I hope these post on photography in Yankee Boy Basin are not getting boring. Initially, I had only planned for two posts, but those got longer than I expected. This will be a short post with only a couple of photos to review.
These two images are from our last evening to shoot here. The weather report indicated a smallish chance for rain, so we thought we would get lucky and have a tremendously beautiful sky at sunset. It did not turn out that way. The sky was heavily overcast all around and it began to rain shortly after we got into position to shoot, so we cut our outing short.
An overcast evening in Yankee Boy Basin, Colorado.
The composition above, I thought at the time, was just a desperate attempt to get something, as it began to sprinkle, before we had to retreat. I had reservations about even spending time editing this image or showing it to anyone. After letting this one sit for awhile before editing it, I remembered why I made this image.
The tops of the yellowish-green vegetation, running diagonally from the bottom left corner, leads the eye to the dead, leaning tree trunk, which in turn points to the overcast, threatening sky, as if to say, “you better hurry and shoot now”. So, I think, this composition worked better than I expected, when I was hastily making this image.
Wildflowers, Mountains and Sky in an overcast evening in Yankee Boy Basin, Colorado.
This final image is again one that I still have reservations about. I’m trying to show the drama in the sky and soften it with the wildflowers in the foreground set below the rugged mountain peaks. The softness of the wildflowers is enhanced by motion, created by the wind and a slow shutter speed. This is usually not the kind of image I prefer. Often I would increase the ISO under these conditions to get a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion in the vegetation and in the clouds. If there had been some side lighting on the wildflowers this would have been a much more impactful image.
Please feel free to critique my images. Your feedback is always welcome.
I photographed a number of times in Yankee Boy Basin, near Ouray, Colorado during my July, 2020 summer visit to Colorado. The main reason for returning to this area several times, is a simple one. It just happened to be the closest, most easily accessible place for scenic landscape photography from the state park where my son, his wife, and I were staying.
Late day in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/22, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
Navigating rocky, bouncy 4WD roads is required for access to many of the best places for landscape photography in this area and Yankee Boy Basin is one that my son felt most confident in being able to get to safely, early in the morning, then have time for other daytime exploration. In the evening, it was possible to photograph here at sunset and get back down the 4WD road before total darkness set in and we would get back to our campsites in time to get a reasonably good night’s sleep before getting up again in the early morning hours for a sunrise shoot.
There is a mountain stream with a number of waterfalls along it here. The middle two falls seem to be the most photogenic, so we spent much of our time in that area.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
To get the image above, I stood right up against the closest part of the waterfall on the right side of the photo, backing into a bush, shooting downstream at 14mm to get the waterfall on my right into the shot.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
There were wildflowers growing along the stream and I often included those in my images. The image above is made looking upstream at this waterfall, while standing in the edge of the stream bed. Even at 14mm from my position, I could only get a small portion of the waterfall in the photograph, while also including the wildflowers along the stream edge.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
Standing a bit further back from the falls, on a rock ledge at the edge of the stream, I could get the entire waterfall in the image, while including the wildflowers and the rock outcrop on the right.
Late day in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
Since I’ve photographed in this area a number of times, I tried not to duplicate compositions from other shoots, which is not easily avoided. It takes some work to avoid the most common compositions here. I had some reservations about the composition in the above image, thinking it is too complex, but I have gotten some positive feedback on it, so I guess it worked better than I anticipated.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
Readers will note the heavily overcast sky in most of these images. I always like to have clouds to give the sky more interest, but heavy overcast can limit or eliminate the “golden” hour light at sunrise and/or sunset.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
The image above is taken a few yards downstream from a waterfall, looking downstream at the mountainside in the distance. During one similar photo shoot one afternoon, there was a family of three or four (man, wife and one or two young boys) in the area. I kept trying to avoid them and had to wait several times as they walked into and out of my compositions. If you are a purist landscape photographer, you know we try to avoid people in our shots most of the time. Some tourists know this and try to minimize their interference with photographers, while others are totally unconcerned about walking directly in front of a photographer. While composing an image similar to the one above, something hit the graduated neutral density filter mounted on the front of my lens, startling me, and I immediately heard the father, standing above me on the stream’s bank, scolding one of the boys. It turned out that the boy was throwing rocks in an indiscriminate manner and it was one of those rocks that struck my camera. If not for the flexibility of the filter, it would have shattered rather than just get scratched. If not for the filter, the lens would have most likely had significant damage. Neither of the parents said a word to me about this event. I had expected one would have at least inquired about damage and apologized for the kid’s action, which might have resulted in an injury and/or significant camera gear damage. The scratches on the filter sometimes result in light streaks in my images. Fortunately, I had the filter and much of my more expensive camera gear insured via scheduled property on my homeowner’s insurance policy, so I recuperated much of the replacement cost of the filter.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2. Looking downstream at the base of a waterfall.
Yankee Boy Basin is popular with hikers and a good campsite for those that want to get the necessary early morning start on a hike up Mount Sneffels. Still we saw only a few people during our early morning and late day visits here.
It is common to get afternoon thunderstorms in the upper elevations of the Rocky Mountains, but during the time we were here, there were more than the usual storms. Some days were rainy for much of the day, which limited the time interval with our favorite light at sunrise and/or sunset. We had to sometimes cut short our photography time to avoid the rain and get back down the mountainside before getting caught in a storm.
Of all the photos that I shot here, the one below is my favorite.
Sunset light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
This image has so much of what landscape photographers look for in an image, late day sunlight highlighting the mountain tops, light beams in the clouds, silky smooth, flowing water and a sinuous stream leading the eye from the waterfall into the image. More prominent wildflowers would have made this even better.
Since we visited here multiple times, there will be at least one more post of photos from this area. Please click on the images to view them in higher resolution on my Flickr page.
The destination for a final sunset shoot on the last day of my May 2019 visit to the Bisti Wilderness was the same as yesterday’s, since yesterday’s sunset light was obscured by heavy clouds on the western horizon. I really liked my chosen location and this was my last chance to shoot here on this visit. There were some clouds today, but not so heavy as yesterday.
The light turned out to be good at sunset, but not great. The clouds on the western horizon blocked the light until just a few minutes before sunset. Even after the sun dropped below the denser clouds, there were still wispy clouds defusing the light. However, I think I got a few good images.
North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm, f/16, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/16, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
As yesterday, I had to navigate carefully getting into position for various compositions, being careful about where and how I walked, where I stood near steep drop offs and using care in setting the tripod. This was not a place in which to get careless or make sudden, unplanned moves.
North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 52mm, f/16, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 55mm, f/16, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 42mm, f/16, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 42mm, f/16, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
This post wraps up my May 2019 visit to the Bisti Wilderness. There is still much that I have not seen or photographed here, so I expect that I will return sometime in the future.
I hope that my readers have enjoyed following along with my experiences and photography here.
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,
As usual, I was all alone in the north Bisti parking area overnight. After returning from my early morning shoot, a few people came and went during the mid-day hours.
A young German couple, Tobias and Daniela, parked next to me and we chatted for a few minutes before they headed out into the wilderness area. They were in the US for 4 weeks, traveling via automobile from Phoenix to Pittsburg, seeing sites along the way. The couple returned before 6PM, stopping by to show me a few photos of various places that they had visited so far on their current trip to the US, giving me ideas of other places to visit. Daniela’s blog site is Daniela’s Urlaubs Blog.
I am always amazed at how much international travel the Europeans do. I know traveling between countries in Europe is easy, but many travel outside Europe on a regular basis. I have met numerous Europeans who are on extended vacations, spanning weeks. I know that their labor laws assure their citizens of liberal holiday time, but they must budget a lot for their travels, even if they take advantage of cheap airfare, motels, car rentals, etc. Still, it makes sense to me that if one is traveling so far, taking a long vacation is justified.
During the afternoon, there were dark, heavy clouds all around the area and I could see distant rainfall in numerous directions. Some of those rainfall events seemed to be heading directly towards my location, but it did not rain on me.
Bisti Panorama with storm clouds. iPhone photograph with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I made the panoramic shot above with my iPhone from atop a hill just inside the Bisti Wilderness and just north of the parking area. This hilltop is the nearest place, where I could get a weak cell signal for making calls, getting e-mails and checking the weather, if the weak, intermittent signal lasted long enough to do so. This shot is to the south, showing the massive cloud cover, which might not bode well for a sunset shoot. The Sportsmobile is just a little rectangular blob near the center left edge of this image.
I made preparations to go out for sunset photography, although it was very cloudy in the west and the wind was increasing in intensity. I stuffed my rain shell into my backpack before heading out, just in case of rain.
I hiked to a place, which I had previously scouted for sunset photography, high up on a hard rock platform, overlooking a large array of hoodoos with a wide vista over the desert area.
North Bisti Hoodoos. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I made a number of test shots with my iPhone and DSLR of several compositions about an hour before sunset, as I waited and prepared for the warm sunset light. These shots and my observations of the light indicated that the golden sunset light would be very limited today. With this in mind, I carefully walked around on top of my perch area to determine how and where to quickly set up the tripod and camera, during the brief time that I would have to shoot at sunset. Some of my chosen setup locations required carefully planned steps to safely get into position and care in setting the tripod, so I wanted to practice my moves.
North Bisti Hoodoos. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.North Bisti Hoodoos. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.North Bisti Hoodoos. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I was excited about the possibilities for shooting here. Unfortunately, a large mass of clouds on the western horizon obscured the sun at sunset time. This is such a great place to shoot sunset that I will have to try again tomorrow evening, which will be my final chance to shoot here on this trip. At least I have a few iPhone and DSLR images, just in case tomorrow’s sunset light is no better.
North Bisti Scene near sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 52mm, f/16, 8.0s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.North Bisti Hoodoos and Valley near sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules. Helicon focus stack of 9 images.North Bisti scene near sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
At the time I made these shots, there would have been golden hour light on the two large features on the left of the above image and on the mass of hoodoos in the image below, if the clouds on the western horizon had not blocked the direct rays of sunlight.
North Bisti Scene. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 42mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.North Bisti Hoodoos near sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 52mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Helicon focus stack of 9 images.
The DSLR images in this post have embedded links to the photos on Flickr, where these can be viewed in higher resolution.
I like these compositions and views, but the light that I had anticipated was not realized. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.
I wanted to reshoot at the Conversing Hoodoos at sunset, since I was not satisfied with the wide angle images made upon my first shoot here. Today I would use the 24-70mm lens, hoping the zoom range would let me be more discriminating with my compositions.
Daniel accompanied me for this shoot. We arrive early as I prefer to do, giving me time to shoot around the area at anything I see of interest, before moving to the primary subject.
There were many clouds in the sky, definitely adding interest to the sky, but maybe not good for sunset light.
The Clam Hoodoo under cloudy sky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 31mm, f/16, 1/40s, ISO 64.
The overcast sky with muted light made for good monochrome images. The Clam Hoodoo was just down a canyon/wash from the Conversing Hoodoos, so it was easy to shoot there prior to the sunset light.
Bisti Wilderness and cloudy sky in monochrome. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 31mm, f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64.
In fact I think this turned out to be a really good late afternoon to find monochrome compositions with the many rock shapes and cloudy sky.
A Bisti bird like hoodoo in monochrome. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64.
This particular hoodoo with the broad flat area and a pointy beak like part reminded me of a bird in flight. Looking closely one can even see an “eye” and a crease for a mouth. The embedded link is to the color version on Flickr.
Bisti Wilderness and Cloudy Sky in Monochrome. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/16, 1/13s, ISO 64.
This is my favorite monochrome image made this afternoon. I like the leading line of the sunlit rocks running diagonally, pointing to the highlighted rocks on the hillside, then the wash leading back to the upper center and the cloudy sky. I think this might even be the best image that I got in this shoot; although, I have not gotten any comments or faves on the posting to Flickr. So maybe readers will tell me if they see faults with this image. I think this image looks really good on my large iMac monitor. Maybe it does not look good viewed on smaller screens?
A rusting bicycle frame in the Bisti Wilderness Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/16, 1/6s, ISO 64.
One never knows what kind of surprise one may find in this wilderness. Why and how is there a bicycle frame here? A totally surprising find.
Bisti Rock Sculpture in Monochrome Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Focus stack of multiple images.
I had previously taken a few iPhone shots of the “modern art like sculpture” in this image, while scouting here. Today I made a number of images of the two foreground rocks with the background hillside then focus stacked them using Helicon software before converting to monochrome.
Conversing Hoodoos and cloudy sunset Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 40mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64.
As I had feared, the clouds on the western horizon prohibited any golden hour light this evening, so I had to make do with mostly silhouette type images of the Conversing Hoodoos with some sunset color on the horizon.
Conversing hoodoos and a cloudy sunset Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 58mm, f/16, 1/20s, ISO 64.An HDR image of the Conversing Hoodoos and a cloudy sunset Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 36mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64.
I made one HDR image from a few of the images to at least get detail in the foreground rocks.
The results of this attempt at sunset shooting here dictates another effort on another day. Such is the life of a landscape photographer.
This is the third and final post of iPhone scouting photographs on the south side of the Bisti Wilderness in New Mexico during my May 2019 visit. Daniel and I continued our exploration of portions of south Bisti in an area with many large hoodoos and interesting rock formations.
Large Hoodoos, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Isolating these features against the blue sky with the clouds makes for good compositions.
Large Wing Hoodoo, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Daniel in a Valley of Hoodoos, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The photo above gives some indication of the massive quantity of hoodoos in this area with Daniel as a scale. The following photos indicate the large variety of rock forms and hoodoos seen in this area.
Many Hoodoos, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Hoodoo Wall, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Eventually erosion will turn this wall of hoodoos into a line of separate hoodoos, but probably not in my lifetime.
Large Hoodoos, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Some of these features look like something one might see in a science fiction movie set on another planet. Maybe it is places like this that stimulate the imagination for such movies.
Many Hoodoo Styles, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.So Many Hoodoos, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Hoodoo Vista, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Hoodoos and Sky, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I like these images looking up at the hoodoos set against the blue sky and clouds. I think these would work well for star trail or Milky Way foreground images and many are in positions to look great in the golden hours of either sunrise or sunset.
Large Hoodoos, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Delicate Balance, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Comparing the image above to that below, one can see how getting low below the hoodoo on the left will yield a nice image of it against the sky. Although, in the image below, I wanted to give an indication of the setting of these features.
Delicate Balance, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Hoodoo Vista, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Wavy Rock, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Even though this is only an iPhone photo at mid-day, I really like the composition of the image above. It would probably look awesome in golden hour light.
Hoodoo Window, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I wanted to get a lower angle shot of the feature above, but I could not get a perspective that showed off the window in the rock very well. I like the shape of this hoodoo and it would be great to isolate it a bit better.
Bisti Arch, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Eventually, Daniel and I began to work our way towards the south parking area, where Daniel had parked his rental vehicle. We passed by the arch seen in these last few images. I had seen this arch on previous visits, but these are difficult to shoot at the best time of the day and there is not much else in the immediate vicinity to make it worth while to be here for golden hour photography, so I really do not have any better photos here other than these iPhone shots.
Bisti Arch, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
However, I think these simple mid-day images are not bad.
Bisti Arch, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
On our way to the parking area, we passed a number of novice visitors on their way into the area. We gave general directions to them to areas we though they might like. It is not uncommon to be asked for directions to “the wings”. I suspect those visitors have seen images of some of the larger wing like features and it is difficult to give directions based upon such generalizations. An older couple (older?, probable younger than me!) were one such ones to ask for directions. Daniel and I noted that they did not even appear to have any water with them. That is really not good, even though it was relatively cool today. Please, if you are going to hike anywhere, be prepared with water and snacks.
Daniel gave me a ride from the south parking area back to my vehicle on the north side. We had lunch and made plans for a sunset shoot. So stay tuned to see how that worked out.
This is a continuation of the mid-day scouting on day 4 of my May 2019 visit to the Bisti Wilderness. Accompanied by Daniel, the Frenchman, whom I had met while shooting sunrise photographs on the north side of Bisti, I made many iPhone photographs for future reference, hoping to return to some locations on some future visit at a better time for photography.
Hoodoo Nook, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
One of the first places we stopped by on the south side was the nook, as I called it, where there is a long petrified log (see the previous post, if you missed this) and other interesting features.
Hoodoo Nook, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Hoodoo Hillside, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
We continued hiking to the east, heading towards other features that Daniel wanted to show me, stopping to shoot reference photos along the way.
Bisti Panorama, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Hawk’s Nest, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
One of the places, that I had seen referenced in other posts, is a Ferruginous Hawk’s nest. That nest is on the ledge below the topmost portion of the tall rock formation in the photo above. The nest is best seen in this photograph by viewing this image on Flickr and clicking on the Flickr image to see it enlarged. It is also apparent in the zoomed in image below:
Hawk’s Nest, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Judging by the size of the twigs that make up the nest, those hawks must be fairly large. According to a local Navaho that I spoke with earlier during my visit here, the hawks that built this nest no longer frequent this area.
Daniel & Hawk’s Nest, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
First Daniel hiked up the steep hillside at the hawk’s nest, then I followed, after getting a few images from below.
Hawk’s Nest, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Daniel @ Hawk’s Nest, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
After joining Daniel on the hillside here, I got a shot towards the west from that saddle like area between the two large rock formations at the top of the hillside
A view from hillside below the hawk’s nest, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
and a close up shot of that rock feature on the northerly end of the hillside.
Bisti Rock Formation, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Continuing towards the northeast, we found another hawk’s nest on the top of a nearby rock formation. That nest is in the top middle of this photo:
Another Hawk’s Nest, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
From far away, Daniel had pointed out the large rock formation that looked like a Wizard’s hat. I got a number of images of that feature from various view points.
Wizard’s Hat, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Bisti Wizard’s Hat rock formation, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The one above is my favorite. The clouds that seem to be emanating from the “hat” make this look magical.
Bisti Wizard’s Hat rock formation, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I also got some wide area views with the “hat” and nearby the hat.
Bisti and Sky Vista, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
We walked around the nearby area finding many large and interesting hoodoos.
Long Neck Hoodoo, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The hoodoo above reminds me of a giraffe.
Large Bisti Hoodoos, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
There were so many large, interesting hoodoos in this area that it is difficult to convey how impressive this area is.
Slim One, Thick One, Fallen One, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I think that is enough for this post. To be continued,
After breakfast, Daniel and I hiked from the north Bisti parking area to the southern portion of Bisti. Along the way, I made many iPhone scouting photographs for future reference. In fact, I have so many scouting photos from this mid-day outing, that I will break this subject into several separate posts.
Bisti Wings or Flats, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The sky with many clouds adds to the interest in these iPhone photographs. While these images are not intended to be great photography, they will serve to show what one may see in Bisti and give an indication of the type photographs that a mid-day visitor might obtain with a simple point and shoot camera. Please note, though, that these images have been post processed with photo editing software.
Bisti Flat or Wing Hoodoo with hole, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Most, but possibly not all, of these image are posted to Flickr. Clicking on an image with an embedded link will take one to that image on Flickr, where a higher resolution image can more easily be viewed.
Bisti hoodoos on a hillside, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.A passage through tall Bisti Hoodoos, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The hike from the north side to the south side required navigating through badlands, up and down hills, through washes, etc., passing many interesting rock formations. There are no trails in this wilderness and many ways to get from one place to another, so each trip can be a new adventure.
Hoodoo with Window, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Unstable, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.One Remaining of Three, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Hoodoos on wash wall, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Bisti Flat Hoodoo with Window, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Hoodoo Wash, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Assorted Hoodoo Shapes, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I had shown Daniel around the northern area in the morning and now Daniel wanted to show me places he had visited in the southern area on the previous day. I have been to the southern area a number of times, but I had never gotten as far out into it as Daniel, so I was eager to see what he had to show me.
South Bisti Petrified Log, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
This long petrified log may be one of the most photographed ones in Bisti. I had previously obtained GPS coordinates for its location, but until today, I had never gotten to it. The long petrified log had many other interesting features nearby.
South Bisti Scene, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Duck Hoodoo, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Bisti Hikers, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
We saw only a few people on this portion of our hike, but these two are heading back towards the south parking area.
Daniel in the Hoodoo Den, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Petrified Log, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Two other petrified log sections with orange lichen near the longer log are shown in these two images.
Petrified Log & Tall Hoodoos, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Most of these features and petrified logs are within what I called a nook, a somewhat confined area mostly surrounded by hills.
Petrified Log, iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The petrified log in the image above looks so real that it could be mistaken for real wood.
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.
