rock stands hundreds of feet high on a stormy day. Lower South Desert Overlook in Capitol Reef is a gorgeous remote treasure.  As part of the Cathedral Valley loop drive, this should be on everybody's to-do list.   Park your car and walk 1/2 mile to the amazing views of Jailhouse Rock and the vast empty South Desert.   White rocks of all shapes and sizes surprised me here.  I thoroughly enjoyed walking around these white goblins and hoodoos looking for a photogenic angle.  I highly recommend this locale as a place to get in touch with the vastness of natural desert landscape.  Enjoy! Goblins of South Desert Overlook Jailhouse Rock and White Badlands Temple Rock:  300mm lens captures this distant pinnacle

Cathedral Valley Spires catch morning light for an instant! Photographers coined the phrase "chasing the light."  "Catching the light," is another variation of this idea.  The flip side of this is "when the light's not right, shoot black and white."  There was no light to "chase" during a recent trip to Capitol Reef.  I was 60 miles of dirt road to the nearest pavement but that would not make a difference as rainclouds blanketed the entire southwest region thanks to a hurricane near Baja California.  I hoped for a few rays of light at sunrise.  Some times sunlight will appear under the clouds at sunrise or sunset and then hide behind the clouds the rest of the day.  Sunrise did not shine through at all.  Heavy clouds blocked the eastern skies even though I could see some blue sky above.  I went to work, shooting compositions that I found with plants and rocks as foreground subjects.  A balanced rock directly east of the Temple o...

The big pool in the middle of a hike in Death Hollow is just one of the many highlights.   Death Hollow is an equally challenging and rewarding backcountry experience.  I could say photographing Death Hollow is also challenging and rewarding.  Challenges include: 1.  The long miles of hiking 2.  The multi-day nature of this undertaking 3.  Coping with the ever-present water (dry bag for camera) 4.  Backcountry survival skills 5.  Trail finding on the first crucial day But the beauty is there, mostly undiscovered and waiting for a man or woman with camera to come and record the wonders of this land and creek.  Because of the incredible things about hiking through Death Hollow, I dedicated a detailed post for each day in my previous posts.  Please see them for details.   Death Hollow Day 1 Death Hollow Day 2 Death Hollow Day 3 I would do it again.  My wife says she's glad to have done it but...