Best Treats and No Tricks to you all,
Ken
Happy Halloween
Month: October 2019
Colorado July 2019 – Irish Canyon Sunset Photography
Irish Canyon, as with many canyons, is difficult to photography at sunset since the canyon goes into shadow well before the best sunset light.
The image above illustrates this problem. There is good sunset light on the top of the east canyon wall, but the rest of the canyon is already in shadow. If not for editing software, it would be very difficult to get much detail in the shadow, even with a graduated neutral density filter. Of course, one could make a composite of multiple exposures either by stacking the images or creating an HDR. Stacking can be tedious and HDR methods have another set of problems, so I prefer to avoid both of these methods, whenever possible.
Near sunset the canyon features went completely into shadows very quickly, not allowing much time to get the golden sunset light on much of the canyon.
One can see in the above image that the sun is still well above the horizon, but the canyon is already in deep shadow.
I worked my way along the roadway through the canyon, using the road as a leading line and capturing whatever features I could in the sky and the canyon walls.
Eventually, I got back to the old dead tree that I had found earlier in the afternoon, hoping that I could get a good, late day composition.
The clouds were moving overhead fairly quickly, changing as the sun went lower into the sky behind the west canyon wall.
I moved around a little, slightly changing my composition of the tree, canyon walls and clouds, making a number of images to capture the changing clouds and light.
Eventually, the interesting light was essentially gone and I stopped shooting for the day.
I believe I was right about this dead tree making a good foreground for sunset images.
My son set his camera up to shoot throughout the night at a big boulder to capture the moon’s transit and the varying light as the moon moved across the night sky. I elected not to try shooting night shots. I’m still reluctant to leave my camera unattended at night (although, I do sometimes), even in the wilds, and here we were not far from a road that was good enough that semi-truck rigs came through. There can also be animals, like deer, roaming around at night that could stumble over the camera.
Reminder: Click on the photos to view them on Flickr, where they will look much better.
On to the Gates of Lodore tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Ken
Colorado – July 2019 – Irish Canyon
From Vaughan Lake we traveled to Irish Canyon, Colorado.
Near the canyon entrance are boulders with early Native American (Fremont) petroglyph etchings.
These iPhone photos of the petroglyphs have been edited more heavily than normal to bring out the petroglyphs, which are faint in the unedited images, so the colors are enhanced beyond what one might see in bright sun light.
This area is on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) public land. There is a nice campground just a short distance into the canyon. There is a typical, but well maintained, pit toilet in the campground. There is no water available, but there was at least one trash can near the pit toilet.
When we arrived, there was only one other camper in the camping spot most removed from the roadway and a couple of motorcycle riders in the front most campsite. We drove through the campground and picked the most level looking of the remaining campsites.
We walked around and talked to the motorcyclists, who were retired uranium miners from Wyoming. It turned out that they were just taking a break in the campsite, so when they moved on, we moved into that campsite, since it was more level than the others and had a picnic table with better shade (and it was a warm day).
There was not enough shade in which to park the Sportsmobile, but it was a breezy day, so leaving the vehicle open helped keep the temperature from getting excessively high inside.
The setting of the campsite provided very good scenery and we walked around to scout possible photographic compositions for sunset and/or sunrise.
The roadway in the canyon could be used as a leading line.
This old dead tree might be a suitable foreground for a sunset photo.
This big boulder might be useful as foreground in a composition, but it was right at the edge of the trees and slope near the canyon wall, so it might be difficult to get a clean composition here.
That’s all for now,
Ken
North Bisti – May 2019 – Day 3 Scouting
My mid-day scouting activity proved really useful for learning my way around in the northern part of the Bisti Wilderness as well as for determining good places for either sunrise and/or sunset landscape photography. I also began to make written notes, rather than relying upon my memory, since I’m seeing so much variation here that my brain cannot reliably recall some details, especially a few days after the fact.
Today my primary destination was the plateau area with a couple of significantly large hoodoos that I had first seen during my March 2019 visit with my oldest son. I wanted to get a better fix on the best route to these features and a better idea of how much time to allow for hiking there from the north parking area.
I would then explore more in that area.
I followed a general route that I had already found, but explored a slight deviation as I was climbing up out of a valley/wash near a previously found exit point.
Instead of going straight up a somewhat steep, red rock strewn exit, I turned to the right, up another short incline to see where that took me. I entered into a smallish, enclosed area, which I initially thought might be a dead end route.
Looking around the little nook, I spotted this small hoodoo on the wall near where I had entered:
It looked like a hoodoo sentinel standing guard over the little nook.
On the opposite side from where I came in, I could see that it would be possible to climb out there, so I went up the hill and entered into a large, flat area, which I recognized as being just east of an area my son and I had exited into from another direction during our March visit. We had come into that area via a much more difficult route.
Now I was actually on the plateau of my destination, so I began to walk to the south, which I recalled was where the large hoodoos and other features were located.
In a blog post from the March visit, I included scouting photographs of the large pedestal like hoodoos in the above image. We did not get back here on that visit. Looking around, I realized that this area would be good for either sunrise or sunset shoots.
I continued exploring this area to the west and south. Finding areas that were familiar from the March 2019 and March 2011 visits:
There are a number of deep canyons or washes crisscrossing this badlands area with many hoodoos lining the walls of the washes.
I explored along the top edge of the deep washes finding many interesting features.
Can you see the leading lines in these photos:?
I recall photographing in this area in 2011 during my first visit to Bisti and I still have a few photos of the features in this image:
I also found features that make good abstract photographs, like this one:
Wandering through a hodgepodge of rocks along the edge of a deep wash I found the fish like hoodoo at the right end of the line of hoodoos:
And this scary looking rock:
Just behind the fish hoodoo:
On the way out of this area:
I could see these large wing like hoodoos on the far side of a deep wash:
I did not know how to access those far away wing hoodoos at this time; but later I found a way down into the wash and a way to hike up near those wings.
I think that is more than enough for this blog,
Ken
Bisti May 2019 – Day 3 Sunrise – Continued
The last shots that I acquired on the hillside, where I spent most of the early morning on day 3 in the northern portion of the Bisti Wilderness, were of the long slender petrified log that I had discovered in scouting this area a couple of days prior.
I had found a way to safely get down a hillside and shoot near the log. The first image above is taken from a place on the hillside above the log.
I shot four images from the perspective above, focusing at different points in the scene, then stacked those images using Helicon software. Focusing stacking results in a sharp image from front to back in the image.
The image below is created in the same manner, using 6 images, each with a different focus point.
Satisfied that I had done as much as reasonable shooting on the hillside, I hiked back down into the canyon and made a few images of interesting features in the canyon.
I acquired a number of images with various focus points to create these final two images of the “Clam” hoodoo.
I used the Helicon retouching tool for the last image to fix some artifacts that were a result of the clouds moving as the multiple images were acquired. The Helicon retouching tool allows one to choose one of the multiple images and paint in portions of that image to replace the unnatural artifacts.
If the cloud motion just results in an appearance of a long shutter speed image, showing motion in the clouds, I think that is fine and does not require retouching. Obviously, this is a matter of personal preference.
The hike back to the parking area was pleasant, with moderate temperature. I had seen rain in the distance while shooting and while returning to the parking lot. The sky appeared to be clearing in the west, but the wind speed was increasing. It can get very windy here, but I am hoping it will not be so bad as to prevent a sunset shoot today.
More later,
Ken
Bisti May 2019 – Day 3 Sunrise
I was up at 4AM and noted that it was very cloudy, overcast and a little breezy. I thought about not going out due to the heavily overcast sky, thinking there may not be good sunrise light, but I went, anyway.
My destination was the hilltop at the end of a canyon that I had scouted on the first day of my arrival. There was good color in the eastern sky before sunrise, but I was a little too late in getting to my destination in time to get shots of the best color. As I was hiking to my destination, I missed a turn into the side canyon that I had to take to get there. Fortunately, I realized my mistake quickly and only lost a few minutes as I backtracked. Still, those few minutes cost me a few possibly good shots, as the color was mostly gone by the time I got set up to shoot.
The heavy cloud cover eliminated the sunrise golden hour, too. I had to make do with the light that I had to work with and the clouds did add some interest to the sky, at least; but the photos are a little dull without that golden hour light and the dispersed, uniform light with no shadows made the images a bit flat.
At least, I got just a little color in the overcast sky in a few of my shots.
I considered converting most of my images to monochrome, but without the shadows, these lack the depth that help make such images more appealing.
There were many interesting toadstool type hoodoos scattered all around the hillsides and wide vista.
The features in the foreground of the shot above are actually fairly large, but they are on a hillside across a ravine so I could not safely get closer.
I spotted this large petrified log in a ravine downhill to the west. The slope was quite steep here and I would not risk trying to get closer to this one. I have a number of shots of it, trying to show how impressively large it appears and the environment around it; but I think none of the shots do it justice.
I continued to work the area, shooting anything that I though might be interesting.
Looking back up the hill from above the large petrified log is this large hillside with many toadstool hoodoos on the top and a few scattered below:
These are the features that are most prominent, when first climbing up the hillside from the canyon access:
A close up of that rather large toadstool feature:
And another view of the large toadstool with the vista stretching out behind it:
Down the hillside behind the large toadstool, I got down low behind one emerging toadstool to get this view of the sky and the vast desert vista:
I was not satisfied with the sharpness in the first image in this post, so I made a series of images to focus stack:
{Note that a number of the previous images are created by focus stacking a number of images. I finally have had enough of the problems with Photoshop focus stacking, so after some research, I’m trying Helicon software, which is designed specifically for this task. So far, I’m really impressed with it. Helicon produces more accurate results, much faster than Photoshop and has an easy to use retouching tool, that can fix things like artifacts produced by moving subjects (for example, the clouds in these images)}.
I do not recall seeing Bisti photographs such as those in this post. I know others have hiked around this area, since I could see evidence of footprints which had been essentially removed by recent rains; but such areas of Bisti are less popular with the typical visitors and do not have the striking rock shapes as the more popular areas. Yet these photographs, when compared to those from the more popular areas, illustrate the geological variety and vastness of this striking desert wilderness.
This post is getting too long, so I will continue it in a follow up.
Thanks for following, remember that your critiques and comments are always welcome and that clicking on most of the photos will take you to the photograph on Flickr,
Ken
Bisti May 2019 – Day 2 – Interesting People – No Sunset Shoot
My plans for sunset on day 2 of my May visit to Bisti was to go back to the Conversing Hoodoos and shoot with my 24-70mm lens, since I was not completely satisfied with the wide angle 14-24mm shots the day prior.
However, it became increasingly windy and gusty as the day progressed into late afternoon. I even put my penthouse top down due to the wind and rain concerns. I could see rainfall in the distance, but it might have been evaporating before it got to the ground. The rain was in the east and the wind from the west, so I was hopeful that the wind would at least keep the rain away from me. The parking area is all clay soil and would be very slippery and messy, if wet.
As I was sitting in my vehicle, either reading or writing in my journal, a vehicle stopped nearby and a man got out, approaching my vehicle. He had thought that I was someone he had seen earlier. Anyway, he introduced himself as Yan or Jan (not sure of the spelling) from the Netherlands. Since I had served in the U.S. Air Force in the Netherland, we had a bit in common to chat about. He was very familiar with the area around the NATO base at which I had been assigned.
He informed me that he had researched this area via internet posts, at least one site was the same that I had used. He introduced me to his wife, Alida (spelling is uncertain), who had remained in their vehicle. They liked visiting the southwestern U.S and had been to the Valley of Dreams (VOD) in this area. VOD is also known as Ah-She-Sie-Pah (various spellings) and is on Navaho land. I was interested in going there on this visit, but overnight stays on Navaho land near there is not recommended and for my purposes, it works best if I can stay overnight. The drive from Bisti to VOD requires a long drive along dirt roads, which means a slow commute, making it awkward for sunrise and/or sunset photography. If it rains, those dirt roads are not passable and Jan related a story of one of his friends that got stuck on a muddy road and got one of the local Navaho to pull him out.
I’m thinking that, if I can find a local near VOD, I might get permission to stay overnight there in the future. I have seen some amazing features in photographs from VOD.
Later in the day, another couple of guys (Tony and George) parked nearby and came over to chat. They were both from California and Tony was apparently leading a group into Bisti for photography. George was keenly interested in my Sportsmobile and walked around it looking underneath and all around it.
They had camped at the Cracked Eggs in the south portion of Bisti the night before, saying it got very cold and windy at night. (It got down to about 44 degree F in my vehicle the night before). Tony also told me about tent camping in very low temperatures at Yosemite on a recent visit. Shooting at Yosemite in winter would by good, but tent camping there, especially in winter, does not appeal to me.
Around 3:30Pm the wind was very strong with sand and dust reducing the visibility to zero on occasion. It sprinkled rain a little and as a precaution, I moved the van to an area near the parking area exit, where I could quickly exit, if it began to rain in earnest.
The forecast, obtained via my InReach Explorer GPS, showed windy conditions until 9PM – not looking good for sunset photography. The wind subsided around 5PM and I began to think a sunset shoot would be possible. Several car loads of people came into the parking area. They all got out with camera gear and headed into Bisti. From a distance, I thought that I recognized the vehicle that I had seen Tony and George driving.
The wind soon picked up again and it became much cloudier. The clouds could add drama, but too many on the western horizon, of which there were many, will not allow good light for sunset.
Around 6:15PM, I walked up a hill, where I could get a couple of bars of cell service, to make a phone call. Standing there in the gusty, dusty wind convinced me to abort a sunset shoot today.
Later, the sunlight did look good near sunset, but it was still very gusty. which can make shooting difficult and blowing dust and sand is not good for the gear. I had no regrets about not going out.
When the group that had gone out earlier returned, one walked towards my vehicle. It turned out to be Tony. He said the light was great and he liked this area better than the south area. He said that if I came to Southern California he could fix me up with great beaches at which to shoot.
So to wrap up this day, I met some interesting people, had a few interesting conversations, but did not get to shoot at sunset.
Maybe tomorrow will work out better,
Ken
Vaughan Lake Sunrise – July 2019
I did not have to get up very early for a sunrise shoot at Vaughan Lake, since I only had to walk a short distance downhill towards the reservoir from our campsite.
As the early morning light turned the trees a glowing red color, I used this narrow channel as a leading line through the marsh grass towards the hillside.
I continued to work around the channel in the marsh grass, shooting as the light advanced down the hillside.
The early morning sunlight really made the tops of the marsh grass stand out in these last two shots at the reservoir.
As the sun went higher, I moved back towards the camping area to try a few shots across the wide swaths of grass and wildflowers between a roadway and the reservoir.
Next stop on this trip will be Irish Canyon.
Until then,
Ken
July 2019 – Vaughan Lake, Colorado – Sunset
I walked from the campsite down towards the lake for sunset photography. This was not a really easy place to shoot the landscape, since it was so wide open and I could see details in the far distance, which I knew would only be visible in the wide angle shots, when really zooming in on the image. A long zoom lens would be necessary to see the snow covered mountain to the south of the lake.
The snow covered peak is in the notch in the hillside in the upper center of these photographs.
Compositions here were challenging. I wanted to include foreground objects like the large, lichen covered rocks scattered about and the wildflowers. The wildflowers were so small compared to the grand scenic scale that they are almost not noticeable.
The image above is a crop from a wider angle view, bringing out the reflection in the lake surface.
One can see that there were many of the large rocks that can be included in the foreground of these wide angle views.
Turning the camera to the left, one gets another view of the far side of the lake as the sun sinks lower in the west, extending shadows onto the hillside.
Moving a little closer to the lake, allows one to see more of the lake surface with reflections of the hillside. Note that I am still anchoring the foreground with one of the large rocks. Otherwise, I think the foreground in such a shot would be too monotonous.
By getting down into a marshy area very near this little channel through the grass around the lake, I got this view, which I really like. The channel acts as a diagonal leading line from the bottom right corner into the lake with a clear reflection of the far hillside on its surface and the eyes tend to move on through the image from there.
I worked around the shoreline, continuing to use leading line elements in the images.
The sun is now getting really low to the west, putting most of the images into shadow. Mountains to the west are blocking the sun light well before the sun actually sets.
The leading line in the photo above is subtle. There is a trail through the grass from the bottom right going diagonally towards the upper left.
There was a swimming animal, probably a beaver, that swam back and forth throughout my shots near the lake. If one looks very closely in the water just to the left of center in the image above, one can just make out a line in the water going towards the left. That is the v shaped wake left by the swimming animal.
I moved back close to the channel in the marshy area to get the shot above as the sunlight was fading fast from the scene. Looking closely at the notch in the hillside on the left of the image, one can just get a hint of the snow covered mountain peak in the far distance.
Turning the camera to the left, again using the leading line of the channel, one can see the clouds in the east beginning to acquire their sunset color. And again the beaver’s (or whatever’s) wake is just visible in the lake as a streak of light. Just follow the channel line out into the shadowy reflection to see the brighter line of light reflected from the wake near the center left of the image.
And the final scene of the day, above, with sunset colored clouds in the far distance.
The images in this post are all on Flickr, so just click on the images to view them there and, preferably on a large screen, where they will look much better.
Ken
July 2019 – Colorado – Vaughan Lake Columbines
As I promised in an earlier blog, I am devoting this post entirely to Columbines, my favorite Colorado Wildflower.
Please note that all of these photos are made hand holding the camera with a large lens, which makes it more difficult to get sharp images. The reader will note the high ISOs used to get sufficiently fast shutter speed to freeze the wind and camera motion.
There were many of these adjacent to our campsite, so it was very convenient to photograph these.
All of these images are cropped from larger images.
A single Columbine and yet to open buds:
The back sides of Columbines are also attractive:
A group of Columbines:
A single Columbine with two buds:
A group of Columbines:
Cropped from a group of Columbines:
The group from which the above image is cropped:
Another crop from a group of Columbines:
And a larger crop from the same group:
A single Columbine with a bud below and behind it:
A single Columbine with backlight:
Columbines with backlight:
Columbine with backlight:
Columbine and bud with backlight:
Backlit Columbine:
Columbine and buds with backlight:
A crop, removing a distracting portion on the left (note the seed pod with its sail on the upper petal):
More Columbines with backlight:
And that is all for this post, mostly photos with few boring words.
Until next time,
Ken