Sand dunes provide great opportunities for abstract photography. I hope that the few such photographs shared in this post will illustrate such possibilities.
This image is created via focus stacking 4 images in Adobe Photoshop, with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 64.
Wind creates large expanses of ripples and repeating patterns in sand dunes, such as those shown above. These can be rendered effectively in color, if the light is favorable. I like monochrome for such photos, since one only needs the light to provide shadows and highlights, meaning one can shoot at times other than just the “golden” hours.
By excluding moving objects, one can use focus stacking quite effectively in such images, getting sharp images over a large depth range.
Sandhills Abstract. Nikon d850, Nikon 24-70mm at 55mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
I really like this photo with the diagonal ripples superimposed on the orthogonal wave in the dune. Obviously, the shadows in the troughs, alternating with the highlights on the crests of the ripples, produces these interesting features.
A composite of three images focus stacked in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 46mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 200.
This is another of my favorite abstracts from the sandhills. In this case, I like the highlight in the depression near the top right of the image and the way the ripples flow into and around the depression.
A composite of three images, focus stacked in Adobe Photoshop, with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 40mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 200.
Another image with interesting, bifurcating, ripple patterns with faint wisps of plant matter (look closely to see these) across the ripples.
This is a composite of 6 images focus stacked in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 200.
The animal track across these subdued ripples adds interest to the pattern. The original color version also shows variations in the color of the sand, producing streaks of color crossing the ripples.
Natural artwork in the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm (before crop), f/11, 1/15s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
I’m sure some of you have seen images of circles swept into sand by plant fronds or limbs. Here is a variation on that with the lower frond producing long streaks across the sand ripples and the upper frond pecking out an intricate, dimpled pattern along the direction of the sand ripples. To me such natural art work is fascinating. These are also short lived, since the next wind will probably erase these or maybe produce a variation. So, if you see an interesting one, photograph it before it is gone!
Here are a few more early morning and late day photos from this park.
Animal tracks and corrugated shadows in sand dune. This is an Adobe Photoshop focus stack of three images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 50mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64.
In this early morning scene, I like the curved shadow cast by this twig and the way the sand ripples give it a corrugated look. The animal tracks passing by also adds some interest.
Muted footprints, sand ripples and sunset shadows. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 100. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
Late days in the park were always cloudy, during my visit, which muted the sunset light, but at least added some interest to the sky. In the above photo one can see the evidence of human activity in footprints in the dunes. Those on the left side were softened by the wind, while those in the distance are more recent. I rather liked this wide open view with the late day shadows encroaching from the left. There are also a number of people and some human infrastructure in this photo, but these are only visible, when the image is enlarged.
A small bush cast long shadows at sunset in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/100s, ISO 100. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
While being a bit subtle, this little distorted bush and its long shadow caught my eye as I wondered around the sandhills just before sunset.
Sunset light on sand dunes in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 100. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
The light on this dune went from none to fairly good as I composed this image. I was able to exclude most of the human disturbance within the nearby sand, but one can still see the muted footprints in the right side portion of this image. I like the soft, swirly look in the blue sky above the dunes here.
Late day shadows in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
A trio of almost buried desert plants with their long, late day shadows, below the softly, windblown clouds in the blue sky makes this one of my favorite images here.
A small tree casting long shadows at sunset in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
Another small, subtle bush casting a long shadow in the late day sunlight.
Sunset light illuminating the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
The remnants of a windblown bush, highlighted by late day sunlight, and the disturbance it caused in the sand ripples caught my eye here.
A cropped portion of a previous photo. The tumble weed creates interesting perturbations in the windblown sand ripples.
Thinking that the most interesting portion of the previous photo is that little broken bush, with the sand ripple perturbations it caused and the highlights on those and the bush, I cropped out this portion of that image. The larger image offers context to the photo, but I think the cropped portion is more interesting and offers a bit of mystery. What do you think?
Park visitors walking the crest of a dune, below wispy clouds. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 22mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO100. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software
The sky here is the most interesting portion of this photo, but the three people along the sand dune ridge add a bit of scale to the image.
Sunset light illuminates the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
I spotted this fallen tree with the last rays of the day highlighting it and I knew I had to capture it. I made this shot, fearing that I was going to lose the light at any time, then I moved in closer, hoping to get another composition before the light went away.
Sunset light illuminating a fallen tree and the sand dunes. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
The clouds made the light intermittent, but I managed to get this shot before it was entirely gone from the fallen tree.
Sunset at the end of day 2 in the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
This is my final sunset shot before calling it a day in the dunes. I had planned to come back out the next morning for one final shoot, prior to heading to my next destination, but the extensive human disturbance of the sand over the weekend, made me think that I had captured all the best for this trip, so I decided to sleep in the next morning and get an earlier start on the road.
I have a few abstract images from the dunes that I will share in the final post for this park before continuing to my next destination.
Before I continue with photography within this park, I will offer a brief review of the park and facilities. There was some work being done at the visitor center at the entrance, when I was there. This required one to go into the center to confirm one’s arrival and pay any fees that were due, rather than pay in the typical way at a reception window. However, I was a bit confused by the signage at the entrance, thinking that I needed to drive on into the park to find the place to check in. So I continued, following the signs to the camping area. Upon getting to the RV area, I found a ranger helping another RVer with a big rig get into his assigned spot. He came over to chat with me for awhile and told me how to best get to my reserved spot and told me I had a good spot adjacent to a sand dune on one side. He also told me that he could come by, when he made his early morning rounds, and take me back to the visitor center to check in. I informed him that I would probably be in the dunes in the early morning hours and late day hours. I did not tell him why and he did not ask, but he looked a bit confused, since apparently few visitors get out that early into the dunes. Anyway, even though I saw him passing by my place during my subsequent stay, he never stopped by and I never got any note on my vehicle, even though I did not have the typical sticker or receipt that the parks require on vehicles within the park. I did stop by the visitor center as I was leaving the park to be sure all was ok and I was informed that all my fees were paid by the online reservation and I was all set to go. I knew that I had paid the campsite fee, but I still thought that I had to pay the entrance fee, since my annual membership card was expired.
This is an old park and the facilities need some refurbishing, especially the restrooms and showers. The showers are open with no privacy doors. The shower water valves do not operate the way I expected and I initially thought there was no hot water. This is a sandy place and visitors using the showers naturally leave much sand in the shower area.
The park is just north of I-20 and a railway that parallels I-20. Being in the heart of the Permian Basin, there is much oil field truck traffic on I-20 and there were numerous trains passing by through out the night, so it can be rather noisy at night. I must admit that the train whistle sound during the night was a bit nostalgic, since I recall hearing these during the night in my childhood home.
The days were mostly pleasantly cool during my visit, but the late night and early mornings were cold. Even with chemical hand warmers in my fleece mittens, that opened to fingerless mode so that I could operate the camera controls, my finger tips got numb, especially just before sunrise, when I need them to not be so numb.
This is an Adobe Photoshop focus stack of 5 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 31mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64.
Apparently, there is much night life activity in the sand dunes, too. The evidence of such is reflected by the many animal tracks in the sand, especially in the early morning hours before people walk through the dunes, disturbing the surface.
This image is created via focus stacking 5 images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/11, 1.6s – 2.0s, ISO 64.An early morning photo of multiple animal tracks across sand dune ripples. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, ISO 64, f/11, 1/30s. Two images focus stacked in Adobe Photoshop, edited in Lightroom and DXO Nik software.This is a composite of 5 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 29mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64.
In the late day excursions into the sandhills, I could hear coyotes yelping and they did not seem very far away. I saw numerous coyote tracks in the dunes, so I’m sure they were hunting prey in the night time hours within the dunes.
You might note that all of the images above are created by focus stacking a number of images in Photoshop. I like doing this to get sharpness through out an image, but there can be problems with doing this. In particular, if there is motion, such as movement of vegetation or clouds, while taking a series of shots, the focus stacking might not work out well. Since I knew I had this taking place in many of my shots, I inspected the results of each focus stacked image. If there were movement effects noted, I would either abandon the focus stack method or try again with different photos. If the movement effects were far in the background, where the image is not extremely sharp, anyway, I might ignore that and keep the resultant image. This is ok as long as the image is not enlarged to such an extent that the movement or misalignment is apparent. This is just a judgement call one has to make for such shots. I’ve also noted that Photoshop sometimes selects the portions of images that it uses in the focus stack in what appears to be a non logical way, with blobs of images included within an area where most of a separate image is selected. I’m sure that this is just a limitation of the software’s ability to distinguish sharpness for some portions of an image. This might be corrected by manually stacking the images, but that gets into a lot more work in the editing process.
In a couple of my initial focus stacked images, I noted glaring misalignments that could not be attributed to motion. Upon inspecting the original images, I noted that even though I typically sync adjustments across the images to be used in the focus stack process, the lens profile correction did not get applied to all images. This might have been my error, not the software’s problem. Upon correcting this, the focus stack misalignment issue went away. So just something else to be aware of when using this technique.
Early morning in Monahans Sandhills SP. This is a composite of 5 photos, edited in Adobe LR, Photoshop and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 64.Coyote footprints in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 22mm, f/11, 1/200s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
Readers might note that this is a great place to use the “leading lines” technique in photography. There are very evident lines of multiple kinds in most of these photographs that serve to lead the eye through the photos.
Early morning light and shadows in the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.
I like the long shadows streaking through the late day sunlit highlights on the dunes and the numerous animal tracks in the sands in this shot.
Early Morning in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64.
In the photo above, I am not pleased with he sky. Note that it is very blue on the right and much too bright on the left. I first considered cropping to remove the sky, but I did not think I could get a pleasing crop. Subsequently, I considered deleting this photo due to its obvious defect, but then I thought that this can be an example from which to learn. The dark blue is probably due to the effect of the polarizing filter in a wide angle shot. I usually try to minimize this effect, but I apparently neglected to do so in this shot. I do not specifically remember using a graduated neutral density filter in this shot, but I think it most probable that I did. I tried to edit the sky color to even it out a bit, but I did not like the results, so I just left it as it was. Someone with great patience and skill in Photoshop could probably fix the sky, but I’m not so inclined.
I still have a few images from this park to share, so it looks like I will need to continue this in a separate post or two.
I finally got time to get away for a couple of weeks in March. My destinations were largely determined by weather patterns and the distance between those possible destinations. The first stop was Monahans Sandhills State Park between Odessa and Monahans, Texas. This is a place that I first visited briefly in the 1980s, while on a business trip in the area.
I arrive at the Sandhills about mid-afternoon on a Saturday, where I had reservations in the RV camping area for two nights. My campsite turned out to be in an advantageous site, adjacent to a dune that helped block the prevailing winds. It had been very windy here just a few days prior, which is good, since the wind erases the surface disturbances created by visitors to the dunes. However, I was there during a weekend, so I expected to have to work around the weekend visitors and their tracks in the sand dunes.
The park was fairly busy, as I expected, but the nightly winds helped mute the daily human disturbance of the sand dune surfaces. Initially, I was not impressed by the photographic possibilities in the dunes and many of my photos lived up to those low expectations. However, in the end I think I managed to get a few descent photos. I will let the readers judge the results for themselves and maybe provide some feedback on the posted photos.
Sunset light and shadows in the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, f/11, 1/200s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.Sunset light in the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 29mm, f/11, 1/250s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
It was rather cloudy, especially the first day at sunset, so the late day light was intermittent and not as good as one would have liked for landscape photography. The clouds added drama to the sky, but I never got the brilliantly lit or colorful clouds that I had looked forward to.
Late day in the Sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 26mm, f/11, 1/250s, ISO 400. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
It was a bit of a challenge to find large areas of undisturbed sand, but as you can see in the above photo, I managed to find a few such areas. Although, there are muted footprints in the sand in the upper left side of the photo. In the previous photo, there are muted footprints evident in the right portion of the photo. I do not think these are so strongly apparent as to distract from the natural appearance of the sand.
A composite of three images, edited in Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm (before crop), f/11, 1/60s, ISO 200.
The two trees in this photo are weather beaten and scraggly, but I like the glow in the sand at their base and the alternating dark to light in the sand ripples leading from the base of the photo to the trees. This originally started out as a wider landscape view, but there were distracting elements on the right hand side, so I cropped the photo to remove the distraction.
Sunset in the Sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm, at 36mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 640. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
This sunset photo was taken at the end of my first day in the sandhills. There are notable human infrastructure item along the horizon, some of which I removed or muted via editing, but I could never get all of those features removed without leaving unattractive artifacts, so I left most of them in the photo. These are only visible and distracting, when one enlarges the photo.
This is enough for this post. I will continue with more photos from the sandhills in the next post.
I’ve just returned from a two weeks road trip and, as usual, after such trips there is much to do before I can get around to reviewing the photos taken during such trips. Added onto the usual catching up with items around the house, I’ve had to work to correct some software issues, at least some of which I created myself due to the way I decided to use a portable hard drive for Lightroom photos and the Lightroom catalog, so that I can work from both laptop and desktop computers.
In addition, I decided to upgrade my old Nik software, which has not been supported for some time now, to the new DXO Nik version. The software installed and ran on my MacBook Pro, but it did not want to run properly on my iMac. It took quite a bit of work over a couple of days to sort this out. In the end, I’m not sure what action(s) actually cured the problem, but at least now it is operational. In the process I learned how to remove the links to the old Nik versions from Lightroom. One would think this would be an easy, straight forward task, but no search of Adobe’s Help yielded any results on this topic, nor was DXO support completely helpful. Finally, I got suggestions from the Adobe community forum, none of which related directly to my installation, but at least got me onto the right track, allowing me to find and remove the problem files.
So now back to the subject of this post. Experienced landscape photographers need not read any more of this post, since I’m not revealing anything new here. However, beginners or novice landscape photographers might benefit from information shared here.
Light is the essence of photography. It is light that allows one to make photographs and the properties of light affect the resulting photographs. Readers may have heard the term “Golden Hour Light”, used by landscape photographers. This term refers to natural light just as the sun is rising or setting. At these times, when the sun is low in the sky, sunlight has to travel through more of the earth’s atmosphere, which favors the transmission of the warmer colors, filtering out the cooler colors. It is the “warmer light” that really bring to life objects illuminated by such light.
In this post I am showing an example of a scene shot with only the beginnings of this light and one with much more of this golden hour light.
A shot with just a hint of golden hour light peeking through the clouds.
The photo above, while lacking in great depth of field, shows the effect of muted late day light. It was a cloudy day and only a little golden hour light is getting through the cloud cover. This photo is taken looking north with the sunlight coming from the west. This is referred to as sidelight and is good for casting shadows, adding depth to a 2 dimensional photo. Note that there is only a sliver of brighter light going diagonally from the lower left corner towards the upper right and there are minimal shadows, but at least the light alternates in a repeating cycle from dark to light across the photograph. The overall tone is dark. Compare this to the photo below, taken just moments later.
A shot with almost full golden hour light.
The cloud cover is still muting the light in the second photo, but it is obviously much brighter and warmer with stronger shadows. The original image files for each of these final images are raw camera files with adjustments in Adobe Lightroom and Nik software. I’ve applied essentially the same edits to both photos. The difference the light properties make in these images is obvious. The second image “pops” much more than the first image.
As a side note, there is a photo shoot within these photos, which I did not fully realize, until enlarging these images during the processing. In the first photo, near the upper center in the sand just below the sky there are three figures, one female on the left in a red dress and two males to her right. At the time I took the photo, I just noted that there were three people walking in the background. While processing the second photo, I noted these same three people now grouped together just below the skyline on the left side of the photo. The enlargement shows a lighting umbrella device on a tripod, hence the conclusion that this is a photo shoot of the female in the red dress. These figures are only clearly visible (but not in sharp focus), if one enlarges the photo.
That is all for this post. I will have much more to share from this trip in subsequent posts.
In the spring of 2018, my oldest son and I visited Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. We photographed in the park in the early morning, late afternoon and night. During the middle hours of the day we scouted for places to photograph and/or we hiked several of the easy to moderate trails within the park. This post is not really about hiking so much as just exploring an area along Geology Road with illustrations via iPhone photos.
One can drive much of Geology Road in an ordinary passenger vehicle; but there are portions where a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle is recommended.
We drove much of the easier part of the road, including some of the rougher portions, stopping to explore around one boulder area.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There were some clouds to add interest to the photos and I am again contrasting color processing and monochrome processing.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
My son standing on one of the rocks in the above photo gives one a sense of scale here.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
One can always find interesting features within the boulder fields. In the preceding photos, note the window near the center of the photos.
The rock at the center of this image looks like a modern sculpture in the shape of a bear. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Climbing around on the boulders, my son spotted what he referred to as a “bear” rock, nestled down within an opening between other large boulders. It looks like a modern art sculpture of a bear cub to me; but maybe others see something else.
The rock nestled within these big boulders looks like a bear sculpture. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Color Efex Pro 4.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Flowering bush amid the boulders, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Plants seemingly find a place to grow in the most unlikely places.
A panorama within a boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
This panoramic image give one a sense of the openness of the area, even though there are large boulder piles and mountain peaks apparent in this vast desert area.
Boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Boulder Field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Fittingly, there are a few Joshua Trees scattered around within the boulder field.
A scene along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Other desert type scrubby vegetation also populates the area.
A view from within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A gnarly tree trunk within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
A remnant of an old tree found within the boulder field.
A gnarly tree trunk within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Even a few California Barrel Cacti are present. A couple can be seen in the background of the gnarly tree trunk.
A colorful California Barrel Cactus within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A colorful California Barrel Cactus within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
My son had found an outcrop of quartz in the desert opposite this boulder field on an earlier visit and he recalled how to hike to it again on this visit to the park. It is quite an impressive amount of quartz.
A quartz rock outcrop in the desert along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A quartz rock outcrop in the desert along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4A quartz rock outcrop in the desert along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
This post is short on words and maybe a bit long in photos; but at least that makes for a fast scan of the blog.
In the spring of 2018, my oldest son and I visited Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. We photographed in the park in the early morning, late afternoon and night. During the middle hours of the day we scouted for places to photograph and/or we hiked several of the easy to moderate trails within the park. This post is about the Lost Horse Mine Trail with illustrations via iPhone photos.
A view of a portion of Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
In the early history of this area there were numerous mining operations, which have since been abandoned. Remnants of equipment and/or facilities remain at some of the mine sites. Hiking trails to the abandoned mines often follow the original roads made to access the mines.
Some of the equipment remaining at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Lost Horse Mine Trail is an easy trail about a 4 mile round trip and only 480 feet elevation gain from the parking lot to the mine site. One can do a longer version, resulting in about a 6 mile hike, climbing a steeper, narrower loop from the mine back to the parking area. A long interval of the trail is visible in the photo above.
A view of a portion of Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The trail is through a desert area with wide views of the local area with typical desert vegetation.
A blooming Yucca along Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A blooming Yucca along Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Bees were swarming around the Yucca blooms. Looking closely (maybe zoom in on the above photo) and at least one bee is visible on the left hand side of the bloom about half way down the photo. Another photo had more obvious bees in it, but I did not like that photo.
The remains of a winch at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
As in the first part about hiking in Joshua Tree NP, I’m including a couple of duplicate photos, except for the processing (color and monochrome). I like the monochrome treatment best here; but I would like to hear reader preferences.
The remains of a winch at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The old mill is largely intact, but it is fenced off, so one cannot get close enough to get detailed photos of the milling machinery.
Remains of a mill at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A view from Lost Horse Mine Trail near the mine area. iPhone photo edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
If one looks very closely, a hiker is visible on the trail in the above photo. The hiker is on the right at the jog in the trail, where it appears to go from the wider close up to the narrow looking distant part.
As a reminder, all the photos in this post are via an iPhone. We elected not to carry our heavy DSLR gear along, since the lighting was not optimal at the time of day that we hiked this trail.
In the spring of 2018, my oldest son and I visited Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. We photographed in the park in the early morning, late afternoon and night. During the middle hours of the day we scouted for places to photograph and/or we hiked several of the easy to moderate trails within the park. This post is about the Contact Mine Trail with illustrations via iPhone photos.
The Contact Mine Trail is an easy one, with a gentle slope, gaining only 700 feet in just under two miles. As we hiked along the trail we began to notice a barrel type cactus with red spines.
A colorful California Barrel Cactus along the Contact Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Later research revealed that this cactus is referred to by its obvious common name “California Barrel Cactus”. As we hiked along, it became obvious that this area had many of these attractive red cactus, some with yellow blooms. My iPhone shots of blooms near the bottom of one such cactus did not turn out well, so none are posted here. I have seen other images with blooms on the top, but I do not recall seeing any with blooms on the top and most did not have blooms.
A close up of the spines on a California Barrel Cactus along the Contact Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
In the early history of this area there were numerous mining operations, which have since been abandoned. Remnants of equipment and or housing remain at some of the mine sites.
The Contact Mine Site has remains of old mining equipment, other rusty evidence of human activity and mine shafts that have been covered with steel cages to prevent people from entering.
The remains of an engine at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Neither of us carried our heavy camera gear on this hike and I shot a number of iPhone photos just to record the scenes and the experience. I’ve edited the iPhone (jpg) images with some minor adjustments in Adobe LR, followed by edits in Nik software.
Rusty engine at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I’m including duplicates of some images to show the variations between color edits and monochrome edits.
Remains of machinery at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty old mining equipment at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Edits can bring out texture, contrasts and colors. I tend to like the monochrome versions better than the color versions. The monochrome versions depend mostly upon the composition, texture, contrast and shadows. While it is possible to manipulate the monochrome images in many ways to achieve artistic effects, these type edits just seem more appropriate to me, than the color software edits.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty engine components at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Color editing software can allow one to emulate the effects of the “Golden Light Hours” in photos taken outside these magical times of the day; but the emulation is never quite the same as the real light effects, getting into the more artistic edits of the images, about which there can be much philosophical discussion.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty mine equipment at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I’m not getting into the debate over photo editing, since that is a subjective matter. I used to be of the opinion that one could only get good images during the Golden Light Hours of sunrise or sunset and, while I prefer to photograph during those magic light hours, sometimes it is not possible to do so. Rather than pass up photographic opportunities in places, where I know I will never be during the golden light hours, I’ve reconciled to working with whatever light I have at the time, then editing to get an image that I find pleasing from an artistic point of view.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty gear at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I do still feel that the color editing is more unreal than the monochrome edits; but maybe that is just because monochrome images have been in existence in photography for many more years and we study the works of the early pioneers in photography, whose work was entirely in monochrome.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty mine equipment at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Anyway, the early photographers manipulated the monochrome images in the dark room, just as modern digital photographers manipulate the images via computer software.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty gear box at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I would like to hear readers’ opinions on this matter as well as critiques of any of my images (composition and/or edits).
Beaver Tail Prickly Pear in bloom, Contact Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Remains of a winch at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Remains of a winch at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Equipment remains at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Contact Mine winch remains, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Old mine cart rails at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A final note: I reverted to an older version of the WordPress editor for this post, since I could find no way to insert links into photos with the “improved” editor. Verifying that the links were correct, even with the classic editor, proved more awkward than previously. Please let me know if links do not work or are not correct.
On day two in Escalante, my two sons and I went back to Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, this time with several cargo tie down straps to use as aids, if necessary in getting into and out of the upper portion of the canyon.
The two sons with me had some experience with rock climbing. The oldest dropped into the canyon via the steep slick rock at the upstream entrance point, leaving his backpack and camera behind on this test entrance into the canyon. He was able to immediately climb out. Now we knew that at least one of us could climb out unassisted and if necessary, he could assist the other two of us out. So we all entered the canyon to begin our exploration and photography inside it.
This entrance point was in a wide, open portion of the canyon with the very narrow, short section at the beginning of the canyon on one end of the open area and the entrance to the main portion of the canyon on the opposite end.
We looked into the short beginning section first, one at a time, since it was too small for more than one person at a time to get into and out of.
Shadow Photographer. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
While waiting my turn to enter the first section of the slot, I killed some time shooting my shadow on the sunlit side of the canyon.
Shadow Photographer. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
The upstream end of Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The upstream beginning of the slot is shown in the photo above. It is clear from the photo how narrow the entrance is and one can only go a short distance into this section of the slot.
Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/11, (three shots HDR, 2.0s, 1.3s, 0.8s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR, Skylum Aurora 2019 and Color Efex Pro 4.
We worked our way through the slot, photographing as we went along.
Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I do not recall meeting anyone coming from the other end of the canyon on our way down towards the main entrance; but we did begin to meet a few others as we went back up to our drop in point.
Upstream side of a small arch in Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/11, 2.5s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Not far from the downstream entry, there is a small arch cut into the rock, which one can see near the bottom center of the photo above.
Downstream end of a small arch in Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/11, 6.0s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
One has to crawl through the small arch to proceed. The downstream view of the arch is the light area in the center of the photo above. The opening is quite small, so only small people can fit through it. There is some room around the side of the arch, which I recall being rather tight; but it might be possible to navigate around the arch, rather than through it. Going through the arch was definitely more fun than trying to go around it, anyway.
Triple Arch in Peek-A-Boo slot canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 24mm, f/11, (4 exposure HDR, 0,8s, 1.0s, 1.3s, 1.6s), ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR, Skylum Aurora 2019 and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Just prior to the downstream entrance there are three large arches, which can be seen in the photo above. The large rocks in the foreground form one arch and the other two can be seen behind it.
Triple Arch in Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 15mm, f/13, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Looking over the rock at the bottom of the first arch, we saw a hole with muddy water in it. We could not tell how deep the hole and water were, so we did not attempt to go further, electing to back track up the canyon to our entrance point. One can see the light at the end of the slot near the top center of the photo above.
Thinking back to the previous day here, even had we or the young Swiss man gotten up the sheer entrance wall at the main, downstream entrance, it is unlikely that any of us would have been able to continue past this point.
We encountered several people on our trip back up the canyon, having to wait at the wider places in the slot to pass each other. As we got near the upstream entrance point, we found a 50-ish year old female hiker sitting on a ledge in the canyon wall. She had injured her knee along the way. Those that we passed in the canyon were her family members, whom she had told to go ahead and get her on the way out. She had only a small, almost empty, water bottle, so we first filled her bottle with water from one of our water reservoirs. Then, thinking it was not a good idea to leave her there by herself, we offered to help her get back to the entrance point, at least. She could put weight on her knee, but had to be careful not to let it bend sideways, as it would give way. I let her lean on me as we slowly worked our way back to the entrance. I was a bit concerned about supporting her, as she was not a small (not obese, but hefty) woman.
Upon arriving at the entrance, we were considering how we could get her out of the canyon and were in the process of tying the cargo straps together, when another hiker came up from the main entrance direction. He told us he had a friend, a medic with technical climbing gear, back down the canyon, if we wanted to ask him for help. Of course, we did. So the hiker went back into the slot and returned with his friend. At some point the injured woman’s family members returned, as well.
The medic examined the knee and recognized the problem. The injured woman was a large animal veterinarian from upstate New York and she knew quite a bit about anatomy and what was wrong with her knee, with which the medic agreed. The medic also knew exactly how to rig up the ropes to make a sling for getting her out of the canyon. He and others then worked the rope to pull her up the steep slope of the canyon, while others went along by her to help and make sure she did not slip back.
Once on the canyon bank, my oldest son used paracord from his emergency bracelet to tie a portion of a tripod leg to the side of the injured vet’s leg to help keep the knee from bending sideways. She was able to use the remainder of the tripod as a walking stick. She and her family began the hike out, while we stayed behind, having a snack before we started back. We quickly caught up with the injured woman and her party, where they had stopped to rest for a few minutes.
We hiked ahead, thinking it was going to be a slow, arduous hike for the injured woman, especially when they got to the steep, sandy slope followed by the slick rock climb back to the parking area.
On our way back along Hole In The Rock Road, we passed an SUV that was upside down just off of the roadway. There were young boys, maybe college age, standing around and a sheriff’s deputy in his vehicle. Fortunately, no one seemed injured. We speculate that they were driving too fast on the very washboarded road and lost control of their vehicle, sliding off to the side and flipping. We had noted that one had to drive slowly or the bouncing caused by the washboarding would cause a vehicle to drift.
In the late afternoon, we returned along this roadway to an area called Devil’s Garden, where we would shoot at sunset and then star trail photos after dark.
Devil’s Garden Rocks, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 24-70mm at 62mm, f/13, 1/25s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
As we were scouting around the area, I heard someone call, “Hey, guys”. I initially thought I had walked into someone’s photo composition and looking around, I spotted the large animal veterinarian. She was wearing a knee brace and walking with crutches. We were happy to see that she had gotten back from her hike and surprised to see her out again. She told us she had been telling everyone about how we came along and helped her out of the slot canyon.
Metate Arch, Devil’s Garden, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, f/11, 1/20s, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Escalante Devil’s Garden Rock Formations. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 18mm (prior to crop), f/22, 1/8s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4
I know this has been a long post, but I hope that readers will glean some safety tips here, in addition to photographic tips for photographing in this area.
Metate Arch, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 24-70mm at 60mm, f/13, 1/50s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Metate Arch, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4
Devil’s Garden Star Trails 2014. The foreground rock is light painted and captured with a Nikon D90, Nikon 24-70mm @ 31mm, f/8, 105s, ISO 200. The star trails are produced by stacking the foreground shot with 65 90s exposures shot with Nikon D90, Nikon 24-70mm at 31mm, f/2.8, ISO 200. Preliminary edits in Adobe LR, photos stacked in Adobe Photoshop.
There is much more to see in this area (we never got to Zebra Slot or to the end of Hole In The Rock Road), so I expect I will return one day.
On our last day near Escalante, as we were leaving, we hiked several miles along a sandy creek to a waterfall. I’m including one photo of that fall here.
Lower Calf Creek Falls, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/22, 1/10s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
This will be the last post for this year. I wish and hope that you all have a happy holiday season.
Since, I do not have anything from a recent journey, I am reaching back into my mental and photographic archives for this post. I have also revised the editing of the photos contained here. The original edits were mostly very conservative. Now that I have more time and getting more comfortable with advanced photo editing, I think I am able to extract better images from some of the original raw files that I initially ignored, considering them unworthy of sharing.
In March, 2014 two of my sons and I traveled to Escalante, Utah to explore and photograph in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We had a couple of interesting events associated with our hikes in two of the well known and popular slot canyons.
Upstream side of a small arch in Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/11, 2.5s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
On Monday, March 24 our first destinations were Peek-A-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons which feed into the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch. We arrived at the parking area, after traveling down the very washboarded Hole In The Rock Road and a heavily rutted side road with signage recommending high clearance and preferably 4-wheel drive vehicles. We were in a high clearance Jeep, so no problem for us. As we were gathering our gear from the Jeep, a rather low clearance, smallish crossover type vehicle, that we had passed on Hole In The Rock Road, pulled into the lot. We were surprised that anyone in that type vehicle would travel the rutted, dirt road, especially after seeing the warning signs; but the road was not wet or muddy, at least, so a careful driver could navigate it. We met the driver, a young Swiss man, at the trail head marker and chatted with him. He told us that his rental vehicle was 4-wheel drive, but I expect it was the more typical All Wheel Drive rental vehicle.
As we all started the hike, which began on a slick rock slope, then transitioned to a steep, sandy slope down into the dry wash, we noted that the young Swiss man, who was using two hiking canes, had a physical handicap that did not allow him normal use of his legs. Consequently, we soon outpaced him.
We arrived at the entrance to Peek-A-Boo slot and, just as one of our references describe, there was a shallow pool of water in front of a sheer drop off from the slot canyon. Someone had put a few rocks across the pool, stacked a few at the base of the sheer wall and leaned a small tree trunk or maybe a large tree branch against the wall as aids for climbing the sheer wall. There were also a few shallow toe holds cut into the sheer face of the rock wall. After some consideration, we decided that with all of our gear, it would not be wise to attempt this entrance to the canyon. We knew, from our reference for this hike, that one could hike up slope in the general direction from which the canyon came and eventually find a place to drop down into the canyon from above. So we began hiking up away from the dry wash. We were not always able to stick close to the canyon, but we were able to hike back in the direction of the slot and eventually found an entrance point at the upstream start of the canyon. However, we were not sure that we would be able to climb back out at this point and we had no ropes with us. We had cargo tie down straps back in our motel room, so we decided that the safest plan was to come back the next day with a few of those straps, which we could tie together and use, if necessary.
We hiked back to the dry wash on our way to the next slot, known as Spooky. As we were passing the entrance to Peek-A-Boo, we were incredibly surprised to see that the young Swiss man, with his hiking canes, camera, tripod and day pack, had managed to ascend the sheer wall to the first level. (There were two or three levels on the wall, where one could stand). We were concerned that the young man might injury himself and we tried to talk him into coming down. He insisted that he had to go ahead, so we stayed there to make sure that he got up safely. As he tried to lift his leg to put his foot into the next foot hold, it became obvious that he was physically unable to raise his leg sufficiently to continue. He then realized that he could not go on, but he seemed afraid of getting down from his perch. We assured him that we would help him down. He passed his gear down to us, asking us to please be careful with his camera. My oldest son was quite helpful guiding his feet into the foot holds, while we were all making sure he did not fall. He was obviously concerned about his safety during his descent and expressed his gratitude to us, when he was safely back in the wash.
We suggested that he walk along with us to Spooky. He agreed, but said he would be slow and we assured him that we would stay with him.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/11, (three shots HDR at various shutter speeds) ISO 200. Edited in Adobe LR, Skylum Aurora 2019 and Nik Color Efex Pro 4
We arrive at Spooky after about a half mile of walking in the wash. Spooky is a very narrow slot, frequently requiring one to walk sideways with arms outreached with backpack in one hand and tripod with camera in the other hand. The walls are also rough and abrasive, which wore holes in our backpacks as these were pulled through the narrow passage. I am not a big person and both my chest and back frequently scrapped against the walls. Anyone much larger than me would not be able to squeeze through this slot.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/11, 3.0s, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/11 (several exposure HDR), ISO 200. Edited in Adobe LR, Skylum Aurora 2019 and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The best time for photography in the slots is when the sun is high enough for sunlight to penetrate into the dark, narrow canyon. Light reflecting off of the sandstone walls can create interesting color, highlighting the texture of the rock.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/8, 1.3s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The low light within the canyon can also require larger apertures, slow shutter speeds and maybe even multiple exposures for creating HDR images.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/8 (two shots, 2.5s and 8.0s), ISO 400, edited in Adobe LR, Skylum Aurora 2019 and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Eventually, the slot opened up into a wide, sandy wash, which we used to walk back to the main trail. The young Swiss man took off across country in the opposite direction. He had a GPS and we never heard of anyone going missing here during our visit, so I am assuming he got back safely.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/11, 1.3s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/11, 1.3s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
(On a subsequent trip in the hot summer, by two of my sons, they encountered a woman and her children in the parking lot, asking them to keep an eye out for her husband. They had been hiking and got disoriented. The husband hiked up to a higher elevation to try to see the way out and disappeared. He eventually perished, before he could be found. The environment here is deadly for those not sufficiently prepared).
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/11, 6.0s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4
One does not want to be in one of these slots, when there is any rain in the area. Flash floods through these canyons will be deadly for anyone in these canyons during one.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/8, 4.0s, ISO 400, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/8, two shots HDR at 2.0s and 5.0s), ISO 400, edited in Adobe LR, Skylum Aurora 2019 and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
These canyons are beautiful and a joy to hike through, just make sure to use care in getting here. Carry plenty of water, snacks, wear proper clothing and either know the area well or carry a GPS and/or map and compass.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/8, 6.0s, ISO 400, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4
The rough texture of the canyon walls is clearly visible in the above photo.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/8, 0.6s, ISO 400, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
And yet, some portions of the walls are rather smooth as shown in the above photo.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/8, (two shots HDR 3.0s and 2.0s), ISO 400, edited in Adobe LR, Skylum Aurora 2019 and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The sandstone looks purplish in low light and reddish in brighter light.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm DX at 12mm, f/8, 3.0s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The narrowness of most of the route is obvious in the above photo, which is just a slightly different angle of the same section as in the previous photo.
It is amazing how flowing water over many years has carved and sculpted the rock walls of these amazingly beautiful canyons.
Spooky Slot Canyon, Escalante, Utah. Nikon D90, Nikon 12-24mm at 12mm, f/8, (three shots HDR, 1.6s, 0.6s, 0.5s), ISO 200, edited in Adobe LR, Skylum Aurora 2019 and Color Efex Pro 4.
Part II of this blog will relate yet another significant experience involving a hiker in distress in our subsequent trip to Peek-A-Boo Slot on the following day. So stay tuned for more in a week or so.
