Rain had prevented an afternoon shoot with the DSLR the previous day and the rain chances were to go away overnight, so I got up before sunrise this morning to photograph the falls and portions of the Cumberland River in early morning light.
Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 10.0s, ISO 400, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
It was still overcast in the very early portion of the morning with a mist around the river area. Condensation fell upon me from the tree canopy at my first shooting area. I was the only one there and this is usually the case, when one gets out before daybreak. Most typical tourist are late risers and/or have breakfast before venturing out and about. We photography enthusiasts usually shoot first and eat later.
Initially, long shutter speeds were required due to the dim, very early, morning light; but this is exactly what I wanted, in order to get the silky look in the flowing water, creating the sense of motion.
Going back up to the walkway/trail along the river after my first stop, I noted that there were other view points that I had not explored the day before, so I continued to those other areas, checking views from the trail as I walked along.
Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 38mm, f/16, 2.0s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Eventually, the overcast began to burn away and there was some good early morning sunlight, which as expected fell on the opposite side of the river. The waterfall was mostly in shadow in the very early morning; but I think I got good images anyway and the low light intensity made it easy to get the slower shutter speeds that I wanted to use.
I continued to drag the shutter (use longer than required shutter speed) a little, even though as the light brightened, I could have adjusted the aperture and/or the ISO to freeze the water motion. I prefer the silky look in the flowing water; although, there are some who object to this as creating an unreal (not as our eyes see it) image.
Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 35mm, f/16, 1.3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 31mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 56mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
As the light advanced and I was satisfied that I had acquired the images that I wanted of the falls, I walked down by the river just below the parking lot, shooting several photographs of the river above the falls. By this time a few scattered visitors began to show up.
Cumberland River and Reflections. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Cumberland River and Reflections. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 38mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Cumberland River. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
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Since the hike to the sunrise shooting location at the Gates of Lodore was not long, we did not have to get up excessively early, but we still began hiking in the dark this morning.
We were fortunate that we had the moon setting as the sun was rising today. I made a series of images as the moon set behind the western canyon wall.
Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 2000. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 1600. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
The moon is so much brighter than the foreground that getting a really good moon exposure was difficult, so I did not get any detail in the moon with the long exposure times required for the foreground, even though I was using a graduated neutral density filter. A combination of the moons movement and/or the wide angle distortion results in an oblong moon, too. I could have tried to make multiple images with proper exposure for the moon, then for the foreground and merged those, but due to the rapidly changing morning light, I decided against this. Plus, I am usually not really pleased with the results of such attempts.
I continued to shoot as the sunrise light progressed down the canyon wall and the clouds moved through the morning sky.
Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 1.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 19mm, f/11, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
On the hike back towards the campsite, we made a detour down to the river to check out possible compositions closer to the river.
Green River near Gates of Lodore. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
This image with the canyon wall reflection in the river is the only decent image I managed to get there. If this image is viewed on Flickr, click on the Flickr image to see the spider on the grass frond on the right side of the image. (Not all of these images are posted to Flickr).
The next stop on this trip is Echo Park, also in Dinosaur National Monument.
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.
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.
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From Vaughan Lake we traveled to Irish Canyon, Colorado.
A sign near the entrance to Irish Canyon, Colorado. iPhone photo.
Near the canyon entrance are boulders with early Native American (Fremont) petroglyph etchings.
Native American Petroglyphs in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.
These iPhone photos of the petroglyphs have been edited more heavily than normal to bring out the petroglyphs, which are faint in the unedited images, so the colors are enhanced beyond what one might see in bright sun light.
Native American petroglyphs in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.Native American petroglyphs in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.
This area is on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) public land. There is a nice campground just a short distance into the canyon. There is a typical, but well maintained, pit toilet in the campground. There is no water available, but there was at least one trash can near the pit toilet.
An informational sign at the Irish Canyon campground. iPhone photo.Irish Canyon Campground. iPhone photo.
When we arrived, there was only one other camper in the camping spot most removed from the roadway and a couple of motorcycle riders in the front most campsite. We drove through the campground and picked the most level looking of the remaining campsites.
We walked around and talked to the motorcyclists, who were retired uranium miners from Wyoming. It turned out that they were just taking a break in the campsite, so when they moved on, we moved into that campsite, since it was more level than the others and had a picnic table with better shade (and it was a warm day).
Campsite in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.
There was not enough shade in which to park the Sportsmobile, but it was a breezy day, so leaving the vehicle open helped keep the temperature from getting excessively high inside.
Irish Canyon Campsite. iPhone photo.
The setting of the campsite provided very good scenery and we walked around to scout possible photographic compositions for sunset and/or sunrise.
Irish Canyon Roadway at Irish Canyon Campground. iPhone photo.
The roadway in the canyon could be used as a leading line.
Irish Canyon scene. iPhone photo.
This old dead tree might be a suitable foreground for a sunset photo.
Irish Canyon scene. iPhone photo.
This big boulder might be useful as foreground in a composition, but it was right at the edge of the trees and slope near the canyon wall, so it might be difficult to get a clean composition here.
Irish Canyon Campsite in late evening. iPhone photo courtesy of Sean Kemp – WildOpenLandscapes.com
My mid-day scouting activity proved really useful for learning my way around in the northern part of the Bisti Wilderness as well as for determining good places for either sunrise and/or sunset landscape photography. I also began to make written notes, rather than relying upon my memory, since I’m seeing so much variation here that my brain cannot reliably recall some details, especially a few days after the fact.
Today my primary destination was the plateau area with a couple of significantly large hoodoos that I had first seen during my March 2019 visit with my oldest son. I wanted to get a better fix on the best route to these features and a better idea of how much time to allow for hiking there from the north parking area.
I would then explore more in that area.
I followed a general route that I had already found, but explored a slight deviation as I was climbing up out of a valley/wash near a previously found exit point.
Instead of going straight up a somewhat steep, red rock strewn exit, I turned to the right, up another short incline to see where that took me. I entered into a smallish, enclosed area, which I initially thought might be a dead end route.
Looking around the little nook, I spotted this small hoodoo on the wall near where I had entered:
Small Sentinel. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
It looked like a hoodoo sentinel standing guard over the little nook.
On the opposite side from where I came in, I could see that it would be possible to climb out there, so I went up the hill and entered into a large, flat area, which I recognized as being just east of an area my son and I had exited into from another direction during our March visit. We had come into that area via a much more difficult route.
Now I was actually on the plateau of my destination, so I began to walk to the south, which I recalled was where the large hoodoos and other features were located.
Hoodoo Plateau. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
In a blog post from the March visit, I included scouting photographs of the large pedestal like hoodoos in the above image. We did not get back here on that visit. Looking around, I realized that this area would be good for either sunrise or sunset shoots.
I continued exploring this area to the west and south. Finding areas that were familiar from the March 2019 and March 2011 visits:
Many Hoodoos in a Wash. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Many Hoodoos in a Wash. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
There are a number of deep canyons or washes crisscrossing this badlands area with many hoodoos lining the walls of the washes.
Hoodoos and Wide Vista. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.A deep wash lined with hoodoos. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I explored along the top edge of the deep washes finding many interesting features.
Resting Hoodoo. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Hoodoo Wash. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Can you see the leading lines in these photos:?
Hoodoo Wash. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Hoodoo Wash. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I recall photographing in this area in 2011 during my first visit to Bisti and I still have a few photos of the features in this image:
Hoodoo Wash. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I also found features that make good abstract photographs, like this one:
Abstract. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Wandering through a hodgepodge of rocks along the edge of a deep wash I found the fish like hoodoo at the right end of the line of hoodoos:
Fish Tank. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.The Fish. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
And this scary looking rock:
Demon Head. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Just behind the fish hoodoo:
The Pterodactyl. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
On the way out of this area:
Piling on. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I could see these large wing like hoodoos on the far side of a deep wash:
Across the Deep Wash. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I did not know how to access those far away wing hoodoos at this time; but later I found a way down into the wash and a way to hike up near those wings.
Petrified log and north Bisti vista. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 34mm, f/16, 1/13s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 13 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The last shots that I acquired on the hillside, where I spent most of the early morning on day 3 in the northern portion of the Bisti Wilderness, were of the long slender petrified log that I had discovered in scouting this area a couple of days prior.
I had found a way to safely get down a hillside and shoot near the log. The first image above is taken from a place on the hillside above the log.
Petrified log sections in North Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 55mm, f/16, 1/20s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 4 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I shot four images from the perspective above, focusing at different points in the scene, then stacked those images using Helicon software. Focusing stacking results in a sharp image from front to back in the image.
The image below is created in the same manner, using 6 images, each with a different focus point.
Petrified log in north Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 6 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Satisfied that I had done as much as reasonable shooting on the hillside, I hiked back down into the canyon and made a few images of interesting features in the canyon.
The Clam Hoodoo in North Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/16, 1/20s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 6 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I acquired a number of images with various focus points to create these final two images of the “Clam” hoodoo.
The Clam Hoodoo in North Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 27mm, f/16, 1/40s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 7 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I used the Helicon retouching tool for the last image to fix some artifacts that were a result of the clouds moving as the multiple images were acquired. The Helicon retouching tool allows one to choose one of the multiple images and paint in portions of that image to replace the unnatural artifacts.
If the cloud motion just results in an appearance of a long shutter speed image, showing motion in the clouds, I think that is fine and does not require retouching. Obviously, this is a matter of personal preference.
The hike back to the parking area was pleasant, with moderate temperature. I had seen rain in the distance while shooting and while returning to the parking lot. The sky appeared to be clearing in the west, but the wind speed was increasing. It can get very windy here, but I am hoping it will not be so bad as to prevent a sunset shoot today.
I was up at 4AM and noted that it was very cloudy, overcast and a little breezy. I thought about not going out due to the heavily overcast sky, thinking there may not be good sunrise light, but I went, anyway.
My destination was the hilltop at the end of a canyon that I had scouted on the first day of my arrival. There was good color in the eastern sky before sunrise, but I was a little too late in getting to my destination in time to get shots of the best color. As I was hiking to my destination, I missed a turn into the side canyon that I had to take to get there. Fortunately, I realized my mistake quickly and only lost a few minutes as I backtracked. Still, those few minutes cost me a few possibly good shots, as the color was mostly gone by the time I got set up to shoot.
North Bisti Toadstool Hoodoo and overcast sky just after sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 55mm, f/16, 2.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The heavy cloud cover eliminated the sunrise golden hour, too. I had to make do with the light that I had to work with and the clouds did add some interest to the sky, at least; but the photos are a little dull without that golden hour light and the dispersed, uniform light with no shadows made the images a bit flat.
Overcast sky over north Bisti features. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, f/16, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
At least, I got just a little color in the overcast sky in a few of my shots.
North Bisti toadstools in monochrome. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/16, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I considered converting most of my images to monochrome, but without the shadows, these lack the depth that help make such images more appealing.
Various north Bisti hillside toadstools. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 50mm, f/16, 0.5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
There were many interesting toadstool type hoodoos scattered all around the hillsides and wide vista.
Overcast sky over north Bisti features. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 36mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The features in the foreground of the shot above are actually fairly large, but they are on a hillside across a ravine so I could not safely get closer.
I spotted this large petrified log in a ravine downhill to the west. The slope was quite steep here and I would not risk trying to get closer to this one. I have a number of shots of it, trying to show how impressively large it appears and the environment around it; but I think none of the shots do it justice.
Large petrified log sections and north Bisti vista. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 44mm, f/16, 0.5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I continued to work the area, shooting anything that I though might be interesting.
Large and small north Bisti toadstools. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 44mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Looking back up the hill from above the large petrified log is this large hillside with many toadstool hoodoos on the top and a few scattered below:
North Bisti toadstools and hillside. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, f/16, 1/6s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 3 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
These are the features that are most prominent, when first climbing up the hillside from the canyon access:
A large north Bisti toadstool and hillside. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 4 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
A close up of that rather large toadstool feature:
A large north Bisti Toadstool. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 55mm, f/16, 1/6s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 4 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
And another view of the large toadstool with the vista stretching out behind it:
A large north Bisti Toadstool. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 5 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Down the hillside behind the large toadstool, I got down low behind one emerging toadstool to get this view of the sky and the vast desert vista:
A north Bisti Hoodoo’s view. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 8 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I was not satisfied with the sharpness in the first image in this post, so I made a series of images to focus stack:
North Bisti Toadstool Hoodoos. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 40mm, f/16, 1/13s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 7 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
{Note that a number of the previous images are created by focus stacking a number of images. I finally have had enough of the problems with Photoshop focus stacking, so after some research, I’m trying Helicon software, which is designed specifically for this task. So far, I’m really impressed with it. Helicon produces more accurate results, much faster than Photoshop and has an easy to use retouching tool, that can fix things like artifacts produced by moving subjects (for example, the clouds in these images)}.
I do not recall seeing Bisti photographs such as those in this post. I know others have hiked around this area, since I could see evidence of footprints which had been essentially removed by recent rains; but such areas of Bisti are less popular with the typical visitors and do not have the striking rock shapes as the more popular areas. Yet these photographs, when compared to those from the more popular areas, illustrate the geological variety and vastness of this striking desert wilderness.
This post is getting too long, so I will continue it in a follow up.
Thanks for following, remember that your critiques and comments are always welcome and that clicking on most of the photos will take you to the photograph on Flickr,
I did not have to get up very early for a sunrise shoot at Vaughan Lake, since I only had to walk a short distance downhill towards the reservoir from our campsite.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 64.
As the early morning light turned the trees a glowing red color, I used this narrow channel as a leading line through the marsh grass towards the hillside.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64.
I continued to work around the channel in the marsh grass, shooting as the light advanced down the hillside.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64.
The early morning sunlight really made the tops of the marsh grass stand out in these last two shots at the reservoir.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/8, 1/160s, ISO 1000.
As the sun went higher, I moved back towards the camping area to try a few shots across the wide swaths of grass and wildflowers between a roadway and the reservoir.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 500.Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/250s, ISO 500.Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 500.
I walked from the campsite down towards the lake for sunset photography. This was not a really easy place to shoot the landscape, since it was so wide open and I could see details in the far distance, which I knew would only be visible in the wide angle shots, when really zooming in on the image. A long zoom lens would be necessary to see the snow covered mountain to the south of the lake.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 17mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64.
The snow covered peak is in the notch in the hillside in the upper center of these photographs.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 17mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.
Compositions here were challenging. I wanted to include foreground objects like the large, lichen covered rocks scattered about and the wildflowers. The wildflowers were so small compared to the grand scenic scale that they are almost not noticeable.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm (before crop), f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.
The image above is a crop from a wider angle view, bringing out the reflection in the lake surface.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.
One can see that there were many of the large rocks that can be included in the foreground of these wide angle views.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 64.
Turning the camera to the left, one gets another view of the far side of the lake as the sun sinks lower in the west, extending shadows onto the hillside.
Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 64.
Moving a little closer to the lake, allows one to see more of the lake surface with reflections of the hillside. Note that I am still anchoring the foreground with one of the large rocks. Otherwise, I think the foreground in such a shot would be too monotonous.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 19mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64.
By getting down into a marshy area very near this little channel through the grass around the lake, I got this view, which I really like. The channel acts as a diagonal leading line from the bottom right corner into the lake with a clear reflection of the far hillside on its surface and the eyes tend to move on through the image from there.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64.
I worked around the shoreline, continuing to use leading line elements in the images.
Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 64.
The sun is now getting really low to the west, putting most of the images into shadow. Mountains to the west are blocking the sun light well before the sun actually sets.
The leading line in the photo above is subtle. There is a trail through the grass from the bottom right going diagonally towards the upper left.
Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 15mm, f/11, 1/4, ISO 64.
There was a swimming animal, probably a beaver, that swam back and forth throughout my shots near the lake. If one looks very closely in the water just to the left of center in the image above, one can just make out a line in the water going towards the left. That is the v shaped wake left by the swimming animal.
Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 64.
I moved back close to the channel in the marshy area to get the shot above as the sunlight was fading fast from the scene. Looking closely at the notch in the hillside on the left of the image, one can just get a hint of the snow covered mountain peak in the far distance.
Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64.
Turning the camera to the left, again using the leading line of the channel, one can see the clouds in the east beginning to acquire their sunset color. And again the beaver’s (or whatever’s) wake is just visible in the lake as a streak of light. Just follow the channel line out into the shadowy reflection to see the brighter line of light reflected from the wake near the center left of the image.
Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/1s, ISO 64.
And the final scene of the day, above, with sunset colored clouds in the far distance.
The images in this post are all on Flickr, so just click on the images to view them there and, preferably on a large screen, where they will look much better.
