Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas, July 2021, Part 2

As sunset approached, I hiked back into the area around my campsite with my DSLR for a sunset shoot.  As usual, I went out earlier than I thought necessary.  Even so, my timing was off.  Some of the features that I had anticipated shooting, were already in shadow, well before sunset.  So I had to give up on some of the preplanned shot locations.

Golden Hour, Palo Duro Canyon

My first stop was at this vey tilted rock or hoodoo nearest to the campground.  It was in full late day sunlight and I could see that there were already shadows on the big hillside in the distance.

Cacti and Red Hill, Palo Duro Canyon

I found this batch of prickly pear cacti that were still getting some late day rays, with the red hill behind them mostly in shadow.

Tiny Desert Tree and Red Hill, Palo Duro Canyon

Even though the light was much less than I had planned to see, I like this composition with the small, weakly lit tree and the big red hill in the background.

Late Day Deep in Palo Duro Canyon

I like the sinuous leading line formed by this drainage with green grass contrasting with the red earth and the change in lighting from the right side to the left of this image

Boulders and Red Hills, Palo Duro Canyon
Moon over Tilted Hoodoo, Palo Duro Canyon
Desert Evening

I converted this final image, made from the top of the hill from which I had photographed during my scouting hike, to black and white, to get a more dramatic late day image.

I tried capturing more images of the moon over this hilltop, shooting from a location on the side of the hill with tilted rocks pointing at the moon, but I could not get a good image with the lens I had chosen to use today.

Thanks for following,

Ken

 

Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas, July 2021, Part 1

On my return trip from the Grand Canyon North Rim, my first overnight stay was near Gallup, New Mexico at Red Rocks Park.  There were large red rock formations around the park and I thought this would be a good place to check out.  It was not a bad place to stay for one night, but much less interesting than I had anticipated.  At least the weather was mild, due to overcast and rain during the day, just before I arrived at the park, then a booming thunderstorm at night.

My second overnight was at Texas’s Palo Duro Canyon State Park near Amarillo.  I had been through the park many years ago, but never spent much time here.  My campsite was deep into the canyon.  Even though it was late July, the weather was only mildly hot in the day and cooled down nicely at night.

After settling in, I walked around the area to scout potential locations for sunset and possibly sunrise photography.  All of the scouting images in this post were made with my iPhone.

The Sportsmobile in Palo Duro Canyon Campsite.
Small Cacti in Palo Duro Canyon

As in most western US deserts or arid places, cacti abound and one needs to watch where one steps.

Dinosaur Grafiti, Palo Duro Canyon

Visitors to this area have a penchant for carving into the rocks, which I assume must not be very hard rocks.  I found this image of a dinosaur in a narrow space between large boulders.

Rock Grafitti, Palo Duro Canyon

Many of the boulders near the campsite had graffiti, initials, names and/or other scratched in symbols.

Rock Signings, Palo Duro Canyon
Boulders and Hillside, Palo Duro Canyon
Boulders, Palo Duro Canyon

I captured images, testing compositions and to use as reminders, at locations that I thought might be good to return to with my DSLR at sunset.

Palo Duro Canyon Scene
Palo Duro Canyon Topagraphy
Life on a Rock, Palo Duro Canyon
Cacti and Red Hill, Palo Duro Canyon
Cacti and Red Hills, Palo Duro Canyon
Scrubby Vegetation and Red Hills, Palo Duro Canyon
Tilted Hoodoo, Palo Duro Canyon
Tilted Hoodoo Palo Duro Canyon
Hilltop view near campsite, Palo Duro Canyon
Palo Duro Canyon Pano

I posted this panoramic image to Flickr, not because I thought it was a great image, but to share with others that may want to know what the area looks like and because I intended to use it in my blog and wanted to have a link to a larger image.  Much to my surprise, this image was chosen for Flickr’s Explore page and is now my most viewed and faved image on Flickr.  Maybe I’m just physically abusing myself carrying around that heavy DSLR camera and other gear, when a simple iPhone image garners this much attention.

Rock Registry, Palo Duro Canyon

Apparently, lots of people have scrambled up the steep slope to the top of this hill, since the boulders there all had some initials, names and dates carved into them.

Stay tuned for the sunset shoot here,

Ken

 

 

 

Bisti Wilderness, June 2021, Part 12

Bisti Hoodoos and Shadows, June 8, 2021, PM

I shot these same small hoodoos early one morning.  This late day composition captures their long shadows across the desert valley floor.

Creature Face Hoodoo, Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM
Small Hoodoo – Long Shadow, Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM
Shadow Thin, Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM

This tall hoodoo with a very small cap seems to cast an unusually thin shadow, given the apparent thickness of the structure as seen from this angle.

Small Alien Hoodoo, Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM
Small Alien Hoodoo and Triplets, Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM

I photographed this alien looking hoodoo from various viewpoints (it was in an awkward place for getting a good shot) and under various light conditions.  The photo just above may be the best image that I got.

Natural Bridge Hoodoo and Shadow, Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM

Late day shadows are encroaching on this feature just as the light gets best.  At least I got its shadow on the hillside behind it.

Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM

Readers may recall seeing a monochrome version of this last photo in an earlier post.  While not a compelling image, I liked the shadow of the central feature on the hillside behind it.  The shadow is more distinct in this color version than in the monochrome version.

Stay tuned to the next morning’s shoot,

Ken

 

 

Bisti Wilderness, June 2021, Part 11

Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM

After the best early morning light, I continued to move around the valley in the vicinity of Nefertiti’s Crown looking for more composition with the great variety of rock shapes and hoodoos nearby.

Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM
Greeting The Sun, Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM

The same features can be photographed from various angles and distances, yielding completely different looking shapes, shadows, highlights and textures.

Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM
Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM

I tried various points of view and compositions for the scene above, but keeping my shadow out of the shots eliminated the best composition, so I settled for this view and it is not very satisfying.

Actually, I’m not really happy with most of these shots after the golden hour, but I do like the next to last image, with its wide angle view of the area from an elevated perspective and Greeting The Sun.

More from a late day shoot next,

Ken

Bisti Wilderness, June 2021, Part 10

Pre-Sunrise, Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM

My son and I were out early again in Bisti waiting for sunrise.  We had to hike about 2 miles to get to our destinations each day of our visit, so for sunrise we were initially hiking in the dark on the way out.  After sunset photos, we could sometime hike all the way back to the parking lot without light, but sometimes we needed our headlamps for at least a portion of the hike back.

Pre-Sunrise, Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM
Pre-Sunrise, Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM

We were back in the area of the “Michelin Tire/Nefertiti Crown” and “Shark or “Surfboard” (our nicknames) hoodoos and I managed to get a few decent compositions here, while waiting for sunrise.

Bisti Jumble, Pre-Sunrise in Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM

I usually try to compose photos with multiple objects, such as those in the above photo, so that there is separation between all the objects, but sometime I could find no way to completely separate them.

Behind the Shark, Pre-Sunrise, Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM
Nefertiti’s Crown Hoodoo, Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM

I shot the Nefertiti Crown hoodoo again in sunrise light, but with a wider angle view this time.  Nefertiti’s shadow is still falling on the “Shark”.

Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM

From the point of view in the above photo, I got the shadow from the low, tilted hoodoo in the foreground that it cast upon the base of the Shark Hoodoo.  Note that Nefertiti’s Crown Hoodoo looks completely different from this point of view, hence my initial nickname of “Lumpy Hoodoo”.

Morning Breaks, Bisti, June 8, 2021, AM

“Morning Breaks” is my favorite from this batch and I had to use multiple exposures blended via HDR software to get this one.  Although, “Behind the Shark” is a close second and “Bisti Jumble” comes in close behind that.

More later,

Ken

Bisti Wilderness, June 2021, Part 9

In the Heart of Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

The drainage pattern in the foreground is in an heart like shape, hence the title for this photo.

Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

A row of small hoodoos along a thin wall in a Bisti valley.  Getting low isolates two of the hoodoos against the sky.

Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

A little different view of the same row of hoodoos.  Shooting from a higher angle shows the early morning shadows of small foreground hoodoos.

Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

Looking skyward up a steep slope of loose clay towards features on the top of the slope.

Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM
Desert Ship, Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

The feature on top of the hill above, looks like an old ship’s hull to me.

Skinny Hoodoo, Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

We first spotted the tall, skinny looking hoodoo in the photo above from a far distance and initially thought it too far away and inaccessible, but we later found a way to get to it.  This feature is actually visible in the far background of at least two other images in this post.  I will leave it to readers to find it in those images.

Once we got to the base of this ‘Skinny” hoodoo, we realized that it was only skinny looking from one angle.

Skinny Hoodoo Side View, Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

A view from another side looking along the hilltop where this hoodoo resides, shows that it is not really skinny at all.

Skinny Hoodoo, Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

Another view of the “Skinny” hoodoo (left side).

After getting to the Skinny Hoodoo, we also found a shorter route into the area where we had been shooting by walking through valleys and washes back towards the west.

More later,

Ken

Bisti Wilderness, June 2021, Part 8

Sunrise, Bisti, June 6, 2021, AM

The first image in this post is an HDR made from multiple exposures, since it would be impossible to get a single exposure with detail in the foreground and background here.

Nefertiti Crown, Bisti, June 6, 2021, AM

My son called this the Michelin Tire Hoodoo, but one of my Flickr friends and former work colleague said this looked like Nefertiti’s crown and I like that description.  We referred to the flat wing like hoodoo in the background as either a shark or a surf board.

Shark Hoodoo, Bisti, June 6, 2021, AM

The shark hoodoo was difficult to photograph and it was always partially in the shadow of the Nefertiti Crown Hoodoo.

Lumpy Hoodoo, Bisti, June 6, 2021, AM

From a distance, seeing this hoodoo for the first time, I named it Lumpy, but a closer view makes it look more like some big mouth creature and it is actually the same as Nefertiti’s Crown from a different side.  The features here can take on very different aspects, depending upon the view point.

Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

A group of distinct hoodoos in pre-sunrise light (above).  The feature on the far right looks like an alien creature and near the middle are those we called the Triplets.  We photographed around this location multiple times from various view points at different time of the day.

Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM
Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

Another view of the Alien and the Triplets.  I like the foreground in this view.

Even more Bisti to come,

Ken

 

 

Bisti Wilderness, June 2021, Part 7, Monochrome Photos

Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM

Even though I much prefer golden hour color in my landscape photography, I find that there are light conditions and/or scenes that work better in monochrome.

Sometimes it is just the textures, patterns or shadows that make an image look better in monochrome.  In the case of the photo above, the early morning colors were so intensely saturated that I thought those colors looked unreal, so I converted the image to black and white and I much prefer this look in this particular case. (Best viewed on Flickr and on a large screen).

Bisti, June 6, 2021, AM

Usually, I like monochrome for those images that I capture a little after the sunrise golden hour or a little before sunset golden hour.

Pre-Sunrise, Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

In the image above, the sun had not yet come up, but shooting towards the early morning sky made this a better situation for monochrome.

Bisti, June 7, 2021, AM

The same is true for the image above.  I have mixed feelings about this composition, not about the monochrome.  I liked the look of the heavily textured, clay soil in the foreground and the gullies seemed to make good leading lines into the background, but is this a compelling photo?  Opinions are welcomed, but please view on Flickr and on a large screen.

Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM

The readers can tell by the dates on the photos  that I visited this area on separate dates and different times of the day, hoping to get different photographic conditions and/or to shoot from different view points.  In the image above I wanted to show context for the natural bridge in the center, but I also wanted its shadow against the background features.

Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM

I wanted a wide angle view here and the light and shadows were best for a monochrome image.  This is a result of focus stacking multiple images.  A careful inspection of the clouds in the sky makes it apparent that there were multiple images used here.  I could have easily replaced the sky with that from a single image, but I liked the indicated movement of the clouds, so I left this feature.

Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM
Bisti, June 8, 2021, PM

These last two images are not great, but I still like them, particularly the bottom one, with the subtle shadow of the most prominent feature on the background.  I suppose I could have enhanced this image to make the shadow less subtle.

I hope readers are not getting bored with Bisti, because there are more post on the way,

Ken

 

Bisti Wilderness, June 2021, Part 6

Continued from Part 5.

Sunrise Light, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM
Light and Shadow, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM
Early Morning in Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM
Light Beam, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM
Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM

As the sun gets a little higher in the morning sky, the colors begin to wash out.

Long Hoodoo Shadow, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM

Even in the brighter light, there can be interesting shadows cast by the hoodoos.

Hoodoo and Shadow, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM

More Bisti later,

Ken

Bisti Wilderness, June 2021, Part 5

Waiting for Sunrise, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM

Most of the rocks and geological features in the Bisti Wilderness are dull under bright sunlight, but in the early morning and late day light these features seem to come alive with color.  At these times one can get landscape photographs with soft pastels or bright, golden hues.

Golden Hour Begins, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM
Golden Hour, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM
Sunrise Light, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM
Sunrise Light, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM
Sunrise Light, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM
Sunrise Light, Bisti, June 4, 2021, AM

To be continued,

Ken