In late March of 2023, I traveled to Snow Canyon State Park in Utah with the intention of staying here a full week. The park features, which are impressive, are essentially located along the roadway that goes through the park. However, due to the orientation of the canyon, sunrise works for golden hour photography in some portions of the park, but sunset golden hour is either very limited or non-existent. This was a disappointment, as that greatly limited my photographic possibilities here.
After checking into my campsite, I drove towards the south exit/entrance (I had entered via the north entrance) to check out the scenery in that direction and to get a cell phone signal. There is only a weak, at best, phone signal at the campground, but a good signal at and near the south entrance.
On my way back to the campsite, I stopped to check out Jenny’s Canyon, a very short slot canyon that is accessible via a short hike from the roadway.
Sunlight filtering down into narrow canyons can create some remarkable color contrast on the canyon walls. The image above is shot looking upwards towards the sky from within the short slot canyon.
Usually, I find something of interest to photograph in route to my destination, but I found nothing of special interest during my first two days of the drive. Maybe I wasn’t looking intently enough and too preoccupied with getting to my stops. Although, I did see this group of deer near the entrance to my first overnight stop.
There is always at least one in a group photo that is not looking at the camera. iPhone Photo.
I’ve picked out a general location for sunrise photos tomorrow. The results are next up.
My wife and I began a tradition of spending a couple of weeks in Indiana in the fall a few years ago. There are multiple reasons why we established this tradition. 1. My wife has relatives in the area, having lived in Indianapolis during her early childhood. 2. A relative allows us to stay in their weekend cabin that is very near Brown County State Park, which is a very popular place in the fall. 3. We both enjoy seeing fall color in the hardwood forests in this part of the U.S. 4. I get to photograph the fall color and write about it in this blog.
Timing our visit to see the best of the fall color is always hit or miss. Sometimes we are too early, sometimes too late and sometimes we see the peak fall color.
Photographing in the same location at the same time of the year is a challenge and I often worry about my photographic images being too repetitive. After all, how many ways can one photograph trees, forests, barns and fall scenes? Lots, actually, but how many are unique? Trying to get unique and interesting images is a challenge. I can only hope that the scenery varies sufficiently, year by year that my images will not be too boring.
Fall Backroad
Driving the backroads of Indiana is a good way to appreciate the fall color and other rural fall country scenes.
Fall MedleyIndiana Barn
The barn in this image sits far back from a roadway on private property. I shot it with a telephoto lens from the edge of the roadway, hand holding the camera. I shot from different perspectives trying to get shots with the least amount of that pile of debris in front of it in the image. However, this image may be the best overall, even with that unsightly mess in front of the barn.
Fall ProgressionBramble Morning
I was a little late for the actual sunrise at this location in Brown County Park, so I walked down a slope into the briars, weeds, grasses and brushy growth, thinking a shot from within all that foreground clutter might at least be different than that of the early photographers that were wrapping up their sunrise shoot from the top of the slope and there was no way to avoid getting that messy foreground in a shot from anywhere here.
I had to spend a considerable amount of time picking the stick tights from my clothing after this mornings’ shoot.
Crooked Tree FallPuddle FallExposedUp a Fall CreekFall Tease
This post is a catch all for a number of photos taken during a couple of road trips in 2022.
Ice Cream, Drugs and Beads
One might need to look closely to see the string of green Mardi Gras beads in this tree in old downtown Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
Coca-Cola FadeSky and TreeWiredSky Flow 2
Standing on a Mississippi Gulf Coast beach, I observed clouds creating abstract forms.
Sky FlowEmpty – Waiting for SummerPi-BirdsCurious Praying MantisCypress Trio
These cypress trees in Lake Chicot, Arkansas show how much the water level is below normal due to drought in the U.S. mid-continent area. Lake Chicot is a horseshoe lake formed by an abandoned channel of the nearby Mississippi River, which was at an historic low level, at the time this image was made.
Early Fishermen
The link in the photo above, actually takes one to another, slightly different composition, than this one.
It was another heavily overcast morning in Badlands National Park with sporadic light rain.
Traffic Stop, Badlands NP, September 18, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo through the windshield
These female Bighorns and lambs were in no hurry and did not care that they were holding me up in my quest for early morning photos.
Bighorn, Badlands NP, September 18, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo
Shooting under the heavy overcast, most of my images were dark. I brightened them, but did not want to overdo that and ruin the reality. These images look better on a large screen with proper brightness for viewing images, but may look very dark in this blog post, especially if viewed on a small screen. Some of these images have embedded links to the images on Flickr, where these usually look much better than in this blog.
I shot all of these image at a number of different viewpoints along SD240, the main road through the park. I met a young lady from Michigan, who was also shooting images. We seemed to be stopping at the same places for awhile. She observed that the color in the badlands rocks were more saturated when wet. I told her that she had discovered the reason geologists like to view wet rocks, rather than dry ones.
After leaving the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, my next primary destination was Toadstool Geologic Area in Nebraska. Since the drive between these two destinations was long, I had plans to break up that drive with a couple of overnight stops along the way.
I stopped in Kansas at Lake Scott State Park the first night. The campground is adjacent to a lake with hills surrounding it, which I had hoped would be scenic enough for a few good photographs. I was disappointed. The campground was ok, but nothing special. The park is old, in need of updating, the lake was not scenic and some facilities, such as docks, were in great disrepair. Long grass and weeds along part of the lake had been recently cut, but the clippings were littering the grounds and walkways. It did not appear that the caretakers were concerned with the general appearance of the park.
My second planned overnight was a dispersed and free camping area at Clear Creek State Wildlife Management Area along the North Platte River in Nebraska. When I checked the weather report for that area there were warning of severe thunderstorms and I knew from research into this site that rain might render the dirt roads into the area impassable. I decided it best to bypass that site and make a long drive on to Toadstool Geologic area.
There are only six first come, first serve campsites at Toadstool. I wanted to arrive early enough in the day that there might still be campsites available. This is the main reason that I had not initially planned to drive directly from Lake Scott, Kansas to Toadstool. If I arrived late in the day and the campsites were taken, I would have to backtrack to other possible sites, with no guarantee of finding a place to stay nearby.
The final stretch of roadway into Toadstool is a 16 mile gravel roadway. That roadway was rough and extremely washboarded, when I drove in, requiring slow driving.
Luckily, when I arrived at the campsite, there were at least 4 sites available. I had planned to stay two nights here, but it was hotter than usual here with daytime temperatures in the nineties. Nighttime temperatures drop into the upper fifties, making for comfortable sleeping. There are no water or electric hookups here. I had plenty of water, but electric would have been good to have with such hot daytime temperatures.
I decided that having to hang out during the heat of the day would not be pleasant, so I only registered for one night. If, after exploring the area, I decided another day would be beneficial, I could always extend my stay.
After registering at the campsite kiosk, I finished setting up my van for the overnight stay, raising the penthouse and opening all the vents, opening the side and back doors to allow air to circulate through to help reduce the inside temperature.
In the meantime, others arrived and soon all the sites were taken. It was fortunate that I did not arrive any later this afternoon.
I had plenty of time prior to sunset, so I hiked into the area around the campsite to scout locations for photography. I found a few possible location in the hillsides to the south, but none of those really appealed to me. Eventually, coming back down into the valley below the hillsides to the west of the campground, I found interesting features and decided this was the best place to return for sunset and maybe even sunrise.
King of the Hill
When I returned to the area I had chosen for sunset photography there were a few young people and a photographer, shooting what I think were engagement photos, that I had to work around. Eventually, that group left and I had the place to myself.
Supporter or OppressorSupporting Cast
I shot a number of images of the rock features with variation on the compositions and the clouds moving overhead.
Since my arrival in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, I had seen numerous free roaming bison, but they were always too far away and/or laying about in grass, so that I could not get good photos. As I was leaving today, I hoped that I would spot more bison in situations where I could capture a few descent images. I already had my 80-400mm lens with a 1.4 extender mounted to my camera, just in case.
Indeed, I did begin to see bison as I drove along one of the refuge roadways on my way to the exit. However, these were again too far away to successfully photograph.
Finally, I came to a location where I could see bison behind a fenced off area. The bison were close enough to the fence line that I could photograph them, but I would have to hike across an open field to get to the fence. As I prepared to do that, I noted a group of bison on my side of the fence. Going to the fence line would put me too close to those bison, so I had to nix my plans.
Scanning the area, I noted a small herd of bison on the opposite side of the roadway that were far enough away that I could stand beside my van and photograph those. Initially, I tried handholding my big lens, but that proved difficult and awkward, so I mounted it on my tripod. I began to shoot that small herd and watched as they slowly walked in my direction.
Grazing
I soon realized they were heading directly towards me and were soon going to be too close for comfort. I quickly retreated into my van, dragging my tripod and camera behind me.
By the time I was safely inside my van, there were bison crossing the roadway just in front of and just behind my vehicle. I began to photograph the bison from inside my vehicle.
Crossing Guard
The bison did not seem to be concerned about my presence, but the one above stopped to stare at me or my vehicle.
Follow MeResoluteWatchfulBison FamilySecurityGot a Tissue?Got Insect Repellent?Walking in Tall GrassBleh
After the bison had wandered away a safe distance, I started my van and continued on my way.
Having found no better and more convenient place for sunset photography during my mid-day exploration of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, I decided to hike back to Little Baldy again for sunset.
Wild Turkey in campground
I had already seen a flock of wild turkeys wandering freely and nonchalantly around the campground and as I left my campsite, I noted a dozen or more along my route. I had already mounted my wide angle lens and had no other lens with me, so I could not get a close up photo of these wild birds.
Wild Turkey in campground
These photos are not very good, but I wanted to include these as documentation of the wildlife in this area. These wild turkey do not seem to be bothered much by humans, although they will scurry away, when approached too closely. I suppose their lack of great fear of humans is a result of this being a wildlife refuge, where no hunting is permitted and contact with humans is common.
When I arrived at Little Baldy, I worked my way around to the western side and picked my way up the slope, looking for different view points from which to shoot today.
Little Baldy western slope in sunset light
From atop a large granite feature, I shot along the edge of Little Baldy as the sun sank low in the sky. Then I worked my way towards the top of Little Baldy.
Sunset on Little BaldyPost Sunset on Little Baldy
The sun was already sinking below the horizon, when I got near the top of Little Baldy. I managed to snap a few photos before the golden hour ended, but most were similar, even though I tried moving around as fast as I could to get various perspectives.
Possibly, I might have gotten better and more varied shots, had I gone to the top first, rather than shooting from the side of Little Baldy.
Tomorrow I will begin the next leg of my journey towards my primary destination of this road trip.
With my DSLR in hand, I began a more extensive exploration around the summit of Mount Scott.
Branching Artist
Since I was passing this interesting tree again, I had to shoot it with my DSLR, trying to get variations on my initial iPhone scouting photos.
Reaching LimbsRolling HillsGranite AlleyMade in the ShadeForced Shade
I know these three photos are similar, but this unique tree shading the granite rock, inspired a number of thoughts and offered numerous compositional variations. I couldn’t decide which image I liked best, so here are several of my favorites.
Accommodating TreeDon’t do this.
Please do not deface nature’s beauty to express your primitive desires. There are many other ways to express your admiration of someone that will be much more meaningful, appreciated and will not be an assault upon others’ enjoyment of our natural environment.
The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge campground hosts recommended Mount Scott as a place for sunset photography and so did the rangers in the visitor center, so I drove up the scenic drive to check out the views.
The steep drive up Mount Scott passed by large boulder fields and scenic views across the Oklahoma landscape. I stopped at a number of pull outs to check out the local views.
View From the slope of Mount Scott, iPhone Scouting PhotoLichen on Mount Scott Granite, iPhone Scouting Photo
Many of the granite boulders here are covered with yellow and grey lichen, forming interesting patterns on the rock faces.
Mount Scott Granite, iPhone Scouting Photo
There are massive granite rock faces along the route to the top of Mount Scott.
Yellow Wildflowers and Yellow Lichen, Mount Scott Granite, iPhone Scouting PhotoShoe Rock, Mount Scott Granite, iPhone Scouting Photo
I’ve labeled this photo “Shoe Rock”, since I can see a shoe shape in the rock on the bottom left.
Blocky Rocks and Sky, Mount Scott Granite, iPhone Scouting Photo
When I reached the parking lot on the top of Mount Scott, I initially walked around the perimeter of the lot, looking out over the views. I was discouraged to see much litter in the area around the parking lot. I picked up a few plastic bags and put them into my trash. I did not see any trash receptacles in the area. When I am shooting photographs in such public areas, I often have to remove trash from the scene, prior to shooting.
The Duck, Mt. Scott Tree Remnant, iPhone Scouting PhotoView from Mt. Scott, iPhone Scouting Photo
From the parking lot, I worked my way down and into the area just below the parking area.
Mt. Scott Tree, iPhone Scouting Photo
This sprawling tree offered a number of photographic opportunities.
Artistic Sprawl, Mt. Scott Tree, iPhone Scouting PhotoPom Pom Tree, Mt. Scott Tree, iPhone Scouting Photo
After this brief scouting of the area, I decided that I did not like all of the human infrastructure that would be visible in wide angle images across this area. I decided not to return here, during this short visit; but I still wanted to explore more, in case I changed my mind or came back another time. I retrieved my DSLR with 24-70mm lens from my vehicle and began a more extensive exploration.
