Antelope Canyon

Hurricane Harvey

My heart goes out to those struggling to survive Harvey in Texas. I'm not a big fan of Texas but no one deserves to be confronted with the disaster that awaits them this week. There will be flooding and a lot of damage before Harvey moves on. Let is all hope "The Donald" can get his head out of his a&% long enough to get the federal government to help with the cleanup and rescue operations. Enough said on that issue.

Antelope Canyon

I was in Antelope Canyon last year but the place is so beautiful I thought it was a good time to show another image from the place. I went in the early morning as I wanted to see what the canyon looked like with early sun. It was a different place for sure and that was a nice feeling. I didn't have any tripod or even a monopod as they are not allowed except during the special, and much more expensive, photographer's tours later in the day so I had to be extra steady. Most of the pictures came out blurred even with my stabilizer running because I tend to be more than a bit unsteady these days as I grow older. Some of the longest exposures were more than a second and not even the best lens stabilization can fix shaking that long. So I had to throw away a lot of images.

This photo is made up of 3 images, a bracketed series. What is interesting about the image is how "fluid" it looks. The lighter areas appear almost translucent, like a glassy surface is spread across the rocks. It's not, of course, but looks that way. What's happening here is the light, already diffuse from striking other rocky surfaces, is illuminating the right and left sides of this protrusion and making them appear like water is running across their surfaces. The effect only appears on the brighter exposures in the bracketing. It is a very interesting artifact of the light conditions and probably only appears in the early morning. Just another fantastic aspect of this very special canyon. I have to go back again some day and see what else is going on there.

Antelope Canyon - 35mm, F4,HDR,ISO 800,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Sonoma Coast

Charlottesville...

I'm not going to say much about the confrontation that took place yesterday in VAI've been warning family and friends for years that the "calm" we've seen in the last few decades was an illusion. The race hatred and all the other bigotries have always been there. It just took Trump and years of bad economy to bring it all back to the surface. The Republican party has been fanning these flames for a long time and now they are a raging inferno that may very well consume America. I have no great ideas about how to fix this ... it's been part of my country from the very beginning. The great melting pot was always a joke. Trump may very well be the lit match thrown onto the gasoline soaked hate that was always there. I'm actually glad this is now out in the open where all the smug elites can see/smell it first hand. Congratulations ... you've just kindled the fires that may very well consume you. Guess what ... it's the economy stupid! It always has been. Provide everyone with a good job and all this crap disappears. But you bought into the neoliberal bulls**t and now it's come back to bite you. And, in what has to be the greatest irony, it's happening all over the world. There's no safe haven for you to hide in this time. Get used to looking over your shoulders because that's the new norm. Payback's a bitch!

Sonoma Coast

I love driving the west coast. It's so beautiful and there's always somewhere that just begs for a picture. Sonoma is mostly known for it's wineries but the coast is also a magical place. This image was taken at Coleman Beach. The clouds/fog was very cooperative that evening and I was able to get a really nice sunset. This is a panorama made up of HDR images. There's a lot of work in cleaning up the blending which sometimes goes funny as the light changes from one panel to the next. There are 85 images in the mix, 17 sets of 3 bracketed shots. Each panel takes upwards of 2-3 minutes to shoot so you can easily have 30 minutes between the first panel and the last. The light changes a great deal in that time frame so I often have to work the image to repair these changes. It's part of the process and a reason why these types of shots are so hard to execute. I've spent several years perfecting the technique and still confront issues with almost every one. Stitching together panoramas isn't always foolproof and I often have to repair damage caused by the software. It's not unusual for me to spent a day with a single image. But the results are worth all the effort. You'll not find more dramatic images than these. I really hope you enjoy them.

Coleman Beach, Sonoma - 24mm,f/16.HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Mammoth Hot Springs

The Gods are not Happy...

I'm sure most of you have been reading about (or experiencing first hand) the tremendous heat sweeping across much of the US. We're experiencing much the same in Crimea where temperatures have been in the 90's most of the last week and are forecast to remain this way for another week at least. In addition, they have been drowning in Moscow for much of the summer as a persistent low pressure storm dumps massive amounts of water on the area at least once a week. They have been dealing with floods and damage on an unprecedented scale. You may not like the Russians but this is not something you should wish on your worst enemy. I will not draw any lines between these events and climate change but you can if you wish. The weather is getting very dicey of late and it is not a good thing. We are ill equipped to deal with what is happening. And America is not immune to this either. After a horrendous winter and spring on the west coast, something I experienced first hand during my last photo cycle, California is once again burning. We should all be wishing for rain in the West.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Yellowstone is one of the most amazing places. I've already written about this before but still ... one cannot say too much about all the really cools things to be found there. I was in the park for 8 days and took well in excess of 2300 images. Everywhere I looked there was something to shoot. I could have easily doubled that number had I just looked a bit further but I was at the end of my trip and exhausted so I spent much of my time resting. I will return there in the near future and intend to take as much time as is needed to visit every nook and cranny to see what I can photograph. Expect a lot of Yellowstone in this blog in the coming months.

Everything in Yellowstone is driven by the massive volcano that lies just a few miles below the surface. Heat from the underlying magma rises through the rocks and heats water which constantly percolates downward from surface snow and rain. Once heated the water rises and absorbs minerals from the rock. Depending on the combination of heat and water, various features form on the surface. If there is high heat and lots of water, you get geysers like Old Faithful. Less water but high heat gives you fumerols and mud pots. Low heat and lots of water gives you hot springs like Mammoth. This particular thermal feature is special for several reasons. One, it's not within the main caldera for the volcano. It lies several miles to the north. Second, due to the presence of abundant mineral salts the water is very saturated and, once it hits the surface, quickly evaporates to create the most amazing basins and structures. Because the caldera is seismically active, the underlying rock is constantly shifting so the springs move around meaning a great area one year becomes a barren, bleached pile of mineral structures the next. And, the whole thing is a massive breeding ground for bacteria and other organic entities which give the structures color and a fluidity that is very interesting. The whole structure is very much alive.

It was still winter in Yellowstone when I visited in late May. We had snow several evenings and cold nights. The best images are found in the early morning, just after sunrise, when the hot water creates a dreamy, steamy patina around the springs. I was there around 10 am, well after sunrise, but the cold morning air was still turning the steam into dense clouds. It was very mysterious.

This image was taken in the Lower Terrace area. I parked in the second lot above town and followed the wooden walkway upwards. You can't seen this particular area from the road but follow the walkway to the right and take the stairs leading higher into the field. Suddenly you emerge into this magical place and it's spectacular. I believe the area is called Minerva Terrace but I'm not sure. I do recommend going early as the tour buses start to appear pretty quickly and then it's almost impossible to get a clean shot with all the selfie shooters popping up everywhere. The dead tree is testament to the shifting nature of these fields. It's fairly intact meaning it was living not too long ago. The colors all come from the bacteria and other creatures that thrive in this hot water. There were even birds walking in the water, eating this living mat. Too hot for me but they seemed very happy there. What I love most about the picture is an almost painterly look. That's due to the steam and the way the bacteria soften the structure. It gives the most amazing dreaminess, doesn't it?

Mammoth Hot Springs - 78mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 400,license CC BY-NC 4.0