Slickrock and Shadow

  Clouds Take Over Black and White photography is much more than subtracting color.  Contrast, sharpness and texture can all be pushed further in monochrome images.  Pushing those limits with color results in a fake-looking image.  Pushing those same things in black and white usually results in a superior eye-catching artistic creation.   As a good rule of thumb, if color does not add to the image or if color is distracting, then conversion to monochrome will make that image stronger.   Once you've made the jump to monochrome, increasing the contrast, emphasizing selective highlights and darkening those shadows makes your compositional statement scream for attention.  No color leaves the composition to stand on its' own.  No color prevents hair color or white balance issues from distracting.  No color make the viewer look and study longer and deeper than they otherwise would.   I'm just scratching the surface of something ...

Grasses are thick, making it hard to spot the water Great Salt Lake's Shoreline Preserve State Park is the perfect sunset stroll.  The distances are do-able, everything is flat and the views vary enough from place to place to keep everyone happy.  Fall and Spring are pleasant times, thought the mid-day winter might be OK too.  If you get the timing right, birds might be migrating through the area, though that was not my passion.  I enjoyed the sunset over the lowland marshes and really liked the two lookout towers.  They give new perspectives and serve as good photo subjects.  Bonus!  Make the journey.  You won't be disappointed.   Two towers at the Preserve Reflecting pond Curling Boardwalk

This summer at Lake Powell the monsoon storms coincided perfectly with a week in Navajo Canyon.  Some mild rains came at night but nothing terrible.  I'd checked out a drainage near our campsite our first day.  Then we had a HUGE afternoon storm.  Noisy, wet and amazing.  As soon as it slowed, I went with a few others to the drainage.  What I saw was incredible!  This was the real deal flash flood!  We stood beside the flow a few moments before seeing rising water erode the bank away.  We quickly departed.  30 seconds later that bank was gone!  

  Bonsai Tree of East Zion The slightly famous Bonsai Tree of Zion National Park stands atop a sandstone formation right off the road.  This is a "Oh-that's-so-cute!" location for those who know where to park their car.  Speaking of which, this is between the tunnel and East Entrance, about midway.  There's no sign or parking lot and the roadside pullouts are small.  Nevertheless, it's worth a stop.  If you drive slowly and look for it on the south side, you'll see it easily.  Pullover and walk back to explore some more.   The first picture is what it looks like from the road.  That bend tree trunk points up, then sideways and then down.  Framed against a blue sky, it leaps out.  This looks great from all directions.  Below is a photo taken from the lower front and then an old photo taken from the far side back in 2008.  You'll notice the  tree has grown slowly over 13 years between photos.   The twiste...

Dust Devil in Area 51 Exploring Nevada's AREA 51 can be fun.  Be prepared for some driving and open roads.  My 2 journeys through this gave me time to appreciate empty space, open land and imagine the possibility of alien life.  With the recent government accounts of UFOs going public, the fun of Area 51 just increased.  Are they real?  Are they alien?  Are they just something manmade that the observer cannot recognize?   While I do not have the answers to these questions, I did try to discover some by mailing my letter at the Black Box and also driving up to the Back Gate only to be turned away by guard towers, cameras and lots of intimidating fence.  Whatever is in Area 51 is not easy to discover and it's clear that the government doesn't want you to visit.  :(   The closest we came to seeing alien life or a UFO was driving just north of the Back Gate and seeing this dust devil.  Perhaps it was really a gust from a UFO t...

Leeds Waterfall  The locked gate forced me to walk up the dirt road to Oak Grove for my hiking exercise this day.  Walking allowed me to SEE things that would overwise whiz right past me in a car.  Walking allowed me to HEAR those things too. So I HEARD falling water, I looked off the roadside and I SAW this lovely gem of a waterfall.  It's certainly worth a skinny dip to cool off on a hot day.  It's also worthy of a landscape photograph too!  

  Mexican Fishermen hard at Work We hailed these industrious fishermen as we approached.  We wanted to avoid getting entangled in their nets but wanted to see if they had a fish to sell.  Alas, they were working too hard to stop and sell to us.  Some of these nets can be gigantic.  We watched for 15 minutes as they kept pulling it in non stop.  The man in the red hat would secure any fish that came over in the net.  We wished them an hearty "adios" and sailed on.