At the outward end of our hike, we scrambled onto boulders for good views of the canyon and the distant storm.
Boulders, Canyon and Storm Clouds
The best view into the canyon was in one direction, so I shot in that direction, towards the distant storm, varying the foreground and the horizontal and vertical angles, experimenting with compositional variations with the same general view of the canyon.
Canyon and Storm
I used the portion of the canyon immediately below the view point as a leading line towards the main canyon and the storm in the distance.
Canyon, Canyon Rim and StormCanyon and StormApproaching StormBoulders, Canyon and StormStormy OutlookDark CanyonDistant StormStorm’s A Coming
Unlike those that are naturally artistic, I often do not immediately see “the composition” that I want. I enjoy trying different compositions and I’m often surprised at how I perceive the results, after having time to review and edit the photos. Often, the images I like the best are not the ones that others favor, which may be an indication of my natural bent towards seeing things in a more scientifically curious way, rather than in an artistic manner.
As always, readers comments and opinions are welcome,
The longest hike we did while at the Grand Canyon North Rim was one that generally followed along the canyon rim, but was mostly in forest with occasional good views of the canyon.
View from a trailClouds over the Canyon
The first three images contain the same canyon features with varying compositions and view points.
Intimate Moment
The tree leaning into another reminded me of a couple sharing this grand view.
Clouds and Canyon
The sky was mostly cloudy, as was typical during our visit, and the canyon was hazy.
Along the TrailNear a TrailStorm over the Canyon
Again today, there was a storm in the distance and rain threatened to catch us on the trail.
Storm CoudsTrees, Canyon and Storm Clouds
I will continue with more photos from this hike in a subsequent post.
We did not get to see golden hour sunset light on this shoot, but the distant storm and the heavy clouds approaching were good photographic subjects.
Storm Clouds and Canyon 2
At the risk of being monotonous, I will post a number of images with the main emphasis upon the storm clouds over the Grand Canyon.
Storm Clouds and Canyon 3Storm Clouds and Canyon 4Storm Clouds and Canyon 5
Images 3 and 4 are my favorites of this series, impressive clouds over a magnificent canyon. There were occasional lightening bolts in the distant storm, but I was not fortunate enough to capture any of the sporadic lightening in my shots.
We were at another of the major overlooks at the Grand Canyon North Rim for sunset photography. We had our prepared dinner meal in the parking area prior to hiking to the overlook. As I was sitting on a rock in the shade of a large tree, having a sandwich, I noticed these five pine cones at my feet. They were arranged as shown in the photo. I do not know if these were arrange by nature or if someone did this. Anyway, since it was such a nice arrangement, I photographed it with my iPhone.
Distant Storm
There were already a few photographers at the overlook, claiming their spot, and numerous tourists, but it was not really crowded, so we were able to find places to set up to wait and hope for good sunset light over the canyon.
It was cloudy and we could see a storm on the opposite side of the canyon. While waiting and watching the clouds and light changing. I made numerous images of the canyon with the storm clouds. I again had some problem with choosing foregrounds for this vast canyon. I think the image above might have the best foreground of the images that I got on this shoot.
Storm Clouds and Canyon
In the image above, I’m using the dry drainage as a (weak) leading line into the image and a small portions of a rock ledge as foreground.
Storm Clouds and Canyon
Rotating a little to the left, I included much of the nearby canyon wall in an image. The canyon wall curves into the image pointing towards the distant storm.
Storm Clouds and Canyon
Rotating to the right, I still have the dry drainage in the bottom left, leading towards the storm clouds and the calmer sky on the right with the nearer features of the canyon in the. foreground.
Anticipation
I used a small bush on the rock ledge at the view point as a foreground. My motive for calling this image “Anticipation” is that little bush that I can imagine looking forward to getting some rain from the approaching storm.
Light above the Darkness
Zooming out I was able to include more of the sky. The sunlight is illuminating the upper portion of the storm clouds, while it is dark below. This is my favorite image from this shoot. Be sure to click on it to view on Flickr and on a larger screen to get a better appreciation of the the scene. (All of these images are best viewed on a large screen. Not all of the images in this post are on Flickr. Those that are, have embedded links that will take you to the image on Flickr.
This seems like a good place to end this post. I have more images of the heavy clouds approaching our location that I will include in the next post.
After our first morning shoot at a North Rim overlook, we drove to other view points and hiked short trails to scout for other sunrise and/or sunset photo locations.
A Native American Granary, iPhone Photo
Remnants of a Native American granary is just a short distance from the trailhead for the Cliff Spring Trail.
Cliff Spring Trail Photo, GC North Rim, iPhone PhotoWildflower on cliff wall, iPhone Photo
There were very healthy plants thriving on nutrients obtained from the rocks or minimal soil in crevices in a cliff face.
Wildflower on cliff wall, iPhone PhotoWildflowers on cliff wall, iPhone PhotoAngels Window, iPhone PhotoHazy Canyon, iPhone PhotoRoosevelt Point, iPhone PhotoRoosevelt Point, iPhone PhotoPondering, iPhone Photo
There is a short, easy trail to an overview at Roosevelt Point. The 4 photos above were taken from what may have been the end of the most commonly hiked and easiest portion of this trail. There is a steep step down at one point and a second less steep step down beyond that on the final portion of the trail. It is not actually clear whether the trail beyond the first big step down is part of the official trail or if hikers have extended the trail. I hesitated at the first step down, not sure whether it was wise or allowed to proceed.
After deciding I could make the step down and get back up safely my son and I proceeded along the path. In the photo just above, my son is seen pondering the next step down and trying to decide, if an official trail extends past this point. We noted trees that had been cut beyond this point, suggesting trail blazing, so we proceeded.
Hazy Canyon, iPhone PhotoRoosevelt Point, iPhone Photo
The end of the trail at Roosevelt point is in the photo above. There is a gap in the narrow rock ledge (the one with the rock perched near the end) that one has to carefully step over to get to the end of this ledge.
Roosevelt Point, iPhone Photo
The photo above gives a better indication of the sharp drop off on either side of the narrow ledge at the end of the trail.
Roosevelt Point, iPhone Photo
The photo above is made from as far along the narrow ledge as I dared go and it is probably not safe for anyone to go any further.
GC NR, iPhone Photo
The last image in this post is made from an overlook at the highest view point on the North Rim.
The next post will be for our sunset photo shoot on our second day here.
The last stop on my route to the Grand Canyon North Rim in July 2021 was the Petrified Forest National Park. There is an exit to this national park from I40, but I elected to go into Holbrook, Arizona and go to the south entrance, since there is an RV site just outside the park entrance there. That RV site does not take reservations, so I wanted to be sure to get there early to increase my chance of getting a site. There are actually two places across the road from each other here, where RV’s can park. One site is free, first come, first serve, but has no hookups. The other has electric hook up, but no water. I did not need a water hookup, but I wanted electric, since I expected it to be hot and I wanted to be able to use my A/C or, or at least a fan.
I pulled into the Petrified Forest Gift Shop and RV Park and went into the gift shop to secure a site. Some of the reviews that I had read about this site said the staff were unfriendly, but I did not find that to be the case. Instead, I would characterize the two staff/owners as matter of fact and business like. They were not the bubbly personality types we’ve all come to expect at tourist lodgings, motels and hotels, but they were not unfriendly.
I jokingly requested a site with shade and was matter of factly told that there was no shade. I had noted that fact already. There are scattered trees around the edge of the RV parking area, but the vegetation on the trees is insufficient to provide any significant shade at any time of the day.
After getting my assigned site, I drove into the park for a quick tour. This park has gates at the entrances that open at 8AM and close at 5PM, so there is no way in the summer to be anywhere in this park for sunset or sunrise photography.
The visitor center is not far from the entrance and I stopped here, but I did not go in, since I was practicing “social distancing” during the COVID-19 pandemic. I picked up a guide brochure from an outside location behind the visitor center and proceeded to walk the paths. There were a substantial number of visitors, but not so many that one could not maintain a suitable distance from others.
Since it was mid-day with harsh overhead light, I elected not to carry around my heavy DSLR and to shoot with my iPhone camera. I do not even pretend to have great photos from this park.
Summer Learning
There appear to be educational opportunities here and this seems to be a good place for lessons in the geological history of this area.
Big Petrified Tree
The base of the petrified tree in the photo above is about 10 feet in diameter. This is a clear indication of the size of the trees in the prehistoric forest that was once here.
Petrified Log Sections
Indeed, the size of the petrified logs here is impressive.
Petrified Log SectionsPetrified Log Sections
What a magnificent forest this must have been!
Observers
I noted a little girl and her dog watching me, so I had to include them in a photo.
Cactus and Petrified Log SectionsPetrified Tree
Satisfied that I had seen everything behind the visitor center, I decided to hike to the “Agate House”, which was mentioned in the brochure. The Agate House is little over a mile from the visitor center. It was hot, but, with the temperature in the low 90s, not nearly as hot as I had expected for this time of the year. I took a bottle of cold water with me to be sure I did not get dehydrated. The hike is an easy one and is on a paved trail. The first portion of the hike is on the remnant of an asphalt road, which ends at what used to be a parking area, then the trail continues on a narrower path to the house.
Along the route, I caught a glimpse of a colorful desert creature moving amid the rocks beside the trail.
Collared Lizard
Fortunately, this colorful lizard remained perched on a rock just long enough for me to get a good photo before it disappeared into the jumble of broken petrified tree pieces.
Petrified JumbleAgate House
The Agate House is actually a partially restored Native American dwelling. The restoration was done via a works program during the Great Depression. Current practice is to leave ruins as they are found, rather than to attempt reconstruction.
Agate House
I returned to my vehicle at the visitor center parking lot and continued my quick tour of this park.
I just realized that I had overlooked a few items that I wanted to get into a post, after I already have a number of post scheduled. So to keep with the chronological order that I prefer for my posts, I’m slipping in an additional post this week, rather than rework my scheduled post dates.
Pontiac
In route to the Grand Canyon North Rim, I spotted a couple of old, rusting away automobiles that I took time to shoot. This Pontiac was located such that I could not get good, isolated images without including distracting items in the photos. This cropped image is the best that I could get.
Rusty Ford Automobile
Parked in front of a church, as if waiting for AAA, to replace a tire, is this rusty, early Ford.
Crank ReadyEarly Ford Automobile
Looks like this old Ford has been here a long time.
There is a small Texas town that I drive by on my trips westward and each time I go through it, I think I should someday take time to get off the highway and see what is in this old Texas town. Finally, on one of my homeward bound trips, I did just that.
This is not a ghost town, there are still residents, businesses, a post office, city hall, and some modern improvements, but I found numerous abandoned businesses in and around the downtown area and even an older, abandoned city hall.
I shot numerous photos, but many of the settings and the mid-day light were not conducive to getting interesting shots, so I’ve greatly culled the images to present in this post and I had to do some creative editing to add interest to these images.
Auto Sales
There is a crumbling building that was an auto sales business long ago.
Auto Sales
Given the smallness of this Texas town, I was surprised to find the remnants of an auto sales place here. This one appears to have been abandoned many years ago.
Barred Window
The back side of one of the downtown area’s abandoned business had a couple of windows, one of which had concrete rebar installed for security.
Flower and Window
The adjacent window had no bars and the lower glass pane was missing.
Wildflowers and WindowsBack Door
A street corner building had an interesting looking backside. The image above is cropped from a wider view to remove distracting items. The monochrome conversion seems more fitting for this subject than the original color version.
This large hoodoo seems to be standing guard for those in the valley below it, ready to alert of approaching photographers.
Bisti Valley, Bisti Wilderness, June 9, 2021, PMDelicate Balance 1, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PM
I spotted the hoodoo above from a far distance as it stands out very distinctly in this broad valley in the Bisti Wilderness of New Mexico. I had scouted around it looking for ways to photograph it and found what I thought were promising compositions, only to discover that many of those compositions did not work out well.
A Valley of Hoodoos, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PMDelicate Balance 2, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PMSunset Clouds and Hoodoos, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PMDesert Sunset Sky, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PMLong, Thin and Flat Hoodoos, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PMPetrified Log and Sunset Light, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PM
It was a cloudy afternoon, but some rays of golden hour sunset light broke through.
Golden Hour Hoodoos, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PMSunset Features, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PMThe Nook, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PM
I was in a dead end spur off of a big valley and went into this small nook, where I noted interesting rock features and hoodoos with the golden hour light on the top of the background hills and blue sky with fluffy clouds above. My son was calling for me to come out into the main valley, where the day’s final rays of light was peaking, so I hastened to get this shot, not at all sure it would be worthwhile; but I think it turned out well.
Soft Sunset Light, Bisti, June 9, 2021, PM
So there you have it, the final part of this visit to Bisti. I do not usually include so many photos in one post, but since this is part 13 and I had exactly 13 photos to wrap up this Bisti visit, it seems fitting to end it so.
If you can, please look at these images on my Flickr page and on a big screen, where the details are much better viewed.
Revisiting these images has put me in the mood for another visit to Bisti, but it might be some time before I can get back, so readers will not have to suffer through more Bisti any time soon.
Stay safe and thanks for following,
Ken
P.S. Actually, I just remembered that there is one remaining item for this visit: Night photography with stars and maybe the Milky Way, if I ever get around to finishing the editing, which is always a pain for such images, so I tend to procrastinate with that task. There will probably only be one or two or three photos, so that post will be short.
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, PMSmall Hoodoo – Long Shadow, Bisti, June 8, 2021, PMShadow 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, PMSmall 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.
