Sedona, Arizona – Part 2

I had a limited time in Sedona and I had never been here previously, so I figured it best to visit the “easy” photographic targets, which were also popular ones.

I had visited the Bell Rock area on my first outing.  Today, I planned an early morning shoot at Cathedral Rock.  “Planned” is used very loosely.  I had not scouted here, other than to drive through the parking lot one day.  So I knew how to find the parking lot, but I had no idea about what was involved in hiking the trail nor did I have a scouted location from which to shoot.

There was only one other vehicle in the Cathedral Rock Trail parking lot, when I arrived in early morning dark.  I could see lights on the slope at the base of the rock feature, so I figured there were early morning hikers out or maybe even one or more early morning photographers.

I had a quick snack, finished the cup of coffee I had brought from the motel, gathered my camera, tripod, headlamp and began walking through the parking lot, looking for the trailhead.  In the dark, I walked past the trailhead, went into an adjacent parking area, where I encountered a small group of young people getting out of their vehicles.  They greeted me in a friendly manner and I asked about the trailhead.  They told me that I had just walked past it and where to find it.  They also said I could follow them as they were headed that way.  But I went ahead, just getting on the trail, when they quickly came in behind me.  Seeing that they were experienced on this trail, had bright headlamps and were likely to be much faster hikers than me, I let them pass and fell in behind.

The trail was well defined, but rugged and a little steep as it headed uphill. After getting out of the forest on the lower slope of the trail,  it became light enough that I did not need the headlamp and the young, energetic hikers rapidly gained ground ahead of me.

It was a warm, humid morning and I worked up a sweat before arriving at an open area beneath the Cathedral Rock feature.  It was well before sunrise and I had a wide open view across the landscape to the east.

Pre-Sunrise Arizona Sky

There were plentiful clouds in the sky and daylight was beginning to show in the distance.  I made a few images of the pre-sunrise sky, then scouted around for a good place from which to shoot Cathedral Rock.  I was disappointed at the views I had, looking up at that feature.  The young hikers were nowhere to be seen and I assumed they had continued along the trail.

Cathedral Rock – My Initial View

I began to work my way up a dry drainage, trying to get to a better vantage point, taking time to check out various locations off to the side of the drainage, up the steep slope, where ever I could safely do so.

Cathedral Rock, Sedona, AZ
Cathedral Rock, Sedona, Arizona

I never succeeded in getting a really good, open view of the most attractive portions of the unique rock features, but being well off of the beaten path, maybe I got views that other have not.  Setting up for these shots was not easy either, at times I had to abandon my tripod and shoot handheld.

Cathedral Rock at Sunrise 1

Golden hour came suddenly and I was not where I wanted to be, but shot anyway and I like this image:

Cathedral Rock at Sunrise 2

As I was shooting from well below these rock features, I kept hearing voices, which I hoped were not just in my head.  Eventually, I realized the voices were coming from those young people I had followed part of the way up the trail and they were rock climbers, not just hikers.  I could occasionally just barely make out one or two up on the rocks.  That is when I realized that in the dim light, I had missed a junction in the trail that would have taken me to the base of these rocks.  This is why knowledge of the area is important, when planning an effective photo shoot.  So, someday maybe I will get back here and I will know where to go.  But I can’t deny that I enjoyed the experience and challenge of exploring in the off trail area below the main feature.

Cathedral Rock – A wider view

If memory serves me correctly, I think I shot this image sitting on a narrow, slope ledge that I was able to pick my way onto above the dry drainage.  The early morning clouds abbreviated the golden hour, which lasted for only a few minutes this morning.

To be continued,

Ken

Indiana Fall 2023, Part 6 – Early Morning at Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana

Ogle Lake Fall 1, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

After my sunrise shoot, I hiked a short distance along the north side of Ogle Lake in Brown County State Park, Indiana getting a few fall images.

Ogle Lake Fall 2, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Ogle Lake Fall 3, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Ogle Lake Fall 4, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Ogle Lake Fall 5, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Ogle Lake Fall 6, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Roots, Ogle Lake Trail, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Placid Fall, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

That’s it for this morning’s shoot.  Until next time,

Ken

Indiana Fall 2023, Part 5 – Sunrise Sequence – Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana

Sunrise 1, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

Even though I’m usually sleeping well in the early morning hours, I force myself out of a warm, comfortable bed, because my favorite time for photography is in the early morning hours, especially in popular places, because the normal tourist don’t usually get out early and one doesn’t have to worry about people getting in the way of ones photography.

When I pulled into the parking lot at Ogle Lake, I was the only one there.  As I prepared my camera and tripod, a lady drove into the lot and stopped to ask me about the best place for sunrise here in the park.  She and her husband were staying in the park lodge, but they had apparently not had time to scout places for sunrise photos.  I told her I did not know what place was best, but it might be good here and it was too late for her to get to another good place before sunrise.  I suggested that she might photograph from the dam or from the north side of the lake for the best sunrise views.

She commented upon my camera, thinking it had an unusual lens.  I was using my large 14-24mm wide angle lens with a Progrey filter holder mounted on it.  Due to the bulbous 14-24mm lens, it is not possible to use screws in filters, requiring a bulky filter holder attachment. It is the filter holder that makes it look unusual.

I headed for the dam, where I thought I might have some fall foliage for foreground and good reflection on the lake, leaving the lady behind in the parking lot.

Sunrise 2, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

It was a cloudy morning, the sky color was spectacular.  Sometimes we get lucky.

Sunrise 3, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

The morning color came on quickly and disappeared as quickly as it came, but the clouds in the sky still made it possible to get interesting photos after the color faded.

Ogle Lake Leaf Accumulation, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Ogle Lake Sky Reflection, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Ogle Lake Forest Reflection, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

After finishing my shoot from the dam area, I decided to take a short walk along the lake shore.  There is a hiking trail that goes all around the lake, which I’ve done in previous visits here.  I knew the south side might not have the best views this morning and it was probably muddy in portions, so I headed for the north side.

As I approached the trail head, I encountered the lady from the parking lot again.    We chatted for a few minutes.  She was thrilled with her sunrise experience.  She was shooting with a Canon R6, which she had not had for long.  She is a retired portrait photographer, previously from California, living in Kentucky with her husband.  I’m assuming her husband is not into photography or else he would have accompanied her this morning.  She asked about my filters and I explained why I used these for my landscape work.  I was surprised, when she revealed that she had not previously known anything about this subject.  I never thought that a professional photographer of any speciality would not know about the use of these specialty filters.  However, I have observed professional portrait photographers shooting in the outdoors without any filters.  I’ve also noted the over exposed backgrounds in many such portrait photographs.  I suppose some filters might be difficult to use for people subjects, but it can still be possible to compose outdoor photos and avoid overexposed backgrounds, unless one is doing that purposely.

Photos from my short hike around Ogle Lake next,

Ken

 

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Part 7A – Day 4

It was another heavily overcast morning in Badlands National Park with sporadic light rain.

Traffic Stop, Badlands NP, September 18, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo through the windshield

These female Bighorns and lambs were in no hurry and did not care that they were holding me up in my quest for early morning photos.

Bighorn, Badlands NP, September 18, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo

Shooting under the heavy overcast, most of my images were dark.  I brightened them, but did not want to overdo that and ruin the reality.  These images look better on a large screen with proper brightness for viewing images, but may look very dark in this blog post, especially if viewed on a small screen.  Some of these images have embedded links to the images on Flickr, where these usually look much better than in this blog.

Sunrise Mute
Orange Horizon
Layered Morning
Sky Soft
Ravine Maze
Rain Horizon
Distant Storm
Storm Horizon
Clearing Badlands Storm
Badlands Sky
Morning Spotlights
Morning Spotlights 2

I shot all of these image at a number of different viewpoints along SD240, the main road through the park.  I met a young lady from Michigan, who was also shooting images.  We seemed to be stopping at the same places for awhile.  She observed that the color in the badlands rocks were more saturated when wet.  I told her that she had discovered the reason geologists like to view wet rocks, rather than dry ones.

To be continued,

Ken

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Part 2

I had decided to shoot at one of the overlooks in Badlands National Park my first morning here, but when I arrive at that destination, I did not like the view and proceeded down the roadway to another pullout.  That pullout was intended as an overview of an area to the north, but I climbed a grassy slope on the opposite side of the roadway, anticipating better sunrise lighting on the features on that side of the roadway.  That is, if there was a sunrise this heavily overcast morning, after a storm came through during the night.

Sky Notch
Overcast Ridge
Dark Morning
Into the Badlands

Looks like no golden hour this morning, but the clouds are dramatic.

Into the Badlands 2

With the sun just barely peeking through the heavily overcast horizon, I decided to move on down that roadway and look for other photographic opportunities.

Clearing Storm Clouds over Badlands
Hitchhiker
Pastel Morning
Morning Spotlight
Morning Color
Badland Morning
Badlands Meander
Mirrored

To be continued,

Ken