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Above, a 'tight' shot of the classic Mesa Arch 'Washerwomen' cluster in Canyonlands National Park in Utah, and below, a wider less familiar perspective that is two frames merged together.
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| This is the view from Deadhorse State Park where 'Thelma and Louise' concluded, and is adjacent to Canyonlands National Park in Utah. |
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Landscape Arch in the north of Arches National Park. |
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The South Window frames the Turret Arch in Arches National Park, above. It's a bit of a scramble for this particular composition, and is a classic morning light shot. Then below, a wider shot from a different dawn, and put together with four verticals which were stitched together in PhotoShop
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| On the group's way to photograph Landscape and Pine Tree Arches, we paused to photograph this boulder, left, and the converging lines created by two slabs of rock. While gone there was a snow flurry and high winds, and upon our return we all noticed how the light snow had accented the converging lines in the image at right. That's not something you see every day! |
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The recent Red Rock Country winter photography tour was hardly 'winter' at times, as just a skiff of snow was to be found in several iconic locations. This is Delicate Arch at sunset, minus the shrouded La Sal mountain range.
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A view into the 'Windows' section of Arches with great winter light. |
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A long lens view from the Windows section looking towards a well-lit mesa near Moab.
It's all about the light. |
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Sure, Skyline Arch is small and distant in this shot, but I preferred the knarled Pine tree foreground to that of a full frame shot of the arch . . . on this occasion. I suggest that you mix up your perspectives to better hold the interest of the viewer. |
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The late, warm light in Arches National Park.
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South of Moab is Newspaper Rock which contains excellent examples of petroglyphs which date to around 2,000 years. Their Navajo name is ‘Tse Hane’, i.e. “The rock with a story”. |
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A small Yucca plant provides the symmetry,
with minimal depth of field used to reduce the 'distraction' of the background.
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The San Juan River winds it's way through Goosenecks State Park near Mexican Hat, Utah.
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Teardrop Arch on the Utah side of Monument Valley looking back into Arizona,
left.
Below, snow fell following this evening shoot, so we were just in time to capture the texture in the dunes. This is the Totem Pole collection in Monument Valley, and one can only get this close with a Navajo guide.
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A petroglyph in Monument Valley, and as with any similar situation where the light is limited, one should use a tripod for the best results.
At left, colorful art made by local Navajo and available for purchase. |
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This is the pre-dawn approach shot to Monument Valley, and all that's missing are Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner. Did someone say "Mi-mi!"? |
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Low winter light, a pretty sky, but no snow for this Monument Valley shot.
The rock features are, left to right, Left Mitten, Right Mitten and Merrick Butte. |
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'Two and a bit' shots at dawn in Monument Valley. Above is the left Mitten with a 'strong foreground' - a personal favorite - while below our second winter dawn at Monument Valley was 'blessed' with howling winds and cold which can't be captured with a lens! The rock formations are the right and left Mittens.
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ANTELOPE CANYON + HORSESHOE BEND, ARIZONA |
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It's difficult to capture the entire Horseshoe Bend scene with one lens, so I took five verticals and stitched them together. Don't be timid about attempting merging images as the software does most of the work. |
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1 of 4: The 'soft' rock of Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona. A tripod is a must for each of these shots. |
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A bit of flashlight use for enhancement, and of course, you do see the 'frog' don't you? |
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Sand 'waterfall'.
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BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, UTAH |
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I like to be able to add comments to all of my images, especially the location. However, Bryce Canyon, Utah photographically has 'similar' looking locations throughout the park except in a few instances. So, please forgive me if I list my images as #1 and #2 etcetera, though I have added comments here and there. This image is #1 and is all about the light and shade. We should all live for this kind of light! |
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Bryce Canyon, Utah, #2
Snow accenting the canyon contours. |
Bryce Canyon, Utah, #3 |
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Bryce Canyon, Utah, #4 |
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Bryce Canyon, Utah, #5
The high contrast light gives this shot it's impact. |
Bryce Canyon, Utah, #6
More good light, plus an attempt to place something of interest in the foreground. |
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Bryce Canyon, Utah, #7
Not the best composition, but oh that mighty warm glow. I just love it. |
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Bryce Canyon, Utah, #8
Bryce can be a breezy and cool spot at any time of year, as indicated by the snow stuck to the side of this tree. |
A Mule Deer buck briefly raises his head while foraging on the Bryce Canyon plateau. |
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Red Canyon is great spot for photography as one approaches Bryce Canyon. |
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If you have a well-lit mountain and want to add some interest, find say a tree in the shade, and it will silhouette nicely for you. The mountain pictured at dawn is the Sentinel. |
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When the weather is dry the waterfall is nowhere to be seen, so one shouldn't always wish for good weather, but good light. The peak at left is 6,496 foot high Cable Mountain. |
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Leaf-less trees look great when set against Zion's illuminated canyon walls. However, choose your tree carefully as a 'busy' tree will carry less impact. The rock face is the walls of the Temple of Sinawava. |
Sentinel Peak and the Virgin river at dawn. No use of HDR here as I exposed for the mountain, and then selected the bottom half of the image and made adjustments until it looked 'natural'. There is nothing worse than a dark foreground converted to tones of a 'pale, mushy gray'.
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The Court of the Patriarchs sitting above the Virgin River.
I shot four verticals, and merged them in PhotoShop for best effect.
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A tree Squirrel in Zion takes to terra-firma to beg from the hikers . . . and pose for photographers. |
A post-dawn shot at the Court of the Patriarchs. If you like reflections ya' gotta' get close and low. |
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Watchman Peak and the Virgin River after sunrise, just when the light starts 'kissing' the foreground trees. |
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Returning at sunset one gets an entirely differently lit scene. Personally I prefer the morning shot above. |
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