Tag: Camping

Bisti Wilderness, May 2019, Day 7, Sunrise

I am reluctant to get out of my sleeping bag this morning.  I linger there for 10 more minutes after the alarm, considering whether to sleep in or go out for a morning shoot.  Eventually, I convince myself to face the morning.  After all, this is my last morning to shoot here.

This morning I will make up for yesterday’s mistake.  In route to my planned destination, I stop to shoot a blue hour silhouette.  One that caught my eye yesterday morning;  but I hastened by then, mistakenly thinking I did not have time to linger.  I am a little later at this location today.  The scene does not look as good as it did yesterday.  Mistake made and likely to be repeated, even though I am reminding myself to take the shot, whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Guardian of the Pass.  Large Bisti Hoodoo at blue hour. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 60mm, f/16, 30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

After shooting the silhouette, I proceed towards my intended destination, the place high up on a hill at the end of a canyon, where I shot under a heavily overcast, morning sky early in the week.  I am anticipating excellent sunrise light at that location this morning.  As I hike, I become concerned about getting there sufficiently early and I am not enthusiastic about my choice of location today, either.  The Conversing Hoodoos are along my route, so I decide to check those for possible morning shots, since I am not satisfied with the results of my sunset shoots of those features.

Arriving at the Conversing Hoodoos and looking around, I conclude that there is a high probability of excellent golden hour morning light on the most interesting features, so I abandon my original plan in favor of shooting here.

I plan several compositions, shooting test shots in the pre-sunrise light as I await the sunrise.  The sky is clear with no obstructions.  There are hills to the east, which may limit some light on the lower portions of my compositions and maybe block the very first sunrise rays from my subjects.  As the sunrise light strikes the hoodoos, I am elated  that my change of plan is working out well.

Conversing Hoodoos at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 32mm, f/16, 1/6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Conversing Hoodoos at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 34mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

After the golden sunrise light passes, I continue shooting with fully lit subjects for a few minutes.  I am not excited by any of the pre-sunrise nor post sunrise shots, so I am not sharing those.

Finishing my early morning shoot, I walk at a leisurely pace back towards the parking lot, looking for other places to shoot along the way.  Maybe I chose an uninteresting route to the parking lot.  I’m not finding interesting compositions in the later morning light; but I take time to make a few images anyway, hoping something jumps out at me.   I decide that none of these attempts produce any interesting results.  My lack of energy this morning might be relevant to my failure to get interesting shots in the post sunrise hour.  Frame of mind matters in artistic pursuits.

This is my last day here.  I have one more sunset shoot, weather permitting.    Until then,

Ken

Bisti Wilderness, May 2019, Day 5 Sunset

I am feeling the effects of insufficient sleep, after yesterday’s early and late day shoots with an extended hike sandwiched into the mid day hours, followed by today’s early morning sunrise shoot.  I try to nap for awhile, after Daniel’s departure, but a strong wind discourages sleep.  Looking out the Penthouse window, I see dark clouds to the west.  Fearing a rain will turn the clay surface parking lot into a muddy mess, I put the Sportsmobile top down and drive to a less clayey area near the parking area entrance, from which I can quickly exit the parking area in case of a downpour.  I see rain falling in the distance in several directions.  Walking up a hill to get a cell signal, I check the weather report, which does not mention rain at the two closest weather stations available.  I then check the weather forecast for my specific location via my GPS unit, which shows only 10% probability of rain in the area.

After lunch, the weather and clouds approaching from the west do not look as threatening, so I drive back to my favored parking spot, adjacent to the barbed wire fence at the boundary of the Bisti Wilderness area.

I am hesitant go out at sunset, seeing heavy clouds covering the western horizon and a half dozen distant rain showers in various directions.  I decide to go anyway, hoping to get some good sunset light and not get rained on.

I target the plateau area again, thinking that sunset light will be good there.  Arriving early enough prior to sunset to wander around looking for interesting subjects, I make a few images in the late day light before choosing sunset compositions.

Small Bisti Arch and Shadow. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 50mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I find this interestingly shaped, small, natural bridge, casting a long shadow, among the many rock features in the wash area adjacent to the plateau.

North Bisti Rocks and Hoodoos. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 35mm, f/16, 1/5-1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules. Helicon focus stack of 5 images.
Hoodoo Wash_Shark Tank. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 35mm, f/16, 1/6-1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules. Helicon focus stack of 10 images.
North Bisti Golden Hour Sunset Scene. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 36mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules. Helicon focus stack of 10 images.

A number of these images are created via a technique called focus stacking, in which a number of images, focused at different distances from the camera, are combined into one image, creating better sharpness throughout the image.    I tend to acquire more images than necessary for this method, but better too many than not enough.  I’ve given up on using Photoshop for focus stacking, since the Photoshop processing is slow and not accurate.  I’m testing Helicon software for this and I’m impressed with its speed, accuracy and editing feature.

The late day light is good, but I am concerned about the clouds low on the western horizon.  I get lucky as the sun drops below the cloud cover just before setting, briefly providing warm light.

North Bisti Plateau Sunset Golden Hour. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 65mm, f/16, 0.5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules. Helicon focus stack of 6 images.

I make a number of images of this composition as the sunset light, limited by cloud cover and shadows, moves down the rock features.

North Bisti Plateau Sunset Golden Hour. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 64mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules. Helicon focus stack of 7 images.

And finally, I take a few shots of the sunset with rock features in the foreground.

Sunset scene on a North Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 44mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64. HDR image created in DxO Nik HDR Pro.
North Bisti Plateau Sunset Scene. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 46mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64. HDR image created in DxO Nik HDR Pro.

These last two are HDR images, created from multiple exposures, using DxO Nik HDR Pro.  Such processing is required, when shooting a scene with strong light contrast, since camera sensors do not have a sufficiently wide dynamic range to capture the entire light range in one exposure.

I hope you enjoy this post.  Click on the photographs to view higher resolution images on my Flickr page.

Until next time,

Ken

 

Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado 2019, Scouting Photography

This post is a continuation of experiences and photography during a July 2019 road trip in Colorado.

From the Gates of Lodore in Dinosaur National Monument my oldest son and I continued on to Echo Park, also in Dinosaur National Monument.  To get to Echo Park one must travel 13 miles down a narrow, steep, rocky, high clearance vehicle road.  The road is not an extreme 4 wheel drive, at least not when dry and going into the area is mostly downhill; but 4 wheel drive vehicles are recommended for this road.   There are some narrow intervals, where it is not possible for two vehicles to pass each other.

There is a sizable campground in Echo Park, but sites are on a first come basis, so there is no guarantee that one will find a campsite after the drive down.  We were fortunate that a number of campsites were available, when we arrived, and two of those sites had good shade, which we really needed, since the daytime temperatures were in the mid 90s (F).  The shade only protected us during the morning and part of mid-day.  In the afternoons there was no avoiding the sun.  Since we were out in the early morning and late day for photography, we were mostly resting around the campsite during the day.  The summer heat can make it difficult to be entirely comfortable in the vehicle during the day and the insects with mosquitos made it undesirable to be outdoors.  This is one of those times, when an outdoor, screen shelter would be useful.  However, a nearby couple with such a shelter said the insects and mosquitos got into the shelter, anyway.  The mosquitos also got into our vehicle each time we opened a door, so we spent some time trying to eliminate them.  I have since acquired a couple of battery powered bug zappers to test during a future trip.

The Sportsmobile in Echo Park Camp Site. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Steamboat Rock in my window. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Echo Park Campground view from my window. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

The setting for the campground is very nice with views of Steamboat Rock on one side and views of high cliffs all around.  From our campsite we only had to walk a very short distance through woods to the river and good views of Steamboat Rock and the Yampa River.

Steamboat Rock in Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
A panoramic view of the Yampa River going around Steamboat Rock. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

During the mid-day hours, we made a couple of exploratory hikes looking for good places for sunrise and sunset photography.

An old dead tree along a trail in Echo Park. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

Even though the NPS website says there are no trails in Echo Park, there is at least one created by frequent visitors and it appears to go on along the river for quite a way.

A trail through Echo Park. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

Hiking along this trail, we found a large, open grassy park with scattered rocks that would be useful as foreground, with the canyon walls in the background.

Echo Park with rock foreground and starburst. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

The bank of the river near this area is steep, but we found a way down into the channel.  If hiking here, be aware that the river bank is undercut in numerous places, where it could give way without warning, so be very careful walking near the river bank.

Yampa River Channel. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

We think we can get good photos in the river channel at both sunrise and sunset.

Yampa River at its confluence with the Green River. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

The confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers cannot be seen in these photographs, as it is hidden behind the vegetation and rocks near the center of the the image above and that below.

Yampa River near the confluence with the Green River. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
The Yampa River and Canyon in Echo Park. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Yampa River and canyon walls near sunset. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

Several of these iPhone images were actually made during sunrise or sunset shoots.

DSLR sunset and sunrise photography here will be the subject of subsequent posts.

Until then,

Ken

Bisti Wilderness, May 2019 – Day 4 Sunrise

On the fourth day of my May 2019 visit to the northern portion of the Bisti Wilderness, I went to a plateau area with large hoodoo features for sunrise photography.  It was a cold morning and even though I did not think it was below freezing when I started hiking, my initial attempt to get a sip of water from my Camelbak tube was unsuccessful due to ice in the tube.  It might well have been colder out on the slightly higher elevation plateau than back in the parking area.

I shot in the pre-sunrise hour, while waiting for sunrise and testing various compositions.

A large north Bisti hoodoo in pre-sunrise light. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 28mm, 8.0s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

Since I had plenty of time and the light was changing so slowly, I began to make multiple shots, focusing at different points, so that I could focus stack the images to improve the front to back sharpness.

Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, 2.5s, f/16, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 7 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, 2s, f/16, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 6 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, 1s, f/16, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 4 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 27mm, 0.6s, f/16, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 6 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I was getting good color in the clouds to the west and it initially looked like there would be good sunrise light, but cloud cover on the eastern horizon quickly limited the golden hour light.  One can see that the far features on the horizon here are beginning to get the first rays of sunrise light:

Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 38mm, 0.4s, f/16, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 8 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

And here there is enough direct light to cast shadows, but the light is still muted:

Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 44mm, 1/6s, f/16, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 4 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 44mm, 1/8s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

Here there is finally a burst of light through the cloud cover:

Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 27mm, 1/13s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I had to work quickly, when the light came, since I could see that there were limited breaks in the clouds on the eastern horizon.

Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 46mm, 1/25s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 56mm, multiple exposures, f/16, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 5 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Early morning on a north Bisti plateau. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, multiple exposures, f/16, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 5 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

As usual in the early morning hours, I was alone in the wilderness (I was the only camper in the north parking area), but I did see one couple passing nearby on the plateau.  Maybe they had intended to shoot at my location and, seeing me there already, decided to move on somewhere else.  As I was finishing my morning shooting, I caught a glimpse of someone standing nearby watching me.  My first thought was that the couple that had passed by had returned.  Without looking directly at the onlooker, I made a comment about the light disappearing so quickly.  Looking up from my camera, the stranger gave me a big smile and we exchanged greetings.  His name is Daniel and he was visiting from France, spending four weeks in the southwestern U.S.

Daniel asked if he could tag along with me, since he did not know the area.  I was finished with my morning shoot, so I gave him a partial tour of the area, showing him some of the best features that I had found, allowing him as much time as he liked for photography.  He was really good at rushing up and down the steep hillsides that were covered with loose, dry clayey soil.  I would not even attempt to climb those hillsides, even had I been his much younger age.

As we hiked around, I got to know a bit more about Daniel.  He is a pastry chef with a wife, son and daughter, living in a small city in the south of France near Marseille.  He is quite fond of the southwestern area of the US and has visited this area numerous time, but this was his first in Bisti.  Daniel said the U.S. is his favorite country and he would like to live here, but would not want to be so far away from his extended family.

After the tour, I invited him to have coffee and breakfast in the Sportsmobile, since we were much closer to it than the south parking area, where Daniel had parked.  Afterwards, we would hike back to the southern area, scouting much during a long hike.  This will be a topic for other posts.

Until then,

Ken

 

 

 

 

Colorado 2019 – Gates of Lodore – Sunrise

Since the hike to the sunrise shooting location at the Gates of Lodore was not long, we did not have to get up excessively early, but we still began hiking in the dark this morning.

We were fortunate that we had the moon setting as the sun was rising today.  I made a series of images as the moon set behind the western canyon wall.

Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 2000. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 1600. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

The moon is so much brighter than the foreground that getting a really good moon exposure was difficult, so I did not get any detail in the moon with the long exposure times required for the foreground, even though I was using a graduated neutral density filter.  A combination of the moons movement and/or the wide angle distortion results in an oblong moon, too.  I could have tried to make multiple images with proper exposure for the moon, then for the foreground and merged those, but due to the rapidly changing morning light, I decided against this.  Plus, I am usually not really pleased with the results of such attempts.

I continued to shoot as the sunrise light progressed down the canyon wall and the clouds moved through the morning sky.

Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 1.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 19mm, f/11, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

On the hike back towards the campsite, we made a detour down to the river to check out possible compositions closer to the river.

Green River near Gates of Lodore. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

This image with the canyon wall reflection in the river is the only decent image I managed to get there.  If this image is viewed on Flickr, click on the Flickr image to see the spider on the grass frond on the right side of the image. (Not all of these images are posted to Flickr).

The next stop on this trip is Echo Park, also in Dinosaur National Monument.

Until then,

Ken

Colorado – July 2019 – Gates of Lodore in Dinosaur National Monument – Scouting & Sunset Shoot

From Irish Canyon, we traveled to the Gates of Lodore campsite in Dinosaur National Monument, checking out Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge first.  We decided that Browns Park would not be an easy place to photograph without having a second vehicle, since it was too far from the campsites to the most photogenic scenes.  This is one downside to traveling in a camper type vehicle, as it takes a while to prepare the vehicle for travel after camping in it.

When we arrived at the Gates of Lodore campground, there were plenty of available campsites, but the one nearest the trailhead to the Gates of Lodore and with good shade (it was hot) had a car parked in it, even though the site did not have a reserved tag on it.  We thought it possible that the car’s occupants had walked to the kiosk to fill out the reservation form, so we chose the next closest site that also had good shade.  We were not initially sure that we would stay in that site, so we were just sitting around discussing options, when a volunteer park ranger stopped by and provided much useful information about the park.  One of our concerns was the bear activity sign warning posted at each campsite.  There were bear vaults provided for storing food and anything with an odor that might attract bears.  We had lots of such items and it would be much trouble to move everything into a bear vault and retrieve it as we needed it.  The ranger assured us that there had not been any recent bear activity, so we did not need to bother with the vaults.  We also asked about mountain lion activity, but there had not been any sighting anywhere nearby, even though they are known to be around somewhere.  Mountain lions and bears are always a concern when hiking trails in their territory.

At least a half hour went by and no one returned to the vehicle in our preferred campsite, so we assumed hikers were parked there, where they should not be, if they were not camping.  So we paid for the site we were in and shortly afterwards the car’s occupants returned and departed.  Other campers soon came along and claimed that campsite.

After setting up the Sportsmobile for camping, we applied sunscreen over our insect repellant or vice versa and hiked to the Gates of Lodore.

Bleached animal bones along the Gates of Lodore trail. iPhone photo, with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

Along the trail we spotted a number of bleached animal bones, possibly remnants of a wild animal’s meal.

The trail we were on went far into the back country, but we only checked out view points for photographing the Gates of Lodore, which is a canyon through which the Green River flows.

Gates of Lodore, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

The first few overlooks we checked out had much distracting vegetation in the foreground.  My son found a very nice place off of the trail from which to photograph.

We returned to camp, had a meal and returned to the trail prior to sunset.  I initially tried to shoot near the view point in the scouting photo above, but I soon abandoned that, since I was not pleased with any composition I could make there.  I went back along the trail and set up near my son, so I’m sure we ended up with very similar photos, although he somehow manages to get more appealing compositions than I, even in the same location.

Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 20mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

I made numerous shots as the sun went lower into the sky, varying my compositions a little.  Shooting down river into the canyon at this location presents the frequent lighting restrictions as most canyons.  The canyon walls go into shadow well before sunset, so the typical golden hour light is not really attained.  There was some good light on the foreground vegetation from time to time and there was some colorful vegetation mixed with various shades of green.

Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 20mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 640. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

Even though these first two images are the same composition, the light on the foreground is different in each.

One can see the shadow moving quickly up the canyon wall on the left of these next two photos.

Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/250s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

I alternated from landscape to vertical trying to get some variation in the compositions.

Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

One can see how the light is changing on the foreground and the canyon walls.

Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

I varied the composition to get either more or less of the foreground boulders and/or the rock outcrop along the near canyon edge.

Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 1000. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.

Soon the light on the canyon wall was totally gone and only the clouds in the sky were varying in the images.

After this shoot we thought maybe sunrise would be a better time to shoot here.  So we will come back in the morning.

Until then,

Ken

 

Colorado – July 2019 – Irish Canyon

From Vaughan Lake we traveled to Irish Canyon, Colorado.

A sign near the entrance to Irish Canyon, Colorado. iPhone photo.

Near the canyon entrance are boulders with early Native American (Fremont) petroglyph etchings.

Native American Petroglyphs in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.

These iPhone photos of the petroglyphs have been edited more heavily than normal to bring out the petroglyphs, which are faint in the unedited images, so the colors are enhanced beyond what one might see in bright sun light.

Native American petroglyphs in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.
Native American petroglyphs in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.

This area is on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) public land.  There is a nice campground just a short distance into the canyon.  There is a typical, but well maintained, pit toilet in the campground.  There is no water available, but there was at least one trash can near the pit toilet.

An informational sign at the Irish Canyon campground. iPhone photo.
Irish Canyon Campground. iPhone photo.

When we arrived, there was only one other camper in the camping spot most removed from the roadway and a couple of motorcycle riders in the front most campsite.  We drove through the campground and picked the most level looking of the remaining campsites.

We walked around and talked to the motorcyclists, who were retired uranium miners from Wyoming.  It turned out that they were just taking a break in the campsite, so when they moved on, we moved into that campsite, since it was more level than the others and had a picnic table with better shade (and it was a warm day).

Campsite in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.

There was not enough shade in which to park the Sportsmobile, but it was a breezy day, so leaving the vehicle open helped keep the temperature from getting excessively high inside.

Irish Canyon Campsite. iPhone photo.

The setting of the campsite provided very good scenery and we walked around to scout possible photographic compositions for sunset and/or sunrise.

Irish Canyon Roadway at Irish Canyon Campground. iPhone photo.

The roadway in the canyon could be used as a leading line.

Irish Canyon scene. iPhone photo.

This old dead tree might be a suitable foreground for a sunset photo.

Irish Canyon scene. iPhone photo.

This big boulder might be useful as foreground in a composition, but it was right at the edge of the trees and slope near the canyon wall, so it might be difficult to get a clean composition here.

Irish Canyon Campsite in late evening. iPhone photo courtesy of Sean Kemp – WildOpenLandscapes.com

That’s all for now,

Ken

 

 

Bisti May 2019 – Day 2 – Interesting People – No Sunset Shoot

My plans for sunset on day 2 of my May visit to Bisti was to go back to the Conversing Hoodoos and shoot with my 24-70mm lens, since I was not completely satisfied with the wide angle 14-24mm shots the day prior.

However, it became increasingly windy and gusty as the day progressed into late afternoon.  I even put my penthouse top down due to the wind and rain concerns.  I could see rainfall in the distance, but it might have been evaporating before it got to the ground.  The rain was in the east and the wind from the west, so I was hopeful that the wind would at least keep the rain away from me.  The parking area is all clay soil and would be very slippery and messy, if wet.

As I was sitting in my vehicle, either reading or writing in my journal, a vehicle stopped nearby and a man got out, approaching my vehicle.  He had thought that I was someone he had seen earlier.  Anyway, he introduced himself as Yan or Jan (not sure of the spelling) from the Netherlands.  Since I had served in the U.S. Air Force in the Netherland, we had a bit in common to chat about.  He was very familiar with the area around the NATO base at which I had been assigned.

He informed me that he had researched this area via internet posts, at least one site was the same that I had used.  He introduced me to his wife, Alida (spelling is uncertain), who had remained in their vehicle.  They liked visiting the southwestern U.S and had been to the Valley of Dreams (VOD) in this area.  VOD is also known as Ah-She-Sie-Pah (various spellings) and is on Navaho land.  I was interested in going there on this visit, but overnight stays on Navaho land near there is not recommended and for my purposes, it works best if I can stay overnight.  The drive from Bisti to VOD requires a long drive along dirt roads, which means a slow commute, making it awkward for sunrise and/or sunset photography.  If it rains, those dirt roads are not passable and Jan related a story of one of his friends that got stuck on a muddy road and got one of the local Navaho to pull him out.

I’m thinking that, if I can find a local near VOD, I might get permission to stay overnight there in the future.  I have seen some amazing features in photographs from VOD.

Later in the day, another couple of guys (Tony and George) parked nearby and came over to chat.  They were both from California and Tony was apparently leading a group into Bisti for photography.  George was keenly interested in my Sportsmobile and walked around it looking underneath and all around it.

They had camped at the Cracked Eggs in the south portion of Bisti the night before, saying it got very cold and windy at night.  (It got down to about 44 degree F in my vehicle the night before).  Tony also told me about tent camping in very low temperatures at Yosemite on a recent visit.  Shooting at Yosemite in winter would by good, but tent camping there, especially in winter, does not appeal to me.

Around 3:30Pm the wind was very strong with sand and dust reducing the visibility to zero on occasion.  It sprinkled rain a little and as a precaution, I moved the van to an area near the parking area exit, where I could quickly exit, if it began to rain in earnest.

The forecast, obtained via my InReach Explorer GPS, showed windy conditions until 9PM – not looking good for sunset photography.  The wind subsided around 5PM and I began to think a sunset shoot would be possible.  Several car loads of people came into the parking area.  They all got out with camera gear and headed into Bisti.  From a distance, I thought that I recognized the vehicle that I had seen Tony and George driving.

The wind soon picked up again and it became much cloudier.  The clouds could add drama, but too many on the western horizon, of which there were many, will not allow good light for sunset.

Around 6:15PM, I walked up a hill, where I could get a couple of bars of cell service, to make a phone call.  Standing there in the gusty, dusty wind convinced me to abort a sunset shoot today.

Later, the sunlight did look good near sunset, but it was still very gusty. which can make shooting difficult and blowing dust and sand is not good for the gear.  I had no regrets about not going out.

When the group that had gone out earlier returned, one walked towards my vehicle.  It turned out to be Tony.  He said the light was great and he liked this area better than the south area.  He said that if I came to Southern California he could fix me up with great beaches at which to shoot.

So to wrap up this day, I met some interesting people, had a few interesting conversations, but did not get to shoot at sunset.

Maybe tomorrow will work out better,

Ken

July 2019 – Colorado – Vaughan Lake Columbines

As I promised in an earlier blog, I am devoting this post entirely to Columbines, my favorite Colorado Wildflower.

Please note that all of these photos are made hand holding the camera with a large lens, which makes it more difficult to get sharp images.  The reader will note the high ISOs used to get sufficiently fast shutter speed to freeze the wind and camera motion.

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 240mm (before crop), f/8, 1/2000s, ISO 1600.

There were many of these adjacent to our campsite, so it was very convenient to photograph these.

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 250mm (before crop), f/8, 1/2000s, ISO 1600.

All of these images are cropped from larger images.

A single Columbine and yet to open buds:

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/8, 1/1600s, ISO 1600.

The back sides of Columbines are also attractive:

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/11, 1/1000s, ISO 1600.

A group of Columbines:

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 370mm (before crop), f/16, 1/1000s, ISO 1600.

A single Columbine with two buds:

Columbine and Buds at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/8, 1/1600s, ISO 1600.

A group of Columbines:

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 160mm (before crop), f/8, 1/2500s, ISO 1600.

Cropped from a group of Columbines:

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 160mm (before crop), f/8, 1/2500s, ISO 1600.

The group from which the above image is cropped:

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 160mm (before crop), f/8, 1/2500s, ISO 1600.

Another crop from a group of Columbines:

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 165mm (before crop), f/8, 1/1250s, ISO 400.

And a larger crop from the same group:

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 175mm (before crop), f/11, 1/640s, ISO 400.

A single Columbine with a bud below and behind it:

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 200mm (before crop), f/16, 1/320s, ISO 400.

A single Columbine with backlight:

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 210mm (before crop), f/5.3, 1/5000s, ISO 400.

Columbines with backlight:

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/5.6, 1/800s, ISO 200.

Columbine with backlight:

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/5.6, 1/1250s, ISO 200.

Columbine and bud with backlight:

A Columbine and Bud at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/5.6, 1/1250s, ISO 200.

Backlit Columbine:

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/5.6, 1/800s, ISO 200.

Columbine and buds with backlight:

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/5.6, 1/1000s, ISO 200.

A crop, removing a distracting portion on the left (note the seed pod with its sail on the upper petal):

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/5.6, 1/800s, ISO 200.

More Columbines with backlight:

Columbines at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/5.6, 1/640s, ISO 200.

And that is all for this post, mostly photos with few boring words.

Until next time,

Ken

 

July 2019 – Colorado – Vaughan Lake

After leaving Cold Sprints Campground in Routt National Forest we traveled to Vaughan Lake Campground.

Along the route we encountered a modern day cattle drive:

A modern day Cattle Drive. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

This is a through the windshield iPhone photo of one of the batches of cattle we drove by on our way to Vaughan Lake.  There were cowboys and a very young cowgirl on horse back, loosely guiding the animals down the roadway.  Mostly the cattle seemed to know where they were going.  Occasionally, we saw a cowboy moving a wandering animal back onto the route.  There are always a few independents in every herd!

We expected there to be many wildflowers in the Vaughan Lake camping area and we were not disappointed, although some were not yet in bloom, due to a late season following a very snowy winter.

There were many Columbines, my favorite Colorado wildflower, near our campsite.  Consequently, I have many photographs of Columbines to share and I will devote another blog post entirely to Columbines.

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO 400.
Fendler’s Waterleaf at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 220mm (before crop), f/11, 1/500s, ISO 1600.

I’ve tentatively identified the wildflower in the above image via an online wildflower site, but there is some uncertainty.  If any reader can dispute this identification, please let me know.

An unidentified wildflower at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/16, 1/500s, ISO 2000.

I could not determine the identity of the above wildflower.  It might by American Vetch.

Dandelion at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/8, 1/1250s, ISO 800.

There were numerous dandelions in the area.  I recall picking these as a child and blowing on the seed pods, dispersing the seeds.  This is a crop from a larger image, as are all of the wildflower photos posted here.

Silvery Lupine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/8, 1/500s, ISO 800.

I think this is Silvery Lupine, but there seem to be a number of variations and hybrids of this flower, so I can’t be sure of this identification.

A seed pod and sail at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 310mm (before crop), f/11, 1/800s, ISO 1600.

I was actually trying to get a shot of the orange bell like flower seen in the lower left of the above image; but I did not succeed in getting that flower in focus.  However, I did note that this leaf with what appears to be a seed hanging onto its sail was in focus, so I cropped this portion of the image.

I should add that I was hand holding my camera with the big 80-400mm lens, so it was a bit difficult to maintain focus on the intended subject.  Keep in mind that there was some wind motion in the flowers, a shallow depth of field in these shots and much unsteadiness of the camera and lens in my hands.  Readers might note the high ISO values that I had to use to get sufficiently high shutter speeds to freeze the motion.

An unidentified wildflower at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 360mm (before crop), f/8, 1/800s, ISO 1600.

Here is the orange flower that I was trying to shoot in the previous photo.  Here I managed to get the bottom bloom in focus.

Fendler’s Waterleaf at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 135mm (before crop), f/8, 1/640s, ISO 1600.

And finally, another Fendler’s Waterleaf.

I will have more on this area in subsequent blogs.  Until then,

Ken