Balanced - Arches National Park, Utah

When you shoot a location many times, it is difficult to come up with a different look to a subject that has been photographed many times over. Of course, weather conditions, clouds and light can take the same composition from good to great. I really wanted to get a different view of Balanced Rock from the standard up next to it shot. From this angle, it looks quite small. In fact, the total height of the formation is 128 feet, with the rock that it balances stands 55 feet and weight an estimated 3,500 tons.

When I shot this, I thought the scene looked like pieces of a chessboard with a pawn in from of a castle on one side opposing a castle on the other.

Buttes All Around - Monument Valley, Navajo Nation

When visiting Monument Valley, it used to seem to me that a four wheel drive was something you wanted to have with you. It certainly was true on my first visit there in 2004. The main road through the Tribal Park is a 17-mile dirt road that had more bumps and holes that you could count. Back then, the Navajos sat in the parking lot with tow trucks to get people that were stuck somewhere on the road. Over the years, the roads improved a little and there are no longer tow trucks, but the suspension of a sedan is in for a rude awakening. On our visit there last month, the road was under some serious repair and I think that the road will be a much easier ride in the future. 

This photo shows the road leading toward John Ford's Point named after the film director that made Monument Valley famous through his westerns. In the distance are the rock formations the Three Sisters (on the left) that is on the end of Mitchell Mesa. In from of the mesa is Elephant Butte. The rock formation on the right closest to me is Cly Butte.

 

Below the Arch - Sand Dune Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

During Jeff Clow's Photo Tour in Moab last month, we spent a whole day exploring Arches National Park. One of the spots we visited is Sand Dune Arch. This is one of the less frequently visited arches, but it shouldn't be. It is quite cool and it isn't that hard to get there. The arch is located on a small dune (thus its name) and has a unique shape when viewed from the front (to some, it looks a dog and cat kissing; others see different things - one tour participant thought he saw Jabba the Hut). It is sort of like looking at clouds and everyone seems to see something different. 

In any case, our group walked through a small slot canyon that leads to the arch, only to find two troops of Boy Scouts there running all around. Luckily they gave us some space (or at least most of them did) and we were able to get some shots. The light had a high dynamic range, so shooting it was a little challenging. I have shot the arch a number of times and thought I would try something of a bit different composition. I stationed myself under the arch on the left side and shot up. I think it sort of looks like an entrance to a cave.

Sandstone Glow - Monument Valley, Navajo Nation

Two weeks ago, I posted this photo of the East Mitten before sunrise and last week, I posted this photo of the sun just cresting the horizon. Today's post is just minutes later as the sun cleared the horizon. I wasn't planning on doing a series of photos as the sun rose, but the morning was so magical that I felt compelled to do so. Like the other two photos, I took these photos from the balcony of the View Hotel. This image shows the light gradually lighting up Sentinel Mesa (on the left) while the rock formation to the right is still in silhouette. One of the more interesting things about Monument Valley are the cool names that the rock formations have. Many of the names originate from the Navajo or the settlers to the region. The rock formation on the right is actually several formations, but the angle makes it look like one. The rock formations names (left to right) are The Stagecoach; The Bear and the Rabbit; and The Castle. When you see them from a different angle, you know why they had those names.

River Reflection - Potash Road, Moab, Utah

This photo was taken at the end of quite the unusual weather day. When we headed south out of Moab, it began to snow. Yes, it does snow in the desert. The longer we drove, the harder it snowed. For this photographer that lives in New England, the sight of snow is not a happy event, especially near the end of winter. For a number of the other tour participants that live in much warmer climates, it was a joyful event to experience. By the time we got to our destination, the snow had stopped, and we were able to get some great shots with a thin blanket of snow (okay, I am glad it snowed). On our way back to Moab, the wind and temperature began to rise and was turning the day into what one would expect in Moab in March. By the time we got to this spot on the Colorado River, there was no evidence that it had snowed at all. I had hoped to get a reflection shot, but the wind was just too strong with ripples across the water. Patience is a virtue however, and I waited the wind out. For about five minutes, a small section of the river grew calm (you can see the ripples on the rest of the water,) and I was able to capture this scene before the winds kicked back up.

Tide is Out - Marshall Point Lighthouse, Port Clyde, Maine

This year seems to be flying by. The older we get, time seems to speed up. A year ago, I hosted Jeff Clow and Jaki Good Miller for a week scouting the coast of Maine. I had hoped that showing Jeff some of my favorite lighthouses and spots would convince him to host one of his photo tours in my backyard. I think that it didn't take Jeff more than a day before deciding we would do one. The inaugural Lighthouse and Lobster Tour (along with an add-on trip to Acadia National Park) was conducted last October, and was such a resounding success that we scheduled another one for this upcoming April. In just about a month, Jeff and I will be showing new tour participants the rugged coast of Maine, along with its guardians of the shoreline. We have a couple of open spots, so if you want to explore Maine with us, drop Jeff a note.

This is just one of the the twelve lighthouses that you will experience on the tour. I shot this last April on our scouting trip in mid-afternoon, and I can assure you that it looks even better at sunrise and sunset. Hope you can join us.

 

Castle Valley Hike - Castle Valley, River Road, Moab

Sometimes Mother Nature takes pity on photographers and allows a few moments of joy to come into their lives. The morning started off with what is normal for one of Jeff Clow's Photo Tours - up well before dawn, meet for a quick continental breakfast, and head out for some great landscapes. Not this morning. The weather forecast had not predicted rain (by the way, how do weathermen justify getting paid? End rant), but rain it did. We decided to wait a while and head out a little later. It was still raining when we eventually headed out, and we headed to Red Cliff Lodge on River Road to wait it out. The rain finally stopped, but we were left with overcast skies and a bleary morning. Don't get me wrong, you can still get some stellar photos with these type of conditions, but the great orange color of the sandstone is muted. After shooting for the morning and the early afternoon hours, we began heading back to Moab, stopping at a few spots along the way.

The last of our stops was Castle Valley. A number of us decided to hike on this trail rather than stay by the road. What a great decision that was. As we began the hike, we noticed small pockets of blue beginning to peak through. By the time we got to this spot, the photography Gods smiled upon us and blessed us with some amazing blue skies and terrific skies. Moments like these make photographers realize that waiting out the inclement weather can be worth it, and that when the weather is great, we appreciate it more.

Grit - Endicott, Washington

Since my visit to the Palouse last June, I have posted quite a few photos of the very impressive and unique landscapes that dominate this region in eastern Washington State. The Palouse encompasses almost 4,000 square miles of some of the most fertile land on Earth.  In addition to its undulating landscape, there are plenty of barns, farm equipment, grain elevators, farm houses and plenty of abandoned property to photograph. The biggest surprise for me was the number of old cars that also can be found throughout the area. 

The mother load was a private collection that we got access to somewhere near Endicott. What a classic piece of nostalgia staring us in the face. The first clue about the treasure trove that awaited us was the old Texaco Station off of the road. To make it even better, down the driveway was a whole collection of classic cars waiting to be photographed. This is an old truck that has seen better days, and it probably has tons of stories it could tell on its journey to this spot. 

Monumental Sunrise - Monument Valley, Navajo Nation

Last week I posted a photo from our first morning in Monument Valley of the East Mitten Butte with the sky looking like it was on fire. The sun had not yet risen and the clouds were an amazing shade of red. I wanted to post this photo of the East and West Mitten Buttes, as well as Merrick Butte, to show how quickly the light changes at sunrise. This photo shows the sun just peeking above the horizon, with the clouds taking on more of a blue color. This photo was taken a mere sixteen minutes after the previous one. That's right -- only sixteen minutes. That is why serious landscape photographers get up so early - well before dawn. That enables us to get Mother Nature's light show that is on display on many mornings. 

This is not an unusual phenomenon, but rather what photographers expect (and sometimes) hope for.  As I was experiencing this scene, I decided that I would add an artistic flair to the resulting photo by creating a sunburst. This is rather easy to achieve by merely stopping down the lens to a smaller aperture (in this case f/22). 

Before the Climb - Arches National Park, Utah

Double Arch, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

Arches National Park is a treasure trove of sandstone rock formations, mainly arches. Most of them are arches -- over 2,000 of them, but only a few are easily accessible. My favorite arch for sure is Double Arch. Located in the Windows area of the park, it always acts as a magnet for me. This was the only one of our stops that I was out of the car in a flash and down the trail so I could get a few shots without people. You will notice that I didn't fully succeed, as there is one lone person in the "window" on the left. I left him in to give you an idea of how big Double Arch is. After shooting a few, I began the climb up past where the person was to sit at the bottom of the "window". I was joined by Jaki Good Miller and Mike Louthan. What a view we had from way up there. As I get older, climbing up is getting more difficult, but hopefully I will be able to be perched up there in the future.

Crack Close Up - Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Grand View Point, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Some times you don't know what you are missing until you try something new. I have always been more of a wide-angle type of landscape photographer. I typically have shot anywhere from a 15mm - 200mm point of view. I have never owned a really long lens (>300mm) before because I didn't feel I had a need for it. That was until early this month. I will be heading to South Africa in October and I decided to buy Fuji's first foray into long lenses for their mirrorless cameras. The Fuji 100-400mm (150-600mm equivalent) arrived in mid-February and I took it to Moab with me to test it out. Turns out that I love this lens. 

Not only do long lenses compress the photo (compresses the foreground and the background, making them  appear closer together than in real life), they also allow a photographer to take photos of smaller portions of a expansive views. Take this location for instance. The landscape at Grand View Point in Canyonlands is as expansive as it gets. When taking wide-angle shots of it, smaller details get lost in the view. There are these massive cracks in the landscape that are quite amazing. With the long lens, I was able to zoom into one of the cracks to get this shot. Just to give you an idea of size, look at the dirt road leading to the point of the crack. A car would be a small speck on the road.

I know these concepts are not new to seasoned photographers (they were not new to me), but when you start shooting with a longer lens, you begin to realize how valuable they become (and worth carrying despite their size and weight).

Fisher Towers View - River Road, Moab, Utah

With all of the superb parks in the Moab area (Canyonlands NP, Arches NP and Dead Horse SP), River Road is often overlooked by visitors. It is a shame, as there are some stellar spots. The added bonus is that the Colorado River runs along the majority of the road. One of the best areas to visit on the road is Fisher Towers. Jeff Clow's Photo Tour had visited the road earlier in the week, but the weather was quite overcast.  When the tour was over, Jaki Good Miller and I were headed to Grand Junction and decided to take this scenic route. Great choice, as Mother Nature treated us with some great clouds and weather along the way. 

As we approached Fisher Towers, the sun started to hide behind them and, while we got some quick shots, the towers were dark. Given that we only had less than an hour left of sun, we decided to drive further north and try to get a shot looking south to the towers. I had shot from this spot before, but was never there at the right time of day. Just as we set up, the sun broke though and gave us this scene. The bonus was the reflection in the river.

After the Snow - Wilson Arch, Moab, Utah

I often try to take photos that I haven't seen before and convey different looks of a location. If you visit Moab, south of town on the highway is Wilson Arch. We passed the arch early in the morning during a snowstorm and snapped a few photos of the arch. We then headed south to visit Canyon Rims. On the way back to town, we stopped at the arch to take some photos without the snow. I have visited this location quite a number of times and had shot it from all angles, so I wasn't feeling overly interested in shooting it again. At the same time, I didn't want to waste the great clouds that we had in the sky. As I looked south from below the arch, i saw this part of the rock formation that I had never shot from before. Off I went scrambling along the rocks until I got to this spot. I used the wall of sandstone as a leading line and found that the lone tree added interest to the scene. The terrific clouds made this an even better scene.

Butte on Fire - Monument Valley, Navajo Nation

I had a terrific eight days with my buddies Jeff Clow and Jaki Good Miller early this month. We visited Monument Valley for a few days before Jeff's Moab Photo Tour. It was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. Monument Valley is my favorite place in the American Southwest and it was great to see the excitement on Jaki's face on her first visit to this amazing place. I have been a little slow in getting to look at my photos, as my main computer decided to die on me. A new one is on order and I was able to take a quick look and edit a few on my laptop. This week I will post exclusively from this trip.

I thought I would start off with our first sunrise on the first day. I stayed in the View Hotel, which is located in a prime spot. While the amenities aren't stellar, the view is. We were treated to a light show at sunrise, with the colors starting off with blue hour color and turning to the great colors pictured in this photo. As you can see, the light and clouds were spectacular. I probably took 200 photos of the scene, including the East and West Mittens as well as Merrick Butte. For some reason, this photo of just the West Mitten called out to me when I did my quick first look at the photos. We shot from the balcony of the hotel, which gives you the reason why it is named the View Hotel.

Vancouver Bound - Inside Passage, British Columbia

Alaskan cruises often offer diverse landscapes that differ greatly as you head south toward Vancouver. The Alaskan mountains are the first sight that you might see, especially if you started your trip on land near Denali. If you are lucky enough, you can take an all day train ride from there to the departure port and enjoy the rugged and beautiful landscapes and seascapes along the way. Once on your cruise ship, you pass towering mountains that seem to rise from nowhere on shore, and there are the inevitable glaciers that can be seen either close up or in the distance. The further south you travel through the inside passage, the landscape begins to warm up. The snow and ice give way to densely forested mountains and landscape. The whole way, you see more sea creatures that people. You finally begin to see civilization toward the end of your journey. I took this photo one evening about a day from our destination port of Vancouver. A lot of the ruggedness of the landscape was gone, replaced by a more gentle one. I think it is getting time to revisit Alaska.

Green and Blue - Colfax, Washington

Spring is just around the corner, and, when I was looking through my Lightroom catalogue and saw this photo, it just conveyed the start of the growing season. This photo is one of the biggest growing regions in the world, namely the Palouse. This fertile region of the US consists of more than 1.2 million acres of farmland. That is a lot of growing of crops, consisting mainly of wheat and barley. When I visited the Palouse in early June, the rolling mounds and hills were everywhere around me - as far as the eye could see. What was really cool was when the wind would blow and the grass would move like the waves of the ocean. I just love the first greening of the land after winter, and, as you can see in this photo, it contrasts well with a blue sky. I am sure that the Palouse does not look like this right now - planting starts in earnest in April. I am hoping to revisit the Palouse sometime during the harvest when the crops turn an amber color.

Skyline Trail View - Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

When you get a nice clear day with a view of Mount Rainier, you should take full advantage of it. The mountain is often obscured by low-hanging clouds or fog. The day before, I had arrived at the hotel and there was no mountain to be seen. I only had this one full day to spend there, so I was grateful that the weather gods were kind. I like to hike, so after shooting in the very early morning, I headed out on the Skyline Trail. Very quickly, I discovered that I would not be able to traverse the length of the trail due to snow and ice. I later discovered that I was lucky to get as far as I did, as the winter set a record low snowfall. I wasn't expecting that, as it was the last week in May. I have since found out that Mount Rainier has 26 major glaciers and 36 square miles of permanent snowfields and glaciers.

I took this shot of this majestic mountain at the point that I turned around on the trail to head back to the parking lot. While I liked the color version of this photo, I think the black and white treatment brings out the details and sense of cold to me.

Coquille River Light - Bandon, Oregon

I don't know how many lighthouses that I have shot over the years, but it has to be a lot. Each one has its own shape, condition, colors and beauty. Some are painted with stripes. At least one is square. They guard oceans, lakes and rivers. All of these physical attributes convey character to me. 

Unfortunately, they are becoming relics of the past. They have been made obsolete by today's technology. They used to protect the many boats and ships from crashing into the coastline, but now radar and sonar are a more sure-fired way for ships to be kept safe. Some of the lights are still working, shining beacons of light into the night, but it is now more for show than safety. They are becoming the future generation's version of windmills.

This is why I keep taking photos of these one-time life savers. I seek them out in either rain or shine. I will never capture every lighthouse there is, but I will continue nonetheless. I shot this lighthouse on a rainy day. It is located in Bandon, Oregon, and it guided boats past the dangerous sandbars of the Coquille River. 

Morning at Schwabachers - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Lower Schwabachers Landing, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Over the years, I had been on a perpetual search for a great day to photograph Schwabachers Landing. Probably had been there seven times or more before my last trip to the Tetons. I finally got the weather I had hoped for (except maybe some nice clouds - I guess I am never satisfied) on that trip. I think I worked the scene harder than I had worked any before. I shot it from every angle possible and every height possible. I tried every focal length that I had in my bag. Lots and lots of photos. Finally, I shot several panoramas, and I think they were my favorites, as it shows the full scene. Of all of the panos I shot, this one is my favorite. Fully working a scene is essential to getting a shot that you love.

Harris Beach in the Rain - Brookings, Oregon

Okay, you are standing on some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world with gorgeous rock formations and sea stacks sticking out of the ocean. You have waited a long time for this trip so that you can photograph its beauty. You hope for gorgeous weather with blue skies and just the right amount of cumulous clouds that look like they were painted there. You time it so you are there at the golden hour. For landscape photographers, that is the dream. Reality sometimes bites and the sky has no blue (only white), the golden hour light is non-existent, there is fog in the distance and it is raining. What do you do? Shoot anyway. Try to make something out of nothing. When I encountered this a few years ago, I decided to set up the tripod and shoot some long exposures. I rarely think of black and white photography when I am shooting - it is usually a post-processing decision. When I shot this, I knew it would be processed in B&W. Why? Two reasons. The color was muted in the scene anyway, and I knew a B&W treatment would better bring out the details of the rock formations.