Grand Canyon Sunrise

Grand Canyon Sunrise

Woke up very early this morning so figured I might as well drag my sorry bones out of the warm bag and go see what a Grand Canyon sunrise looks like. Took the camera of course. It was very cold at the visitor's center and I froze waiting for the sun to peek over the horizon. Brain wasn't working all that well so I didn't get a full 2 row panorama like I usually do. The bottom was truncated and I was basically limited to the top row. Nice colors but the canyon came out a bit dark. Because of generator restrictions and my dead Wacom tablet I'm not really able to effectively use Photoshop to correct such problems. But I've been told the truck cap is ready end of next week and I've already ordered a replacement tablet and the wireless kit so connectors won't break anymore. Let's keep our fingers crossed this one lasts a bit longer than a few weeks.

Grand Canyon Sunrise - 16mm (1.6 crop), f/11, various exposures, ISO 100
license CC BY-NC 4.0

Usual treatment so I'll just let you admire the view.

Grand Canyon

Generator Hours...

There's no electricity in national park campgrounds. Private places usually offer the option for power but it must be a 'thing' with the park service to make camping as natural and primitive as possible. So, when in these situations, I fire up my little Honda generator and process the day's images without external help. However, the park service, again for unknown reasons, has this really irritating generator runtime policy. 2 hours in the morning (usually around sunrise) and 2 hours in the evening (usually around sunset). So, you can only run your generator during those hours when you should, if you're a serious photographer, be out shooting. Not sure of the logic but I'm convinced, somewhere in the deep bowels of the bureaucracy, there's a little guy slaving away at these types of problems and arriving at solutions that satisfy everyone ... right?

Grand Canyon ... round one

I spent much of yesterday scouting the 'red route', a bus trip that runs from Grand Canyon City to a place called "Hermit's Rest' about 25 miles to the east. In the old days this was a vacation resort for people who wanted to get away from it all. They took a special train from ... Phoenix? ... and then a long buggy ride to this location. The lodge still stands but is now a souvenir stand and snack bar. Anyway, along this road there are numerous stops where one can view the canyon. Unfortunately, the park service is always worried about people getting too close to the edge so they have erected barriers to keep us out of harm's way. However, us resourceful photogs know how to get around this and I did. Found a lovely little spot with a large granite  protrusion where I could set up my equipment and get really good views of the canyon and sunset. Once I'd decided on the place, I just had to make the time. Left my campsite (went back to rest and get my equipment) around 5:30 and arrived an hour later. There were some kids taking selfies on 'my spot' but they soon disappeared and, for a few moments, I had the place all to myself. But good places attract good photographers and soon Adam Schallau (www.adamschallau.com) and a few students arrived to join me for a wonderful evening of shooting and talking photography. Adam specializes in landscapes and is often seen in the pages of Arizona magazine and others. He was teaching a fellow from India the finer points of shooting the canyon. I learned a lot just listening to the banter as they worked the scene.

I complained a while back about Zion and it's horrible orientation ... well Grand Canyon runs east to west and is perfect for sunrise and sunset images. As the sun goes down the shadows create the most interesting shapes on the mounts and valleys of the canyon. The colors are beyond spectacular. During the day the canyon is OK but grand colors aren't really it's specialty when the sun is most intense. But during the golden hours it puts on it's finest party dress and dances a riot of earth tones and sky blues. But why should I explain this when an image speaks so much better...

Grand Canyon from Powell Monument - 16mm (1.6 crop), f/11,various exposures, ISO 100
license CC BY-NC 4.0

You're pretty familiar with the drill by now. Bracketed exposure of 3 images, 2 ev apart. Tried a wider aperture this time (f/11) to speed up the process a bit and bring down diffraction. Then Photomatix for minimal adjustment, mostly blacks and whites plus some strength and then into Photoshop to create the cylindrical panorama. Like a previous pano, Photoshop screwed up the crop so I took the image as a TIF into Lightroom to crop and apply finishing touches. Not bad don't you think?

Now, before I leave, notice one thing ... to the left you have the majestic sunset while, to the right you have the earth's shadow cast above the horizon. When this works out right you get intense blues just at the horizon with pinks and reds above. Did I do it right?

Vermillion Cliffs National Monument

Damn, that was close...

Wanted to visit Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. Several people have told me what a special place it is. So, yesterday I drove my truck down Rt 89 to the dirt road that provides access to the trails and features of this area. Explored the road from north to south and then back again before the sun started disappearing below the western hills. Arrived late in the afternoon and didn't have time to register with the BLM for a camping permit so I just stopped at the northern entrance and parked my truck, intent on sleeping there until sunrise. It was a miserable night with wind and some rain but we got thorough OK. Around 6 I woke up and dressed for a cold day as there were overcast skies and lots of dark clouds. Can't say I was thinking about rain all that much as the West is in a drought. Found Wire Pass parking spot (this is also the entry portal for 'the wave' but you need a special access permit for that). Loaded up all my camera gear (a big mistake) and started hiking down the dry riverbed toward where the slot canyons were supposed to be. Walked for what seemed hours, with a very heavy camera bag and tripod bag weighing me down with each step but never got to the canyons. Knew something was not right but didn't have my brain working well enough to figure out what it was. Discouraged, I walked back to my truck and decided to wait an hour plus I dumped all the unneeded camera gear but my body, the wide angle lens and the tripod sans carrying case. At 10 I started walking again and, this time, the going was much easier. Roughly 1/4 mile past where I gave up there it was ... the first of a long string of slot canyons. Some were narrow while others were wide and very deep but each was a structural masterpiece. The camera was overloaded with images. Not that the going was all roses ... several places were blocked with debris which is not cleared (this area has been given the wilderness designation meaning almost zero interference with natural processes in the canyons) but those were minor compared to the drama unfolding before my camera. Tired but happy I reluctantly turned and headed back to my truck.

I'd had a hard night so decided to catch a bit of sleep before starting back to the main highway. The sky was cloudy but not in a really threatening way so I was surprised to awaken to the sound of hard rain hitting the truck's metal roof. I looked around and could see people frantically working to stow gear and get out of the lot. The dirt road, under these conditions, would quickly become a quagmire. With some trepidation, I started driving north and it soon became apparent the drive would not go well. About 4 miles from the main road my truck, a rear wheel drive pickup, started swerving violently and soon I was half on/half off the road. As most people had already left the park, I worried I'd be staying in this position for at least the night if not longer. However, fate smiled and a BLM ranger plus a big 4x4 came tooling up the hill and rescued me. The Jeep easily pulled my truck off the edge and towed me all the way to the main highway. The driver was such a good guy he refused any renumeration for his wonderful deed. And, the folks from BLM were more than helpful getting me back on my way.

Rain has been a scarce commodity in the West for some time so it was a big surprise when a huge storm swept thru the area and dumped a ton of water. The road into Vermillion Cliffs was just graded a few days ago and is now badly rutted and in terrible condition again. The folks from BLM tell me it will be 3 months or more before another grading is offered so anyone going in or out of the monument is in for some rough driving. We all had a good laugh about the coincidence with the repairs and the bad weather but it's unfortunate this happened. But it's also a warning to me ... don't take these dirt roads lightly. I'd planned to take another dirt road to the Grand Canyon's north rim but it too received lots of rain so that's off for now. I'll have to wait for May 15 when the paved road is opened. I can wait as I have no desire to spend many days stuck in thick, sticky mud and perhaps even hurt myself. No picture is worth that much risk.

Vermillion Cliff Slot Canyon

Most of us are familiar with Antelope Canyon, the iconic slot canyon just south of Page, AZ. My AAA atlas' cover photo was taken there. The most expensive photo every sold (don't get me started on that again} was also taken there. It's a beautiful place and well worth visiting if you have the chance. Vermillion Cliffs also has slot canyons ... miles and miles of slot canyons ... but they receive very few visitors. Why, you ask? First, it's Vermillion Cliffs, a monument administered by the BLM, not the Park Service. It has zero amenities and only the bare essentials for it's clients. No flush toilets (just crude chemical tanks that you look into as you sit and do your duty), no electricity, no running water (or water of any kind), no internet, no cell phone ... no anything so It only attracts the most hardy or foolish of us. The road in is not for the faint of heart. And the slot canyons are not well maintained and are in a very natural and chaotic state. Second, there are no guides so you have to figure out everything for yourself. There aren't any signs telling you which way to go. There's no one to even warn you if a flash flood is coming. It's all very primitive and you're definitely on your own. But, and this is the big positive but, there's no $100 fee, no guide telling you to hurry along so the next group can enter and no herd of people randomly snapping away while you try to capture a picture worth remembering. Oh ... and the canyon walls are basically only 2 colors ... vermillion (thus the name) and black. Antelope canyon is a bit more colorful. You decide which is a better bargain...

Vermillion Cliffs - 1mm (1.6 crop), f/18, various exposures, ISO 100, license CC BY-NC 4.0

The dynamic range in the slots was all over the place. Near the bottom you could barely see while the open top was ablaze with light. I did bracketed exposures (5 with 1 ev between them) to get all the shades and that probably wasn't enough. I then put these images through Photomatix and, as usual, I tried not to get too carried away with my sliders. Just blacks and whites and strength in the tone mapping. Then back to Lightroom for some final tweaking of clarity and vibrance. Now, I've got maybe 28 sets of pictures so there's a lot more to process. I quickly scanned the lot and picked a representative but interesting image to process. I'll do more as time permits and, if they're worth it, I'll post them here later.

Water Play

Damn it's cold...

I'd grown lazy down in Zion Canyon. Thousands of feet below the plateau, nights were moderate and comfortable for sleep. Last night wasn't nearly so pleasant. No wind (probably made things a bit worse) but it was so cold. Slept fitfully and awoke around 5 to find the truck covered in frost. It's almost MAY ... hasn't the weather god been watching the calendar? Well, I think I'm heading south anyway, so it probably doesn't matter. Think the next stop is Vermillion Hills National Monument. Won't get to the 'Wave' as I haven't made any reservation and it is the weekend but maybe I can find some beautiful formations to photograph for my growing collection.

Update on the Bryce Canyon Snowfall Photo

The response to that photo (see it on my April 17th blog post) has been so universally positive that I'm now planning to offer the print for sale. Not sure yet of any specifics but hoping to provide smaller sizes from my commercial site (in the works but not ready yet) and a full sized print (roughly 45 x 27) in a framed and matted limited edition sighed by me ... probably through a gallery. It's going to take a while to get all that prepared so watch this space for updates. I really want everyone to enjoy that special image as it is very unique.

The facts and only the facts (I think)...

The big car chase is long over and some facts are emerging. Don't know the guy's name but, according to people here at the campground, he was a wanted fugitive and the cops had been surveilling his hideout for some time. He stole a car, the afore mentioned Hyundai, and made a break for it. Unfortunately, he chose Zion National Park as his getaway route. Not wise as the road forces one to drive very slowly with many switchbacks and a mile long, narrow tunnel to traverse. A park ranger told me he hit the south entrance at 50 mph (in a 15 mph zone) and then he really let fly. Virgin, UT was the last town he blew through, at 100 mph, and just outside of town he ran over some puncture strips. All 4 tires came apart. Understand the little, black Hyundai is now a twisted piece of modern art. He was apprehended and the story ends.

Water Play

I was hiking along the Virgin River, looking for interesting features to photograph. I've already alluded to my interest in long exposures so I was concentrating on the water cascading over all the rocks. Saw an interesting little waterfall and wandered across the sand to investigate. I took pictures there but as I sat on the rocks I noticed this little pile of boulders and the water merrily dancing over and around them. I must have watched this wonderful play for 5 minutes or more and decided to take some photos. Got really close using my 70-200mm and went to work. Once again I was interested in the idea of getting that wonderful misty look when exposures are really long (over a minute) combined with a blending of a fast image (1/2000 of a second) to get something unique. Below I've shown both of the base images along with the final result.

Double click to get larger versions. The stop motion image was rather dark so I lightened it first. Both images went into Photoshop layers with the misty image on top. I dropped it's opacity down to around 50% but I didn't like how muted the rocks were or how washed out the water looked. To correct this I put an adjustment layer between the two images and make it an overlay. Using a dark brush I worked around the rocks and the muddy areas of the water until I got the effect I wanted. Finished the composition in Lightroom with some clarity and vibrance enhancement plus a bit more blacks. Also warmed the image up a bit by increasing the apparent color temperature. It's a fun image and a learning experience which is good enough for me. Not every image can be earth shattering ... don't you think? Problem is I like all three images ... 

Water Play - 78mm (1.6 crop), f/18, various exposures, ISO 100 - license CC BY-NC 4.0

The Watchman

RIP

It is with a sad heart that I announce the apparent death of my Wacom Bamboo tablet. It refused to power up yesterday and all attempts at resuscitation have proven unsuccessful. I think it's the microUSB connection that has failed as 2 different cords made no impact on it's lack of response. I'll miss this little wonder as it's very essential to some of my work but I've no simple way to fix it out here. I'll wait until I get back to Albuquerque and see if I can find someone to look at it. Maybe I'll hardwire the connection as I've always disliked these quick connect fittings which are susceptible to failing, especially when you're in a harsh environment.

A Welcome Visitor

After a long day walking the Virgin River and making a vain but ultimately worthless attempt to climb the Watchman Trail (I have pretty severe asthma and climbing is more than a bit draining), I went back to my campsite to gather strength for the evening's photo shoot. Over the years I've gotten in the habit of taking a short afternoon nap as a way of rejuvenating my tired, battered body. I was sitting in my camp chair, in the shade, enjoying the breeze and dreaming about ... I don't know ... something pleasant I'm sure. In my dream I felt touching on my leg and, being a normal human, jolted awake to find ... a small squirrel , in pursuit of a few stray crumbs from my energy bar, had crawled on my lap to partake of the mini-feast . He looked at me ... I looked at him ... I mentally screamed WTF ... he mentally screamed WTF  ... and, like a rocket, he was gone. Closest I've ever been to a squirrel and, despite the startling way it ended, an interesting and enjoyable experience for both of us (I hope).

What's All The Fuss About?

So, after my rest, I took the Zion shuttle back to the Canyon Junction bridge for another attempt at getting it right. Last night's effort had been, on the whole, a bust because nary a single cloud graced the entire hour long attempt at getting an iconic shot of the most photographed point in the park. The images were interesting but really lacking something. Today offered the opportunity of something more as a small storm had blown through earlier and many nice clouds lingered. Around 6:30, about an hour before sunset, I found my way to the bridge and set up my gear. Soon a small crowd of people had gathered to witness the setting sun's last rays on the Watchman, the iconic tower that graces the southern entrance to the park. It promised to be an interesting evening.

Suddenly, from both ends of the highway, we heard sirens. Almost simultaneously, park ranger's cars appeared and approached the bridge. One ranger screeches to a halt on the bridge and vaults from the car. I'm wondering ... has my past finally caught up with me (just kidding ... I think)? She starts yelling ... 'Clear the bridge, we have an emergency, you must vacate the bridge immediately'. So we grab our gear and run to the nearby parking area. I'm thinking ... medical emergency ... end of the world ... WTF? Then we here more sirens ... and see a helicopter in the upper canyon ... and more sirens ... and pretty soon a black Hyundai comes screaming down the road and make the turn toward the south entrance followed shortly by, basically, every cop from Kane County, each in their huge 4x4 truck, sirens blaring. It's a hot pursuit, a mini parade of noise and dust. Then, it's all over. We all look at each other but no one moves. Finally, I decided I wasn't going to miss this sunset because of a car chase and walked back to the bridge while everyone else hesitated. Eventually the diehards came back and we finished the evening while excitedly discussing what had just happened. As I write this the next morning, I still have no idea what happened. When I find out I'll let you know.

The Watchman

It's iconic to Zion. A huge tower of rock, beautifully colored, standing at the southern entrance to to the canyon. It's one of the few towers that get's evening sun as the canyon runs north to south and is narrow enough that the walls are in shade long before the sun actually sets. Every night people congregate on the Canyon Junction bridge to photograph the tower and the Virgin River that meanders at it's base. I spent over 2 hours there, taking a lot of bracketed photos. The photo below is my last sequence, taken around 8:30. I had to catch the last shuttle south as I wanted no part of the 3 mile walk back to my campsite. Not sure if it's the best of the sequences but it's definitely the last for today. As I only have 2 hours to use my generator, I have to make choices. When I have more time I'll process all the brackets and see if there are any better images. So, for now, this is the Watchman...

The Watchman - 24mm (1.6 crop), f/18, various exposures, ISO 100, license CC BY-NC 4.0

I ran the 3 images through Photomatix to get the HDR but did very little adjustment. Move the black and white sliders just a bit and pushed the strength up to about 85%. That's it. Then back into Lightroom for some minor tweaking, mostly the clarity and vibrance sliders. In this case, I think the image speaks for itself. It may need some minor cropping but that comes later as it's almost time to shut down the generator. Enjoy and let me know what you think.  Personally I think it's a bit too blue and needs to warm up a bit but that's just me. I'm anxious to hear your comments.

The Misty Pool

The Big Guy Made A Mistake...

Zion is a marvelous place. The colors overwhelm and there is just so much to see and photograph. But there is a problem. We are told to seek the light during the 'golden hour' around sunrise and sunset. That's when the light is best ... at it's warmest. Shooting at midday creates harsh images that impress no one. So, I go out to shoot in the evening and what do I get? Shadows everywhere and nothing approaching what the masters tell us is the holly grail of light. Why, you ask? Because Zion Canyon runs North to South, with towering cliffs and majestic peaks on both sides. So, for example, if you're shooting around the Temple of Sinawava in the canyon's far north, the bottom of the canyon goes into shadow around 4 in the afternoon. Now, shadow is OK but it's not the glowing warmth we all seek. Shadow obscure detail and give the image a cool, blue cast. If that's what you want then that's great but not when you're trying to capture the amazing earth tones of the massive cliffs that grace both sides of the canyon. So, I've a small request for the great creator ... could you shift the canyon toward the east-west axis? Just a bit ... maybe 20-30 degrees so the sun washes those majestic walls with some of that 'golden hour' blow? That's not too much to ask ... is it?

The Cool Pool

If you take the Zion park shuttle to the last stop ... the Temple of Sinawava ... and follow the river trail to it's end (where groups enter the river to see the Narrows), there's a place where two massive boulders have joined to create a neat little waterfall. What's really cool about this place is how the water, filled with air bubbles, actually pushes under the surface and then surges upward, creating this iridescent pool filled with bubbling water. When light hits the pool, the bubbles reflect it upward and you get this really interesting glow. The effect is enchanting.

One of the areas I'm really interested in is taking pictures through very dark ND filters ... at least 10 stops. I've got a Lee Big Stopper which is rated at 10 stops and I've been itching to try it out. When I saw this pool, I just knew it was perfect for some experimentation. So, I set the camera as close to the pool as I could and set up the exposure. I wanted a really long shot, at least a minute, to get that etherial 'mist' appearance, where all the structure of the water disappears and all that's left is a 'fog' hovering over the surface. I set the camera at f/8 and that gave me 100 seconds. Perfect!

Now, I had a slightly different image in mind when I took this shot. I love the mist but thought it would be really interesting if I brought back some of the swirling, bubbly exuberance that was the real image. To accomplish that, I took several normal exposures of the pool and then use Photoshop to combine them into a final composition. The result is shown below.

The Misty Pool - 35mm (1.6 crop), f/18, various times, ISO 100
license CC BY-NC 4.0

I had several shots through the ND filter and wanted to combine them in Photomatix so I could get a bit of the HDR look. In particular, I wanted to pull out more intensity from the surrounding rocks and to emphasize the 'glow' in the pool. Then, I took the HDR result into Photoshop and used the brush tool to selectively bring out the bubbles and swirls. I thing the effect look interesting, don't you?

Bryce Canyon - day 4

Sigh ... Colder than ... Oh Hell ... Damn Cold

My last evening in Bryce (finally) it got even worse. The wind wasn't quite as bad but it was impossibly cold and then, to add insult, it started to snow quite heavily. As is my habit, I went to the hoodoos and show another pano (not showing this one as I don't want to overwhelm you with Bryce hoodoo pictures). By the time I got back to my campsite, the road was icy and, for my little pickup, impassable. I tried but the little truck just jumped up and down on the slippery slope but made no progress toward my tent. I was forced to park at the hill's bottom and walk in. Normally this wouldn't be a big issue but I have asthma and the exertion drained me. I found my tent covered in wet snow but still standing (what a great tent ... Marmot I genuflect in your honor). I was too cold and too exhausted to do more than take off my outer coat and put on a warm pair of sweatpants before crawling into my sleeping bag. Unfortunately, it would appear the bag was damp inside meaning I didn't get warm all night and barely slept.

Morning was, superficially, glorious as the ground was covered in snow. I crawled (literally) from my tent and slowly started the uncomfortable process of moving my tent and belongings down the hill. It took 4 trips, each one taking just a little more of my diminished reserve of energy, to get everything into the truck and, call me crazy, one more trip to the hoodoos. I couldn't pass up this opportunity ... the amphitheater covered in snow and the sky ... it was grand. I met a pro photographer, Kevin Burk from LA, on the rim and we had a wonderful conversation about the art of taking landscape pictures. It was a great morning ...

Bryce Canyon Snowfall

This is probably the best of the panos I made in Bryce. It was damn cold and my fingers were frozen but how could I refuse. As Kevin and I talked I set up the camera and waited for the perfect light. It didn't take long and the image below is the result. I can't get enough of this photo. The dynamics just blow my sox off. I may be hard pressed to take any picture better than this during the rest of my cycle. WOW.

Bryce Canyon Snowfall - 16mm (1.6 crop), f/18, varying exposure, ISO 100, license CC BY-NC 4.0

You're familiar with the process by now but there was one rub. For some weird reason, Photoshop refused to crop the panorama. I'll place the crop box where I wanted it and hit return and the picture disappeared ... into the ether I guess. Nothing there. If I used undo there was just a black screen where my beautiful image had been. What do do? Imported the Photoshop file into Lightroom and cropped it there then took it back to Photoshop to finish off. Weird but you got to do what you got to do. Then back into Lightroom for some finishing touches and the result ... takes my breath away. Click on the photo for a larger version ... it's worth the effort I assure you.

Bryce Canyon - day 2

Colder than a Witch's ... redux

Did I say it was cold in Bryce? Oh man, it's been a while since I've suffered so much cold. I live in Crimea and it can be brutal but this was much worse. Awoke to some snow on my truck and a wind that just wouldn't quit. Spent the day trying to stay warm and dreading the trip to the hoodoos again. But, being a crazy photographer, I knew I had to make the trip so around 5 pm took the drive. I wanted a unique perspective so I went to Bryce Point which lies further to the south in the park. You get a completely different view of the valley from there. Along the west wall you see these interesting caverns carved from the vertical face. And then there are the hoodoos... gorgeous as always and a sweeping panorama for sure. But there was a problem ... the wind. I'd have to guess it was blowing close to 75 mph and gusting higher. And cold ... you've no idea. My first inclination was to come back another day and I headed up the path to my car. But the sky way unbelievable and I knew, just knew, that it would never be like this again. So I warmed myself in the truck for a while and headed back ... but first grabbed a piece of rope because I knew I'd need it. The wind hadn't abated at all when I arrived at the very open observation point so I set about tying the tripod to the handrail. It was almost impossible as my fingers froze the instance I took off my gloves. Finally, after far longer than it normally should have taken, the tripod was stable and I was able to quickly snapped off the HDR sequences. I couldn't feel my hands and my face was frozen by the time I finally got the rope free and ran to my truck. What we do for the image ...

Bryce Canyon from Bryce Point

I'm not going to reiterate how this image evolved (check yesterday's post for the gruesome details). HDR pano and the same tools as before. Each image is unique, of course, but I wanted some consistency across all of them so I used the same Photomatix settings as yesterday's the image. There was less tweaking this time but the result is, if possible, even more striking. The colors are spectacular and, unfortunately, probably would not have emerged had it not been for that damned wind and cold. So, I hope you enjoy this image because if you don't ...

Bryce Canyon from Bryce Point - 16mm (1.6 crop), f/18, varying exposure, ISO 100, license CC BY-NC 4.0

Click on the image to get a bigger view.

Bryce Canyon - day 1

Colder than a Witch's ...

Arrived in Bryce Canyon to find a beautiful day. It was cool, as was expected being at 8000 feet, but the sun filled the valley with gorgeous light. After setting up camp, I drove to the inspiration overlook to get my first glimpse of the amphitheater and the famous 'hoodoos'. In the afternoon the sun is behind you and shadow moves across the hoodoos, creating amazing contrasts. I set my camera up for a sweeping pano (the only way to really get this canyon in my opinion) and waited for the proper moment. As I waited, I noticed a dark cloud slowly sweeping in from the west ... a harbinger of things to come? I figured there'd be some interesting light around this cloud so I patiently waited and watched. As I stood there, the air grew progressively colder and the wind started to blow rather hard. I'd read that the forecast for all the mountains was for high winds but no where did they say anything about bad weather. I figured it was just a passing cloud and went about my business. Little did I know...

Bryce Canyon from Inspiration Point

Bryce Canyon is an amazing place. Over millions of years wind, ice and water have carved the most unusual structures. Like a massive pipe organ, hundreds of hoodoos (interesting name) in every direction thrust skyward. No single snap of the shutter can capture the majesty of this place. So, camera gear in hand I slowly worked my way to the highest observation point and prepared to execute an HDR pano ... roughly 180 degrees. Now, it's important to be patient, especially when there are clouds in the area. Light plays across the amphitheater and the image changes from one second to the next. If you're lucky, you'll get just that moment when some key element of the frame is illuminated by the most gorgeous light. Then you scramble to get all your images (in this case, 54 separate shots).

Bryce Canyon from Inspiration - 16mm (1.6 crop), f/18, various shutter, ISO 100, license CC BY-NC 4.0

Click on image to get a bigger view. As with my Horseshoe Bend image, I worked with Photomatix and Photoshop (with a little help from Lightroom) to get this image. The proces is pretty straight forward ... take the raw images (I use .dng which all these tools understand) into Photomatix to create just the image you want, then batch process to get all the groupings on the same page. Bring the resulting images (I use Adobe Bridge since they are not officially in Lightroom yet) into Photoshop to create the panorama. I always use the cylindrical option and check all the extra choices as this helps Photoshop find the correct solution when the images are difficult. It doesn't take all that long (10 minutes usually) to get the final reslt and then it's a matter of finding the best crop from the strange outline you get. Sometimes there are compromises and you often lose parts of the image you'd rather keep. That life, unfortunately. The starting image was compelling but the central formation and the sun-tipped hoodoos all were a bit too orange. I used luminescence masks to select both the darkest and lightest parts of the image and then selectively painted to soften the garish oranges and to bring out some of the darker features (especially the distant landscape). The result is, in my humble opinion, striking. It captures the majesty of this special place and shows just how awesome my Canon 16-35, f/4 lens is at resolving detail. Enjoy...

Horseshoe Bend

The Selfie Craze

Stood on the edge of Horseshoe Bend in Page, AZ and peered down into the abyss. It was a long way down and sudden death if one stepped too close. I'm told no one has fallen yet (hard to believe) but that day inevitable due to a new craze that's sweeping the world ... the selfie stick. For those of you who've been living in a cave for the last couple of years, a selfie stick allows you to mount your camera (usually a cell phone but now even large tablets) on a long stick and to take a picture of yourself without assistance. Just hold the pole in one hand and smile. Nice idea for the terminally self-absorbed but potentially fatal in a place like Horseshoe Bend. I was talking to Kevin Burk, a pro photographer from LA, a few days ago and he pointed this out to me. He'd watched several Chinese tourists, with their selfie sticks fully extended, edging ever closer to the canyon edge in pursuit of the perfect picture ... their ugly mugs dead center in the Colorado River. I saw the same thing when I was there but didn't make the connection. They were so intent on getting that picture that they didn't even know where the edge was. Just looking at the cell phone and getting ever closer to the edge ... and the first fatality at Horseshoe Bend ... ?

Horseshoe Bend

I wandered up and down the path leading to the bend several times, lugging all my gear. Didn't exactly know what to expect but, when I finally arrived, the panorama is breathtaking. You stand on the edge, without protection, and look into this deep river valley. Wondered how many people had fallen. I took a few test photos and went back to my truck to prepare. I wanted to be on the edge as the sun set. Unfortunately, there were few clouds in the sky so the best I could hope for was sky glow. Even that would give me an interesting image for sure. Spent a while getting my generator running (I'd left Albuquerque with it still unchecked) and setting up my nodal slide. There's a unique rotation point for your lens (and for each zoom setting) where parallax just cancels out. If you're interested, check out the many videos that show how to find the nodal point for your lens on YouTube.

Anyway, the time finally came and I once again trudged up and down the hill until I stood at the edge. As is often the case, all the tourists had fled and only the diehard remained. I found a great place for my setup and waited. I'd decided to do an HDR panograph as this is really the only way to capture both the grandeur and amazing depth of color that emerges as the sun rises.

The Bend at Sunset - 16mm (1.6 crop), f/18, varying exposure, ISO 100 license CC BY-NC 4.0

Click on the image to get a larger view. Processing was a challenge. I'd let the camera decide on exposure levels because the light varied so much from one angle to the next. I took two rows of images, one down in the canyon and another capturing the sky. I took a representative set of images into Photomatix and made my adjustments until I had a reasonable result. One has to be careful not to overdo the sliders as you can get a very freaky result. Then I batch processed all the images using the settings from my test run. I've been testing both Photoshop and Hugin (an open source pano stitcher) and have, for the most part, settled on Photoshop. Hugin does weird things with your images and I'm just not comfortable relying on it yet. Photoshop does a great job with pano stitching. I use the cylindrical setting and check all the boxes (vignette and distortion correction) and then sit back to see what it does. Now, the problem comes when the dynamic range of the images gets too extreme. Photoshop adjusts exposure levels on the images until you get seamless integration. In the case of this image, the far reaches of the canyon were in deep shadow and basically disappeared in the initial run. I tried several approaches to fix the problem but nothing worked. Simply lightening the recesses produced a very flat, lifeless image that I found unsatisfying. I put the image aside for a few days and let my subconscious think ponder on the problem. I've found over the years that it is much smarter than the rest of my brain. Finally, after a few days, the solution appeared. I took the brightest images from the brackets and made another pano from them ... with the exact same settings. What emerged was a very bright image with the shadows now visible and useable. I carefully overlay this on the main pano (on a separate layer) and then created a luminosity mask that selected shadows so I only worked in the the darker parts and had automatic feathering on the edges. With a feathered brush I worked the shadows, letting the brightest layer come through. I made several other minor adjustments including enhancing the greens along the river and the result is shown above. It's dark and ominous but that's the effect I wanted. I've seen so many images of this landscape where the photographer has worked to bring out the bright colors and it looks fake (but does wonders on the tourist brochures). That's not what you see at sunset. You see a bright sky and the canyon in shadow. So, what you see in this image is what it looks like as you stare into the canyon (at least to my eye).

Shiprock, New Mexico

3 Days on the Road and...

I'm sitting in a campground near Page, AZ. The sun is low in the sky and a cool breeze ruffles the flaps on my tent. It's an unusual sight, my little production studio. I've got a complete editing setup in my large 4-person tent and for the last several hours I've been working diligently to edit a few of the photos I've taken over the last two days. Yesterday alone I took almost 200 images including several panos and a ton of HDR image sets. So far I've managed to merge a 33 image HDR pano of Horseshoe Bend near Page at sunset and an HDR of Ship Rock, an ancient volcanic vent that rises high about the surrounding pastures in the 4-corners of New Mexico. There's a lot more to do and I'll get to as much as I can as the sun goes down and I can see the monitor better. I've decided to color correct everything using 5600 Kelvin artificial light so the colors are as true as I can make them.

I made Shiprock, NM, on Friday night and, after a bologna sandwich (with processed American cheese no less) and a dill pickle, I drove across a cattle grate and parked my pickup just up the road so it wasn't visible from the road. It was dark and very desolate but necessary if I wanted to be near the rock as the sun came up. Froze my ass off for the most part and slept fitfully. Awoke around 4 to see the vague outlines of a dozen large cows grazing contently on the scrub brush a few feet from my truck. At 5:45 my tablet's alarm went off and I got up to prepare. It was very cold, near freezing, and I wasn't really dressed for the bitter wind. Found a hoodie behind my seat which helped some and put on my hiking boots. Day one of the adventure was about to begin.

Ship Rock

This is a unique place. Millions of years ago the entire 4-corners area was a cauldron of volcanic and tectonic activity. Much of the landscape we see and admire today developed during this period. Ship Rock is just one of many unique geological wonders from that era. What's unique about this spire is a series of large, decaying, hardened lava 'cracks' radiating from the central vent. As the magma surged toward the surface it forced the ground violently upward, opening three large cracks which subsequently filled with hot magma and then cooled in place. Over the years the surrounding soft sandstone eroded away, exposing these huge slabs of harder rock. Imagine a major interstate turned on it's side and you'd be close to what they look like. Black, old and slowly falling apart.

Ship Rock is sacred to the Navajo and they aren't really pleased when others disturb the area. They're OK with photographers as long as they're not too obvious but lately climbers have appeared on the spire and that's not tolerated. So I had to be discrete, meaning no tent and no lights. It was a long, cold night out there waiting for the sun to rise.

As I waited for the sunrise I watched the horizon for the first glimmers of light. There were clouds to the east and they promised to deliver a very beautiful event. Around 6 am the sky began to lighten and it was gorgeous. I caught it all, but you'll have to wait another day for those images (panos included). I think it's worth the wait.

I drove my truck very slowly over the rutted dirt road, growing ever closer to the spire. I was alone except for a few cows that grazed contently nearby, oblivious to my presence. I had to hurry as the sun was quickly approaching the horizon and I knew the beautiful reds of early sunrise would only last a few minutes. Finally I had to stop, rushing to get my camera and tripod setup. I didn't have to wait very long for the spectacle to begin and it was over almost before it started. 5 minutes tops. But what an amazing 5 minutes with the monument turning a warm, inviting red as it reached out to embrace the new day. I snapped away, one picture every 30 seconds. As the reds intensified I switched to bracketed exposure, working to get as much of the color as possible. And then, even quicker than it came, it was over. But the images were there to assure me that it was a beautiful as I'd anticipated.

Ship Rock, NM at sunrise - 16 mm (1.6 crop), f/16, 1/4 sec, ISO 100 License CC BY-NC 4.0

From my new Canon 16-35 f/4 (the very first image with this lens). Amazing piece of glass. Much sharper than my Sigma 17-70. And the colors are spectacular, don't you think? This is a 3 image HDR, washed through Photomatix and Lightroom and nothing else. I see it spills over the blogs right edge just a bit but I'm not going to cut it down anymore as that would be a sin. This is a low res JPEG and it still knocks my socks off ... you should see the full-sized version. WOW.

On the Rio Grand

The Trip Is On...

Tomorrow is the big day. I finally got my generator (something about companies that sell generators makes them do very strange things) and that's the last piece of the puzzle. The truck's tank is full and the hotel grows impatient for me to vacate the room (which I've kept them from cleaning since I showed up on March 30th). I've got a few things to pick up in the morning and should hit the road around 1 pm. Want to be up in the 4-corners area of New Mexico well before sunset so I can, hopefully, get into position to catch the sun going down. Need to stop by the local Apache police station in Shiprock to get approval to enter the area. I've heard rumors it's frowned upon for non-indian types to be in the area after dark but will get clarification from the local constabulary. Hopefully it's not a big deal but who knows...

Rio Grand River...

After 10 days of running around like a headless chicken I wanted to take a few hours and visit something photogenic before I start wandering. The Rio Grand flows through Albuquerque and there's a nice park where people run and ride their bikes. It's not the most beautiful place but there are many large, old trees near the river which are interesting. I wanted to experiment with my new 16-35 f/4 lens and this was a good a place as any. Wanted to experiment with sunstars and shooting the sun through something obstructive. Wanted to see how the lens handled direct exposure to the sun.

This was the first time I've used Lightroom so it took quite a while getting my photos imported. I wanted a self-evident file structure that helped me find photos based on names, dates and metadata. Because I'm on cycles, the basic file structure shows the cycle number (Cycle #1 for this year) and then a subfolder name that indicates the location or event to help jar my memory. Seems to work but time will tell if I've done the right thing.

Anyway, the RAW images weren't terrible interesting due to the sun's washing out everything. But there was tons of information in the image because of the RAW format. I ran this image through the develop module in LR and really pulled out lots of color. I love the sunstar and the intense blue sky. Not bad for my first photo in this cycle. However, I think it's a bit over processed as I'm concerned about the halo around the tree. Also seeing some artifacts from the JPEG conversion. That's just not knowing LR well enough to get it right. Be patient with me ... I'm still learning. Maybe I'll try to do this over and tone things down next time.

Afternoon on the Rio Grand - 16mm (1.6 crop), f/22, 1/100 sec, ISO 100

License CC BY-NC 4.0

The Adventure Begins

Finally here but...

It's been a few weeks since my last entry and I apologize. I've been busy making the transition from Russia to America and it's been a lot harder than I expected. There have been some serious changes in the way the US treats citizens who spend part of the year outside the country and this has been a major focus of my energies for the last several weeks. I've put out most of the fires but I'm still not at 100%. Not the way I wanted to start this effort.

I arrived in LA on Monday, March 30 after a 12 hour flight from Moscow. Continued on to Albuquerque with a short stop in Phoenix. 4 flights in all with 2 very long layovers in Moscow and LA. Mostly uneventful but one can't take 4 flights spanning over 30 hours and not have some stories to tell. Had issues in Moscow on exit because I entered Crimea when it was owned by Ukraine and left Crimea after a new landlord took over. That means I didn't have a Russian entry stamp in my passport which drove the immigration officer to distraction. We finally got that sorted out and he let me pass. On the other end, US customs was upset because I'd been out of the country for so long (close to 3 years). Explained that I was forced to spend almost a year in Crimea getting my Ukrainian permanent residence papers (so I could go back and forth without having to waste time and money getting a Ukrainian tourist visa for every trip) and then, just when I was planning a trip home, the little green men showed up and I was forced to stay another year while I got my Russian permanent residence (same reason). Leaving during this process was not an option so I had to sit tight and wait. US customs finally said OK and let me in. All this venting is new ... never had so much trouble moving around the world until lately. Still trying to figure out what's causing this. 9/11 certainly had it's effect but that was 14 years ago. Should we really still be tightening the screws so much tighter? I'll let you be the judge of what's going on but think 'fear' and 'control'.

Anyway, after 10 days in Albuquerque it appears everything is finally coming together. I've purchased a 2000 Nissan Frontier that's in excellent condition with only 97K miles. Not quite the little old lady and church on Sunday but close. Engine looks like new with no oil leaks and runs very smoothly. Body has some scratches but that's not unexpected. I'm picking it up this afternoon. It has a Snug Top cover but that's not what I want so I'll order a nice cap which won't be ready for a month or so. I'm not sticking around for that but will return when it's ready. My hotel room is loaded to the rafters with all sorts of gear and I'm down to a few loose ends and food. With a little luck I leave tomorrow afternoon.

And the First Stop is...

First stop is Ship Rock in northwest New Mexico. An ancient volcanic vent (similar to devil's tower in Wyoming) it can be seen for miles around. Surrounded by sage brush it's almost a Martian landscape. I plan to spend at least one night there photographing both sunrise and sunset and, with a bit of luck, do some time lapse with the Milky Way. Don't think anyone's done that yet. Depending on how well my images turn out, my next stop may be Page, AZ by Friday. Should be in that area for several weeks as there's a ton of stuff to see between northern Arizona and southern Utah.

Unfortunately, because of all the moving and troubles I don't have a photo to show you today. We'll start getting serious about images (current to my travels) in the next few days. I'll not post tomorrow as I've got a million things to do and not enough time. Expect my first image on Friday if I can find a WiFi spot in Shiprock.