February 5th, 2012
On New Year’s Eve, I made the 13-hour trek to Bryce Canyon National Park. This was my second trip to Utah in as many months, having visited Zion at the beginning of November. I had wanted to photograph Bryce in the winter for several years, and now I had 
my opportunity.
The western US (aside from the Pacific NW) has been very dry this winter, and Bryce was no exception. The canyon rim usually has several inches of snow at this time of year, but on this chilly New Year’s morning, the trails and viewpoints were mainly clear. I went straight for Sunset Point; despite the name, sunrises are best here. In the winter, the sunrise isn’t blocked by a high ridge farther north, so the light hits the hoodoos a few minutes sooner than it does in the summer.
After finding a spot a little north of the main viewpoint, I found a composition I liked. I wanted to get the snow on the rim in the image, along with a few red rock spires. Using an aperture of f/22 for the starburst effect, I waited until the sun cleared a distant mountain and snapped away.
Tags: bryce canyon, colorado plateau, desert southwest, hoodoo, national park, sunrise, Utah
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January 31st, 2012
After watching a fiery sunset on Garrapata Beach in Big Sur, I wanted to try some longer exposures for a mystical, ghostly water image. The tide was coming in at the time, so the waves were rolling closer and closer, even washing around me a couple of times. 
Unfortunately, this was also leading to blurry shots as the waves shook my tripod. To combat this, I anchored the tripod legs into the sand and brought the height down a bit; I also opened up the aperture.
One large wave chased me back up the beach. I heard it crashing farther out and it sounded big, so I grabbed the camera and ran. When the water went back out, it left a nice glassy reflection; however, it also left a long piece of seaweed draped around the rock I had been shooting. Of course, I didn’t like how it broke up my nice, smooth composition, but it only took one more wave to fix it. The second wave left the kelp in a perfect, semi-circular shape around the rock and my symmetry was back.
The bigger waves had stopped for a few minutes, so I took the opportunity to shoot a couple of pictures before they came up again. Going back to f/8, I photographed this scene with a 10-second exposure to smooth out the water and bring out the details in the rock.
Tags: beach, Big Sur, ocean, Photography: California, reflection, sea, sunset
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January 26th, 2012
Chistmas Day found me photographing along the Big Sur coast, south of Monterey. I spent the day driving along Highway 1 and stopping at various viewpoints, enjoying the views and the soft winter light. By late afternoon, I was heading back north from Sand Dollar Beach, watching the western sky and the fog bank that was lurking just offshore. I hoped that the fog would stay out there, at 
least until after sunset. I also noticed a deck of mid and high-level clouds that were moving in; these clouds often create vivid skies at sunset, so my hopes were high that they would continue their course.
About a half hour before sunset, I made my way to Garrapata Beach. I’ve always enjoyed shooting at this beach; there are plenty of rocks and sea stacks, especially at the southern end of the beach. A small stream winds its way to the ocean here, which is great for reflections and photographs with snaking leading lines. I didn’t really have a plan for what to shoot, so I wandered up and down the beach for a while.
I found some triangular rocks below the tide line and set up for sunset. As the waves washed around, they smoothed out the sand and left nice reflections of the rocks and the sky, which was becoming more colorful by the second. Soon, the entire sky was red; the clouds I had noticed earlier were moving overhead and catching the last rays of the sun. What a scene! The entire beach glowed red for several minutes.
This amazing sunset keeps my lucky streak going.
Tags: beach, Big Sur, clouds, garrapata state park, ocean, Photography: California, reflection, sea, sunset
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January 21st, 2012
For the Christmas holiday, I decided to take a couple of extra days off and head down to the Big Sur coast for some relaxation and photography. The holiday season has never been my favorite time of year, so I planned this little getaway 
trip to, well, get away from the holiday hustle and bustle. Since Christmas fell on a Sunday, the holiday at work would be observed on the next day, so I had a couple of days to play with.
Friday afternoon found me at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz. This beach is a lot of fun; there are great sunsets, waves, and surfers. At one time, there were three sea arches on the beach; two have met their natural end due to the relentless pounding of ocean waves, while one still stands at the southern end of the beach.
The tide was coming in around sunset, so I waited with my camera (and a few other photographers) while the afternoon crowds cleared out. The waves would wash up to me every so often, creating a smooth, glassy reflection on the sand. By the time the sun was setting, a patch of high-level clouds was moving overhead, just in time to catch the pink and red sunset light. I focused on a composition that was anchored in both bottom corners, the left by the arch reflection and the right by the sand ripples. The clouds were moving right to left, so I made sure to capture them before they moved over the arch and unbalanced the scene.
This was the first time I’ve photographed this beach to my liking, so I was quite happy with this result.
Tags: beach, natural bridges, ocean, Photography: California, refleciton, Santa Cruz, sea, sea arch, sunset
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January 4th, 2012
I’ve been raving about t
he Narrows hike to just about everyone I know since I got back from Zion. There’s just something about being in a 1000-ft deep crack in the earth that appeals to me. Maybe it was the challenge of wading through a rushing river in a drysuit; I don’t necessarily like being in water, especially water that’s colder than an Ozark spring, and I had never worn a drysuit. Maybe it was the fact that I had always wanted to do this hike, and had driven all the way to Utah and wasn’t going to return without the experience.
About a third of the way to Orderville Canyon, the Virgin River cuts a deep alcove in the canyon wall; it’s a perfectly sculpted chamber. When I first spotted the alcove from downstream, I picked up my pace to get there and photograph it. Then I noticed that the trees on the opposite side were glowing; the morning sun hadn’t gotten all the way into the canyon, but it was illuminating the walls above so much that the entire scene seemed to glow.
I rushed up to the gravel bar and hastily set up my tripod. As I was composing the shot, I noticed that the calm water in front of me was reflecting the glowing trees. What a nice find!
Tags: autumn, canyon, fall color, narrows, national parks, reflection, Utah, virgin river, zion national park
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January 2nd, 2012
What better way to start out 2012 than with a sunrise shot?
Sumrise light on towering rock faces has always fascinated me. I’ve always liked how the sunrise can turn otherwise flat rock formations a brilliant red color. This effect can be seen along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California, which I like to shoot from the Alabama Hills in Inyo County. Thankfully that’s not the only place that this effect can be seen, however. Another such spot is the Towers of the Virgin in Zion National Park.
The skies were clear for each sunrise during my trip to Zion, so I had many opportunities to shoot this scene. It’s easy enough to find the view; just go to the Zion Museum and go behind the building. It’s not necessarily that difficult to shoot, either; the foreground isn’t all that interesting, so tightening the composition to include only the trees and rock works well. But the light is really special.
Sunrise was not until around 8 a.m., so I was able to get a nice breakfast before bundling back up and heading out to the spot. A couple of photo workshops were also there, so I chose a different spot behind the museum as not to bother them. In my haste to leave home, I had left my cable release in my other backpack, so I had been using the self-timer the whole time; this feature comes with a pleasant beeping noise which I’m sure makes me everyone’s friend. So I chose my spot and set up to watch the spectacle.
About 15-20 minutes before the sunrise light hits the towers, the entire rock face starts to glow. This is easier to shoot than when the light gets there, since the scene is more evenly lit. But the real magic is when the light hits the peaks and slowly illuminates the entire scene. The sandstone walls glow a brilliant red with the sunrise light, and thanks to the lower sun angle, the spectacle lasts for a good 10-15 minutes before it washes out.
While this may be a cliche view, it’s really my cup of tea.
Tags: national parks, sunrise, towers of the virgin, Utah, zion canyon, zion national park
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December 29th, 2011
2011 has been a very trying year for me. I’ve been through quite a bit of personal turmoil this year and it’s left a big void in my life. The silver lining to that dark cloud is that I’ve had the opportunity to travel; I’ve photographed more often this year than I have in several years. While my life has changed a lot this year, my love of photography and travel has only grown stronger, and I’m excited by the possiblities that the next year will bring for my photographic endeavors.
With that, here are my eleven favorites from this year.
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#11 – Conway Color
Fall color in the Sierra was a week or so later this year than in 2010, so when I went to the Bishop area in early October, the trees in most areas were still green. But when the third weekend of the month rolled around, reports started coming in of brilliant colors in Mono County. I made a short weekend trip over to the eastern Sierra to hopefully capture some of these aspens, and I was not disappointed. This particular spot is a well-known fall color hotspot; I’ve been to early for peak color here in previous years, but this year I made a special trip for it. |
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#10 – Flowing Narrows
In early November I made my first trip to Zion National Park in southwestern Utah. I timed the trip to coincide with the peak of fall color in Zion Canyon, and the timing was just about perfect. The last hike of the trip was the unforgettable Narrows of the Virgin River. While this hike starts innocently enough, after about a mile you’re in the Virgin River, wading through water up to chest high in some places, and trying to cross rushing rapids in others. Someone once likened it to trying to walk on greased bowling balls. This image was made while standing in the river, using a wider aperture than usual since the rushing water would shake the tripod. Read the rest of this entry » |
Tags: 2011, arches national park, best of, best of 2011, brainard lake, canyonlands national park, Colorado, Kansas, lightning, Mono Lake, national parks, Photography: California, storm chasing, sunrise, sunset, thunderstorm, Utah, zion national park
Posted in Photography: California, Photography: Colorado, Photography: Desert Southwest, Photography: Fall Color, Photography: Weather | 8 Comments »
December 26th, 2011
On my last day in Zion, I spent the day wading through the 45-degree waters of the Virgin River. This hike, known as the Narrows, is one of the classic hikes in the National Park system and is one that I highly recommend. It’s crowded in the summer, but in the fall, only the hardy (or
insane!) folks will be in the canyon. The water is cold, so drypants or a drysuit is essential.
After making it up to the Wall Street section of the Narrows, I turned around and headed back down. I had passed several spots along the way that had some nice autumn colors, but the light wasn’t quite right. On the way back, I wanted to shoot these spots when the light was a little higher. However, I ran the risk of these scenes being washed out by direct sunlight, something I definitely did not want.
One of these places was about halfway back to the Riverside trail, where the river makes a sharp U-turn. When I had trudged by here in the morning, one of the cliff walls had some direct sunlight, so I didn’t shoot any frames. On the way back, however, the scene was more evenly lit, except for one sliver of the composition that was receiving direct sunlight. I set up my camera and tripod and moved around a bit to minimize that direct light, but I couldn’t get it completely out of the scene without losing the light on the foreground water.
Using an aperture of f/16 gave me an exposure time of one second, which is good for a smooth, silky water image. But leaving the shutter open for that long really blew out the highlights in the background, so I metered on the highlights for the second image and blended the two together. The result is probably my favorite shot from the Narrows.
Tags: autumn, canyon, fall color, narrows, national parks, Utah, virgin river, zion national park
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December 23rd, 2011
The Watchman is one of the more recognizable monoliths in Zion. It’s right along the road at the southern entrance, and it’s easy to find a good composition with it in the background. As a result, it’s one of the most photographed subjects in the park; a bridge over the river near the canyon drive is often packed with photographers at sunset, all trying to get the classic (or as some would say, cliche) image of the Watchman towering over the Virgin River.
However, there is another view of this scene that isn’t quite as crowded. A paved trail leads upriver from the Visitor’s Center, crossing the river a couple of times between there and the highway bridge. This view is from one of those crossings, which gives the photographer a nice alternative from the crowded highway bridge.
This was my last sunset in Zion, so I wanted to make the most of it. I made my way down this trail and set up my tripod on the bridge as the sun dropped lower and the light became more soft. The rock walls surrounding the river started to glow. However, every once in a while, someone would walk or ride a bike across the bridge, and the vibrations would cause my longer exposures to blur. I switched to f/8 to cure that problem.
Another issue was the large range in contrast in this scene. The rocks and river were in a decent balance, but the sky was way too bright to handle without my usual 3-stop grad filter. The sky had some pretty cirrus clouds, so I wanted to include it in this shot; the only way to do this was to shoot two photos and blend them together. The first exposure was metered on the cirrus clouds, which gave me a nicely exposed sky. Then I metered on the tree in the middle, which I figured was a good middle ground between the highlighted rocks and the shadowed foreground. The added bonus was the river, which adds a nice leading line into the scene.
So if you’re in Zion and want to get a nice view of the Watchman, just wander down the trail a bit and you’ll find it!
Tags: national parks, the watchman, Utah, virgin river, zion national park
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December 20th, 2011
On my first afternoon in Zion, I made my way to the end of the scenic drive and the Temple of Sinawava. This is the beginning of the Riverside trail, which eventually leads to the Narrows (a hike I planned to do later). I wandered along the river for a while, shooting the colorful trees on the opposite side against the red sandstone cliffs. I could see some more colorful trees along the trail, so away I went.
This walk was amazing right from the start, as the trail hugs the cliffs along the river. Colorful trees hang overhead like a canopy, which made for enless photo opportunities. I walked the trail for about 10 minutes before spotting this one tree hugging the steep slope. The afternoon sun was just starting to go behind the cliffs, so sun flare wasn’t going to be an issue. However, the range in light would be a problem, especially without my grad filter.
At first, the altocumulus clouds were only covering about half the frame, so I waited until the covered the visible sky before taking the picture. For the first exposure, I metered on the clouds to make sure the sky was properly exposed. I then metered on the tree for the second exposure and blended them together. The result is something a little out of the ordinary for me, but it’s a result that I like quite a bit.
Tags: autumn, clouds, fall color, national parks, Utah, zion national park
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