Guy Schmickle - Explore The Light Photography

Software Review: FastPictureViewer Professional

2011-12-06T08:07:00.001-07:00

I recently scored a nice Black Friday deal on a shiny, new Acer Aspire One A0722 netbook, in part to be used for image storage/backup on photo trips. An important piece of functionality I wanted this netbook to have was the ability to quickly browse any raw images stored on it. After much research of both free and not-so-free software packages, I settled on the FastPictureViewer Professional image viewer. It isn't free...it isn't even cheap, but it really excels in the areas I need it to. That is, it speedily allows me to flip through images stored on my not-so-high-powered netbook. So far, this combination has been so much better than my Epson Viewer (my current storage/backup device in the field) that I doubt I'll utilize that much anymore.

FastPictureViewer Profession v1.6 screen snapshot

For those looking for both a fast viewer combined with at least a basic image processing component...your search continues. I wasn't, as I don't have any desire to process images on a uncalibrated netbook screen anyway. That's a task that's always reserved for my workhorse desktop PC back in the office where Lightroom and Photoshop reign supreme. FastPictureViewer is special purposed as a speedy viewer that I find extremely useful for the following reasons...

1. It views most major raw formats (important because I own more than one manufacturer's camera)
2. One can quickly check for critical sharpness at 100% view.
3. There's full time access to histogram and exif information (which can be quickly toggled on and off).
4. It shows images in all subfolders when a folder is opened.
5. There's easy culling out of rejects or copying of keepers to a separate folder.
6. Quick rating and adding IPTC data to images (I don't know if I'll utilize this personally, but it's there).

So essentially, the combination of my new netbook with FastPictureViewer Pro is making a welcome change to my in-the-field workflow. I'll now be able to more readily maintain a keeper folder on my netbook that I can continually add to when reviewing images during the down time in my travels. Then when I return home, I simply copy this keeper folder over to my main desktop PC via my wireless, file sharing network and I'm ready to import into Lightroom and begin my usual workflow. Pretty darned slick! Ok...this is probably similar to what better organized photographers have been doing for a while now, but I'm sometimes slow adopting new processes into my workflow so it's cool to me.

Ok...enough of all the glowing accolades, I should also point out some of FastPictureViewer's faults as it's hardly perfect software (what software is?). As mentioned earlier, there's no options for image processing whatsoever. If you want to edit in the field, look elsewhere. Also, the drop down filmstrip of your folder's images can be somewhat clunky and annoying (sometimes it doesn't immediately appear or go away when it should during mouseovers). Finally, the software is kind of expensive for what you get. It's being offered at 20% off right now, but still costs $40. That's a little pricey for its feature set IMO. However, if ya got to have it...ya got to have it!!

I'm sure as time goes by, I'm going to discover other little features here and there that I wish were present. However, I won't complain too much as it's core functionality really addresses my basic needs well. There's a one month free trial period so feel free to give a whirl to see if it suits you. It may not fit everyone's needs (especially for the $40 price tag), but I'm going to find it indispensable during my travels.

Holidaze Print Sale

2011-11-21T20:06:00.001-07:00

Would you like to give a unique gift to a nature loving special friend or family member this holiday season? Or are you looking for an excuse to give yourself a well deserved gift for the holidays? How about a crisp, vibrant print from one of any number of spectacular locations in the Desert Southwest or Rocky Mountains? Well, you're in luck as I've decided to have my own Black Friday sale this year on my Explore The Light website. Only I've extended Black Friday all the way to Christmas Day! What this all means is that there will be a 20% discount on all unframed prints ordered through my site from November 25 through December 25. Just enter coupon code ETL4Holidaze when checking out your order. Pretty darned easy! And if you ask nicely, I may also extend this to any ColorBox mount order as well! This is my way of thanking customers and followers of my work for their past support. I appreciate it very, very much!

Also Follow Me On Google+

2011-11-17T11:01:00.001-07:00

You can now follow my crazy antics over at Google+ (Google's answer to Facebook's social networking site). Ok...maybe my antics aren't all that crazy...maybe not even interesting...but I'm there nonetheless! So you may ask why Google+ and not Facebook? Well, I don't have a good answer for that. I already have a personal Facebook page that I rarely ever tend to and I wanted to start over fresh with a more business related page dedicated to photography. So I decided Google+ would provide me that fresh start.

Anyway, you can link to my Google+ page by clicking on the gadget over on the right hand side of this blog or simply follow this link. While I still intend to post major announcements and events here, more of the day-to-day stuff will be posted over there. Hopefully you find it worthy of checking out periodically!

Finalized Art Show Schedule For 2011

2011-08-31T20:34:00.001-06:00

Hey all! I just recently put the finishing touches on my 2011 Arizona art show schedule so I thought I'd take a brief moment to share. It all kicks off this Labor Day weekend when I'll be showing my work at the Flagstaff Art In The Park festival. My complete schedule for the remainder of the year looks as follows...

Flagstaff Art In The Park - Sept 3-5
Sedona Arts Festival - Oct 8-9
Artfest Of Scottsdale - Nov 19-20
Bell Rock Art Show (Village Of Oak Creek) - Dec 17-18

I hope any fans of my work living in or visiting any of the above locations during the listed time frames can stop by my booth and say hello! My work on display ranges anywhere from 8x10 matted prints to 30x45 canvas and metal prints. The metal prints, in particular, have to be seen to believe!

Hope to see you there!

San Juan Mountain Wildflowers

2011-08-08T14:33:00.003-06:00

I recently returned from my annual pilgrimmage to the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado to hike, photograph, and just generally enjoy this year's wildflower spectacle. This year I was accompanied by friend, and fellow photographer, Steve Flowers from the Phoenix area. Steve and I have hooked up on a few adventures now and I couldn't have asked for a better companion on this trip. We both ticked off a couple of entries from our photographic "bucket list" when we decided we'd do a couple of short backpacking trips...the first in the Sneffels Wilderness to take in the incredibly scenic Blue Lakes area and the second to the renowned wildflower hotbed that is Ice Lake Basin near Silverton. Both of these trips were to be done as two night base camps incorporating hikes to the surrounding scenic locations for our morning and evening shoots.

Of course, one can't talk about hiking and photographing in these mountains during monsoon season without bringing up the weather. In short, it was cool, wet and altogether unpredictable...exactly what we were expecting! It rained every day on the trip with the exception of the day we drove in. I guess it was nice that we were able to ease into the trip with a nice dry camp near the Blue Lakes trailhead that first night. The clear sky, calm winds and rushing waters of the East Fork of Dallas Creek created a sense of calm that we wouldn't often get to experience for the remainder of the trip.

East Fork of Dallas Creek about 10 feet from my tent...sweet!

The first morning started just about the same way as any other backpacking trip has for me. I get everything ready, pack my gear into the backpack and hoist it on my shoulders to see how it feels. Hmmm....kinda heavy!! Damn that camera gear! Then I get on the trail and start up the first of many steep uphill sections...holy crap! I'm huffing and puffing and the air I'm breathing seems like it has to be every bit as thin as what Everest climbers experience near the summit. Through all my heavy breathing I'm trying to think of how to tell Steve what a stupid idea this was and that I was heading back to Ridgway in search of a good, stiff Bloody Mary!

Fortunately, before those words ever came to fruition, I started to catch my breath and get into a rhythm. I was still sucking wind, but it was getting more and more manageable. Before I knew it, we'd crossed into the wilderness boundary and the worst of the climbs were behind us. When we caught the first glimpse of Lower Blue Lake, I knew I'd made the right choice in eschewing that Bloody Mary. The appropriately named lake was an incredible turquoise blue, similar to lakes I'd seen in Canada's Banff National Park years ago. After a short period of oohing and ahhing over the lake we set up camp, had some lunch and relaxed a bit before heading out to investigate our surroundings.

Our goal that evening was to day hike to the rest of the lakes above us (Middle and Upper Blue Lake) and figure out which would work best for a sunset shoot. At first, it didn't look like we would be going anywhere as mid-afternoon thunderstorms rolled in and threatened to foil our plans. Fortunately, they petered out as quickly as they developed and after an early dinner we headed up the mountain. Neither of us were at all acclimated yet so it was a slow trudge upwards, even though all we were carrying was water and camera gear. However, the drop-dead gorgeous scenery helped to keep our minds off our physical woes a bit until we reached Middle Blue Lake and, shortly thereafter, Upper Blue Lake. The tundra setting surrounding these lakes was nothing short of astonishing, particularly all the wildflowers enveloping Upper Blue Lake. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't all that cooperative as it was somewhat windy and mostly cloudy. So for the next couple of hours Steve and I scouted out the area and enjoyed the company of the inquisitive marmots (which kept approaching within feet of us whenever we stood still or sat down for long periods of time).

Finally, about a half hour before sunset the winds subsided for a brief period and the sun magically lit the landscape allowing us an opportunity to photograph the upper lake. It didn't last long, but I was grateful for the chance to come away with a few decent images up there. It was the perfect end to a long first day in the backcountry.

Upper Blue Lake in the Sneffels Wilderness

The next morning our plan was to return to Middle Blue Lake with the hopes of shooting the sunrise with one one of the dominant peaks in the area reflected in the lake. We had scouted this scene the night before and both agreed it could make for a killer image. Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans...when I came out of my tent for our 4:30am wake-up call, it was clear and windy. Hardly worth the effort to hike back up to the lake. Instead, we crashed back into our tents for a quick catnap and tried our hand at shooting the lower lake at sunrise. While nothing great photographically came from it, I did encounter a composition that I hoped to revisit with (hopefully) better conditions the next morning.

After a leisurely breakfast and other assorted camp duties were complete, we decided to hike back up to the ridge close to the middle lake. There were several excellent overlooks down to the lower lake along the way with many wildflower fields spicing up the scene. With the lower lake in full sunshine, its turquoise color really popped and made for many stellar mid morning photographs.

Lower Blue Lake From Above

On the way back to camp, Steve took an alternative route and found an exquisite waterfall hidden in the trees. Since it was sunny at the time, we made a mental note to return later and continued on. By the time we returned and had some lunch, it was starting to cloud up in preparation for more afternoon storms. We took advantage of the cloudy period by shooting some of the nearby creek scenery (the East Fork of Dallas Creek passed right by our camp) and some more intimate wildflower scenes in the meadow between out tents and the lower lake. There was certainly no shortage of subjects, which was really nice. I even returned to waterfall Steve had found earlier to shoot it (Steve was too tired to trudge back up the hill...understandably). All in all, it was very productive afternoon of shooting.

Waterfall Along The East Fork of Dallas Creek

Unfortunately, that would be the end of our shooting for the day. Once the storms rolled in, they hung on right until sunset. Such is life in the mountains. All you can do is wait it out and hope for something better the next day.

And, boy oh boy, did mother nature ever throw us a bone the following morning! When I peaked out of my tent about 45 minutes before sunrise to see a fairly clear sky to the east with tons of cool clouds hanging over the surrounding mountains, I began to salivate! I hopped out of the tent, informed Steve of our luck, and quickly gathered up the camera gear and made my way over to the location I had scouted out the previous morning. The wait was excruciating, but when the sky lit up I was like a kid in a candy store shooting that scene and many others until the light finally became too harsh. It was an exhilirating morning and a perfect end to this segment of the trip. We leisurely packed up our rather soggy camp and headed back down to the trailhead...grinning all the way!

Sunrise in the Sneffels Wilderness

We actually decided to forgo camping the following night in order to both clean up and dry out our gear after the previous nights' thunderstorms. We found a hotel in Silverton and rejuvenated our bodies with restaurant food and a few beers....ahhh! We were ready for round two at Ice Lakes Basin in the morning.

When I awoke the next morning and poked my head out of the hotel window, I was stunned by what I saw. It had rained for a good part of the night (neither of us heard it through our deep slumber) and now there were low hanging clouds and fog all over the mountains. It was an incredible view to see and had we stuck to our plan to camp out, we would've undoubtably come away with some spectacular images. After a brief period of kicking myself, we packed up and headed out to the Ice Lake Basin trailhead. Steve was trying to be the voice of reason, explaining that we would've had to trudge heavy, wet gear up the trail had we camped overnight. He had a good point, but it still hurt leaving such good photographic opportunities by the wayside. I continued to grumble to myself all the way to the trailhead, until the task at hand finally diverted my attention.

Ice Lake Basin is actually a beautiful two-tiered basin found in the Silverton West subrange of the San Juan Mountains. The lower basin is below treeline at ~11,500', while the upper basin resides in the tundra at ~12,300' and is peppered with three lakes and a number of small tarns. A huge escarpment separates the two with many waterfalls raining down from the upper basin. It is quite a sight to behold! Both basins are covered in wildflowers from late July through early August.

For me, it was this area that lured me back to the San Juans this summer. Yes, the Blue Lakes were beautiful and a worthy destination in and of themselves. However, I'd been dying to see Ice Lake Basin ever since I moved to Colorado 4 years ago and, due to either injuries or conflicting activities, I'd yet to make it there. As I hoisted my backpack on my shoulders at the trailhead, a real sense of anticipation came over me. Of course, that anticipation waned a bit when we hit the first set of switchbacks! As steep as the Blue Lake hike was...this was worse. Fortunately, the former trip served as a good warmup, and while it was still a struggle to make our way skywards, I didn't feel as bad as I did the first time around. We arrived all sweaty and out of breath at the lower basin only to find that all the campsites we were interested in were already in use. By this time we at the base of the escarpment leading to the upper basin. It was at this point that Steve pulled a Cliff bar out of his pack and proclaimed that we should split it (for the energy) and continue on to the upper basin and camp. It was an iffy proposition as the sky was already graying up and the thought of being exposed to thunderstorms on the tundra was not very inviting at all. However, the thought of climbing up the steep and rocky escarpment in the wee hours of the morning (for each of the two mornings we'd want to shoot sunrise) didn't appeal to me either. I simply nodded and we continued on.

Upon arriving to the upper basin, two feelings swept over me. The first was a feeling of elation that I'd finally made it and am now seeing it with my own eyes. The second was a feeling of mild panic upon seeing all the gray clouds heading our way and realizing that we'd need to find a place to set up our camp in a hurry. Fortunately, the weather was able to hold until we did so. As soon as I stowed the last of my gear in the tent, the rain started. The remainder of the day was to consist of gray skies with on and off rain showers...heavy at times. But at least we were able to get out of our tents for periods of time and there was no lightning. We accomplished next to nothing photographically on this day and just resigned ourselves to wait until morning. We tried to do a bit of scouting, but felt we couldn't venture too far from the tents as the next wave of weather was never too far away.

When morning came, I held my breath as I first peaked outside the tent. I looked up and saw clouds everywhere. Then I looked to the east and saw a bit of clearing on the horizon where the sun would be rising. Woo hoo! We popped out of our tents and made our way a very short distance to a tarn that offered the best chance of a reflection of the jagged peaks surrounding the basin. It was the classic shot that most photographers take when they come here, but that was fine with us given our lack of time to scout for anything better (or different anyway). It was truly a magnificent sight when the first light turned those peaks blood red. We were in heaven and clicking away!

Upper Ice Lake Basin

After shooting around the tarn and our camp for a while, we regrouped with breakfast and plotted out our strategy for the rest of the day. The weather kept improving so I suggested to Steve that we hike out to Island Lake for a mid morning shoot. We were both very keen on shooting this turquoise colored lake (similar to Lower Blue Lake) and mid morning seemed the best time to get it done as the sun would be lighting the entire neighboring basin it resided in. It turned out to be a fantastic outing as the scenery didn't disappoint and we were treated to a beautiful sky filled with interesting high clouds all morning. I could've stayed all day, but the writing was on the wall when we looked back towards camp and saw rather large thunderheads starting to blossom to the south. It was time to go!

Island Lake and Ulysses S. Grant Peak

The rest of the day the weather pretty much deteriorated. Heavy rains with on and off thunder ruled the day. On the few occasions we were able to get out of our tents, we felt like drowned rats. Often the fog and low clouds were so thick that we couldn't see the mountains above us or the lower basin below. The boredom factor was very high! Finally, about a hour before sunset, the rains finally let up for the evening. Wearing every bit of clothing we brought with us, Steve and I took a walk in the gray, cold, and damp basin. We both eluded to how nice it would be to get back to civilization the next morning. Another day like this and we'd both be ready for the nut farm! Just as we finished with that thought I noticed a bit of lightness forming behind Pilot Knob, a prominent peak just to our west. A few minutes later we began to see some faint light on the hillsides to our east. We quickly made our way back to camp to dig out our stowed camera gear and made a beeline toward the edge of the escarpment looking down on the lower basin and the peaks toward Silverton. What ensued was a fantastic few moments of light just before and after sunset. It was difficult light to do photographic justice with on such short notice, but we didn't care. We were just glad to see it after the doom and gloom of the day.

Sunset Over Lower Ice Lake Basin

The next day was actually rather uneventful shooting wise. The morning greeted us clear and cold (with a bit of frost on the tents), and we did our best to make something of it. Upon returning to camp we started the long process of drying everything out before packing it away for the trip down. The clear and now warmer mid morning conditions made for a very relaxing and enjoyable hike back down to the trailhead. Upon returning to civilization, we checked in with the forecast and found that the monsoonal pattern was expected to intensify over the next couple of days. Intensify?? Really?? We had given ourselves an extra day or two for additional shooting at this point, but the pull of the warm desert was quickly winning us over. It was time to go home!

Ice Lake Reflection

To see additional images from this trip, click on the link below...

Summer in the San Juan Mountains

Spring In The San Juans - Art Show In Flagstaff

2011-06-22T13:36:00.006-06:00

I recently returned from a week long trip to the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The purpose of the trip wasn't actually photography driven this time. It was more of an anniversary trip for my wife and I as we were married out in Durango Mountain Resort three years ago. Of course, there was no way I was going to keep my camera in the bag over the entire week so I judiciously picked my moments in order to stay in the good graces of my better half!


Wilson Peak Framed - Alta Ghost Town near Telluride

It helped, for the most part, that the weather conditions during most of our stay were better suited for activities other than photography. Windy and clear conditions ruled for most of the week and I held my photography addiction in check fairly well as we hiked, rode horseback and visited with friends in the Durango area.

Horseback Riders at Boyce Lake - Near Durango Mountain Resort

That all changed near the end of our trip when we headed up towards Ridgway in the northern section of the San Juans. There I was treated to a morning of spectacular conditions along the Sneffels subrange. Leaving my wife to sleep in, I headed up county road 5 out of Ridgway towards the 13-14,000 ft. peaks that dominate the skyline in the area. It was peak wildflower time in the lower elevations and I knew right where a meadow filled with lupine would most likely be. Weather conditions were also perfect as the sky was clear in the east for the rising sun while post storm clouds from the prior evening continued to linger over the peaks. Finally, the frosting on the cake was that many late season snows have kept the peaks snowcapped very late into the spring. I couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions and my oh-dark-thirty wakeup time was rewarded with a fantastic sunrise and stellar shooting conditions all through the early morning hours. What a way to cap off a trip!!

Spring Sunrise Along The Sneffels Range

To see a handful of other images from this trip, please click on the link below...

http://www.explorethelightphotography.com/Travel/Spring-In-The-San-Juans-2011/17653056_8fp97H

Upcoming Art Show

On a totally unrelated note, I also wanted to announce that I'll be showing/selling my work at the Flagstaff Art In The Park festival over the fourth of July weekend. Show dates are July 2 - 4. I was very pleased with my first venture into the art show circuit over Memorial weekend and hope for continued success in this upcoming show. I've added a couple of metal prints to my arsenal for this show...that is, images printed right on aluminum with a high gloss finish. The vibrance and luminescence associated with this finish is nothing short of astounding. I've also added a 30x45 canvas triptych print of Havasu Falls to my display. Another must see item! If anyone is in the area over the holiday weekend, I encourage you to drop by my booth and say hi!

Entering the Art Show Circuit

2011-05-19T09:05:00.000-06:00

One of the reasons for my incredibly busy spring is that I've made the decision to enter the art show circuit this year. I've chosen this route over showing at local area galleries in an effort to both maximize my profits from print sales and to have more control over the marketing of my images. Of course, going this route definitely requires more work and initial expenses over the art gallery option. There's much research to be done to determine how to best display your wares (requiring the purchase of a tent, display walls, bins, etc., etc.) and the building up of an initial inventory. Then there's all the research and uncertainty that goes into which shows you should apply for and the agonizing wait to see if you've been accepted by the jury process. To make matters worse, a beginning artist can not even apply to a show until they have finished creating a show-ready display, complete with inventory, as all art shows require a picture of an artists fully stocked tent display with their application.

My Art Show Display

I'm not quite ready to share many of my thoughts and decisions that have gone into preparing for the art show circuit because, quite frankly, I haven't even done a show and have much yet to learn (the school of hard knocks will undoubtably come into play here). Perhaps later in the year I'll discuss this topic after I've had a couple under my belt. What I would like to do now is announce my current show schedule. It is as follows...

May 28 - 30 (Memorial weekend) - The Bell Rock Art Show in the Village of Oak Creek, AZ
July 2 - 4 (Fourth of July weekend) - The Flagstaff Art in the Park Festival
October 8 - 9 - The Sedona Arts Festival

I hope to add another show or two to this schedule later in the year and will announce those as I do. But until then, I hope to meet any Arizonans reading this at any of the three shows I've listed. The first show is now less than two weeks away and I can't wait to get started with this new endeavor!

The Soggy Columbia River Gorge

2011-05-18T22:28:00.002-06:00

Well, better late than never for this trip report. I spent the better part of five days in late April with Phoenix-based photography buddy, Steve Flowers, hiking to and photographing the magnificent waterfalls found mostly on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge near Portland. Let me tell you, being the desert dweller that I've become, it was a fantastic change of pace to experience the soggy, neon green filled gorge and its thunderous array of waterfalls. Only in Yosemite have I experienced such a congregation of enormous waterfalls in such a compact area...although the gorge definitely has it beat for sheer numbers.

The grandaddy of all the falls in the gorge is Multnomah Falls, which is one of the largest year round waterfalls in the U.S. at 620 ft. In the spring, the pure power of the falls is incredible. Photographing it is very problematic though due to all the spray in the air. Another factor making photography difficult were the crowds. The falls is right along the scenic road that runs along the Oregon side of the gorge and access is just a few steps from the parking lot. This translates into a copious number of visitors milling about the vicinity. Quite frankly, my time spent here was far from the highlight of my trip, despite the beautiful setting. I enjoyed the solitude I found at some of the lesser visited, but still spectacular, falls that required a bit of hiking to see.

Final

Multnomah Falls

And speaking of the hikes...both Steve and I agreed that it was a toss up between the Eagle Creek and Tanner Creek trail systems for our favorite hike. Both were truly spectacular with lush green vegetation and countless seasonal waterfalls raining down from the canyon side walls. Our main destination along Tanner Creek was Wahclella Falls. The thundering 65 ft. waterfall was one of three in the immediate vicinity. With a little scrambling, we were actually able to compose a scene which included all three. I could have hung out at that spot all day, but there was too much more to see so we soaked it all in for a short while before shooting a few other compostions closer to the falls and heading back.

Wahclella Falls Along Tanner Creek

Eagle Creek was equally fantastic over the section that we hiked. Our main destination here was Punchbowl Falls. Here, Eagle Creek explodes through a narrow rock channel before shooting 35 ft. into a bowl shaped amphitheater reminiscent of a punch bowl (hence the name). The vantage point shown below required a shallow wade to see in bone chilling waters. It left me wondering why the hell I didn't pack my canyoneering boots with neoprene socks as I could only stand the frigid water for short periods with the mesh water shoes I was wearing. Next time I'll know!

Punchbowl Falls Along Eagle Creek

While Eagle and Tanner Creek made for our favorite hikes, our single most favorite waterfall was definitely Elowah Falls along McCord Creek. The hike to this waterfall was short and mostly through the forest. But when you turned a corner and the sights and sounds of this magnificent waterfall makes itself known...well it was awe-inspiring to be sure! So much so that we returned to this area on three other occasions because we wanted to make sure we came away with a shot that both conveyed the beauty of the area and wasn't all spotted up from the massive amount of spray (along with rain and/or sleet!) in the air. If at first you don't succeed....

Elowah Falls Along McCord Creek

There were many other drainages that we visited during our five day whirlwind tour of the gorge...too many to bore you with in this writeup. There was one lesser visited creek that kind of stood out though. Not as much for its waterfalls, but for its neon green setting. The forest lining Gorton Creek was definitely the greenest area we saw...and that was saying something! I had a blast wading up and down the creek looking for interesting compositions on the last morning of our trip. But alas, it was time to trade the gorge greens for Sedona reds and head back home for the warmth of the desert!

Gorton Creek

To see more imagery from this trip to "The Gorge", click on the following link...

Waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge

Exploring Death Valley

2011-02-12T13:25:00.004-07:00

Given that winter has been almost non-existent (save for one December storm) in the desert southwest, I decided it was time to quit grumbling about it and go somewhere warm! Death Valley National Park in southern California had long been on my "must-see" list and I figured it was time for a visit. I figured since I'd be driving all that way (about 7 hours from Sedona), I'd make a side trip to the Alabama Hills Recreation Area on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains as well. The Sierras have also been high on my photographic bucket list and was time to pay them a quick visit.

Death Valley is actually a fairly recent member of the national park system...it was designated so back in 1994. Before then, it was bequeathed national monument status back in 1933. When it became a national park, the amount of land protected was increased. So much so, that it immediately became the largest national park in the continental U.S. (there are larger parks in Alaska). Because of its enormous size and remote location, a fair amount of planning is required to successfully photograph it...especially for a first time visit. One thing's for sure...don't expect to be able to do a quickie day trip here. The closest major city, Las Vegas, is almost a three hour drive. That's six hours spent before even seeing the park. Plus, many of the major sights within the park require anywhere from a half hour to more than two hours of drive time between them. That's a prohibitive amount of driving in my book. At least a one overnight is a necessity. I chose to spend four days in the park on this trip (with a fifth day spent at Alabama Hills). One would need to spend weeks here to really experience everything the park has to offer.

The main claim to fame in the park is that it's the hottest place in country. Triple digit temperatures are the norm from May through a good part of October, and can top out at over 120F! Needless to say the summer months are not the time to visit! Another is that the park contains the lowest point in the country (and second lowest in the western hemisphere) at 282 ft below sea level in the Badwater Basin. A common misconception of the park is that it's nothing but desert. So wrong! There are multiple mountain ranges present in the park with the Panamint Range being the largest. Telescope Peak in the Panamints rises to over 11,000 ft and can be viewed from the Badwater area. That's a lot of vertical relief in such close proximity!

Ok...enough of the background information concerning the park and on to my particular adventure! Probably the best way to tackle this is in the form of a day by day travelogue. So here goes....

Day 1: Long drive from Sedona, AZ to the little community of Stovepipe Wells within the park. Highlight of the drive was the Lake Mead National Recreation Area (including Hoover Dam)...lowlight was navigating my way through Las Vegas and all the crazy drivers.

Calling Stovepipe Wells a community is a bit of a stretch. It basically consists of a general store (with restaurant), a lodge and a very unsatisfying, wide open camping area. My reason for camping there on my first night was because it's situated only a couple of miles from the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes...a very popular and quite photogenic area. My hope was that there would be enough winds recently to minimize the number of footprints in the area. Things were looking promising when I began the long descent into the park as it was windy as all get out. Unfortunately, by the time I got to the dunes at the bottom of the valley, there wasn't a breath of wind! I arrived to see the dunes were all tracked up and not looking all that photogenic. Bummer!

There was one promising aspect of the weather, however. Lots of high streaming clouds abounded and the prospect for an interesting sunset got me all jazzed up. Now where to go?? My original plan of shooting the dunes wasn't too appealing. In the end, I settled on the Badwater area. Why? Because I knew it was still flooded from all the mega-rains the park received back in December and there might be some interesting reflection shots to be had. What didn't appeal to me was the fact that it would be roughly a 75 mile round trip. After a 7 hour drive the thought of that wasn't too thrilling, but I sucked it up and headed out there with the image below being the result. It was nothing too exciting for sure, but that had more to do with fact that I just didn't have enough time to scope out the area and had to settle for what you see once the sky started lighting up.

Sunset Reflection at Badwater

Day 2: I rose early and made my way out to the Mesquite Flats dunes under the cover of darkness. I had a feeling it would be a frustrating outing trying to find a decent untracked composition before first light. I was right! To make matters worse, as the sky slowly started lightening up, I could see the possibility of interesting pre-dawn light. I was actually able to find what I thought was a stellar composition before that happened, but the scene was just too tracked up. I snapped off a few shots anyway and spent the rest of the morning exploring the dunes in what turned out to be very flat, unphotogenic light (caused by high clouds obscurring the sun). Even though I didn't come away with anything too interesting that morning, I considered it to be a good outing as it gave me the opportunity to explore and locate some interesting compositions that I hoped to revisit under more optimal conditions. That's half the battle in my book.

After grabbing some lunch, I broke camp and headed 20 miles south to the community of Furnace Creek, where I planned to camp the second night. Furnace Creek had a bit more to offer than Stovepipe Wells, but the pickings were still pretty slim. Fortunately, I was pretty self contained and wasn't in need of anything anyway. My goal this evening was to further explore the Badwater Basin, particularly in search of the photogenic salt polygons that can be found there.

In normal times, the basin is bone dry with the exception of a small pond that can be found at the main Badwater parking area. However, with the December rains that pond was now an expansive, shallow lake that pretty much submerged most of the salt polygons that were normally found in that area. Instead, I decided to follow a graded dirt road that cut across the basin before paralleling it on the west side (the main highway runs along the east side). This road split off the highway well north of the flooded area so I hoped to find more polygons there. Bingo! The rest of that afternoon was spent exploring these smaller salt pans until I settled on my location for a late day shoot. The area of most interest to me contained a smaller pond that transitioned to a completely dry salt pan. It was the transition area that really caught my interest. There, the salt polygons were no longer submerged but still contained some unevaporated water in them. My thought was that this little bit of water would nicely reflect a colorful sky at sunset. Given that the current weather pattern of high streaming clouds showed no signs of abating, this was looking like a real possibility. To my amazement, I got my third straight sunrise/set with amazing sky color and my hopes were realized!

Salt Polygons at Sunset

Day 3: My subject of interest this morning were the fantastic badlands found at Zabriskie Point, a short 10 minute drive southeast of my Furnace Creek campsite. While most photographers shoot this from the scenic overlook adjacent to the parking area, I had planned to shoot from a different vantage point atop a ridge that was found immediately northwest of the parking area. Since this was my first visit, I decided the previous afternoon to stop by and scout the area to figure out where I wanted to shoot from. I was glad I did! While it wasn't that big of a deal to figure it all out in the daylight hours, it would've been much more difficult to do so under the cloak of early morning darkness. Thus, I eliminated what would've been inevitable frustration and wasted time and was able to go directly to my chosen spot on this morning.

Not all was perfect on this outing though. Not long before I dragged myself out of my sleeping bag, I noticed a slight increase in the wind. Since I'm cursed with being an extremely light sleeper, I notice stuff like that. By the time I got up, it was getting stronger and stronger. By the time I arrived at the top of the ridge, it was absolutely raging! Crap! There was really no way I was going to get a sharp image shooting along the top of the ridge. Since the wind was at my back, my only hope was to descend down a little ways and hope that would break the wind. That worked, but it was a harrowing descent given all the loose rock that sat on top of the steep, hard packed the walls of the ridge. I slid down quite a ways on my arse and was wondering if I'd ever stop! Finally I did on what turned out to be a perfect little ledge from which to shoot.

It wasn't until I was finished with the preoccupation of getting myself into position that I noticed that yet another sweet sunrise was in the offing. Somebody pinch me! I never get this lucky...better enjoy it while I can! Despite the still gusty winds, I was able to rip off some nice pre-sunrise shots. The first light shots were less impressive due to heavily filtered light by all the clouds. Can't have it all, I guess! After getting my fill of shots, I packed everything up and made my way back up to the ridge...very slowly and on all fours!

The Badlands at Zabriskie Point

That was the extent of my shooting on this day...by design. As this was Super Bowl Sunday, my plan was to drive out to the little town of Lone Pine, CA which is situated just outside of the Alabama Hills Recreation Area. Since this area is much more renowned as a sunrise location, I limited my activity to a little scouting before checking into my hotel, grabbing a shower, and watching the big game!

Day 4: Say it ain't so....another fabulous morning appeared to be in the offing as I made my way from the hotel into the Alabama Hills. While this turned out to be the last of my stellar conditions before the sky completely cleared, I'm not gonna complain. It was a good run! My main subject this morning was the spectacular Mobius Arch (also referred to as the Alabama Hills or Galens Arch). This fantastically shaped and textured arch is perfectly positioned to frame two of the most promiment peaks in the Sierras...Lone Pine Peak and Mt. Whitney. It's an iconic shot for sure, but who cares!

Mobius Arch and Lone Pine Peak

After exploring and shooting within the Alabama Hills for a few hours, I packed it in and made my way back to Death Valley and the Mesquite Dunes. This was going to be my last chance to get any kind of decent shots of the dunes. A wind event was in the forecast, but the timing was uncertain. Unfortunately, nothing materialized through the evening hours so I decided to walk back as far as I could into the dune field to see if I could find any interesting untracked compositions. It took a while, but I think I actually succeeded. At least I figured I came away with something of interest from there, even if the morning turned out to be a bust.

Shapes and Contours of the Mesquite Flats Dunes

Day 5: I was awakened around midnight on my final evening by some noisy camping neighbors. I layed awake in the bed of my truck (my tent of choice) and listened for any sign of wind. Nothing. After my neighbor rattled around some more, I poked my head up to see what was going on. It was then I noticed that the stars were no longer visible and the valley floor seemed to be enveloped in some sort of fog. Strange! After thinking about it a bit, I realized that it couldn't have been fog, it had to be dust. It was mere moments after that when the first wind gusts ripped through the campground, filling everthing with sand. I quickly closed the truck gate and topper before being buried alive! For the rest of the evening violent winds rocked my truck and pelted it with sand. It was very freaky and pretty much kept me awake the rest of the night. Then, almost as quickly as it began, it started to calm down. I checked my watch. Half hour til sunrise. Shit! I leaped out of my sleeping bag, started up the truck and hurried my way out to the dunes. This was gonna be my only chance to get some untracked shots. From the parking area, I double timed it into the dune field to the spot that I had found on the first morning of the trip. Nothing like trying to double time it through loose sand when just getting out of bed after getting no sleep!! It was exhausting, but I actually made it to the spot with a few minutes to spare (it helped that the sun had to first clear the distant mountains to the east). My exhaustion all melted away when the first rays of golden light swept over the dunes and I tripped my camera's shutter. My trip was complete!

Golden Morning Light On The Mesquite Flats Dunes

To see more imagery from this trip, click the following link...

Death Valley National Park Images

Above The Rim

2011-01-31T12:49:00.002-07:00

Ok...the title doesn't mean that I'm playing basketball again!! :-) It actually refers to the Mogollon Rim, an extended escarpment that forms the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau. This escarpment runs across a large section of Arizona beginning southwest of Flagstaff and extending through the White Mountains near the New Mexico border. Thanks to a fellow Sedona area photographer, Fred Parsons, I recently had a wonderful opportunity to fly over both the Mogollon Rim and the Sedona area with a glider pilot Ted Grussing.

Aerial View of Coffee Pot Rock, Wilson Mountain and the distant San Francisco Peaks

First off, I've got to say that for someone who doesn't embrace heights too well and hates rollercoasters, this adventure definitely took me out of my comfort zone! To make matters worse, the moderate winds that morning kicked up a fair amount of turbulence, making for a rocky flight. So much so that this ground hugger started feeling the effects of motion sickness and had to cut the flight short after a half hour or so. Despite my inability to cope with the bumpy flight, I was never really worried about any in-flight mishaps as Ted is a very accomplished pilot and his motorized glider was more than up to the task. Being a photographer himself, he also knows where to go for the best vantage points and did a great job of maneuvering the glider into position for the best shots.


Ted Grussing and His Motorized Glider

Of course getting in position to shoot a particular scene was only half the battle. Once there, I found it took a little skill and a lot of luck to actually get the shot. My strategy was to make use of a stabilized lens and fast shutter speeds (sacrificing depth of field) to overcome the lack of a stable platform for my camera. I also set the camera's focus mode to continuous as shooting a static subject from a moving position is no different than shooting a moving subject from a static position (the normal case when shooting wildlife, sports, etc.).

The final issue to overcome was how to frame the scenes of interest. I knew beforehand that the only place to get a clear shot out of the cockpit was going to be through a small sliding window situated just above my right leg. Thus, there was not going to be a way to look through the viewfinder when framing shots. It would've also been impossible to utilize the live mode on my Canon 5D Mark II as its fixed LCD screen would rarely be in a position where I could view it. My thinking was that the articulated LCD screen on my Panasonic GH1 (micro 4/3rds) camera would be the ticket as I would be able to utilize its live mode for framing. In the end, I'd say it helped a little but not nearly as much as I had hoped. Eventually, I found myself simply subscribing to the "spray and pray" philosophy...that is, I just roughly aimed the camera at the scene of interest and took a lot of shots of varying focal lengths. When I got home I then prayed that a few of them turned out!! However, had the flight not been as turbulent as it was, I don't think I would have had to resort to this practice as often.

The Mogollon Rim Near Sedona

Upon returning home and viewing my rather large volume of images, I was actually amazed at the unexpectedly high percentage of relatively sharp images I came away with. The compositions, however, were another matter. I probably came away with a dozen or so that I actually kept. And, of those, only a half dozen that I would ever really bother showing to someone. In reality though, I can't say that I really had expectations higher than that anyway, given the obstacles inherent to shooting from airborn vehicles.

Despite all my phobias and woes, I really must admit that this was a fantastic outing and the incredible views above Sedona's red rock fantasy land will be a memory that I won't soon forget! Ted has graciously offered to take me up again sometime with calmer winds and more optimal light. There's no doubt that I'm going to jump all over that offer!

Photography Tip: Shoot For The Moon

2011-01-20T10:46:00.002-07:00

With the current full moon cycle now at its peak, I thought it would be a good time to discuss my various strategies and thoughts about incorporating the moon into landscape photography. Surprisingly, it's something I only do very occasionally because, to really do it right, it usually takes a good deal of planning (more on this in a bit) and I often have other things going on that interfere with that. Sure, sometimes you simply luck into something decent, but that doesn't happen very often. To up your odds of success you really need to research when and where the moon will be rising (or setting) and then determine what type of subject can be included with it in your composition. Let's face it, nearly everyone has gotten their longest telephoto lens and shot only the moon, but really making an interesting photograph requires other subjects in your composition. The moon, when incorporated into a landscape image, is most effective when used as an accent to an already interesting scene.

Below is an image I took a number of years back (in my formative days as a photographer) when I first visited the Sedona area. I was photographing Cathedral Rock at Red Rock Crossing at a time when the moon happened to be passing over the monolith. I did not know it was going to be there as I didn't do any research on it. All I knew is that I had to try to incorporate it into a composition.

Moon Over Cathedral Rock - Sedona, Arizona

This attempt failed, in my mind, for a number of reasons. First all, the composition seems very forced. The moon is way too high above the formation which results in too much negative space (in the form of the clear blue sky) to make for an effective composition. Also, the moon is too small to really make much of an impact anyway.

This leads me to my next point...wide angle focal lengths aren't the best choice if you want the moon to make much of an impact in your composition. I've found it much more effective to search out distant compositions where you can utilize more telephoto focal lengths. In this situation, the moon appears much larger in relation to the subject your shooting, which can increase its impact dramatically. For example, the image below almost looks fake because of the abnormally large size of the moon in comparison to the Mitten Ridge formation (I shot this just the other day here in Sedona). However, I was actually quite a distance away from the formation and shot the scene at a 250mm focal length to create this effect.


Moonrise Over Mitten Ridge - Sedona, Arizona

As I mentioned earlier, images like the one above, involve a bit of research to get done right. I didn't just drive around to some location, set up my tripod and luck into the full moon rising in the middle of the formation. Nope! I made use of four different tools to get myself into the approximate area at the appropriate time (although I'll admit I had to do a little running about on foot to fine tune the moon's positioning). They are 1) a compass, 2) a watch, 3) a free software package called The Photographer's Ephemeris and 4) a funky homemade tool called an astrolabe.

I'll start off by discussing what's probably the most important of the four tools mentioned above...The Photographer's Ephemeris (which from now on, I'll refer to as TPE). While I won't go into specifics on how to use this nifty little program (it's pretty straightforward), I'll describe its purpose which is to calculate the sun and moon position for any given time of any given day. At a quick glance, one can determine what time the moon will rise/set and at what azimuth (i.e. the position along the horizon with 0 degrees denoting north, 90 degrees east, 180 degrees south, and 270 degrees west). One can also dig further to figure out the moon's azimuth and latitude for any given time it is visible. Latitude can be defined as an object's angle of inclination (in degrees) from the horizon. In other words, how high it is in the sky. This is a very important piece of information for those of us living in areas where the true horizon is obscured by hills, mountains, buildings, etc. TPE also comes integrated with slick google-based mapping graphics that allow you to click on specific locations and see the sun and moon rise/set angles in relation to the terrain at a glance. Very cool!! And did I mention it is free?? Kudos to Stephen Trainor (the developer and a photographer himself) for creating such a useful tool specifically targeted for photographers.

To look at a real life application of these tools, let's have a look at the research I put into obtaining the image below (which was again, shot during the January full moon cycle here in Sedona).


Moonrise Over Munds Mountain and the Two Nuns - Sedona, Arizona

My goal was to get a shot of the moon rising near the Two Nun formation...the twin spires in the lower right. First, I fired up TPE to determine what day the full moon fell on. Photography on the actual day of the full moon is pretty futile here in Sedona because the towering red rock formations require that the moon rise significantly before it will be seen. Since the moon rises fairly close to sunset when it's officially full, it is way too dark by the time it's visible and its brightness in relation to the landscape makes it problematic to photograph (to say the least). Usually the two days before are more productive as the moon becomes visible an hour or two before the sun sets.

With this in mind, I looked up the moonrise time two days prior to the full moon and determined it would rise approximately two hours before sunset. Also, utilizing the handy map in TPE, I determined I could get the moon rising in close proximity to the nuns if I shot it from the saddle of Cathedral Rock (which can be accessed via a short, but steep trail). The one thing I didn't know was what time the moon would actually be visible over massive Munds Mountain (the hulking rock formation behind the nuns) and what its azimuth would be at that point. Enter the need for the astrolabe. This is my simple tool of choice when it comes to measuring altitude. To figure this all out, I first hiked up to my shooting location the day prior to my shoot and measured the altitude that the moon would have to achieve to be visible. To do this I aimed the astrolabe's sighting mechanism (in my case a straw!) just above the cliff and got a reading of approximately 5 degrees. When I got home and fired up TPE again, I saw that the moon would achieve an altitude of 5 degrees about a half hour after moonrise and its azimuth would put it even close to the nuns. Perfect!

The next day, I returned to my location about two hours before sunset (thus the need for a watch) and spent the next half hour setting up for the shot and basking in the near 70 degree Sedona sunshine while I waited. Lo and behold, a half hour later, the moon peaked out from behind Munds Mountain very close to where TPE showed it would...thus affording me the shot above. Gotta love technology!

If the whole astrolabe and determining altitude thing is a bit more effort than you really want to put forth, that's ok. TPE will still get you in the general vicinity even if you don't bother with that bit of fine tuning. Just be prepared to have to do a little more running about to get the moon's position the way you want it. And also remember if you have large objects...like a mountain...obscuring the horizon, you may have to wait as much as an hour or more after the actual moon rise time before it becomes visible. That is often a long enough delay to really screw up your photographic plans...be forwarned!

So, in closing, utilizing the aforementioned tools is a good way to save time, ease frustrations, and up your odds of success when shooting moon scenes. Go ahead...give it a go!


Moonrise at Sunset - Sedona, AZ

Recap of 2010

2011-01-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well another year has passed us by so it's time for my annual list of top 25 favorite images for 2010 (in no particular order). It's been an absolute blast getting out and shooting the areas represented in this collection. I feel blessed to be given the opportunity to embrace such beautiful scenery on a regular basis.

Given the economy, 2010 has proven to be another difficult year for many of us, myself included. Fortunately, despite these woes, I continue to grow my photography business. Nature photography is a tough, competitive business as it is (even in good economic times), so I'm thankful for my increasing revenue and I'd like to thank each and everyone out there who's supported and helped me over the past few years. I also look forward to an exciting and prosperous 2011!

Without further ado, here's my top 25...

Top 25 Images Of 2010

Arizona Experiences Its First Major Winter Storm

2011-01-04T22:43:00.001-07:00

We've just gotten a little way into winter and already there's been some pretty crazy weather all over the country. Blizzards, bitter cold, flooding rains, tornadoes....you name it, it's been happening so far. Here in Arizona, we've just experienced the first major winter storm of the season and it really wreaked havoc in the northern half of the state. Heavy snow closed many of the major arteries to northern Arizona for almost a couple of days. One to two feet of snow were common in the high country and that was followed by bitter cold. There was even a dusting of snow in the mountains surrounding Phoenix!

Winter In Sedona

Here in Sedona we received only a few inches of snow, but it sure was purdy sitting on the red rock formations around town. I spent the day immediately after the storm photographing those and then made my way up Oak Creek Canyon to the West Fork area. By the time I got up there, I was astounded by the amount of snow I saw. One report I heard stated that the upper reaches of the canyon received 16 inches. I surely couldn't refute that and was ecstatic to see all the wet, heavy snow draped on all the cottonwoods and sycamores. I took a short, but exhausting hike into West Fork Canyon to check that out. Talk about incredible! And to my surprise, I was the first to make it over the rather treacherous first creek crossing. My reward for that was beautiful untracked snow that I could include in my compositions.

Wintry West Fork Canyon

Once I heard that the roads heading north had opened up, I gathered up the wife and dog and headed to the Grand Canyon. I had always wanted to photograph the canyon after a snowstorm and now I'd finally get the chance. It also seemed like a cool location to ring in the new year. What caught us by surprise though, was the bitter cold that we encountered. By the time I finished shooting the last sunset of 2010, the temperature was already below 0. By the time the first sunrise of 2011 came to being, it was -24 degrees!! Not quite what I signed on for! At least the bitter temps kept the crowds to a minimum.

The Last Sunset of 2010! From Yavapai Point.

Despite the cold temperatures, the wintry canyon was absolutely beautiful. Sure, I didn't get the epic conditions that can happen right as a storm is breaking, but I couldn't complain about the conditions I did get to witness over my three day stay either. For those epic conditions, I figured that I'll have to get to the canyon before a storm hits and wait it out. Next time!

Morning Light On The Canyon - From The Rim Trail Near Yaki Point.

My best words of advice for any photographer visiting the canyon in the winter months is this...get away from the major overlook areas! In the winter months, the access to roads and trails can be rather limited. When I visited, the road to Hermits Rest was closed indefinitely. Thus all the sight seeing tourists congregated to the those overlooks that were still accessible. Even a short walk along the Rim Trail (which connects most of the overlooks in the western end of the park) will afford you some measure of solitude. Plus all the snow covered cactus, gnarly trees and shrubbery make for great foreground material.

Wintry Canyon - From The Rim Trail Near Mather Point.

To see more shots from my latest winter outings around Arizona, check out this link...

Winter In Arizona

Gear Review: Clik Elite's Probody Sport Backpack

2010-12-09T12:42:00.004-07:00

Photographers, it seems, are forever in search of the perfect backpack to haul around their gear or at least a subset thereof. I know I am, and I've collected quite a few over the years. I've collected so many because I just can't seem to find that one design that does everything I need. Of course, I now realize that no such pack exists, especially when it comes to outdoor photography. This is because of the many different situations that can dictate how much gear one can/should bring along and what non-photographic gear is needed as well. For instance, photographers that shoot near a vehicle can afford to bring along large packs that'll stash most, or all, of their mammoth collection of photographic gear. Meanwhile, day hiking photogs that tend to spend half to a full day in the field will most likely pare down their gear into a smaller pack, unless they are the superhuman sherpa types that enjoy pain and suffering. Backpacking photographers will have different requirements yet. What I've found to be the best approach when buying a backpack is to first identify the specific set of needs that will be required of it. Be careful not to define your criteria too broadly as it will most likely result in a purchase you won't be completely happy with and probably cost you more money in the process...believe me, I've been there!

When I decided to enter the market for yet another backpack (which had my wife rolling her eyes when I proudly proclaimed my intentions), I knew exactly what I was looking for. I had packs to my liking that covered both the near the vehicle and backpacking shooting situations. What I found a glaring need for was something for those longer day hiking expeditions. Camera specific backpacks just don't cut it for me. While they store and protect camera equipment and tripods pretty well, they don't leave much, or any, room for clothing, food, water, etc. Also, their strap systems seem to be designed by kindergarteners as they just never fit right and always get uncomfortable over time. The closest I've come to a usable system for day hiking was with my previously reviewed Think Tank Modular system. However, moving to Arizona has revealed its biggest weakness...the inability to carry enough water for long outings in the desert. I found that I had to also carry a Camelback backpack (for hydration purposes) in addition to the belt and chest pack and strapping on all that stuff became a royal pain. In the end, what I really wanted was some sort of happy medium between a Camelback and a conventional camera backpack. Well, enter Clik Elite and their line of photographer-centric adventure packs.

Clik Elite packs are designed by photographers who are also avid outdoorsman. They "get" the need to create a comfortable and ergonomic backpack that'll safely and securely store camera equipment, yet still have a separate section for miscellaneous gear. And above all, they "get" the need to have a means of hydration built into the pack by integrating a sleeve compartment to house a water bladder (although a bladder is not included). There's even a mechanism to lash on a small tripod on their newer models. Once I saw these specifications I was hooked. It was just a matter of determining which of their various sized pack offerings would suit my needs best. In the end I settled on their Probody Sport model...thus the topic for this review.

Back View of Clik Elite Probody Sport

The Probody Sport is just the perfect size for me. It will hold my Canon 5D Mark II camera with a 70-200mm f/4 lens attached in the lower camera compartment and still have room for two additional lenses in dedicated compartments (I've been able to fit both a Canon 17-40 f/4 and 24-70 f/2.8 lens into these compartments. This was more than I really needed since I usually carry my camera with a lens attached in a front chestpack for easy access when I day hike. Thus, I have additional room for filters and other miscellaneous camera gear. On a side note, I should mention that Clik also offers a chestpack that nicely integrates with all their backpacks. Had I not already owned one, I would've seriously considered it as well.

View Into Camera Compartment (Canon 5D2 with 70-200 f/4 attached, 17-40 f/4 and 24-70 f/2.8)

The upper compartment is separate from the camera compartment although the separator can be removed...a nice touch that enhances the pack's versatility. It's just a single storage area that's good for stashing food and clothing in. It's large enough to hold a couple of clothing layers (or rain gear) and an assortment of snacks to get you through the day. I've got my rain gear stuffed in there on the pictures above. Then there's the integrated sleeve that runs along the back which houses up to a 100 ounce (3 liter) water bladder. While I really thought Clik should've included a bladder with the pack, it didn't really matter in my case as I already had a 3 liter bladder from a Camelback pack that I could utilize.

Another nice touch in the pack's design is the inclusion of a small zippered pouch on the top of the pack. The pouch is felt lined and perfect for quick access to a cell phone, mp3 player, sunglasses, wallet, etc. It's little details like this which really shows how much thought Clik put into creating an extremely useful pack.

Rounding out the notable feature list for the pack is a mechanism to lash a small tripod (and I emphasize small) to the side of the pack, a small outer mesh pocket to stash small items, and a zippered accessed media organizer where you can securely store memory cards, spare batteries, business cards, etc. The only real comment that I have here concerns the tripod attachment design. Here, the top of the pod is secured via a thin elastic cord that can be cinched down while the bottom of the tripod fits into a mesh pocket. While the mechanism works (as long as it is a small tripod), it is somewhat flimsy and has me questioning it's durability over the long run. Particularly the thin elastic tie down. I really wish Clik would have utilized something more sturdy here like an adjustable buckling strap. So the bottom line here is don't even consider trying to attach even a medium weight tripod and ballhead to this pack. The support just isn't there. My tripods are both lightweight so it isn't a concern for me (I own Feisol and Induro carbon fiber, four section tripods), but it may be for you.

Probody Sport with Feisol CT-3442 Tripod Attached

One last thought concerning this pack involves its overall construction. To me, it is extremely well made with beefy zippers and heavy gauge ballistic nylon. I don't have any doubts that the pack will last a good long time. My only complaint is that Clik didn't really address any real waterproofing issues in the design. While they state that the zippers that access the camera compartment are water-resistant, there's no mention that the pack's nylon material itself is water-resistant in any way. Given that, I really wish that they would have at least included some sort of a rain cover for it. It's inevitable that you'll get caught out in the rain on day long hikes (even in the desert) and protection for its precious camera cargo is a must in my book.

Side View Of Pack

Rear View of Pack

Conclusion:

This pack has been a godsend to have with me on the longer day trips I've taken in the Arizona desert. No longer do I have to be concerned with the issue of how to carry enough water to get me through the day. I just fill the bladder and I'm good to go. Combined with my chestpack (or even without), it affords me enough room to carry everything I've needed...both in terms of camera gear and the other stuff. I've also found the strap system to be very comfortable. I'll load down the pack and hardly even feel like I'm wearing it...a good sign that Clik designed it right. My only real complaints involve the tripod carrying design and the waterproofing issues. While there's no current issue carrying my tripod, I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that it stays that way. As far as the lack of any type of rain cover goes, I'll have to do a little research to see if I can come up with a workable cover. This pack is just too useful to let that issue drag it down. Hopefully, it's something that Clik will address with the next iteration of this model.

Exploring Sycamore Canyon

2010-12-06T20:27:00.010-07:00

I forgot to mention my recent explorations of Sycamore Canyon in my previous blog post so I decided to dedicate a new post exclusively for it. Sycamore Canyon is one of two major canyons that flank the Sedona area in central Arizona. The other is Oak Creek Canyon, by far the more popular and crowded of the two. In comparison, Sycamore Canyon is like the shy little sister that never gets any attention and likes it that way. While steep walled and narrow Oak Creek Canyon has a beautiful perennially flowing stream and a car-choked road leading right up its gut, Sycamore Canyon only has a seasonal stream (with the exception of the southernmost three miles where it is perennial) and no roads whatsoever. It's a designated wilderness and is THE place to be in the Sedona area if solitude in a beautiful red rock canyon is your thing and you don't mind working for it.

Over the last few weeks, I've explored this canyon a few times at various entry points in an attempt to bask in the scenery that few casual visitors to the region will ever see. My first couple of ventures involved day hiking along the only perennially flowing stretch of Sycamore Creek up to Parsons Spring, taking in a gorgeous swimming hole along the way. This hike takes you along a stretch of the creek that is bordered by inner canyon walls, thus you never get to see the entire scope of the outer canyon. Regardless, it's a beautifully riparian canyon hike that is very different from what you see in rest of this wilderness. I did this hike twice because I wanted to photograph it both with green foliage and then again with fall colors lining the creek's banks.

A Swimming Hole Along Sycamore Creek

Autumn View From Parsons Spring Trailhead

My next adventure involved a backpacking trip deep into the heart of this wilderness. My buddy, Greg Rynders, and I originally planned for this to be a three day trip starting at the Dogie trailhead on the east rim of the canyon. From there we planned to backpack the Taylor's Cabin to Casner Mountain loop, some 21 miles that descends down to the creek bed to an out-of-commission (but restored) rancher's cabin and ascends back up via the Taylor Cabin trail to Casner Mountain. However, it being late November and all, the weather usually has the final say on all plans and it turned out to be far too cold (for our liking) to consider camping atop Casner Mountain. As it was, we awoke to a snow covered tent on our overnight at Taylor's Cabin which is nearly 2000 ft below Casner's summit. We opted (wisely, we both agreed) to shorten the trip to a single night out and back from the cabin. To change things up a bit, we did choose to come back a slightly different way by hiking the dry creek bed (instead of the official trail, which followed a bench high above the creek) back to the intersection with the Dogie Trail. While this boulder hopping route was tough on my chronically bad ankles, the new viewing perspective it afforded us definitely made it worth the while.

Taylor's Cabin - Sycamore Canyon Wilderness

The target of my final adventure involved finding some Sinagua Indian ruins that I had read about when researching for the above-described backpacking trip. These spectacularly set ruins were a must see from everything I read and I had really wanted to incorporate them into the backpacking trip, but we decided that was best left for another day. Well "another day" turned out to be a week later. After doing a little research, I discovered that I could actually drive to a trailhead located less than a mile from their location. Of course, this drive would be no walk in the park. While these ruins are located about 25 miles as the crow flies from my house, it took close to three hours to get there. It was a drive that involved 20 miles of washboarded shelf road followed by 12 more miles of bone jarring 4x4 road. In the end, the payoff was worth it though. In my opinion these ruins rate right up there with the False Kiva ruins in Canyonlands National Park for their scenic surroundings. It was a great way to cap off my Sycamore Canyon experience...for now!

Sinagua Indian Ruins - Sycamore Canyon Wilderness

Happy Holidays Everyone

2010-12-06T13:40:00.006-07:00

Ok....after a good start, I've been really bad at maintaining this blog. I apologize for this and hope to change. I guess it will be part of my new year's resolutions!

Anyway, a lot has happened in my life since my last blog entry with the most major change being that I relocated from southwest Colorado to Sedona, Arizona. The particulars of this move kept me extremely busy over a large part of last summer. Of course, I still made sure that I found time to start photographing my new surroundings as I need to keep adding to my portfolio to make a living.

View From Brins Mesa - Sedona, AZ

As many of you probably know, Sedona is a photographer's dream that is surrounded by red rock monoliths, canyons and even lush riparan areas. Our move to this paradise corresponded with the beginning of the monsoon season which added stormy skies, rainbows and lightning into the mix. It was definitely a summer to remember!

Rainbow Over The Red Rocks

Monsoon Sky Over Cathedral Rock

Click on the link below to see a sampling of the summertime images I've collected.

Summertime In Sedona

Once the summer wound down and we finally got settled in from the move, I began researching my autumn shooting strategy in the area. Autumn shooting in Arizona??? You bet!

Agassiz Peak - San Francisco Peaks

While maybe not as spectacular as what I've grown accustomed to in the Colorado rockies, there are still many fascinating areas to soak in autumn in Arizona. Because of the vastly different elevations and ecosystems found in the state, there's fall color to be found anytime from September through December. Not many states can boast that!

West Fork Canyon Reflections

Most of my first fall color shooting season was spent in the San Francisco Peaks (near Flagstaff), Oak Creek and West Fork Canyons (near Sedona), and some of the scenic drainages of the Mogollon Rim near Payson.

Oak Creek near Sedona

You can see a collection of images from my wanderings by clicking the link below...

Autumn In Arizona

One other thing to note before I sign off is that I now have my 2011 Desert Southwest scenic calendar available for purchase. You can preview and purchase the calendar here. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope the upcoming holidays are merry!!

Springtime in the Desert

2010-04-04T11:26:00.012-06:00

After what's been a long winter, I had really been looking forward to this trip in which I planned to head for the warmth of the desert. Originally, I figured to spend this entire adventure in search of wildflowers in the Sonoran Desert surrounding Tucson and Phoenix. However, on my recent winter trip to Moab, I was approached by friend and fellow photographer, Bret Edge, about the possibility of joining him for a three day, four wheel drive trip into the backcountry of Canyonlands National Park. He had scored the difficult to obtain permits for two nights of camping along the park's White Rim Road, an approximately 100 mile rugged drive through some spectacular canyon scenery along the Colorado and Green Rivers. His trip dates ran from March 22-24, right when I planned to head to the Sonoran Desert, but there was no way that I was going to pass up this opportunity. So I decided to incorporate both of these destinations into a longer road trip to get the best of both worlds!

The White Rim in Canyonlands National Park

A couple weeks before this trip was realized, I was also happy to hear that a couple of other Colorado photographer friends, Jim Talaric and Rod Hanna, would also be joining us. The four of us initially met on a fun trip to the Page, AZ area a little over a year ago so I was looking forward to reuniting with everybody. So after meeting up the night before for a little photography and dinner, we embarked on our journey the next morning. The first thing that struck all of us was how slow the going was going to be. While the White Rim Road was far from a technical four wheel drive track, it often required very slow speeds and that made for long days on the road...especially when mixed in with frequent stops to take in (and photograph) the sights along the way.

Driving Along The White Rim Road

The other thing we quickly realized was that this was going to be more of a scouting trip than a productive photography trip. While our camping areas were located in beautiful settings, they weren't necessarily places that translated to great photography. We encountered what we felt were the best photographic locations during the midday hours while we were making our way along the road. To get back to these locations during more favorable lighting conditions would have involved long, rugged drives under the cover of darkness...which none of us were too keen on doing. Still, I came away with a few decent photographs and now know some excellent locations to return to for an overnight trip or even a quick in and out venture. That knowledge, coupled with the excellent company provided by Bret, Jim and Rod made this a very memorable first leg of my journey.

Washerwoman Reflection in Canyonlands National Park

Upon parting ways with Bret, Jim and Rod I made my way south towards the area of Bluff, Utah. After a final half day's worth of driving along the White Rim Road, I really didn't feel like doing anything more than the two hours of driving to get there. Besides, this would give me the opportunity to shoot a subject that I've wanted to revisit for some time now...the Goosenecks of the San Juan River. Goosenecks State Park is located in a spectacular setting overlooking the San Juan River some 1000 feet below while it meanders in series of horseshoe shaped loops. While I had visited this state park a few times now, I had never been there at the time of day or had weather conditions conducive to good photography. My plan was to shoot it before sunrise and shoot multiple images that I'd later stitch together to create a single, panoramic image. I arrived that night to scout out the area for the best panoramic vantage point (which turned out to be right at the main overlook), and set up camp for the chilly night ahead.

Goosenecks of the San Juan River

Upon spending the early morning hours shooting Goosenecks State Park and nearby Valley of the Gods State Park, I made my way to Flagstaff, AZ for a badly needed shower and my next photographic subject....the Grand Falls of the Little Colorado River. These falls, situated on the Navajo Indian Reservation near Flagstaff, are the largest in the state when flowing. The catch is that for 11 months out of the year, they are reduced to a trickle. Only during spring melt and after the occasional monsoon do these falls show off their awesome grandeur. Fortunately, my timing was good and the water was roaring down the basalt lava cliffs which formed these falls during an ancient eruption. These falls are often dubbed "Chocolate Falls" due to the extremely muddy content from spring runoff.

Grand Falls of the Little Colorado River

While I really enjoyed my time hanging around this awesome display of nature, mother nature tried her best to make life miserable photographically. High winds (you know...the type that'll blow your hat off or tip over your camera and tripod if you don't keep a constant grip on them) and mostly cloudy conditions made for less than stellar photography. Still, I managed to come away with a few worthy images.

I was quite shocked when I woke up the following morning and looked out my hotel window to see snow flying! By the time I packed up and left it was near whiteout conditions and the snow was beginning to accumulate in earnest. Are you kidding me?!? It was definitely time to get the heck out of dodge! It wasn't long before I cleared the storm and by the time I hit my destination for the evening, Picacho Peak State Park near Tucson, it was a balmy 70+ degrees. Now that's more like it!! Unfortunately, clear skies and windy conditions made wildflower photography very problematic. This was compounded by the fact that I wasn't finding any good congregations of wildflowers to begin with. In particular, the wildflower displays on the flanks of Picacho Peak were very disappointing. And I found next to nothing when exploring nearby Saguaro National Park (the west unit) that evening. What did really strike me though, was how green the desert was...even more so than when I first visited in January. It was an incredible sight to see!

Petroglyphs at Saguaro National Park

The next day I finally got my first good dose of wildflower viewing when I hiked around Catalina State Park just north of Tucson. A side spur of the Sutherland Trail provided the best viewing and I spent the better part of the evening photographing that area. Patience was definitely the name of the game due to the windy conditions. I'd find a composition I'd like and wait anywhere from 15-30 minutes for a sufficient lull in the winds to get one shot. If you weren't paying attention when the lull came, you'd be waiting another 15-30 minutes! It wasn't the most productive photography, but I didn't mind. It was warm and the scenery was breathtaking.

Poppy Carpet at Catalina State Park

The next day I entered into the final phase of the trip as I headed back north to the Phoenix area. Here, I'd be meeting up with my wife, dog and an old (non photographer) friend from Minnesota, Greg Rynders. My camping for the trip was now done and I entered the cushy world of hotels, flush toilets and restaurants. The windy and clear conditions persisted which caused photography to take a back seat to hanging out, hiking and dining with my new company. The best photographic opportunity at this point came when we all visited Bartlett Lake northeast of Phoenix. The wildflower displays along the roadside of this lake were magnificent in places.

Mexican Poppies and Lupine at Bartlett Lake

My final photographic attempt of the trip occurred at Lost Dutchman State Park on my final day. Here it was just myself and man's best friend...my dog Yoda. The plan was to hike up the Siphon Draw trail and look for anything photographic along the way. Unfortunately, this day the clear sky and windy conditions were accompanied by 90 degree temperatures and poor Yoda quickly wilted in the heat. By this time, so did my aspirations of producing anything decent photographically so we packed it in early and called it a day. Sometimes, the desert just gets the best of you. I was ready to head home!

To see additional images from my springtime desert southwest journey, click on the link below...

Springtime in the Desert Imagery

Gear Review: Think Tank's Modular Component System

2010-03-15T09:32:00.001-06:00

One of my major goals last summer was to finally dive into backpacking with the intent to start photographing landscapes that were farther off the beaten path. I had meant to do this in each of my first two summers living out here in Colorado, but nagging injuries of one sort or another prevented that from happening. It wasn't until last summer that I felt the time was right. As experienced backpackers know, there's a lot to learn logistically concerning what one should (and shouldn't) take along on these types of trips. One must consider the weight vs. convenience factor on many of the items that get brought along. Bring too much and you'll suffer with an overweight backpack on the trail. Bringing too little can reduce the fun factor of a trip to the point where you start to wonder why you're doing this. Sometimes you just got to have that extra thick sleeping pad, good book or ipod!

Serious photographers have a couple of other very important considerations...how much of their suitcase full of camera gear can/should they lug along and how should they carry it? Many "weight weenies" may feel that a simple point in shoot is all they need/want to carry. Not me! Like I stated at the top, backpacking for me is a means to photograph lesser visited scenic places and I wanted the best quality images possible. Therefore bringing my Canon 5D Mark II DSLR, at least two lenses, a tripod, and other assorted gear were an absolute prerequisite. I'd gladly make concessions with other gear in order to make this happen. My decision on how to carry my photographic gear is what has provided the fodder for this particular review. I chose to invest in a modular carrying system that would allow me to carry my DSLR camera in a chest pack while on the trail and a belt system which would allow me to carry the remainder of my gear (the lenses and miscellaneous stuff) after I've set up camp and start hiking around looking for photographic subjects. After a long research process, I settled on Think Tank's modular component system and hand picked the following items:

The Digital Holster 20 to house my Canon 5D Mark II (or 50D) and lens.
A Digital Holster Harness which allows the above pack to be worn as a chest pack.
A Pro Speed Belt, a padded waist belt required to carry Think Tank's modular components.
Two Lens Changer 25 drop in pouches which fit my 17-40, 24-70 and 70-300 lenses.
The Skin Chimp Cage bag for filters and other misc. equipment.

One thing to note is that Think Tank offers many, many other component options besides those that I've listed above. That allows every photographer the flexibility to figure out which best fulfills their needs for the gear they want to carry.

Before getting into the actual review of the items I've identified, first I'd like to give the reasons why I chose the Think Tank modular component system over other manufacturer's systems. It really boiled down to a couple of things...the Digital Holster 20 was the smallest pack I found that held my 5D2 with any of my lenses attached and the belt system was designed in such a way that its accessory packs can slide around the belt. This allows you to keep the packs attached to the belt behind you and out of the way while hiking with the option of swinging them around your waist for easy access while shooting. A very slick and convenient feature IMO.

The Digital Holster 20 and Harness:

This was really the most important part of the system I was investing in. Whether I opted to carry a conventional camera backpack, a full blown backpack, or the belt system, I wanted this chest pack in order to carry my 5D2 or 50D with one of my lenses attached. Why, you ask? Because I've found over the years that if I leave the camera in a backpack, I either don't have enough time or the will to shoot the spur of the moment adventure or wildlife scenes that sometimes present themselves while on the trail. I've simply passed up too many shots of hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, etc. that may have made for sellable stock images. With an easy to access chest pack, I'm far more likely to capture these moments.

Like I stated earlier, I really like the Digital Holster 20 because of it size. It snuggly fits (and I mean snuggly) my 5D2 with its L bracket mounted and any of my lenses attached (more on this in a moment). Any other manufacturer's design involved a substantially larger pack in order to house this combination. The last thing I wanted was a pack that became so large that it blocked out a good portion of the trail in front of me while hiking. The Digital Holster 20 doesn't do that and I can utilize it "as is" with my Canon 17-40 f/4, 24-70 f/2.8, or 70-300 f/4-5.6 lenses (without lens shades). For those times I want my 70-200 f/4 or even 400 f/5.6 lens attached I can unzip the bottom of the pack providing a "pop down" extension section for these larger lenses. A very thoughtful touch!

Other thoughtful features built into this pack are a felt-lined protective flap on the inner top (to protect the camera's LCD from scratches), inner and side zip pockets (good for memory cards and spare batteries), and a see through business card holder on top which has come in handy for handing out cards while on the trail. If you are not interested in carrying it as a chest pack, it can also be mounted to the speed belt or simply carried as a shoulder bag (a shoulder strap is included). All in all, it's a very versatile bag and I've been very pleased with it. It even comes with a seam sealed rain cover. While it's a bit cumbersome to use at first, it became the bag's most important feature while on a 6 day backpacking trip in Colorado's San Juan Mountains during monsoon season! I'm happy to report that the camera came through the trip high and dry!

My only nit involved using the pack with the chest harness as it's not very intuitive to put on. It just seemed like it takes a bit more contorting than necessary. It particularly became troublesome when putting it on over my hooded rain gear as I needed help from my hiking partner to get it situated properly.

The Pro Speed Belt and Accessories:

I've always been a camera backpack user (and still am for many situations), but I've found that I really like using the belt system for longer day hikes when I want to take a minimum of gear. It's lighter weight and easier access to gear is a great selling point. In particular, it's the easier access to gear where this belt system really shines as most such systems require the accessory packs to be attached to a fixed position on the belt. Moving a pack to any other position requires removing it from the belt and reattaching it somewhere else...a very inconvenient process when you have to do it in the field. All the belts offered by Think Tank give you the option to "lock" an accessory pack into a certain position or attach it "unlocked" with the ability to freely rotate it around the belt. It's the latter option that I find to be a compelling feature for reasons already stated above. My only real complaint about the belt so far is that I find it very difficult to readjust its fit. This becomes a real pain when adding or removing bulky clothing while on the trail. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I'd really like to see a better mechanism for tightening and loosening this sucker!

As far as the accessory packs go, they've worked out pretty well for the most part. The lens pouches come with a bungee corded draw string (for easy opening and closing), an outer mesh pocket (handy for storing the lens cap when shooting) and a seam sealed rain cover. Like all of the packs in Think Tank's system, they are lightly padded with an emphasis on being more lightweight and compressible. I found the design to be excellent, but I did have a quality control issue with one of them. The sewed seam around the top (where the draw string is) became unraveled after only a few uses, requiring a repair job on my part (I didn't want to bother with sending it in for such a simple repair). It's been fine ever since.

I've found the Skin Chimp Cage bag to be a very useful accessory pack for my purposes. It's true design is for use in carrying a pro sized SLR camera body and thus it was a bit larger than what I really needed when backpacking. However, I've found it to be a perfect size to store all my miscellaneous equipment (my filter packs, camera remote, teleconverters, etc) and maybe a snack or two while on day hikes. It's simple in design and utilizes a combination of velcro flap enclosures and a bungee cord draw string for quick access to gear. And like all the other accessory packs, it comes with the ubiquitous seam sealed rain cover.

Below are my completely miserable attempts to model all the gear discussed here. Winter still has its icy grip on the southwest Colorado area so I had on clothing that wasn't all that optimal for showing off the chest pack and belt. Hopefully, it gives you an idea though. Click on either image to see it enlarged.

Conclusion:

By this point, you've probably gathered that I've been very pleased with Think Tank's modular component system...and you'd be right. I've been using this solution on and off for almost a year now and have found it to work really well for my needs. It's also nice to know that there are many more add-on options available should those needs grow. It's a well designed (with the exception of its belt resizing mechanism) and thought out system that emphasizes being light in weight over excessive padding. While it isn't a solution that'll have me selling off my camera backpacks, it's a nice gear carrying option to have for certain types of shooting. Whether that makes it worth the cost of its investment is, of course, up to each individual photographer. In my case, the answer was an emphatic "YES".

If you have any questions concerning this review or additional points to make concerning Think Tank's modular component system, I encourage you to leave a comment. Thanks for stopping by!

New Images From Northern Arizona

2010-03-09T14:22:00.022-07:00

Mother nature has been pretty tough on the entire country this winter (I know my back is killing me from all the shoveling) and the desert southwest has been no exception. Wave after wave of rain and snowstorms have made their way across the region in an unrelenting procession. Because of this, I felt fortunate that the weather cooperated for two of the four days I recently spent in northern Arizona. It was particularly fortunate that the day spent guiding a client into North Coyote Buttes and the Wave was nothing short of spectacular. Since visitation to this area is only allowed via a hard to obtain permit, one must roll the dice with the weather and hope for the best. Well, we definitely rolled a lucky number seven on this day! The only bummer was that there were no cool reflection pools in the Wave from the previous day's rain. On the positive side, it keeps me motivated to return until I finally get those conditions! Dang...I gotta keep going back to the Wave!!!

An Abstract View Of The Wave

Of course, the Wave is just one of the incredibly interesting features that can be found in North Coyote Buttes. Sandstone teepees, brain rocks, arches, and other whimsical formations are everywhere. It's easy to spend the entire day exploring the area and getting creative with your photography.

Rene About To Take A Bite Of Hamburger Rock

Last, but not least, no day is complete without photographing the incredible sandstone formation known as the Second Wave until its overcome by shadows late in the day. Just make sure you have a gps (or a good map and compass) to help find your way back to the trailhead in the waning light. It can be a little tricky, especially if it's your first time there.

The Second Wave

After spending an entire day in North Coyote Buttes, my plan the next day was to visit a little known canyon deep within the Hopi reservation. While Blue Canyon is definitely what I'd call remote, it's sheer beauty definitely warrants a visit. Its collection of white and red capped hoodoo formations make you wonder what planet you're really on!

Blue Canyon's Fragile Hoodoos

The problem this day was that the weather didn't look like it was going to cooperate. Cloudy morning conditions had me considering an early trip home as the next wave of stormy weather was supposed to arrive in full force the next day. Instead, I kicked myself in the rear and drove to it under the guise that it would be a scouting mission. Funny thing happened on this scouting mission...the weather unexpectedly improved and I was actually forced to pull out my camera and use it! While I lost my light about an hour before sunset, I was able to come away with some respectable, if not spectacular, shots from this otherworldly place. It was a nice introductory experience for many return trips, I'm sure. The other issue hastening my early exit from the area was an approaching rain storm. Blue Canyon is not a place you want to drive in or out of when the roads are wet. Even with four wheel drive, you'll simply slide off the road. Also, flooded wash crossings in either direction will more than likely cut off any chance of escape. Seeing as I had no camping equipment on this trip, it was time to get the heck outta dodge and make my way back home!

Storm Approaching Blue Canyon

On a final note, I want to make mention about the thing that really struck me during my visit to this canyon, and that was the fragility of the place. The caps of several hoodoos were lying on the ground throughout the area (as shown above) and its amazing that others are still intact given the extreme weather this area is subjected to. It's a reminder to please tread lightly when visiting this beautiful creation of nature. We don't need to hasten this process of destruction!

To see more images from this short excursion to North Coyote Buttes and Blue Canyon, click on the link below...

Northern Arizona Image Collection

Moab's Wintry Magic

2010-02-16T10:24:00.016-07:00

When it comes to winter scenery, nothing compares (in my opinion anyway) to the sight of seeing the desert southwest's red rock scenery when dusted with a layer of snowfall. As much as I'm a fan of snowy mountain scenics, I just have to give the nod to the desert southwest. And in this sector of the country, two places jump out at me above all others for winter viewing pleasure....Bryce Canyon National Park and the area surrounding Moab, Utah. After the latest in a series of snowstorms finished sweeping across the southwest section of the country, I finally decided it was time to pay a visit to the Moab area. With it being a mere 3 hour drive from my home, it's pretty easy to time a visit to catch the clearing of most storms. The real big storms can be the exception as it's sometimes foolish to attempt the drive through southwest Colorado, but that wasn't the case this time. As I arrived in Moab, the sky immediately above town and the adjacent national parks (Canyonlands and Arches) were mostly sunny but the La Sal Mountains were still enshrouded in clouds. Perfect! I headed to a favorite place of mine to shoot the otherworldly sandstone formations of the Behind The Rocks Wilderness Study Area against the La Sals and waited for the mountains to clear. Fortunately, the weather obliged and the mountains slowly made their appearance.

Mt. Tukuhnikivatz Behind The Rocks

It was a glorious evening of gazing at the juxtaposition of red rocks against snowy mountains as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky coloring the rocks an ever deeper shade of red. This was exactly what I had come for!

For the following mornings shoot, I found myself in the windows section of Arches National Park. This is one of the more dramatic and popular sections of the park but I only encountered one other photographer in the area during my sunrise shoot. Gotta love the non-existent crowds during the winter season! While the shoot was somewhat unproductive due to cloud cover at the eastern horizon, the peacefulness of the morning more than made the early wakeup call worthwhile.

I usually spend the afternoons on trips like this doing things unrelated to photography...like catnapping, eating, exploring town, etc. However, on this afternoon I actually had a photography subject in mind. I wanted to catch the sun as it crossed through Landscape Arch, the largest spanning arch in the world according to what I've read. My plan was to photograph the scene just as the sun intersected with the arch using a very small aperture which would yield a nice sun star effect. I had researched this occurrence before the trip and had obtained the time of day for this intersection from a photographer who shot the scene in early March. The trick was that I was there more than a month ealier so I'd have to extrapolate a time from that. I figured it would probably take 2 or 3 visits to get the timing right, but what else did I have to do anyway?? With an initial guess in hand I drove out to the Devil's Garden trailhead and trudged up the icy trail for less than a mile to the arch. To my amazement, I arrived just moments before the sun intersected the arch. What fortuitous timing!

Sun Star at Landscape Arch

Shooting sun star images like the one above can be a bit tricky. For the case above, I shot three exposures... one to properly expose the sun star, the sky and finally the arch itself. I then used Photomatix's Exposure Fusion method (Photomatix is a high dynamic range software tool) to blend the three exposures, creating the resulting image. Until now, I've never been a fan of using HDR software when blending as it usually results in images with halos and other funky artifacts. I'd always preferred the "old fashioned" method of blending in photoshop using layer masks where I had far more control of the final result (at the expense of it being a very time consuming effort). Well, Photomatix's relatively new Exposure Fusion feature may change all that. With very little effort, I was able to come up with an image similar to what would have taken me an hour to create using layer masks. Very cool! It has definitely found a home in my post-processing toolkit.

Ok, sorry for the geeky software techno-babble in the above paragraph....this is a trip report so it's time to get back on topic! After shooting Landscape Arch, I had hoped to continue on the Devil's Garden Trail to Double O Arch. Double O is a fantastic arch that I've yet to shoot in the winter and it's a nice late afternoon subject. The problem was I didn't realize how much snow that area of the park had received. It was far more than other lower areas and I was only able to continue on for a half mile or so before the trail disappeared and the snow became too deep to navigate without skis or snowshoes (neither of which I was wearing). As it turned out, it didn't matter as the clouds were thickening from a storm passing well to the south which would pretty much wipe out any photographic opportunities for the next 24 hours.

The highlight of my following evening's venture was attempting to shoot Double Arch (not to be confused with Double O Arch) under cover of a starry sky. Double Arch is another impressive arch located in the windows section that I thought would make an excellent subject for a technique referred to as light painting. Light painting is when you utilize a light source (usually some sort of flashlight) to bathe a subject with light under a night sky. For the scene below, I utilized a Dorcy 2 million candle power spotlight with a halogen bulb. I've found in the past that I get the best results with this light when I bounce the direct light off of other rocks to illuminate the scene, but this arch was too large for that. I quickly discovered when painting the arch that I could not directly light the foreground boulders as they would overpower the scene. In general, I found Double Arch to be a formidable challenge for this technique mostly because it was so large that it was difficult to fairly evenly paint it. It probably took 12-15 tries before I came up with the final image. That is how things work with light painting....you usually need several trials to get things right.

Double Arch Illuminated

While the process was time consuming, it wasn't without entertainment. It was really cool being serenaded by a pair of not-so-distant coyotes trading howls while I was doing my thing. The eery echoes in the arch's rock amphitheater provided quite the ambiance!

My final full day in the area saw me photographing Landscape Arch (again) at sunrise and finishing up with a shoot of Balanced Rock (once again in Arches NP) at sunset. I tried to find a somewhat different perspective for shooting Balanced Rock as the La Sal Mountains were shrouded in clouds and I wanted to make them a more prominent part of the composition. After trudging all over the area, I found what I was looking for and was happy with the images I can away with.

Balanced Rock at Sunset

After a final morning's (rather unsuccessful) shoot at Dead Horse State Park I packed up and headed for home with another enjoyable winter trip to the desert in the books! To see a few more images from this trip, click on the following link...

Winter In Moab

Now Offering Photo Tours / Photoshop Training

2010-01-21T15:54:00.001-07:00

Here ye! Here ye! I have now expanded the Explore The Light business model to include customized, private photo tours and photoshop training. The photo tours will concentrate in the San Juan Mountains and the desert areas of the Four Corners region. These are private tours with an itinerary designed to meet the needs of an individual or small group. The mode of transportation can involve driving, hiking or snowshoeing (for those brave winter souls). More specifics are laid out in the workshop page on the Explore The Light website. Either click on the Workshop menu item above or follow this link.

Website and Blog Redesign Complete (mostly)

2010-01-20T09:52:00.002-07:00

Anybody that occasionally hops on my blog or site may have noticed the face lift that both have received. I've been doing some redesigning of both so they have the same look and feel, which has allowed me to fairly seamlessly integrate my blog in with the website. Given my minimal web programming skills this was quite the frustrating endeavor that took far longer than it should have. Thank god for Smugmug's helpful Dgrin customizing forum, without which, I would have never been able to accomplish this! Now that it's pretty much complete (I still want to tweak a few things here and there), I'm pretty happy with the end result. If anyone sees any snafus...major or minor...I'd appreciate any comments.

In addition to the face lift, I've also added a bit of content to my site (more on that in an upcoming post) and have added menu options in an attempt to make it easier to navigate around. Check it out!

A Winter Break in the Sonoran Desert

2010-01-16T09:21:00.015-07:00

My wife and I took a nice break from what's been a colder than average winter here in southwest Colorado by packing up a weeks worth of clothing, supplies and our dog Yoda and heading to the Phoenix area. It was wonderful to trade our -10 to -15 degree mornings for 70+ degree days in the desert! My wife spent the week attending a seminar to help her get her feet off the ground with her new business endeavor. I spent the week chauffeuring her back and forth to her meetings and fitting in some exploration of the surrounding Sonoran Desert whenever possible. Between driving Tami around and the fickle evening weather (4 of the 5 late afternoons that I was able to get out ended up being cloudy), this turned into more of a scouting trip than anything else. This was fine as it was my first trip to the Sonoran Desert anyway and it gave me plenty of opportunity to simply explore and get my bearings. My plan is keep on eye on the area's wildflower reports in the latter half of March and return then on a much more photography-centered trip.

So aside from the warm winter weather, what's so special about the Sonoran Desert? The answer to that, in my mind, is simple...its vegetation. The Sonoran receives more rainfall than any other North American desert. While that still might not be much...it's called a desert for a reason...it's enough to support a wide variety of cactus and other plant life. In particular, it is the only desert in the world where the mighty Saguaro cactus grows in the wild. The Saguaro cactus is vital to the Sonoran ecosystem as it provides both food and shelter for many of the creatures that call this desert their home. These giant cacti are slow growing and have a life span of approximately 200 years. It takes almost 75 years before they are able to develop their first side arm! Given their large and statuesque presence in this desert environment, they make for great photographic subjects. What photographer can resist shooting their silhouette against a blazing sky at sunset? Not me!

A Sonoran Desert Sunset

Back to this particular trip report, most of my time was spent wandering around the mountainous areas east of Phoenix since late day shooting was my only option. Thus, the areas adjacent to the Apache Trail (a scenic road which winds through this spectacular desert environment) were some of my main objectives which included the Superstition Mountains along with the picturesque reservoirs (Canyon, Apache and Roosevelt Lakes) along the Salt River. I also spent some time exploring the Goldfield Mountains bordering the last of the major reservoirs along the Salt, Saguaro Lake. Here, I was surprised to see the last remnants of fall colors in the cottonwoods and willows lining the river. Fall colors in January...only in the Sonoran desert!! I was in this area when I saw the only golden light of the trip and was able to come away with the image below.

The Goldfield Mountains Reflected in the Salt River

All in all, it was a rather unproductive trip photography-wise, but a fun (and warm) getaway nonetheless. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a good wildflower bloom this spring for my return trip. Too see a few more images from this venture, click on the link below...

Winter in the Sonoran Desert

Photography Tip: Make Use Of Your Camera's Custom Modes

2010-01-06T11:41:00.003-07:00

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Side note: I plan to make an effort this year to include more photography tips and reviews in my blog entries. I'm beginning with the tip discussed here and have a few ideas for reviews coming up, so stay tuned!
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So have you ever wondered what those silly C1, C2, etc. settings on your newer model DSLR camera's mode dial are for and why you'd ever use them? Digging into your camera's manual (for those who actually do that) you find that they're called custom modes and are used to save a variety of your cameras vast settings. Your first thought upon reading this might be "Why is this really necessary? The camera always remembers my current settings after I power it down anyway!"

Before delving into this further, first consider the following scenario. You're about to spend the morning photographing a beautiful alpine lake backdropped by a majestic snow capped peak. You set up your camera and tripod and begin composing the scene when you notice a bald eagle swooping in towards you. Thinking this could be a once in a lifetime shot, you quickly decide to switch lenses to capture the moment. Frantically, you then begin to go through your mental checklist on what camera settings to switch. Let's see...hmmm....increase the iso....check.....open the aperture....check....what else? what else??.....oh, switch to continuous focus....check....switch to continuous shooting...check. Whew! You've done it. Only by now the eagle has already swooped down towards the lake, plucked out a fish and begun its journey back to where it came! Still, you figure you at least need to get a shot so you aim the camera, trip the shutter, and see nothing but black in the viewfinder......you forgot to disable mirror lock-up!! Doh!

By this point all you do is laugh it off and comfort yourself by thinking that no one else could've gotten the shot either as things just happened too fast. You revert your settings and spend the rest of an enjoyable morning photographing the marvelous scene in front of you. It isn't until later that evening that you realize you forgot to lower your iso! So not only did you miss that stupendously cool shot of the bald eagle, but you're left with noisy, high iso shots of that beautiful mountain scene. Not your finest moment as a photographer, I'm sure!!

Ok...so just what does all of this have to do with your camera's custom modes, you ask? Well, these custom modes are perfect for those of us who have multiple photographic shooting interests, like the nature photographer who shoots both landscape and wildlife. First, you could set up the camera with your basic landscape settings (for example....aperture priority with a base aperture setting of f/11, base iso, single shot and af mode, mirror lock-up, 2 second timer, etc.) and register these settings with custom mode C1. Then set up the camera with your basic wildlife settings (aperture priority with a wide open aperture setting, iso 400, continuous shot and focus, mirror lock-up disabled, etc.) and register these settings with custom mode C2.

Now when your out shooting landscapes all you need to do is power up the camera in C1 mode and the camera is ready to go once you've altered the aperture to suit the scene your shooting. Should that eagle swoop into your scene, all you need to do is switch your lens and click the camera over to C2 and you're ready to fire away! After the eagle has left the vicinity, click back to C1 and your ready to shoot landscapes safe in the knowledge that all your settings (including that pesky iso) are back to your baseline landscape settings. It's darned slick and helps to eliminate that frustrating human error element that's bound to occur when switching between shooting styles.

I've illustrated how this can be helpful for nature photographers mostly because it pertains to my style of shooting, but just about any type of photographer can benefit from this feature. For instance a wedding photographer could save common settings for shooting ceremonies/receptions in both natural light and using flash and quickly switch back and forth during the event. When things are happening quickly, this is of great benefit. It's up to you to figure out how you can get the most from this feature given your different styles of shooting.

Wishing Everyone a Happy 2010!!

2009-12-31T09:25:00.001-07:00

I haven't been too active with this blog lately as I've been concentrating more on the boring sales and marketing aspect of my business (along with just enjoying the holidays) and haven't been shooting too much. I do want to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2010, though. I'm looking forward to new and exciting ventures in the coming year and hope to share them with everyone via this blog. Before looking ahead, however, I feel a bit like reminiscing so I've included a link below to my top 25 favorite images of 2009. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Top 25 Images Of 2009

Holiday Print Sale

2009-11-25T10:05:00.002-07:00

Well, I've decided to have my own little Black Friday and beyond sale on my website. I'll be offering all prints currently available in the fine art section of my site at 25% off starting on November 27th (Black Friday) for one week through December 3rd. Now is a great time to buy that print you've always wanted for yourself or as a gift to someone special for the holidays. This applies to print only sales...ColorBox mounted prints are not being offered with these discounts...sorry. The 25% discount will be reflected in the prices whenever a print is added to your cart. Happy shopping and I hope everyone has a great and safe holiday season!

2010 Calendar Available

2009-11-20T09:37:00.004-07:00

This is my actually my third year of creating calendars. I really do it simply as a gift to family, friends, in-laws, etc. for the holidays. This year I switched to Zazzle for my 2010 calendar creation (I used MPix in the past) and they have a storefront from which anyone can order. Last year, I was surprised by all the extra requests I got for the calendar and found it a pain to have to order it myself and then forward it on. This will alleviate that problem. Not that I expect to sell many...calendars that are printed on demand are rather expensive. Only those silly enough to want the novelty of a calendar created specifically by me will even consider ordering. But the option is there, nonetheless! Just click on the image below to link to my ordering page...

First Magazine Cover Image

2009-11-20T09:07:00.003-07:00

I was happy to see upon my return from Zion National Park that my winter image of Mesa Arch in Canyonlands graced the cover of this month's issue of Inside Outside Southwest Magazine...

Inside Outside is a regional magazine that specializes in the adventure scene of the Four Corners area. Click on the image to see what it is all about. It is my first magazine cover so that made it a special treat for me. Hopefully it'll be the first of many!

Autumn's Last Stand at Zion National Park

2009-11-09T19:46:00.007-07:00

I've heard other photographers gush about the magnificent autumn scenery at Zion National Park for a number of years now and I finally decided to check out all this magnificence for myself this year. Well, after a six day stint in the park, I've come to the resounding conclusion that all the accolades were well deserved! The juxtaposition of the red sandstone walls with the yellows of all the cottonwoods lining the Virgin River as it snakes down the Zion's enormous canyon was pure candy for this photographer!

The Virgin River Leading To The Watchman

My two main objectives for this trip were certainly no revelation to any other photographer visiting the area. I wanted to see and photograph both the Subway and the Virgin Narrows in all their autumn glory. The Subway is located in the lesser visited Kolob Terrace section of the park and requires a backcountry permit in order to undertake the 9 mile round trip to see it. It is actually a slot canyon that the Left Fork of North Creek has carved out in such a manner that it takes on the appearance of a New York subway tunnel. Add a healthy dose of reflected light which enters this tunnel from a brightly lit wall adjacent to it and you have one of the more unique photographic opportunites found anywhere.

The Subway and the Left Fork of North Creek

The hike is an experience in itself as there is really no set trail that takes you from trailhead to final destination. Instead there are trail fragments on one or both sides of the creek and you utilize route finding skills to find the best way. Sometimes this involved scrambles up the hillsides to get around waterfalls and rockfalls, sometimes the best way forward was by walking up the creek itself. My research prepared me for this and I bought a pair of Five Ten canyoneering boots along with neoprene socks to make the watery portions of the hike easier to handle. All in all I probably spent about a third of the hike in the creek and had a blast doing it. The biggest drag of the journey was the steep, ~500 foot climb that was needed to get out of the canyon and back to the trailhead. After 8 miles of hiking, to say I didn't enjoy this ascent was a bit of an understatement!! But the beauty of both the Subway and the creek in general made it all worthwhile.

Cascades along the Left Fork of North Creek

The Virgin Narrows is a similar hike in that it requires a watery trek up a cold waterway, but after that the similarities end in my book. The scenery in the narrows is dominated by sandstone cliffs soaring as high as 1500 ft and as narrow as 22 ft across! It is quite a site to behold. While I can say that I really didn't find any one particular scene in the narrows that compared in magnificence to the Subway, the myriad of excellent photographic opportunites around just about every corner made for a much more interesting trip overall.

Autumn Foliage in the Virgin Narrows

My only regret in the narrows was that I didn't get to spend enough time there. My long hike to the Subway had reaggravated an old, nagging foot injury causing the last couple of miles to become a sufferfest. While I was able to make it a little past the junction with Orderville Canyon (about 2 1/2 miles from the trailhead at the Temple of Sinawava), I had hoped to go much further. I'll just have to save that for a future trip!

Hiker in the Virgin Narrows

The remainder of my trip was spent checking out the various vantage points along the Zion scenic drive in the main canyon along with a short side trip to the Kolob Canyon section of the park for one evening. Because of my foot issue my hiking options became somewhat limited, but it wasn't really a big deal as there were plenty of scenes to shoot on the colorful canyon floor. All in all, it was a fantastic trip...one that I hope to make on an annual basis!

The Moon over the Towers of the Virgin at Sunrise

To see more images from my trip, click on the link below...

Zion In Autumn Images

An Autumn Trip To The Tetons

2009-10-18T22:46:00.004-06:00

Ok...better late than never with this trip. I've been back for almost two weeks now (we visited the area Oct 1-4), but have been too busy to post about it. My wife and I spent four wonderful days in Grand Teton National Park and I can certainly see why it is such a popular destination for autumn photography. While the weather only cooperated for a couple of those days, they were two very special days in my book and definitely made the long drive to get there worth the while.

Buck and Pole Fence Leading To The Tetons

Before discussing the trip itself, I should back up and make mention of all my pre-trip worries. First off, I kept hearing how the cottonwood colors along the Snake River were far from spectacular this year as they were simply turning a dull orangish, brown. Yuck! Far worse than that were the fire issues going on. In particular, a fire in the vicinity of Mt. Moran in the northern part of the park (started by lightning) was being allowed to burn and was casting a smoky haze over the entire park. From the images I saw, this was horribly affecting most photographic possibilities (with the exception of a few nice sunset shots). Double yuck!!

The day of the trip brought discussion of high winds with snow throughout much of the Rocky Mountain region. This turned out to be good and bad. Good in that the powers that be saw the danger of allowing the fire to burn during such windy conditions and decided that it needed to be put out. End of the fire issue. The snow that the park received also helped to clear the air. End of the hazy sky conditions. Woo Hoo. Of course, there's no free lunch and we payed for this turn of events by having to make the long drive in difficult conditions. Snowfall, heavy at times, dogged us through the Wasatch Range in Utah and throughout our journey north through Wyoming. It was all worth it though when I got up the following morning and drove out to Schwabacher's Landing (along the Snake River) with a fresh layer of snow covering the valley floor. Despite the fact that the mountains were hidden behind a cloak of heavy clouds, it was a beautiful sight!

Unfortunately, the mountains refused to make an appearance all day so a good part of the it was spent location scouting and searching for wildlife. I quickly discovered that the place to be in the park was the Oxbow Bend area in the northern section as the aspens were peaking with glorious colors. This made the decision of where to shoot the following morning a no-brainer. My only hope was that the mountains would make an appearance by then.

Oxbow Bend Panoramic

An early wake-up in our hotel in Jackson had me keeping my fingers crossed. I saw nothing but stars overhead, but there are no vantage points to the Tetons from town (they're obscured behind surrounding buttes) and it wasn't until we had driven for 10 minutes or so that I began to see the silhouettes of the peaks. Things got even better when we arrived at Oxbow Bend to find steam rising off the water and more low hanging clouds sitting over Jackson lake, but not completely obscuring Mt. Moran. Even in the dark I was getting excited about the photographic prospects that lay ahead. I wasn't disappointed as it blossomed into a beautiful sunrise that I got share with about a hundred of my closest friends (the many other photographers who knew this was THE morning to photograph this location)!

Oxbow Bend At Dawn

The superb conditions lasted a number of hours as low hanging clouds clung to the entire range making for some wonderful atmospherics to compliment the magnificent scenery. I was in heaven all morning!

Teton Reflection

The latter half of that day was spent in search of wildlife as the sky completely cleared off and the landscape prospects were not all that appealing. A majority of the scenic locations within the park are far better shot in the morning anyway as the Tetons lie to the west and receive great morning light. Getting back to the wildlife topic, I must say that we were very disappointed with our efforts to get satisfying shots. It wasn't for the lack of finding subjects. We saw plenty of moose, bison, antelope, and even a couple of black bears. We just couldn't get them close enough and/or in pleasing locations not obscured by a buzzillion branches and twigs. Still, it was fun just to be able to be in the presence of such magnificent animals.

The remainder of our trip was so-so or poor photographically. The following morning was a cold and clear 10 degrees and, while the view from Schwabacher Landing was nice, it just didn't compare to the wonderful conditions of the previous morning.

Classic Schwabacher Landing Sunrise View

The evening saw a build up of cloud cover in advance of another approaching winter storm so we spent it hoping to get some decent shots of the bull moose being sighted near the Oxbow Bend area. Unfortunately, our efforts were in vain. Our last day was overcast with periodic snow and high winds. It seemed like a good time to finally bow to my wife's wishes to spend some quality time in the shops of Jackson. Over dinner we both agreed that a return trip in the spring to photograph the wildflower bloom was a must-do. I can't wait!

To see a collection of my images from the trip, click on the link below...

Autumn in the Tetons

Waterfallin' in Upstate New York

2009-09-13T13:30:00.009-06:00

I recently returned from a trip to the upstate New York area to meet and visit with my wife's family/relatives/friends. Of course, I can't travel anywhere nowadays without taking along the camera and I knew the upstate New York area was well known for the many beautiful waterfalls that grace its landscape. In particular, the Finger Lakes region has a high concentration of spectacular falls.

Rainbow Falls - Watkins Glen State Park

So I plotted my strategy in accordance to the areas that my wife wanted to visit and came up with four locations for my "must see" list.

1. Watkins Glen State Park (Watkins Glen)
2. Buttermilk Falls State Park (Ithaca)
3. Cascadilla Gorge (Ithaca)
4. Chittenango State Park (near Syracuse)

There were many other places I would've liked to have visited as well, but I knew my time would be limited. As it turned out I was able to get to all four along with a fifth location (Havana Glen Park near Watkins Glen) so I was happy for that. If I had to pick a favorite amongst these locations, I'd probably give a slight nod to Watkins Glen State Park. Its trail leading through the gorge is a work of art in itself and so nicely compliments the fantastic scenery it leads you through. Walking on/over/through the stone trails, bridges and even tunnels with waterfalls crashing down all around reminded me of scenes from the movie Lord of the Rings.

The only downside I noticed during my explorations was that the water flow on all the creeks I visited was quite low, despite the supposedly rainy summer most locals were complaining about. It made me wonder just how spectacular these areas would be with normal to high flows. I guess it gives me a reason to return at a more optimal time of year...which I'm sure I will. I'll just have to tell my wife that I'm itchin' to visit the in-laws again!!

Chittenango Falls Near Syracuse

To see more images from my brief explorations of these areas, click on the link below...

Waterfalls of Upstate New York

Now Offering Framed Prints

2009-08-27T14:13:00.003-06:00

I'm now pleased to offer a professional frame mounting option often referred to as ColorBox mounting for online print purchases on my site. ColorBox mounting is an alternative picture framing process where a print is dry mounted onto Medium Density Fiberboard and then sealed under heat and pressure with 80% UV protective matte finish vinyl lamination and finished with a thin, black beveled edge. The result is a contemporary looking, vibrant print that is perfect for a wide variety of lighting conditions due to its extraordinary non-glare properties. I've mounted a few prints using this process for gallery sales and must say that I'm very impressed with the quality and look of the finished product. See the image below for an example (click on it to see a larger version)...

Additionally, ColorBox mounted prints are easy to take care of as the laminate surface is water and fingerprint resistant and can be cleaned with glass cleaner and a soft rag. Shipping is less of a headache as well (in comparison to traditional style framed/matted prints) as there's no worrying about glass/plexiglass breakage during transit. For more details see the Purchase Info page on my website.

Creative Capitol Art Exhibit

2009-08-24T08:20:00.004-06:00

This morning I sent off a framed 20x30" photographic print for the Creative Capitol Art Exhibit sponsored by the Colorado Council of the Arts and Denver International Airport. This juried exhibit is a four part rotating series highlighting the work of artists from the Northwest, Southwest, Eastern, and Metro Denver areas of Colorado. The works of the accepted artists in the Southwest region will be shown in concourse A of the Denver International Airport from September - November and then will move to the State Capitol for an exhibition in the Lieutenant Governor's Office from December - February. I was proud to have my image Crater Lake at Sunset in the San Juan Mountains accepted into this show. Hopefully, anyone reading this will have an opportunity to view it (along with the other fine works of art) in one of these venues.

Summer Visit To Northern Arizona

2009-08-20T16:42:00.014-06:00

Ever since I saw the White Pocket in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness area for the first time last winter, I knew I wanted to return during the summer months during the monsoon season. While I was impressed with what I saw last February, I knew it would only get better with the stormy skies that accompany this time of year. Let's just say that I wasn't disappointed.

This trip began when a friend and Minnesota based photographer Rene Herteux began emailing me with questions on what places he should visit on his upcoming 4 day trip to Arizona. After giving him a long list of possibilities...many which require tricky passage and come with dire consequences should something go wrong...I got the question I was waiting for "Would you be interested in coming along?". Since I'd been shooting in Colorado for most of the spring/summer months, a trip to the desert seemed like a nice change of pace so I quickly agreed. Besides, it would give me the chance to return to White Pocket at precisely the time of year I figured would be best.

After a few more email exchanges we put together the following list of places we were interested in shooting and decided we'd let the weather dictate where we'd go each day.

- The White Pocket
- South Coyote Buttes
- The Toroweap Overlook of the Grand Canyon
- Alstrom Point Overlooking Lake Powell

When we met up in Page, a monsoonal weather pattern was firmly in place so we headed straight out to the White Pocket. Once we got there, we began to worry that the storms which can yield such great light might actually shut us out of any light whatsoever! It wasn't until 15 minutes before sunset that the sun finally peeked out through a hole in the cloud cover along the western horizon. It was a long time coming but that 15 minutes of hectic shooting made the wait worth the while.

Late Day Light at the White Pocket

Our morning shoot was plagued by similar conditions as cloud cover obscured the first light of the day. So we patiently waited and eventually received the light we were craving for. We shot for another hour until the sky cleared entirely and decided it was time to move on.

Morning Light at the White Pocket

To us, the clearing sky was a bad omen as it signalled the end of the stormy pattern for the remainder of our trip. To make matters worse, the winds were beginning to whip up filling the air with dust and creating very hazy conditions. Yuck! We had a permit for the South Coyote Buttes' Cottonwood Cove area for the remainder of the day so we spent part of the late morning, early afternoon hours scouting there. While the area is beautiful, we decided (for a number of reasons) to not shoot there in the evening. Toroweap and Alstrom Point were our alternatives and we settled on Alstrom Point (Toroweap was just too long of a drive). As it turned out, it really didn't matter as the extremely hazy conditions pretty much killed any shooting opportunities anyway.

When we awoke to the identical conditions in the morning we didn't even bother to shoot the sunrise. Weighing our options, we decided upon a midday shoot at Lower Antelope Canyon. That's the beauty of the Page area...there's always something that can be shot, even when the conditions aren't considered optimal photographically speaking. You just have to have some light. Lower Antelope was a good option for me as I'd never shot it during the summer months when its signature sunbeam shoots through a rock arch suspended well above the canyon floor. It's truly an amazing sight.

Lower Antelope Light Beam

That evening was spent shooting the canyon walls along Water Holes canyon before heading out to Stud Horse Point with the idea of experimenting with night photography, something we both really wanted to do. It was a beautiful, warm evening and we really enjoyed our time basking in the star light.

Hoodoos under the stars at Stud Horse Point

Our final morning was clear as well, but at least the haze was gone. Rene was dying to photograph the Wahweap Hoodoos so I chauffered him out there. After a rough trip (flash floods a few days earlier had wreaked havoc on all the wash crossings) we arrived at the hoodoos just 5 minutes before the sun's first rays were cast upon them. Perfect! We finished our trip with another quick stop at Lower Antelope before parting ways. Another stellar adventure in the desert was in the books!

One of the smaller Wahweap Hoodoos

To see more of my imagery from this trip, click on the link below...

Summer in the Northern Arizona Desert

Weminuche Wilderness Backpacking Trip

2009-08-08T13:04:00.016-06:00

I recently returned from my major trip of the summer...a six day backpacking trip into the heart of some of the best scenery that the Weminuche Wilderness Area has to offer. The Weminuche is Colorado's largest wilderness area at nearly a half million acres and lies within the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. This particular trip circumnavigated the two most spectacular subranges in the wilderness...the Needles and Grenadier ranges. All told the trip involved 40 miles of rugged mountain hiking totaling nearly 8000 ft of vertical gain. The highest elevation during the trip topped out at 12,800ft. I was joined by an old friend, Greg Rynders, who flew out from Minnesota to experience what Colorado has to offer. For both of us, it would be the first time on a backpacking trip of such magnitude.

I thought I was in decent enough shape for this adventure but soon found out that wasn't really the case. None of the training I put in quite prepared me for the ordeal of lugging a 50lb pack over long, steep trails at high altitude. In other words...the trip was exhausting!! I had all I could do to perform my photographic duties before/after each long, arduous day on the trail. It also didn't help that this area's nickname "The Storm Factory" lived up to its billing. Day after day, we were stalked by waves of afternoon and evening thunderstorms bringing with them rain, hail, sleet, lightning and cold winds. Only our last day was completely dry. While stormy weather can often be a boon to photographic endeavors, I found that in our case it was more of a hindrance than a help. Thus, I felt that my photographic production over the course of the trip was a bit disappointing.

What follows is a brief day by day account of my experiences over the course of the trip.

Day 1 : An easy day to be sure. It started with an 8:15am departure on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge train. After a scenic, but slow ride of over three hours we were dropped off at the Elk Park stop, right at the doorstep of the wilderness. We planned a short first day of hiking - only three miles, mostly to allow Greg a chance to acclimate before beginning the trip in earnest. As it turned out, it was beneficial to myself as well as I huffed and puffed up the 1000 ft vertical gain. It was a real eye opener to find out that I hadn't adequately trained! This didn't bode well for the remainder of the trip!

We stopped and camped at a set of beaver ponds in the Elk Creek drainage that I had wanted to photograph. It was a spectacular setting with 13,000+ ft. Vestal and Arrow Peaks towering over the ponds. As it turned out, both the evening and morning light were spectacular so I was glad we spent the night there!

First Light On Vestal Peak

Day 2: After my first day experiences on the trail, I reckoned this day was going be a tough one. It involved an 8 mile trek with 2600 ft. of vertical gain which would take us up to the Continental Divide and over to Kite Lake where we would make camp. My reckoning was definitely correct! The storms really ramped up today as they started before noon and lasted until the early evening hours. We were caught in one above treeline as we were making our way up to the divide, but fortunately the lightning was all cloud to cloud. After the first couple of miles, the climbing was pretty much non stop on this day and I was absolutely exhausted when we finally reached Kite Lake. But my thinking was that what didn't kill me today would only make me stronger over the rest of the trip...so I just sucked it up and trudged on.

I was definitely spurred on by the views that started opening up once we got above treeline. The profusion of wildflowers were quite a treat as well. I tried to take advantage of these views with some backpacking shots of Greg (which, of course gave me excuses to rest along the way!). A nice lunch while atop the divide (in between storms) also served to reinvigorate my weary bones.

Greg Hiking Up To The Continental Divide

From my research, I figured that Kite Lake wasn't going to be the most photographic of lakes in the area and I was right. The lake is actually out of the wilderness boundary and has some old mining remnants around it. Also the cliffs surrounding it serve to block out the more spectacular peaks in the distance. It wasn't a big deal as the weather didn't cooperate too much anyway.

Day 3: This was our longest day of the trip as we logged a little under 11 miles. Fortunately, unlike the previous day, most of this was downhill. However, we did have to trudge up Hunchback pass before we could take advantage of all that downhill. While getting up there was far from easy, I was at least beginning to notice the aerobic benefits from the previous day. With an 8am start on the trail, we got to take advantage of beautiful morning weather while crossing the pass. Unfortunately, it didn't last. By the time we got down to treeline the intermittent rains began to appear. By the time we had lunch and forded Rock Creek, it began to storm in earnest. It was too bad as the orange, mineral-stained Rock Creek would've been a great place to putz around photographically, but the heavy rains made us decide to move on.

Greg Fording Rock Creek

While the weather served to dampen our spirits greatly the rest of the day, what was even more frustrating was the lack of campsites we encountered while making our way down the Vallecito drainage. We had intended to stop well before the 11 mile mark, but had to keep going until we finally found a place to pitch a tent. That didn't happen until we finally found a site (albiet a nice site) before the Roell Creek crossing. It stormed on and off pretty much until sunset. This was the worst photographic day of the trip and had me wondering when my luck was gonna change!

Day 4: This day we made our way down the last couple of miles of the Vallecito drainage and started up towards the infamous Columbine Pass. With the weather pattern being what it was, we had no intention of trying to get above treeline in the afternoon hours. We just wanted to be in a position to cross the pass early the next day. As usual, the morning was beautiful and we enjoyed our stroll down to the Vallecito Creek bridge crossing and even making our way up the Johnson Creek canyon. Johnson Creek is truly spectacular as it carves out many gorges and spills over many waterfalls on its short journey from Columbine Lake to Vallecito Creek. After taking some time to investigate and photograph some of the lower sections of the creek, Mother Nature intervened once again as darker clouds quickly moved in.

Waterfall Along Johnson Creek

The rest of this day's hike would be completed under cold, stormy skies. My backpack (which did not have a rain shield) seemed to grow heavier with each step as it soaked in the rain while we ascended the switchbacking trail. I quickly grew weary and began cursing the weather gods. It was still raining when we found a campsite and we plopped down beneath a tree and ate a late lunch in the rain. We took turns cursing the weather until finally it broke and gave us a window of opportunity to set up camp, dry out, and warm up. Unfortunately, it didn't last long until the next wave settled in.

Photography that night was limited to shooting wildflower macros in between rain showers. That was until the sun unexpectedly made an appearance just a few minutes before sunset and began casting an amazing glow upon Organ and Amherst Peaks to our east. I scrambled to gather up my camera gear and made haste to a location along Johnson Creek that I had scouted out earlier in the evening. Thankfully I was able to get off a few shots before the glow subsided. While I wished more of the peaks could've been glowing, the scene was still my favorite of the trip.

Last Rays Hitting Organ and Amherst Peaks

Day 5: Today the plan was to take our time making our way up to Columbine Lake and over the pass and utilize the nice morning weather to shoot the spectacular scenics along the way. Hah!!!! Mother Nature would have nothing to do with that! We woke up to a cloudy sky for the first time this morning and by 8:30 it already started to rain. Man this was getting old! We got a brief respite just before arriving at Columbine Lake and enjoyed a few minutes of sunshine before heading up the final switchbacks to the pass.

Wildflowers Near Columbine Pass

Man, were those switchbacks steep! As the end was in sight, we started to notice the black sky on the other side of the pass. By the time we reached it, we were being pelted by driving hail and serenaded with the sound of thunder. No time to enjoy the view here. Wouldn't want to do that! So we hustled down towards Chicago Basin (our goal for the evening) and made our camp.

Once I saw Chicago Basin, I could understand why its so wildly popular. The basin is surrounded by three 14,000 ft. peaks with waterfalls cascading down their lower reaches. Mountain goats are plentiful and easy photographic subjects as they are unfortunately habituated to the presence of humans. This can actually make them a nuisance if you're not careful around them. Because of the basin's beauty and the presence of the three very climbable 14ers, it is very crowded as peak baggers flock to the area. We knew this going in and just dealt with it. It was our last night in the wilderness anyway so it was time to get used to the presence of people again!

Photographically speaking, Chicago Basin was a mixed bag. Unfortunately, the afternoon and early evening thunderstorms (with some wicked lightning) hindered our exploring greatly. I wanted to trek up to the Twin Lakes area, but that just wasn't going to happen. The shots one can get from the basin itself are rather limited as the peaks don't receive great light (at least at this time of year) in either the evening or morning due to its southwestern alignment. There's some nice waterfall photography to be had, but I just ran out of time to do much. I just decided that I was going to have to write the evening off as a scouting venture for a future trip and just enjoy the scenery in a non-photography sense.

Day 6: Exit day! Both of us were ready to get back to civilization this morning. We had spent the previous evening talking about beer, buffalo wings, ice cream, mountain dew, etc. so now it was time to partake! It would be a quick six mile walk all downhill today to the Needelton train stop where we'd flag down the train for our return trip to Durango. The day started clear and, amazingly, actually stayed that way. It would've been easy to complain that we didn't get a nice day until it was time to leave, but I was really happy we didn't have to deal with thunderstorms while waiting for the train. It was also cool to watch a group of rafters making their way down the Upper Animas while we waited. I photographed them from the bridge at Needleton and have already sold one of the shots to a local publication. So the trip's already paid for!!

Rafters on the Upper Animas River

To see more shots from this trip, click on the following link...

Weminuche Backpacking Trip Images

All the physical hardships and bad weather aside, this was still one of the best and most memorable trips I've ever undertaken. It had been a while since I last immersed myself so completely in a wilderness setting over such a period of time. Hopefully, I won't wait so long to do it again!

Man Against Nature

2009-07-13T20:04:00.002-06:00

Well, in this case, nature most definitely won! My plans to overnight at a high altitude lake near Telluride were thwarted last night when lightning from a wicked early evening thunderstorm drove me off the mountain. My targeted destination for this trip was Hope Lake, a beautiful emerald green lake nestled high in the San Miguel subrange of the San Juan Mountains. Unlike my previous backpack trip to Crater Lake, this area was well above treeline so weather was even more of a concern. After waiting out an early afternoon thunderstorm, a clearing trend seemed to be prevailing. Since the trek to the lake was only 3 miles, I figured I would give it a go and return if the weather soured.

Note to self: Never, ever consider spending the night on the tundra if there's even the slightest risk of thunderstorms in the forecast!

The trip to the lake was very pleasant despite the endless switchbacks during the second half of the hike. The views back to the San Miguels towering over Trout Lake below were magnificent and I was looking forward to a great evening at my destination.

Trout Lake and the San Miguel Range

My enthusiam was dampened a bit when I got above treeline and clouds started rolling over the peaks in front of me, but at least they didn't seem of the threatening nature. I arrived at the lake and quickly dropped my pack to take a load off and enjoy the view. After a quick chat with another couple heading back down, I dug through my pack for my camera gear and began to wander around looking for compositions. Not long after that the first of the really dark clouds started to make their way over the craggy peaks in front of me and I heard the first distant rumble of thunder.

Hope Lake

"Aw Crap!" I uttered to myself (or something to that effect). I quickly ripped off a few shots and started coming to the realization that I was way too exposed to ride out a storm anywhere near the lake. I packed up and headed out of the cirque surrounding the lake only to find that the storm clouds had already filled in all the way down the valley. Just then the first crack of lightning (less than a mile away) jolted me into the realization that it was time to run! Down the muddy mountainside I went trying to move as fast as I could with a 40 lb pack and with full knowledge that I was carrying two aluminum lightning rods (my trekking poles). After another nearby lightning strike I quickly came to the conclusion that it would be crazy to try to reach the larger stands of pines below as they were just too far away. I was now in the vicinity of a few stunted 10ft pines and I made a beeline for those. Just before reaching them I felt my legs go from under me, resulting in what must have been a most ungainly looking seat drop into the mud. From there I basically slid down to my destination.

It was under this miniscule cover that I sat for the next hour waiting out more lightning, hail, heavy rains, etc. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever let up! Finally, I decided I could wait no more and (probably foolishly) made a final run towards the closest stand of mature pines below. Looking back, I can't believe I didn't sprain or break an ankle on the muddy, rocky terrain but I made it unscathed. I caught my breath there and waited for the storm to let up a little before finally forcing my jelloed and quivering legs to take me back down to my truck. This was definitely not my finest hour and on the way down I vowed to myself to give Mother Nature her due respect and never get caught in such a situation again!

First Solo Backpacking Outing

2009-07-01T13:44:00.001-06:00

Well, I just returned from my first solo backpacking trip up in the San Juan Mountains the other day. When I first moved to this area almost two years ago, I figured that I would've done many of these by now. Unfortunately, physical ailments hounded me all last summer so I barely did any hiking at all. This trip was just a quick overnighter to a high alpine lake, Crater Lake, along the West Needles subrange of the San Juans.

While it was only a six mile journey to the lake, it turned out to be a bit more than I bargained for. This is still the spring season up in the high country and, while most of the snow has melted, everything is still very wet up there. What this translates to is muddy trails...miles and miles of muddy trails. It made for very slow going which was only exacerbated by the blowdown area I encountered about a mile from the lake. This consisted of a large section of downed pines (and I mean big pines) from a storm last winter and the swath of destruction was about a quarter to half mile wide. They obliterated the trail and forced me to navigate my own way through the mess and on to the lake as I wasn't able to relocate the trail once I got through it. Thank god for my GPS! That section wasn't fun at all with a balance interfering 40lb backpack strapped on.

The end result of my slow progress to the lake was that I arrived only a half hour before sunset and had no time to relax or eat before pulling out the camera gear. But what a sunset it turned out to be!

North Twilight Peak Reflected in Crater Lake at Sunset

I can certainly deal with a few hardships if I know it'll result in witnessing marvelous scenes like the one above.

After a rather sleepless night (I never sleep well when camping), I decided to pack up and leave shortly after my sunrise shoot as thunderstorms were predicted to be widespread by the late morning/early afternoon hours. My sunrise shoot, while beautiful, was very typical of most any Colorado high country sunrise scene....a nicely glowing mountain reflected in a high alpine lake under a clear morning sky.

Crater Lake at Sunrise

I was hoping for an interesting sky or more pronounced early morning mist/fog to set it apart a bit more, but it wasn't meant to be. After the previous night's sunset, I wasn't gonna complain! As it turned out, my earlier than planned departure turned out to be a wise choice as I was surrounded by threatening skies by the time I got back to the trailhead. It was a memorable first backpacking trip, that's for sure!

Spring Trip to the Northern San Juans

2009-06-15T10:15:00.001-06:00

I had grand plans in early June to take a 5 day (or longer) trip to the northern region of the San Juan Mountains...more specifically to the San Miguel and Sneffels Ranges...but a busy schedule made me scale it back to just a quick two days. I guess two days are better than none! My first day in the San Miguels near Telluride was a soggy one (as has been the weather pattern in the southwest Colorado for weeks now) so I concentrated on shooting a few of the many waterfalls in the area.

Mystic Falls Near Telluride

Mystic Falls along the Lake Fork of the San Miguel River was the highlight of my adventures in this region. This seldom visited waterfall cuts through a 120 foot high and narrow gorge which reverberated the crashing waters to deafening levels. While access to the gorge isn't particularly easy, it was definitely worth the effort to photograph what is now my favorite waterfall in the San Juan Mountains. In addition to Mystic, I also visited both Bear Creek Falls and Cornet Falls. Both of these falls are easy hikes from trailheads eminating right in the town of Telluride.

As I made my way to the Sneffels Range, the wet weather finally started to break...

Rainbow Along The Sneffels Range

At last I could venture outside without need of my rain gear! The clearing storm allowed me to take advantage of some interesting atmospherics to compliment some of the locations that I've often shot during the autumn season. I was just trading golden autumn aspen for spring green.

Spring Aspen and Mt. Snefflels

I was also ecstatic to find a nice field of lupine that evening. While it was too windy to photograph them at the time, I came back during the calm of the following morning as they nicely accented the Sneffels Range backdrop. It definitely made me look forward to the high country wildflower season come late July!

Field of lupine and the Sneffels Range

Waterfallin' In The San Juan Mountains

2009-06-01T11:25:00.001-06:00

I've spent a good portion of the month of May in and around the San Juan Mountains (my "home range" here in southwest Colorado) searching for and photographing the many waterfalls present in this region. The month of May has proven to be an excellent time for this endeavor for two reasons. First, the spring melt swells the rivers and creeks to incredible volumes, transforming existing waterfalls to thunderous levels and creating seasonal waterfalls not present at any other time of year.

Basin Creek Waterfall (left) and a seasonal waterfall (right) in the La Plata Mountains

Second, the weather in the last half of May brought the premature arrival of the monsoon season, bringing thunderstorms to the area most every afternoon/evening. These thunderstorms bring the cloud cover that is vital for successful waterfall photography. If you've ever tried to photograph waterfalls on a bright, sunny day you know what I mean as the water becomes so bright that it becomes impossible to record the entire range of light within the scene. This forces a photographer to either blow out the highlights of the water or lose the details around the waterfall to deep shadow. Neither is a desirable alternative. With cloud cover the range of light becomes much more manageable and can be easily be captured with today's digital or film cameras. The only other option for shooting waterfalls (if cloudy conditions aren't present) is to do so either early in the morning or late in the evening when the subject is in full shadow or whatever light is present is very weak.

Treasure Falls Near Wolf Creek Pass

Concerning my little project of waterfall photography in the San Juans, I've come away with a few observations. While there are countless waterfalls in this range, only a small percentage of them are actually worthy photographic subjects. Part of this is due to accessibility issues as many require significant bushwacks or climbs up steeply sloped mountainsides to reach. To me, a bigger issue is simply the non-photogenic nature of many of these falls. Deadfall and scraggly brush often line the banks above and below many waterfalls detracting greatly from their esthetic value. Many others carve out deep, tree-lined gorges that offer few vantage points unless you're a billy goat!

South Clear Creek Falls Near Creede, CO

Despite these challenges, I still enjoy searching out and photographing these marvels of nature. Even if the photography proves difficult, there's nothing more relaxing to me than the sound of rushing water. I can spend an entire afternoon doing nothing but listening. If I come away with a good photograph or two...that's icing on the cake!

Lime Creek Falls Near Coal Bank Pass

For a more complete collection of the San Juan waterfalls I've photographed, click on the link below...

Waterfalls of the San Juan Mountains

Short Trip To Moab, Utah

2009-05-09T12:31:00.001-06:00

I recently returned from what's become my annual spring trip to the Moab, Utah area. I just love this area in the springtime even though the wildflowers can be very hit or miss. While this was definitely a down year, it hardly matters. There's plenty else to aim your camera at. The biggest disappointment with this trip was the lack of decent sunrises or sunsets. Mother Nature was pretty stingy with the light this time around.

Green River Overlook, Canyonlands

The notable places I visited this year included the Fisher Towers along the Colorado River Scenic Byway, Arches National Park (although poor light shut me out of any decent images), Longs Canyon, Mineral Bottom Canyon and a quick foray into Canyonland's Island in the Sky region. If you are ever in the vicinity, I highly recommend the 4.5 mile Fisher Tower hike. It's a fantastic walk with red rock spires towering all around you. For the best light, undertake the hike in the latter part of the day (which, unfortunately, I didn't). Just remember to bring plenty of water!

The Fisher Towers and La Sal Mountains

Click on the link below for more images from this trip.

Springtime In Moab Images

Prints Available At Two Galleries

2009-04-22T12:18:00.001-06:00

I'm excited to announce that some of my work is now on display/sale at the Artisans of the Southwest Gallery in Pagosa Springs and the Durango Art Center's gallery shop. If you're ever in one of these fine southwestern Colorado towns, please stop by and have a look. Location information for each of these galleries can be found at their respective websites:

Artisans of the Southwest
Durango Art Center

In addition, I'll be having an artist's reception on Saturday, May 23 at Artisans of the Southwest from 4-6:30pm. I will be one of two artists who's work will be featured at the gallery for the month of June. Stop by if you'd like to chat, shop, and/or partake in the wine and hors de oeuvres!

Update - May 17, 2009: Here's the official promotional card for the artist's reception event this coming May 23rd. Click on the image to see a larger version.

New Imagery From Utah's Grand Staircase–Escalante NM

2009-04-15T10:46:00.002-06:00

I recently finished updating my site with new images from Utah's Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (and surrounding areas) from a recent trip taken from April 4 - 10. This monument is located in the southern part of the state and consists of 1.7 million acres (roughly the size of Delaware) of some of the most remote and beautiful country in the lower 48 states. The monument was designated in 1996 by the Clinton administration in a controversial move to bolster his election campaign. It takes in most of the area from Kanab and Bryce Canyon on the west to Lake Powell and Capitol Reef on the east. It does not represent any one particular feature, but rather a whole area of slickrock canyons, terraced cliffs and red rock landscapes.

Paria Badlands, Grand Staircase-Escalante NM, UT

Photographing the monument is a time consuming venture as many of its more photographic features require traveling 4x4 roads and/or hiking and/or canyoneering to see. Thus, in the week I spent there, I only scratched the surface in my attempts to record its beauty. Many return trips will be required to really do the place justice.

I did this trip via a giant circle route which took me from Bayfield, CO to Page, AZ before heading up to Utah and concentrating on the areas surrounding the towns of Escalante and Boulder. I returned home by passing through Capitol Reef National Park and the Moab area (not photographing either of these places as they are best kept for future trips in themselves).

I was blessed with favorable weather, for the most part. The infamous wind storms of spring were held at bay for all but one day (more on that later). The major photographic locations I visited included the Wire Pass/Buckskin Gulch area, the Paria Badlands, the Cottonwood Canyon area, many locations along the Hole-In-The-Rock road (outside Escalante), Upper/Lower Calf Creek Falls, and Longs Canyon (outside Boulder).

Metate Arch, Devil's Garden near Escalante

One of the main goals I hoped to accomplish on this trip was to photograph a few of the many slot canyons found within reasonable hiking distances from the Hole-In-The-Rock road. The big three were the Peekaboo, Spooky and Zebra slots. Of these three, Zebra slot intrigued me the most as its narrow main section consists of wonderfully striated walls unlike anything I've seen in other slot canyons. Of course, of the three, it can be the hardest to reach as my research revealed that there could often be a chest deep pool blocking its entrance. Upon reaching the entrance to canyon (an easy 3.5 mile walk down a sandy wash), I was tickled pink to find out that recent wind storms had buried this pool in mounds of sand. Woo Hoo! The down side was that a new wind storm was starting to rev up. Winds were whipping sand through both the entrance of the canyon and from the top covering everything. There was to be no lens changing on this shoot! I hung around for almost an hour waiting for the sun angle to create an optimal glow with the narrow, but not overly high canyon walls and ventured back to my backpack near the entrance to pack up and leave. I was barely able to find it! It was just a lump under a pile of sand by this point. I dug it out, packed up, and headed out of the entrance to find a full fledged sand storm in progress. The easy 3.5 walk in the wash turned into a nightmare as it was straight into the wind and required countless stops so I could brace myself against the highest gusts which were trying to sandblast me into oblivion! By the time I got back to my truck, I was so exhausted that I drove back to Escalante, checked into a hotel, showered, and crashed for a good part of the afternoon. It was worth it to see such a marvel of nature though!

Zebra Slot Canyon

Click on the link below to see more of the images I returned with from this trip.

Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

New Canon 5D Mark II Arrives!

2009-03-11T10:40:00.001-06:00

I took receipt of my new 5D Mark II on March 11 and couldn't wait to play with my new toy! After performing an initial sanity test at home (to make sure nothing was obviously wrong with the camera), I put it through its paces on a day trip to the Bisti Badlands in northern New Mexico. My initial impressions were quite positive. I love the big, new LCD screen and also the functionality of the live view feature for situations that allow me to really take my time to set up a shot. And man...the file sizes generated by this puppy are huge! Fortunately, my PC has enough horsepower to process them without much noticeable difference from my old 5D files. I can see needing to add another hard drive in the near future though!

The image quality of the files produced by this camera is nothing short of outstanding...at least with my newly calibrated Canon 24-70 and 70-300 lenses. The 17-40 suffers a bit, but I knew that would be the case so it's no surprise. Someday, I wish Canon would refresh the design on that lens so it could match the resolving power of the new high megapixel cameras they're producing...even if it means they have to raise the price a bit. I ain't holding my breath that it'll happen too soon though! I hope to post more insights into the camera once I've used it more.

Exploring Northern Arizona

2009-02-07T09:17:00.001-07:00

Well, the Arizona Cardinals made their first ever Super Bowl appearance this year so I decided a trip to the Grand Canyon state was in order to experience the game within their borders. Ok...that wasn't the real reason for this trip, but it sounds good! This trip actually came about when I received a phone call from fellow photographer, Jim Talaric. Jim had a spare permit for the Wave in North Coyote Buttes and was wondering if I wanted to join him along with fellow photogs Bret Edge and Rod Hanna. Not too look a gift horse in the mouth, I jumped at the opportunity.

Rod Venturing Through The Wave, North Coyote Buttes

We all met up in Page a couple days before our permit date for North Coyote Buttes in order to shoot other subjects in the vicinity. I have been to the Page area a few times now and never tire of the photographic diversity present there. From world class slot canyons, fantastic hoodoo formations, enormous canyons formed by the Colorado River, to the controversial Lake Powell...this area has photographic features which can keep you shooting all day. I was especially pleased when we all came to the agreement to do an overnight stay at the White Pocket in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. I've wanted to see this area for a while now and just hadn't found the time to make it out there. While this remote sandstone fantasyland is one of the most popular must-see locations for photographers in the Desert Southwest, it requires good navigational skills and a 4x4 vehicle to reach.

Sandstone Formations at the White Pocket

Having Jim as our "tour guide", so to speak, made reaching this area a no-brainer. Not only had he been there several times, his wealth of maps and techo-gadgets made finding our way a breeze. I was a bit concerned about the sandy aspect of the route - I'm not too experienced with driving in deep sand - but those fears were unfounded as we got there without a problem. After that it was time to enjoy (and photograph) the scenery! The overnight camp out got a bit chilly (as the temp bottomed out at 20 degrees F), but it was definitely worth it to be immersed in such a beautiful setting for both sunset and sunrise.

After shooting sunrise at White Pocket, we made our way back to the trailhead for the Wave hike in North Coyote Buttes. I had visited the Wave area on one other occasion, but only had time to spend the morning and early afternoon. This time I wanted to stay until late in the day to photograph the area in a different light. It would also give me the opportunity to photograph a formation often called the Second Wave, which is best shot late in the day.

The Second Wave - North Coyote Buttes

All in all, it was a fantastic day until what I'll dub as a “misunderstanding” occurred between myself and the ballhead clamp on my tripod. The end result of this “misunderstanding” was a four foot fall of my camera (Canon 5D) and lens (Canon 24-70 f/2.8) to the hard slickrock, after which the combination refused to focus (even manually). The duo are on their way to Canon for emergency surgery. Fortunately, this happened at the end of the day and I had my 50D along as a backup for the last day of the trip which was primarily spent at Lower Antelope Canyon just outside of Page.

More Northern Arizona Images

Record December Snow Pounds The San Juans

2009-01-03T08:57:00.001-07:00

Wow! December has brought some amazing snowfall to the San Juan Mountains here in southwest Colorado. Over 9 feet fell on many of the mountain passes over a two week span, with the final storm pounding the region on Christmas day. Talk about throwing a monkey wrench into holiday traveling plans!

Grand Turk Mountain Near Silverton, CO

The snowy December was both a curse and blessing for me as it forced the cancellation of my much anticipated trip to Bosque del Apache, but it did afford many opportunities to photograph the local mountain scenery and the people who love to play in it. In particular, I spent a large amount of time in the Molas Pass area. This area, just south of Silverton, is one of the more popular recreation areas in the San Juans. It particularly attracts snowmobilers, cross country skiers and snowshoers. This is due, in large part, to the fact that it's essentially an expansive high alpine meadow which is BLM-owned public land and is relatively free of the avalanche issues found elsewhere. The fact that it is surrounded on all sides by snowy, majestic peaks only adds to its allure.

High Flying Snowmobiler, Molas Pass

To get a visual taste for what its like to spend a snowy winter in the San Juans, click on the link below.

Winter In The San Juan Mountains

New Canon G10 Arrives

2008-11-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

I'm in the process of replacing all my cameras over the next few months. As mentioned below, I've already added the 50D to my collection. I've also recently purchased the Canon G10 point and shoot digicam. I wanted a smallish p&s camera with good image quality (at low iso anyway) for those times a DSLR is too large to bother with. It will immediately become my skiing companion this winter. I plan to shoot some local Christmas festivals with it as well.

I must say, this is the best built p&s I've ever layed my hands on. Kudos to Canon for a great design. The image quality is exemplary as well at low iso (at least from the few test shots I've taken). This is definitely a major step up from my Canon S3 which it's replacing. I'm looking forward to playing with it a lot this winter.

Update - May 15, 2009: I thought I'd update my impressions on the G10's image quality now that I've had some time using it. My final conclusion is that it's far from revolutionary. While I appreciate the resolution that 14+ megapixels offer, the noise accompanying the camera is a bit annoying for me. I had hoped that the noise would be pretty minimal at iso 80 (the camera's base iso), but I've found that isn't the case. I think it would be acceptable for anyone who does minimal post processing work on it's files but my experience is that, even with a moderate amount of massaging (and I'm talking raw files here), the noise increases dramatically and needs to be dealt with. Please realize that I'm extremely picky when it comes to image quality (being spoiled with Canon's higher end DLSRs) so others may not agree with my whining! The bottom line is that, while I do consider the camera a big step up from my Canon S3, I'm still finding that I'll take it with me on midday scouting trips or skiing ventures, but little else. And, of course, any kind of action photography that would require sensitivities higher than iso 80 are out of the question.

A Sedona Getaway

2008-11-12T08:15:00.001-07:00

In order to get back in the good graces with my wife (after abandoning her for the better part of autumn), I agreed to a take a trip to Sedona, AZ with her. Oh, the horror...I have to go to Sedona! :-)

Watson Lake - Prescott, AZ

The catch was that I could only do minimal shooting. This was to be quality time together. To my amazement, I kept pretty true to my promise. It helped that I was pretty burned out photographically from all my autumn adventures. I only pulled the camera out one evening and the final morning. The evening shoot was actually at Watson Lake in the Granite Dells (north of Prescott). The final morning was spent at the Seven Sacred Pools in Sedona. Fortunately for me, it coincided with the best weather of the trip.

The Seven Sacred Pools - Sedona, AZ

This trip also gave me the chance to meet up with my Sedona-based photog buddy, Derek von Briesen for a night out. I met Derek through PBase a few years ago and have had some incredible shoots with him at Havasu Canyon, Monument Valley and along Colorado's Sneffels Range in autumn.

Sedona/Watson Lake Images

Finished Adding Autumn '08 Images

2008-11-04T19:10:00.002-07:00

After 11 days on the road in the Colorado rockies and two weekend trips to Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Arizona), I've finally finished up my fall color shooting for the season. It was a tremendous year to be in mountains, that's for sure!

Crystal Mill Near Marble, CO

My Colorado travels took me to the Kebler Pass area (near Crested Butte), the McClure Pass / Marble area, parts of the Snowmass-Maroon Bells Wilderness, and the San Juan Mountains. In Utah, I spent a couple of days exploring the La Sal Mountains near Moab. All in all, I arrived at most of these locations considerably before peak conditions occurred. Should've waited a little longer. Next year I'll know better!

Woods Lake Near Telluride, CO

Click on the link below to see more imagery from my travels...

Autumn 2008 Images

Special thanks to fellow photogs Monte Trumbull and Luke Tingley for their companionship during the San Juan leg of my trip. Thanks for putting up with not only myself, but the crazy antics of my young pup, Yoda!

I'd also like to thank John Mumaw for inviting me along on his Canyon de Chelly shoots. It was my first time to this beautiful National Monument and I guarantee it won't be my last.

The Window, Canyon de Chelly NM, AZ

New Canon 50D Arrived Today!

2008-10-10T18:46:00.001-06:00

I took possession of my brand new Canon 50D this morning. I've sold my old Canon 1D Mark II N and replaced it with this baby. I wanted a wildlife (and backup landscape) camera with more megapixels (for cropping) and better noise characteristics. I can live with a slower shooting camera, but I'm a little apprehensive about the hit I'll take in the autofocus capabilities. The real test is gonna come in December when the 50D will get a good workout shooting the birds of Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. Until then, I'll be experimenting with it to see what it can (and can't) do.

Update - May 14, 2009: I thought I'd update my impressions of this camera. My biggest concern with this camera upon further use was the noise that it produced all the way down to iso 100. It was just plain worse than my old 1D Mark II N at every iso level! Needless to say, I wasn't happy one bit. My workflow has me using both Photoshop Lightroom and CS3 and upon further research, I learned that Adobe's algorithmns for rendering the 50D's raw files was subpar. The workaround for this was to render them with Canon's DPP software instead of Lightroom. While I hated to have to do this as it's always a pain to change one's workflow, specifically for one camera, it did alleviate the problem. Every time Adobe updates their Lightrooom program I check to see if there's an improvement, but no luck so far.

Self Published Books Available

2008-06-10T13:51:00.001-06:00

For those of you who just can't get enough of my work (which probably only includes my parents), I have two self published coffee table style books available, titled

"A Taste of Minnesota"

and "Capturing America".

"A Taste of Minnesota" is a pictorial essay of my experiences in Minnesota, the state I called home for some 45 years while "Capturing America" serves as a portfolio of my imagery from across the United States (up until early 2008 anyway).

These books are printed on demand and, unfortunately, the price reflects this. Some day I hope to publish in a more conventional manner, but until then this is what I can offer. Thanks for having a look!