Category: Photography

Photography information and/or photos.

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Impromptu Plan Change

My original trip plan had me traveling from Bandelier National Monument to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, then on to my son’s house in the Denver area, where we would make a final decision, based upon weather patterns, for a final destination.

This spring the snow fall in the Rockies has been very heavy with a number of avalanches.  With the avalanche danger being high, we did not want to take our normal route across the Rockies into any of our favorite spring trip areas of Utah, New Mexico or Arizona.  With another storm coming, we decided that the Bisti Wilderness and possibly Angel Peak in northwestern New Mexico, with a mostly benign weather forecast was the best target for the balance of this trip.  So instead of driving to cold Colorado (night temperatures in the 20s), I would drive directly to New Mexico and my son would meet me there, saving me much extra driving.

I briefly looked at a map and chose the shortest route from my location in Bandelier to Farmington, New Mexico.  It was a simple route and looked so straight forward, that I did not bother with using a navigation system.

Setting out about mid morning, I began driving along scenic NM Route 4 through mountainous, national forest areas.  Shortly after getting underway, it began to snow lightly, then more heavily in the higher elevations, where snow began to accumulate on the roadway and vehicle as the temperature dropped below freezing, requiring me to drive more slowly.

A snowy scene in Bandelier National Forest, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

I passed a number of scenic, photogenic areas in the higher elevations, but there were no safe places to pull over.  Even though the traffic was very light, I did encounter other vehicles, so I did not take any chances stopping on the roadway.  As I got into the lower elevations, where the snow was not accumulating on the roadway, I noted high piles of accumulated snow, indicating how heavy the snowfall has been this year.  I pulled out at one view area and took a couple of shots with my iPhone.

A snowy day along NM4 in Bandelier National Forest. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.  The numerous dark spots in this photo are caused by snow melt water drops on the iPhone lens.

The snow limited visibility, so one could see little from the view points.

A snow scene along NM4 in Bandelier National Forest. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.  I did not bother trying to remove the numerous spots caused by snow melt water drops on the iPhone lens from these photos.

I continued along, enjoying the scenic drive.  I turned onto route 126 from route 4 at some little mountain community.

I turned onto route 126 from route 4 here.

Route 126 was a curvy, scenic paved roadway, but somewhere along the way, I saw a sign that indicated there was an unimproved, mountain roadway ahead.  I had not noted that on my map, but I continued ahead, thinking I had nothing better to do than to check out this area.  There were a number of national forest camping areas along both route 4 and route 126, which I made a mental note of for future possibilities.

A short cut that wasn’t. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Just after passing a state fish hatchery, I encountered a “Pavement Ends” sign and a barrier across the roadway.  Even had this road been open, I would probably have turned back, since I had no idea of the condition of the unimproved portion of this road.

Route 126 was closed just past the fish hatchery, where the pavement ended.

I turned back here, going back to Route 4 and continued on to US 550 at San Ysidro.

Where I expected to intersect US 550 from NM 126.
I planned to get to US 550 at Cuba. Instead, I ended up at San Ysidro.

Had I looked at my map a bit closer, I would have noted the non-paved portion of Route 126 or had I used a navigation system, I would have avoided this unnecessary detour, but I would have missed a scenic drive.  So in the end, it was not a big deal.  I later encountered someone that had driven the unimproved portion of Route 126 and they said it was a good road and I would have had no problem driving it, had it been open.

I continued onto Farmington via US 550, making a reservation in route for a room in a local motel, so that I could get a proper shower and one night in a big bed, before heading to Bisti, where there were no facilities and I would be staying for a number of days.

A view of the snow clouds over the mountains that I drove through. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Driving along US 550, I got good views of the snow clouds over the mountains that I had driven through.  I then saw another storm front coming at me from the north.  It is so wide open in this area, that one can see storm fronts from miles away.  I drove through windy conditions, then pouring rain, then icy, slushy rain along this route.  At some point, there was even enough slushy ice on my vehicle that I got a warning that my blind spot monitor was incapacitated.  Other than that, the only other problem was that my anticipated night of rest in a soft bed did not occur.  For some reason, I slept very poorly, even though the bed was soft and the crisp, clean sheets felt so good.  Maybe I was too used to a more simple sleeping arrangement!

To Bisti Wilderness next,

Ken

 

 

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Bandelier National Monument

The third stop in my 2019 Spring road trip was Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico.  This was mainly a convenient place to overnight on this trip, but I was, also, curious about this area.  The camping area here is really nice with good restroom facilities, but no showers.  The camp sites tend to be rather close to each other, but during my visit the area was almost empty with only a few scattered campers.  This being my first visit, I stopped to chat with the camp site host, whom I spotted as I drove on an exploratory trip around one of the loops, all of which were open, even though the official website said some might not be open during the off season.  The camp host suggested that I drive around, pick out several sites that I liked, then go to the self check in kiosk on the roadway just prior to the first loop.  I did so, picking out a site with no one near it, but near a restroom.  Most of the parking sites seemed to be at least slightly sloped, but not so much that it was uncomfortable, so I did not feel the need to try leveling my vehicle.

After setting up and having a late lunch, I headed out to the visitor center, which I arrived at just after the 5PM closing time, so I did not get inside there.  There are a number of trails near the visitor center, so I picked up a trail guide outside the visitor entrance and decided to take a quick hike along the main trail.

Prior to this visit, there had been much snow in the area and the website said some trails were snowy and icy, so I brought along ice crampons for my hiking footwear.  However, the snow and ice were all gone while I was there, so I still have new, unused crampons.  I had received a weather notification of another spring storm heading this way with heavy snowfall expected over some areas.

Recent flooding had closed some areas and trails, all of which sounded more interesting than those that were open.

For landscape photography, I did not find this area of great interest, at least not on this visit.  This is a beautiful forested (mostly evergreens) area, but a bit enclosed and confining for my inclinations.  On my short hurried hike, I did not bother taking my DSLR and other gear, since I had no idea about what to expect.

Native American Ruins along the Main Trail in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

There are interesting Native American ruins here, so there is much of historical and archeological interest.

Kiva remains, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A Kiva and entrance, Bandelier NM. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Ladder access into a Native American Cave Shelter in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

One is allowed to enter into any of the ancient dwelling with the ladders provided.  The ladders are not ancient, of course.

An interior view of a Native American cave shelter, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

The ceilings of the cave dwellings are blackened by fires used by the ancient dwellers.  There were remnants of log elements protruding from the ceiling in some of the caves with a few charred by fire.  These do not appear to have been necessary for roofs, so I’m guessing they were used for other purposes, maybe for hanging pots for cooking or storage.  There is probably more information about these dwellings on the park website.

Native American Cave Shelter, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

There were quite a few caves carved into the volcanic rock of the cliffside along the main trail.

Ruins as seen from the main trail along the cliff face, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

There are interesting rock shapes along the cliff side trail and good views of the ruins on the valley floor.

Native American ruins along a cliff face in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

There are holes in the cliff face, where roof supports were originally installed.  Some of the shallow alcoves along the cliff face contain paintings or petroglyphs.

After leaving the visitor center area, I went back past the camping area to a parking area at the Frey trail head and walked along the trail for awhile.  The portion of the trail I walked along, just prior to sunset, was mostly through a thinly forested area.  At a high point along this trail, there were good view of snow covered mountain peaks and I paused for awhile to see what the sunset would be like.

Sunset Clouds in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Skylum Luminar.
A dramatic sunset sky in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Skylum Luminar.

On this brief exploratory hike, I only had my iPhone camera with me, so the quality of the sunset photos are limited, but at least give one a sense of the possibilities here.

None of the photos in this post are published on my Flickr page, since I do not consider them of sufficient quality for sharing there (not to say that I have not ever published some poor quality photos on Flickr).

I will be away for a few days, so the next post may be delayed.

Thanks for following and reading,

Ken

 

Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Spring 2019 – Day 2 – Sunset Photos

After scouting about a mile along the Tejas trail earlier in the day, I went out again late in the day, planning to be near the far end of my scouting hike to get a shot of the most prominent feature on the mountainside east of the trail.  After arriving at that point on the trail, I very soon realized that the sunlight was not going to illuminate that feature as I had hoped.  Only a small portion of the intended subject would be highlighted with most of it being in shadow.  So I began hastily backtracking down the trail to check out other possibilities.  The next pre-scouted site that I attempted did not work out either, so I continued back along the trail.

I arrived at another pre-scouted site that looked more promising and proceeded to make a number of shots, none of which were greatly impressive.  However, I managed to get one that I could edit and make look presentable.

A late afternoon scene along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom, DXO Nik Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4.

There was good light on the mountainside, but the shadows were quickly encroaching upon the scene.  If not for motion in the vegetation, I could have tried creating an HDR image or stacked a number of images.  In this image I applied color, contrast, brightness and structure adjustments in DXO Nik software via numerous control points.  Then more adjustments in DXO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.  I added a vignette frame around the edges to eliminate an obvious vignette in one corner of the original image that was caused by my filter holder.

Moving a bit more back down the trail, I stopped to shoot in another location, before the light disappeared completely.  Again I had to make a number of exposures, trying to balance the shadows and highlight, but none came out really well and HDR was, again, not an option.

Late day sunlight along a mountain top in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom, DXO Nik Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4.

One can see how far the shadows have moved up the mountainside in just a short time interval.  This image is edited in a very similar fashion to the previous one.  I could have brought out more detail in the shadows, but chose not to do so in this case.

I tried a few more shots as I moved back down the trail, but none worked out very well.  The evening was pleasant and there was a full or near full moon that evening, so the walk back to the RV parking lot was quite pleasant and well lit by moonlight, so I did not have to get out my headlamp.

This photo shoot did not turn out as well as I had hoped, but at least I got a couple of reasonable images and had a pleasant moonlight hike back along the trail.

I had picked out a few possible places for sunrise shots the following and last morning of my visit, but none of those were really appealing, so I decided to forego getting up early for a morning shoot and get an earlier start on the road to the next destination.

This park has much more to see than I had time to get to.  In particular, McKittrick Canyon is reportedly very nice in the fall, so maybe I can make another visit one fall.  I would also like to get into the gypsum dunes in the Salt Basin.  So I really need to find time to plan another visit.

Ken

2019 Spring Trip – Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Day 2 – Part 1 – Scouting Photos

After a strenuous previous day and getting to bed late with no firm plans for where to go for early morning photos, I decided to sleep in a bit and scout the area again during the morning and afternoon for possible locations for sunset photos.

After breakfast, I walked the trail to the visitor center looking around for possible photo locations along the way.  Since I had hiked a substantial portion of the Guadalupe Peak Trail the previous day, I figured that I had earned the right to purchase and display a pin from the park in my collection, so I picked up the pin and inquired about the road into the Salt Basin, hoping to get time to visit the gypsum sand dunes in the western portion of the park.  No one there had any update on the condition of the long clay road into that portion of the park.  After thinking about this, I decided against attempting to get into the Salt Basin on this trip.  I only had that afternoon and the next morning to spend in the park and the Salt Basin area is a day use area only, meaning no overnight camping or parking there.  For sunrise photos, I would have to get up early the next morning and drive quite a way to get to the access road and then there was no way to know if I would be able to drive the last portion of the road and I would have no idea of where to go, anyway.  For sunset photos, I ran the risk of losing my already paid for second night in the RV site, where the slots are on a first come basis; but there seemed to be no way to show that a site was already taken, if no vehicle was parked there.  This eliminated the gypsum dunes for sunset photos.

Upon returning to my vehicle, I decided to check out the Tejas Trail from which I thought I might be able to get late day shots with golden hour light as I had observed it the previous evening on the mountainside to the east of the trail.

The lower portion of the Tejas Trail is much easier than the Guadalupe Peak Trail.  Again I hiked with only my Camelbak with water, snacks, GPS (for safety and for recording waypoints at possible photo sites) and iPhone. I looked for possible photo sites along the trail, making a number of iPhone scouting shots.  These shots were all taken around mid-day to early afternoon, so the light was harsh with the sun almost directly overhead, so there were not even any shadows to give the photos depth.

I am presenting a few of those scouting photos in this post with comments regarding the ideas for later DSLR images and some notes on editing photos.

Someone from McAllen, TX left this mark on a tree along the Tejas Trail in Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

This first image is an example of what is seen much too often and illustrates what one should not do in our national parks.  Someone just could not resist defacing one of the trees along the trail.

An old tree trunk with highlights along the Tejas Trail in Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

Even with mid-day light, it is sometimes possible to get interesting images.  The one above is a portion of a gnarly, weathered, fallen tree, mostly in the shade of another tree with sunlight dappling across it.  This is a jpeg image, so the editing is limited; but I’ve tweaked it a bit in Adobe Lightroom, then applied additional editing in DXO Nik software.  I typically like to add several filters in Color Efex Pro 4, depending upon the photo, with a slight touch of brilliance, detail extraction, sometimes a graduated neutral density and a slight skylight filter.  One has to be careful not to over do it with these filters.  Sometimes, I will note that a favorite filter is just too much and I either have to tone it down or eliminate it.

A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

I hoped to get sunset light on the features in the mountain side, but I also needed something in the foreground and/or framing objects.  So I experimented with these concepts as I walked along the trail.  I applied a little lens fall off vignetting in the above image to tone down some of the unattractive foreground and to reduce the plain sky.

A scouting photo along Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

Another foreground/framing possibility is illustrated here.  Again, I used a little lens fall off vignetting to reduce the foreground clutter and to add a focusing effect into the image.

A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo.

The image above has a vignetting filter, that I do not often use, applied in Nik Color Efex Pro 4.  I thought it worth experimenting with in these flat, bland photos.  I think this one serves quite well in this case.  It tones down the foreground clutter, reduces the plain sky and focuses on the main subject.

A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

I kept hiking along the trail, trying to get closer to this particular feature on the mountainside, hoping to find a good vantage point to photograph it later in the day.  Here, again, I’ve added vignetting to reduce the foreground clutter and focus the eye on the main subject.

A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

The boulder in the lower right anchors the foreground in this image and I think with it located diagonally from the peak in the upper left, helps to give this image some depth and visual tension.  Vignetting is used again to reduce the unattractive clutter around the edges and guides the eye into the image.  The vignette center can be moved and in this case, it has been moved slightly to the left.

A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo.

This is just an experiment with a monochrome version of the previous image.  Sometimes harsh light images can be more appealing images in monochrome.  In this case, the lack of shadows results in too flat an image to be interesting.

A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

Just another experimental foreground for the prominent feature in the mountainside.  The Cholla is weathered and not very attractive; but there is at least a hint of clouds developing in the sky.

A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

Ah, if I could find this at sunset, I think I would get a good image!

Stay tuned for the late day results,

Ken

Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Part 1

The second destination in my Spring 2019 road trip was Guadalupe Mountains National Park (GUMO).  According to my map, the travel time to GUMO from the Sandhills via the shortest route should be about 2.5 hours.  However, a backup due to road construction on US 285, just past a signal light at my turn off from US 285, resulted in an hour delay.  The longer routes would probably have been faster, but I did not double check the traffic before I set out.  My bad!

Guadalupe Mountains rising from the plains of West Texas.  This is an iPhone photo taken from miles away from the mountains.

In the above photo the sharp drop off on the left end of the mountain range is a feature referred to as El Capitan.

After getting to GUMO, setting up in the RV parking lot and having a brief lunch, it was around 3PM.  Since I had never visited here, I did not have any idea about where to go for sunset photos.  After reviewing the trails and information on those trails, I decided to take the Guadalupe Peak Trail, but not to take my camera gear.  It was overcast, so the prospects for good sunset light was slim and I knew the heavy camera gear would really slow my pace on the trail.

An image from the park website
Trail information from alltrails.com

This trail is  around 8-9 miles round trip, rated strenuous and the literature said to allow 6 to 8 hours for the round trip.  By the time I made my preparations for the hike, it was well after 3PM.  So even if I could make the round trip in only 6 hours (doubtful), it would be after 9PM and dark before I made it back.  I took my headlamp and an extra flashlight and extra batteries, just in case, but I knew it was not a good idea to be on this trail in the dark.

Shortly after getting underway on the trail, I realized that not bringing the camera gear was a good decision.  There are very strenuous portions of this trail, it is mostly steep with considerable rocky portions requiring care in hiking.  As I met hikers coming down and heard their comments, I really began to realize that I would probably not make it to the top, if I expected to get back down before dark.

This image illustrates why this trail is rated as “strenuous”. (iPhone Photo)

The weather was good for this hike, since it was cool and overcast.  Even so, I quickly worked up a sweat, hiking with only a shirt and t-shirt on my upper body.  I had put a fleece, gloves and windbreaker in my backpack, since I knew it would be cold somewhere along the trail.  Indeed, in some windy portions it got quite cool with even a light snow off and on; but the effort going up the trail kept me warm.

If only I had a mount from which to dismount. iPhone Photo

As I progressed and became hungry, I realized that I had forgotten to put my trail bar snacks into my day pack.  Fortunately, I had a full reservoir of water in my Camelbak.  Otherwise, I would have had to turn around.  Wanting to go as far as possible, I pushed on and I was able to ignore the hunger and my decreasing energy level.

A portion of the cliffs past which equestrians were to lead their horses.  iPhone Photo

The haze in the distance of the photo above is actually a light snow.

As I neared the upper portion of the trail, I even began to think that I might actually make it to the top.  However, as it passed 6PM, even though thinking I only had about 30 minutes more to hike to the top, I decided it was best to turn back or I would surely be hiking down in the dark.

Elevation profile for Guadalupe Peak Trail

I went some distance past the campground, so maybe I was only a few hundred feet below the peak, when I decided to turn around.  It was disappointing to be so close and have to stop before reaching the peak.  I just needed to have started about an hour earlier in the day.

I think this is where I decided to head back down the trail.  iPhone photo
This is at or near the point on this trail, where I decided to turn back to avoid being on this rugged trail in the dark. The trail goes from the lower right corner down around the scrubby vegetation. iPhone Photo
This is a view from just below my turn around point on Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo
A cloudy, cool day for a hike on Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo

The feature on the mountain side at the upper right-center of the above photo is El Capitan.

Since the trip back was mostly steeply downhill, I was able to make much better time than I had expected.  I was almost sure that I would have to stop and put on the fleece at some point, but I never wanted to stop long enough to do that.  Even had I put the fleece on, I would have had to stop and take it off as I got back to lower elevation.

A view on the way back down Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo

There is at least one trail visible along the mountain side in this photo.  I think the one in the center is the Tejas Trail.

On the way down, I had to frequently remind myself to slow down on the more treacherous portions of the trail.  There were plenty of places with tripping or sliding hazards.  I was making such good time on the way down that I passed a few people that I had met on the way up as they were coming down.

Sunset glow on a peak across the wash from Guadalupe Peak Trail.  iPhone Photo

The golden hour light in the above photo is what I looked forward to finding the following day.

Golden Hour Glow in Guadalupe Mountains.  iPhone Photo

A zoomed in, noisy iPhone photo of the late day light on a peak opposite my route on Guadalupe Peak Trail is above.

A Scene from a lower portion of Guadalupe Peak Trail.  iPhone Photo

I was greeted by a nice sunset scene over the plains from the lower portion of the  Guadalupe Peak Trail.

I made it back to the RV lot just after dark, with sore, sensitive, achy feet, a strong appetite and no plan for where to go the following morning.  I had been on the trail for about 5 hours, so I think I would have made it to the peak and back before dark, if I had started up the trail just an hour earlier.

Until next time,

Ken

Spring 2019 Trip – Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas – Abstract Photos

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!

Ken

Spring Trip 2019 – Part 1 – Monahans Sandhills State Park, Texas – continued

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.

Ken

Spring Trip 2019 – Part 1 – Monahans Sandhills State Park, Texas – continued

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.

Ken

 

Spring Trip 2019 – Part 1 – Monahans Sandhills State Park, Texas

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.

Ken

 

 

Why Are Some People So Disrespectful of Our Environment and Public Parks?

One of the things that makes me angry and sad is the litter that I see left by visitors to our public parks and public lands.  It is bad enough that there is litter and graffiti almost everywhere in public places and even marring private property, but why do those visiting our parks have such a disregard for the prominently displayed and publicized rules for being allowed to enjoy such places?

One would think that those seeking enjoyment of our great and scenic outdoor areas, would want to have those areas as unspoiled by human visitors as possible.  Apparently, this is not the case for many visitors.  Unfortunately, I think that we are failing as a society in inculcating respect and care for our environment, respect for public and private property.

This seems to be a universal problem.  I spent some time in Europe in the early 1970s.  When I visited again in the early 2000s, I was horrified by the level of graffiti and litter in the cities that has been so much neater and cleaner just 30 years earlier.  How is it that people think that marking buildings (public and private) and leaving their trash in public places is acceptable behavior?

I now encounter more and more litter and defacing of property or natural features in every public park and wilderness area I visit.  I found numerous beverage cans, bottles, clothing items or other litter in the sand dunes of Monahans Sandhills State Park, Texas during my recent visit.  Many of the items noted had been recently left there.  I’m guessing those leaving such items sometimes felt that they were being funny or cute with the way they left their trash.  It is neither funny nor cute.  It distracts from the natural beauty of such places.  Just stop it!  If a full beverage container or food package can be carried into an area, the empty package or container can easily be taken back out and disposed of properly.

Remember, take only memories (or photos) and leave only footprints, which nature will wipe away.

This piece of litter appears to have been purposely left in place. Please do not do this. Visitors to such places as this do not want to see your trash and will not think highly of you for leaving your trash, nor will they think this is funny or cute.

It is bad enough that one wanting to photograph our natural areas has to work to find places with no trace of human footprints, but those are mostly unavoidable and will eventually be erased by nature; but trash such as the beer can in the above photo will linger for many, many years.

I know that sometimes people drop items accidentally, but I have witnessed some purposely dropping or throwing trash away in public places.  If you see such behavior, please offer a friendly suggestion that they “accidentally” left some trash behind.  Maybe this will let them know that such behavior is not acceptable.

If you find such litter in a public place, especially our great natural parks and public lands, if possible take it to a proper disposal place.

Rantingly yours,

Ken