Tag: Canyon Photography

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 17 – Upper Muley Twist Canyon

Upper Muley Twist Canyon in Capitol Reef National Park is accessed via a three mile four wheel drive road from the Burr Trail Road west of the the point where that road climbs out of Strike Valley.  A high clearance vehicle is recommended for this roadway, as it is rugged with some sizable rocks that one must navigate over.  However, we saw one or two Subaru Outbacks, that are capable vehicles, at the trailhead.  So experienced drivers might be able to safely navigate this road with such vehicles; but definitely, ordinary, low clearance vehicles should not attempt this roadway.  The road is narrow in portions with room for only one vehicle.

We were on this roadway several times during this visit to Capitol Reef National Park.  The trailheads for both the Strike Valley Overlook and Upper Muley Twist Canyon begin at the parking area, which is large enough to accommodate at least 4 vehicles.

The full loop hike of the canyon is a nine mile round trip.  The canyon hike was secondary to our purpose for being here, so we never tried to do the full hike.  According to the map of the canyon, there are 4 arches in the canyon.  The first arch is about 1 mile from the trailhead.  We hiked to the first arch, prior to going to the Strike Valley Overlook for late day photography.  We did not have time to go any further on that visit here and still get to the Strike Valley Overlook.

We returned here to hike further into the canyon one day prior to a sunset shoot at a nearby location and again we did not have time for the full hike, so we settled for shooting at the first and second arches along the hiking route.

Hole Rock

The canyon wall has interesting features, such as the holes eroded into the solid rock walls.  There were many of these similar to the one in the photo above.

Against the Wall

The canyon walls are steep and sheer rock along portions of the route with stains from water runoff.  This green tree against the colorful canyon wall made an interesting photographic subject.

Saddle Arch, Upper Muley Twist Canyon

We hiked past the first arch to the second one that is know as Saddle Arch.  This arch is easily visible from the canyon floor, as one rounds a bend in the canyon.  It is high up on the canyon wall, requiring a steep climb up a sandy slope to get nearest to it.

I made a number of images from various vantage points.  The time of day was not the best for great lighting, but it was the only time we would be here.  The colorful sandstone layers add interest to the photos and geologists will enjoy viewing and studying such exposed features.

Saddle Arch, Upper Muley Twist Canyon
Saddle Arch, Upper Muley Twist Canyon
Saddle Arch, Upper Muley Twist Canyon

I’ve included some of the neighboring canyon wall to give a contextual feeling for the setting.

Saddle Arch, Upper Muley Twist Canyon
Saddle Arch, Upper Muley Twist Canyon
Saddle Arch, Upper Muley Twist Canyon
Saddle Arch, Upper Muley Twist Canyon

I suppose a well prepared hiker/rock climber could get to the area directly beneath and behind the arch; but that would be a dangerous undertaking for a most hikers.

On the hike out we stopped by the first arch to try to get closer photos.  More on that in the next post.

Ken

Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, July 2019, Day 3 Sunrise

On the morning of our third day in Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, my oldest son and I returned to the Yampa River and the nearby grassy meadow for our final photography shoot before packing up and heading back to Denver.

Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 19mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

We again went onto the bar in the river channel just east of the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers to shoot in the pre-sunrise and sunrise light.

Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 0.5s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I made compositions similar to those of the previous day’s sunset shoot, capturing the morning sky, the canyon walls and reflections of those in the river.

Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Clouds moved across the sky as the light changed.  I shot towards the east and the rising sun, then made a few images toward the west.

Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 8s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I turned again to the east and north as the sky and clouds became brighter, which created more contrast in the images and brighter reflections in the river.

Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

As the sun rose behind the canyon walls, the clouds became brighter and more colorful.

Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/16, 1/4s, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

After shooting in the river channel, we climbed back onto the meadow and made more images as the morning light advanced across the sky.  The moon transited across the sky to the south as we shot.

Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Today, rather than using rocks in the meadow as foreground objects, I put tall clumps of grass in the foreground.

Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Shooting with the wide angle lens results in distortion, some of which can be taken out, but not all of it.  Note how the rock outcrop on the right side of this image appears to be tilted in towards the middle of the image.  Trying to take out this tilt with the tools in Adobe Lightroom will affect the rest of the image in an undesirable manner.

Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

There were a few scattered thistles in this meadow and I used one as a foreground object.

Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

The first of the sunrise rays began to show up on the top of the large rock outcrop on the east side of the meadow

Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/125s, ISO 1250, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

and a little later on the rock outcrop on the west side.

Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16 1/125s, ISO 1250, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

We were fortunate to have scattered clouds this morning to add interest to the sky.

Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/125s, ISO 1250, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

This wraps up the highlights of my July 2019 Colorado road trip,

Ken

Echo Park, July 2019, Sunset Shoot in the Yampa River

My son and I return to the area near our sunrise shoot and go down a steep bank into the river channel, crossing a narrow, mucky interval near the bank, balancing on a narrow, short tree branch and rocks, avoiding as much mud and water as possible, trying not to fall, wading through shallow water on the edge of a broad bar, before getting onto the dry portion of the rocky bar in the river channel.  We are just east of the confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers.  The river is broad and maybe not deep, but we do not test the waters; even though, there is a large driftwood tree on the bar on the opposite side that would make a great foreground object.

Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/13s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The river surface provides good reflections of the canyon walls, as we make numerous photos, while waiting for the sunset light.  The river and a good portion of the canyon walls are already in shadow.  A high wall to the west, will prevent full sunset light illumination of the entire canyon walls; but we expect golden light on the upper portion of these walls.

Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I experiment with different compositions with the 14-24mm lens at various focal lengths, while waiting for the golden hour.  I use a 3 stop, soft, graduated neutral density filter to balance the exposure of the sky and the river.

Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 17mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The first of the golden hour rays are apparent in the image below and the light is already far up the canyon walls.

Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I make a series of images as the light changes in its move up the walls.   Short, fractions of a second, shutter speeds make the river current ripples apparent in the images above.  The images below are made with long shutter speeds, using a 7 stop neutral density filter, smoothing out the ripples.

Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 30s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The light is going away faster on the north wall than on the south wall, creating an asymmetrically lit image.

Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

Blurring of the reflections by the river current is more apparent in the longer exposures.

Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/16, 25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

Finally, as the light disappears on the canyon walls to the east, I turn to check out possible compositions to the west.

Yampa River, Echo Park, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The sun is below the western rock face, the sky is bright and the river is in shadow, making it difficult to get a balanced exposure.  While this is not a great photograph, I still like the leading line of the river with its current ripples, reflected skylight, fuzzy reflections of the bordering walls, the bars on each side of the channel and the soft streaky clouds in the sky.  This view might be good in early morning sunrise light.

While waiting for the golden hour, I made a few iPhone images just to see what I can do with those and to show those who might use such a device to capture photographs, the possibilities for such images.

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

I can brighten the lower portion of the image above, but I think this looks more natural.

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.

That is it for this shoot.  We have one more sunrise in Echo Park before ending this trip.  Some of the images in this blog are posted to my Flickr page, where one can view them in higher resolution and viewing on a large screen will be best.

Until next time,

Ken

 

Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, July 2019, Day One Sunset

Mosquitoes swarm relentlessly around us as we walk the short distance through a forested area to the Yampa River behind our campsite.   We are covered in bug repellant.   Still the mosquitos buzzing around our heads are an unpleasant distraction.  We go down a steep bank with the aid of a rope tied to a tree, getting onto a sandbar in the river.  We are shooting sunset photographs at this location our first evening in Echo Park.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 500. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

As usual, when shooting in a canyon, the late day light illuminates only a portion of the canyon wall.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 17mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The light on the far canyon wall reflects into the river with just a sliver at the edge of the sandbar.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The top edge of the cliff side to the right of Steamboat Rock gets only a small wedge of late day sunset light.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I make a number of shots, capturing the sunset highlights and the reflections in the river.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/16, 20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

To smooth the ripples in the river, I use a seven stop neutral density filter and a long exposure.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

Each time I change the composition, I acquire a shot with a 3 stop soft graduated neutral density filter to balance the foreground and sky exposure, then add the seven stop ND for a long exposure.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/11, 30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I like the way the long exposure shows the motion of the river current in the photo above.  By the time these last two images are made, the golden hour light is gone, so we call it a day.  We venture once again through the mosquito infested woods back to our campsite.

We are looking forward to a sunrise shoot tomorrow.

Until then,

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

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 Sunset Photography

Irish Canyon, as with many canyons, is difficult to photography at sunset since the canyon goes into shadow well before the best sunset light.

Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

The image above illustrates this problem.  There is good sunset light on the top of the east canyon wall, but the rest of the canyon is already in shadow.  If not for editing software, it would be very difficult to get much detail in the shadow, even with a graduated neutral density filter.  Of course, one could make a composite of multiple exposures either by stacking the images or creating an HDR.  Stacking can be tedious and HDR methods have another set of problems, so I prefer to avoid both of these methods, whenever possible.

Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Near sunset the canyon features went completely into shadows very quickly, not allowing much time to get the golden sunset light on much of the canyon.

Irish Canyon Sunset Rays. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

One can see in the above image that the sun is still well above the horizon, but the canyon is already in deep shadow.

Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I worked my way along the roadway through the canyon, using the road as a leading line and capturing whatever features I could in the sky and the canyon walls.

Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Eventually, I got back to the old dead tree that I had found earlier in the afternoon, hoping that I could get a good, late day composition.

Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

The clouds were moving overhead fairly quickly, changing as the sun went lower into the sky behind the west canyon wall.

Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I moved around a little, slightly changing my composition of the tree, canyon walls and clouds, making a number of images to capture the changing clouds and light.

Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Eventually, the interesting light was essentially gone and I stopped shooting for the day.

Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I believe I was right about this dead tree making a good foreground for sunset images.

My son set his camera up to shoot throughout the night at a big boulder to capture the moon’s transit and the varying light as the moon moved across the night sky.  I elected not to try shooting night shots.  I’m still reluctant to leave my camera unattended at night (although, I do sometimes), even in the wilds, and here we were not far from a road that was good enough that semi-truck rigs came through.  There can also be animals, like deer, roaming around at night that could stumble over the camera.

Reminder:  Click on the photos to view them on Flickr, where they will look much better.

On to the Gates of Lodore tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Ken

 

 

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Bisti – Day 3 – Sunset

We returned to the canyons nearest the parking area at the southern access to the Bisti Wilderness for sunset photos, after having spent the morning there and coming to the conclusion that the light might be better in the canyons late in the day.

One of several canyons in Bisti Wilderness that are nearest the south parking area. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Climbing up onto the rocks near the origin of one canyon, I got this view into the canyon.  There is good light on the east wall of the canyon at sunset, contrasting with the shadows on the west wall and the dark bottom of the canyon.

Another problem with shooting in this area is the human infrastructure that is difficult to exclude.  It is visible on the horizon in at least the first two shots here.

A photographer walking down a canyon in Bisti Wilderness, New Mexico. Nikon D850, Nikon 14,24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

From another vantage point, I got the shot above as my son was walking towards me in the canyon, after he shot in another branch of the canyons.  He is in the shadows near the upper center and one may have to look closely or zoom in to clearly make him out.

This is one of a number of canyons not far from the Bisti South Parking Area. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 18mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Backing up and turning to the east, I got this shot of the canyon at sunset.

There are human infrastructure elements visible on the horizon from here, which we tried to avoid putting in our images; but there might still be some visible, if one zooms in on the horizon.

An entrance into a Bisti Canyon with a distinctive marker. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 18mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

The photo above is not really good, in my opinion, but it serves a purpose.  My son and I like to name areas where we photograph based upon some distinctive feature or pertinent descriptive term.  Such named features make it easy for us to find those areas again and to know where our photos were taken.  For the canyon above, we noted the nipple like feature on top of a hill and decided this should be called “Nipple Canyon”.   (Discerning viewers might note that the link embedded in this photo leads to a slightly different version that I accidentally posted on Flickr, intending to post this one).

Until next time,

Ken

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Bisti – Day 3 – Sunrise

There is an area just to the southeast of the Bisti south parking area that we had previously ignored, thinking there was probably nothing of interest there; but we decided to explore that area, anyway.  It was only a few minutes hike from the parking area, so we did not have to allow nearly as much time for getting to it.  We found canyons with numerous branches there to explore.

One of a number of canyons near the south Bisti parking area. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

One of the problems with photographing in canyons is that large portions of them tend to be in shadow at both sunrise and sunset and the light in the canyons either later in the day after sunrise or earlier in the day at sunset can be harsh.

One of a number of canyons near the south parking area for Bisti Wilderness. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 22mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

For the shot above, I found a place to actually sit on a large rock and look down this canyon and wait for sunrise light. I have purposely left deeper shadows in the foreground to contrast with the early morning light on the background, with the dark bottom of the canyon and the walls of the canyon leading the eye towards the background.  The photo looks a bit dark in this post.  Click on the photo to see this image on Flickr, where a larger view will make it look much better.  Perhaps, I left too much shadow and darkness for some computer screen viewing?  My monitor is fairly bright and the image looks good viewing it in Adobe Lightroom.  But perhaps, I should re-visit the editing and bring up the shadow areas a little?

One of several canyons near the Bisti south parking area. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/80s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

The photo above is near a branch in one of the canyons nearest to the south Bisti parking lot.  This shot is taken much later in the morning than sunrise shots are normally taken, but note the deep shadows on the east side of the canyon wall.

After our morning experience in these canyons, we decided that sunset might be a better time for photography here and to return to shoot here at sunset, which will be the topic of the day 3 sunset post.

Ken