I continued to wander around in the Great Sand Dunes early the first morning of our March 2021 visit, looking for good compositions.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
The icy rim along the ridge in this dune caught my eye. I like the way that icy ridge leads the eye from the left corner of the frame to the long ridge, which in turn leads the eye into the upper part of the image.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
I’m always looking for objects with distinct shadows and these chunks of frozen sand, that lie along the edge of a dune, add interest to this image. The edge of the dune acts as a leading line from the lower right towards the upper left. This line is more brightly lighted than other portions of the image and acts as a diagonal dividing line in the image. Notice how the sand details, visible texture and light change as the eye crosses this diagonal. The darkness in the clouds and the shadowy, distant mountains create a strong contrast with the sunlit sand.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
A series of circular features breaking the ripple patterns in the sand made me stop to take this photo. I’ve converted the original color image to monochrome, since I think this image with these features is more dramatic in black and white.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
This small piece of “driftwood” breaks up and modifies the wind created ripples in a dune. I put quotes on “driftwood”, since I’m not sure that this is the proper term for how this chunk of a tree got here. Maybe it blew in via wind or maybe it was washed here by water?
I’ll have more to say about making this image in a subsequent post.
This is a continuation of a previous post with photographs from the ancient Native American site, Tsankawi, a part of the Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Tsankawi Trail Fragment.
Up above the main continuous trail through Tsankawi, I spotted a portion of a trail that was obviously out of place. This part apparently broke away from its original location and lodged here many years ago.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Contemplation 2.
The depth of this portion of the trail is impressive. The pathways are narrow, which suggests that the people that made these were not large people.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Deep, Narrow and Steep.
It took a little effort to navigate some portions of these ancient paths, especially when carrying a daypack and DSLR.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Curves and Dead End.
Interestingly, this portion of the trail had dual pathways, but one was a dead end. Was this two lane path created by having one foot on one side and the other foot on the other side of the trail? Each side is too narrow for having both feet within the narrow channel.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Evidence of a dwelling, Shelter or storage area.
There were numerous indications of dwellings, shelters or storage areas along the pathways of Tsankawi. Some areas were off limits for visitors, so we did not get to see everything here.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Photographing the interior of a cave.
The entrance to this cave (above) seems to have a torso with head shape.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Tsankawi Cave.Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Tsankawi Caves.
There were numerous caves in some areas. Notice the foot and/or hand holds in the rocks around these caves.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Tsankawi View.
A desert view from the main trail around the Tsankawi area.
This wraps up the best photos that I managed to get in this amazing place. Perhaps someday I will get back again, when conditions are more favorable for photography.
We visited Tsankawi again one afternoon, but we never really got to be here at the very best time of the day for photography. Although, we did have some cloudy sky, which helped add a little interest at times.
Tsankawi is really an amazing place. I was most impressed by the paths created by Native Americans many years ago. Those ancient people walked the same paths so often as to wear deep trenches in the rock. Sometimes the trenches were only a few inches deep and sometimes several feet deep. Even though the rock may not be super hard here, it is not soft either, so it must have taken many walkers over many years to create such deep pathways in the stone.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Walking Through the Past 1, monochrome with selective colorization.Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.Walking Through the Past 2, monochrome with selective colorization.Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Tsankawi Trail.Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Contemplation. Monochrome with selective colorization.Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Old Tree and Fractured Rock with Petroglyphs
One has to look closely to see the old, worn petroglyphs, of which there were many, in some of the rock faces.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Lone Tree.Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Tsankawi Petroglyphs.
Viewing a larger image on Flickr will allow for better resolution of the many petroglyphs on this rock face.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021. Small Evergreen Tree growing in a crack in the Tsankawi desert area. Monochrome with selective colorization.
We woke up to a heavy snow cover in our campground the second morning of our visit here. We had been watching the weather forecast and expected snow over a large area, we just could not judge how much would fall at our location, which was a higher elevation than that used in the weather forecasts .
Snow in Bandelier Campground, March 2021, iPhone PhotoSnow in Bandelier Campground, March 2021, iPhone Photo
Judging by the depth of snow on the flat surfaces, it looks like 6-8 inches of cover.
After making a few early morning iPhone photos and taking care of a few housekeeping chores, I began to walk around the campground area with my DSLR.
I managed to isolate a few individual, snow covered trees against the overcast sky.
Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Tree and Clouds 1.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Tree and Clouds 2.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Monochrome Tree and Snow.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Skeleton Tree in Snow.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Towering Tree in Snow.
As I walked around, I tried to capture a few small features in the snow covered landscape.
Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Grass in Snow 1.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Grass in Snow, Monochrome.
And anything else that looked unique or interesting.
Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Crawling Snow Covered Tree Creature.
A distant mountainside was visible through the forest and I tried to frame that in a few photographs, but the 24-70mm lens did not allow for close ups of the distant mountains tops.
Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Distant Mountains 1.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Distant Mountains 2.
I think the individual trees are the best images that I captured here; but here are a few miscellaneous other images to give a feel for the general look of the snow covered forest area around the campground.
Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Snow Forest 1.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Snow Forest 2.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Snow Forest 3.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Snow Forest 4.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Snow Forest 5.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Snow Forest 6.Snow covers Bandelier Campground, March 2021. Old and Fallen, Old and Standing.
It is good that I got out early to capture the snow, since it began to melt away even as I made my way back to my van. It was essentially all gone by late morning.
This is a continuation of my iPhone photography in Indiana Antique Stores in October, 2020.
Pile of Cameras, iPhone Photos
I think the camera in the middle is an Argus brand. I had an Argus C3 that I acquired, when I was in high school. I do not know what happened to that camera.
There are always lots of old jars, bottles, dishes and glassware in the antique malls. Sometimes the displays make interesting photograph subjects, sometimes not.
Old Glasses, Monochrome, iPhone PhotoAn antique lard bucket, iPhone Photo
Lard was a common cooking item up until not so many years ago and I suppose some people may still use it. It was a common item in my childhood home.
Mild and Satisfying?, iPhone PhotoOld Scythes and Hand Saw, iPhone Photo
One of those tools looks out of place. I even have a rusting Sears Craftsman handsaw in my garage, that I’ve not used for many years. It does not have the carvings on the wood handle that this older one has.
Antique Bottles, iPhone Photo
More bottles and jars.
Antique Jars, iPhone PhotoAn old Automobile Service Station Jar, iPhone Photo
Was this bottle used to contain gasoline or motor oil?
Old Blue Jars, iPhone PhotoAntique Wood Spoke Ford Automobile Wheel, iPhone Photo
This wheel was still attached to an old automobile or truck in the backyard of an antique store in a Indiana small town. The blue bottles in the photo above the wheel photo were in the same outdoor space near the automobile.
I have driven the same route through the Texas Panhandle numerous times in my travels, seeing numerous old, abandoned houses and businesses. Occasionally, I will take a few minutes to stop and photograph some of these, if I have time in my schedule to do so.
This house is just off of a highway and almost completely surrounded by high grass and trees. I had made a mental note of it several times and finally decided to stop by to photograph it.
The view above is seen as one is driving to the northwest. If driving from the the northwest, the house is almost hidden and can easily be overlooked.
The sun was almost directly overhead, the light bright and harsh, so I converted the images to monochrome, which gives more pleasing images under these conditions.
I photographed all around the house, but with the dense vegetation, I did not get good images from other view points.
In the spring of 2019, returning to Texas from Colorado, I spotted a group of abandoned farm buildings near an exit from I-70 on the high plains of eastern Colorado. I immediately wanted to photograph those old farm structures, but I had already passed the exit and I did not want to take the time required to backtrack, so I just made a mental note of the location in case I passed that way again.
In July of 2019 I was on that route again, returning from another trip to Colorado. I remembered the exit number from the earlier trip and this time I did not pass up an opportunity to stop and photograph those old buildings.
Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
It was late morning, the sun was high, the light harsh, but it was unlikely that I would ever be here at a better time, so I did the best that I could with what I had. I decided not to get out the DSLR equipment and just stroll around shooting with my iPhone.
Old Farm House on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I decided that the best post processing for these images would be a conversion to monochrome, given the light conditions and the subject matter.
Old Farm House on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I was lucky to catch a bird flying out of the old barn.
Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I’m glad that I took a few minutes to stop here. There have been so many times that I’ve passed up opportunities to shoot places such as this, because I was on a time schedule for getting to some destination. I hope that I will have more time, during future road trips, to photograph a few more of the old and abandoned building that are scattered across our country.
I hiked to The Seal to shoot pre-sunrise and sunrise shots at this large well known hoodoo in the northern portion of Bisti on the morning of my 6th day here in late May of 2019. The sunrise light was not great, but it was still good.
The Seal, Bisti Wilderness, Pre-Sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 52mm, f/16, 8.0s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
I made a few exposures from below The Seal in the pre-sunrise light. Then climbed further up the hillside to shoot from just below the hoodoos and from a location that gave me a view from just above The Seal and other adjacent features. The pre-sunrise, dim light required long exposures.
A large Bisti Hoodoo adjacent to The Seal. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm, f/16, 8.0s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Large Bisti Hoodoo near The Seal. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 34mm, f/16, multiple long exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Focus stack of 5 images in Helicon software.
This iPhone shot shows the DSLR shooting location, overlooking The Seal and adjacent rock features and the westerly view with the first sunrise rays highlighting the features on the horizon:
Waiting for the light. iPhone photo edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
One of the long exposure pre-sunrise shots with the DSLR:
Eye Level with The Seal. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, f/16, 6.0s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
I think most photographers shoot The Seal from below, since that is the view that lets one see the seal shape of the hoodoo cap. I’m sure others have walked around, viewing these in the same manner as shown above, but I do not recall having seen any photos from this viewpoint. I’m hoping that I captured images here that are less common, if not unique.
When the sun rose over the horizon, I began to see the highlights on my primary subjects.
Eye level at The Seal. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Large Bisti Hoodoo near The Seal. Sunrise light, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Focus stack of 6 images in Helicon software.
I then moved back down the slope to shoot The Seal from below in the early morning sunlight.
The Seal near sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 38mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Finishing my shoot at The Seal, I went back down into the wash and proceeded to another nearby location that I had previously scouted.
North Bisti Hoodoos and Wings. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 35mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Focus stack of 6 images in Helicon software.North Bisti Rocks and Hoodoos. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 40mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Focus stack of 3 images in Helicon software.
As is my normal practice, I continued to wander around after the golden hour, looking for other interesting features to shoot before the sun got too high in the sky. I climbed up out of the deep wash onto the high plateau in the area where I had shot on other occasions and found these two curious looking rocks and their shadows:
Kissing Bisti Rocks. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 56mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
The low angle sun cast interesting shadows from a number of small hoodoos.
North Bisti Small Hoodoo and Shadow. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 60mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Focus stack of 3 images.Long neck (bird like) hoodoo and shadow. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm (before crop), f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Helicon focus stack of 6 images.Bisti Hoodoo and Shadow. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 44mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Helicon focus stack of 6 images.
The brighter sunlight and long shadows are good for obtaining monochrome images.
Bisti Wash and Hoodoos. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Helicon focus stack of 7 images.
Little hoodoo that appears to be looking up to a bigger one:
Bisti Hoodoos and Shadows. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm (before crop), f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Helicon focus stack of 7 images.
An array of short hoodoos with flat, elongated rock caps in monochrome:
Fading Away. Bisti Short and Flat Top Hoodoos. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm, f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Helicon focus stack of 5 images.
These elongated, flat rocks are remnants of an originally continuous rock layer. Weathering and erosion has created these individual rock sections. In time these will disappear entirely.
A monochrome with selective colorization (bringing out some of the original color in a monochrome image):
Bisti Short and Flat Top Hoodoos. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm (before crop), f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Helicon focus stack of 7 images.
I think the black and white version, which can be found on my Flickr page, of the above image is more appealing than the selectively colorized version.
Bisti Flat Rock Hoodoo Tops. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 28mm (before crop), f/16, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules. Helicon focus stack of 8 images.
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.
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.
