Nikon D850 – Page 16 – Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 10

It was a cloudy, overcast morning for this outing in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

I’m always amazed at how some desert shrubs can survive with very little in the way of actual soil in which to put down roots.

A narrow wash with an apparent dead end, but is it the end of this canyon in the making or is this wash continuing to grow into a canyon? I suspect erosion will continue at a very slow rate and this short, shallow wash will grow into a deeper and longer canyon over a geologic time interval.

This was supposed to be a sunrise shoot, but as one can see there was little sunshine early this morning.

Stay tuned for more of Valley of Fire,

Ken

Snow Canyon State Park, Utah, March 2023 – Sunrise Day 2

I set out from my campsite before sunrise on the first morning after my arrival in Snow Canyon to hike to my chosen location for sunrise photography. It was a crisply cold morning, which I dressed for, but I was soon unzipping my jacket as my body generated heat from the gentle uphill hike.

I stopped at a location near petrified sand dunes, chose a location to set up my camera and waited for sunrise, making a few pre-sunrise images.

I’ve always liked the lighting just before sunrise and I often like those images better than those after the direct sunlight hits the subject.

I made a number of images as the direct rays of the rising sun began to impinge upon the distant canyon walls and add color to the sky.

After seeing the early morning rays touching the uppermost parts of the highest peaks, I began to hike back towards my campsite, looking for other scenes to photograph.

The park has rules requiring visitors to stay on the official trails, which is limiting for photographers. It does not appear that those rules are rigidly enforced. There were numerous footprints and even bike tire tracks in the sand, adding unsightly features in my photos. Sometimes I will edit these out or at least try to mute those via editing, but many times I think the editing introduces undesirable artifacts, so I might not eliminate all such features. It is likely that casual observers will not note the edits, but knowing where the edits are, I can nearly always see unnatural results and would rather not introduce those into my photos.

Until next time,

Ken

Indiana Fall 2022 – Old and/Or Abandoned

With only one day left of our fall 2022 Indiana visit, I traveled the backroads from our cabin one last time. Many trees were already bare, peak color was nearly all gone, it was overcast and threatening rain, so I hoped to find interesting barns, old homes or other interesting rural scenes to photograph.

Those three trees out front were probably planted with the anticipation of sitting on the porch in their shade some years down the road. The child’s bike beside the house makes me think that a family lived here or maybe a child visited grandparents here.

I saw numerous other interesting rural scenes similar to these, but either there was no place to pull off of the roadway to photograph those or those were set back too far on private property to approach without permission.

This is the final post for Indiana Fall 2022.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Indiana Fall 2022 – Rainy Day at the Cabin

During the two weeks we were in Indiana this fall, we witnessed how fleeting the beauty of fall color can be.

These images were made from the back balcony of our cabin one rainy, misty day. When we first arrived, those bare trees had leaves and the tree on the left was nearly all green with only slight color beginning to show at the extremities of one branch.

Astute observers will note that these images are all of the same general scene with various compositions. The light rain, wetting the scene, brought out the color in the gray tree trunks, bare limbs and foliage, while at the same time muting the more distant trees.

Later,

Ken

Indiana Fall 2022 – Part 7 – Old Automobiles

Continued from Part 6:

That’s it for the old autos.

Ken

Indiana Fall 2022 – Part 6 – Old Automobiles

I do not recall seeing, or even being aware of, a Frazer automobile prior to finding several in a parking lot at an antique/junk place in Edinburg, Indiana. The one in the photo above is in rather good condition for its age.

I included Sunburst Master in the title of the photograph, because of the many (more than 20) sunburst reflections in the chrome.

There were lots of unsightly distractions around the automobiles here, so I did my best to exclude those in my images, which greatly restricted how I could photograph the vehicles.

Those wanting to learn more about these antique autos can learn about them at these (and other websites via online search): Frazer, DeSoto, Rover 75, Ford PU Truck, Packard.To be continued,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2022, Part 5 – Rustic Barn and Abandoned Home

I first saw this old barn and a nearby abandoned house, while in route to another destination. I came back a few days later to photograph these old, rustic buildings.

Quaint, Old, Abandoned Indiana Farm House

The image above was selected for Flickr’s Explore Page.

More fall in Indian 2022 later,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2022, Part 4 – Indiana Backroads

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but here it is again: Backroads are often the best way to find uncommon beauty. Or maybe that should be common beauty, since it is all around us, but maybe taken for granted.

Is this a natural scar or a portal into another world? If a portal, would the other world be weirder than our’s today?

Until next time,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2022, Part 3 – Rustic Farm Barn and Sheds

Traveling an Indiana backroad I saw a group of old, rustic farm structures in various stages of structural failure. The roadway was narrow. Parking alongside the roadway and photographing from the roadway would not be satisfactory nor very safe. There was only one house nearby, so I stopped and knocked on the door. A lady with her hair in curlers opened the door and I briefly explained why I was there, asking if it would be ok for me to photography those old structures. She quickly said she was sure it would be ok, although, I’m rather sure she was not the owner, but maybe others have asked her this same question.

There was a short grassy, dirt road at the old buildings. I parked on that dirt road, just off of the pavement far enough for safety and proceeded to walk around the area photographing the buildings from various angles.

Gathering Grass – Monochrome with Selective Colorization

A rolling stone may gather no moss, but a stationary wheel can gather grass.

I lived in a house with this same number many years ago.

After photographing the rustic farm building, I continued to meander around the backroads looking for other fall photographic opportunities. This final photo is a teaser for the next post.

Ken