Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, July 2019, Day One Sunset

Mosquitoes swarm relentlessly around us as we walk the short distance through a forested area to the Yampa River behind our campsite.   We are covered in bug repellant.   Still the mosquitos buzzing around our heads are an unpleasant distraction.  We go down a steep bank with the aid of a rope tied to a tree, getting onto a sandbar in the river.  We are shooting sunset photographs at this location our first evening in Echo Park.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 500. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

As usual, when shooting in a canyon, the late day light illuminates only a portion of the canyon wall.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 17mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The light on the far canyon wall reflects into the river with just a sliver at the edge of the sandbar.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The top edge of the cliff side to the right of Steamboat Rock gets only a small wedge of late day sunset light.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I make a number of shots, capturing the sunset highlights and the reflections in the river.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/16, 20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

To smooth the ripples in the river, I use a seven stop neutral density filter and a long exposure.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

Each time I change the composition, I acquire a shot with a 3 stop soft graduated neutral density filter to balance the foreground and sky exposure, then add the seven stop ND for a long exposure.

Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/11, 30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I like the way the long exposure shows the motion of the river current in the photo above.  By the time these last two images are made, the golden hour light is gone, so we call it a day.  We venture once again through the mosquito infested woods back to our campsite.

We are looking forward to a sunrise shoot tomorrow.

Until then,

Ken

 

Bisti Badlands Fall 2018, Day 2, Early Morning

I got up early Sunday morning, September 23, left the Bisti south parking area about 5AM and headed out into the dark wilderness area.  I started out with a headlamp, but soon switched to a brighter flashlight, as the normally bright headlamp just did not seem bright enough this morning.  It is one of those headlamps with multiple functions and it would not switch to the brightest mode.  This is a good reason to have backup light sources, when hiking in the dark.  I had another headlamp in my Camelbak, but the flashlight was easier to get to.

There are landmarks that are an aid to navigation during the daylight hours, but in the dark it is not possible to see those landmarks from a distance.  Fortunately, my GPS device, linked to my iPhone via Bluetooth, with a preset route made it quite easy to navigate towards my destination in the dark.  Before I got to my destination, an area with many hoodoos of various sizes and wing like or fanciful shapes, it became light enough that I no longer needed the flashlight.

I scouted the area for awhile before it got very light, looking for a good place to begin the early morning shoot.  I made a number of photos prior to the sunrise.  Since the light was still dim, getting good images was a challenge and those images required more extreme editing to bring out the details and produce more attractive images.

Early dawn in Bisti. This is an HDR image created from 6 images in Skylum Aurora2019. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/11 at various exposures.
Early dawn in Bisti. This is an HDR created from three images, using Skylum Aurora2019, with final edits in Nik Color Efex Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, various exposures.
Pre-dawn in Bisti. Converted to monochrome in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 44mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 250.
Pre-dawn in Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 31mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO100. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro4.

I am never really satisfied with these low light images in which the heavy handed editing often produces unnatural results and, even though, it is an artistic expression, being artistically handicapped, I’ve never felt completely comfortable with the results.

When the sun rose above the eastern horizon, there was magnificent light on many of the hoodoos.

Early morning light in Bisti. This is a composite of three images focus-stacked in Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Color Efex Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 65mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.
Early morning in Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 40mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Early morning in Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/15s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Early morning in Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/25s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4
Early morning in Bisti. Several images focus stacked in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm, at 62mm, f/11, 1/25s, ISO 64.

 

Early morning in Bisti. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Early morning in Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64. Edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Early morning in Bisti. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 45mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64.

Note that I focus stacked images to extend the depth of field in many of my photos here.  This requires a bit more work in capturing sufficient images and much more time in the editing process, especially on my old, slow iMac.

I continued to shoot even after the “golden” hour, which is very limited in duration and I wanted to make the most of the limited time that I had for shooting here.  I felt that the contrast and shadows would still allow for the making of good images.

Early morning in Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64. Edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Early morning in Bisti. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64.
Early morning in Bisti. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 52mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64.
A small Bisti Hoodoo and its shadow in early morning light. Focus Stack of two images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

I am becoming more interested in monochrome photography and this area is superb for this, since the colors are mostly muted, but the contrast, textures and shadows make for interesting monochrome compositions.

An unavoidable progression. Three small Bisti Hoodoos and their shadows in early morning. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nike Silver Efex Pro 2. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64.
Three small Bisti Hoodoos and early morning shadows. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Bisti Hoodoos and early morning shadows. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 40mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64.
Early morning in Bisti. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 46mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 64.
Small Bisti Hoodoos. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nike Color Efex Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 62mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64

As the morning wore on, I meandered around the area looking for additional subjects and for ideas for shooting at another more appropriate time of the day.

Alien Woman? Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 56mm (prior to crop), f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

I had spotted the above hoodoo on the previous day’s scouting.  I think it may be one that I saw referred to as an “alien woman” in someone else’s post, but the GPS coordinates of that post do not coincide with this hoodoo.  So either there are  more than one of these or the coordinates in the other’s post were incorrect, which I think may be the case, since in that post the photographer commented that he could not find the “alien woman” in a subsequent visit to Bisti.  Of course, these hoodoos are temporary and one of this sort might disappear over a relatively short time interval.

This “alien woman” hoodoo is in a difficult place to photograph at anytime of the day, but it is probably best shot in the afternoon, rather than the morning.  I did not think I would get back here again on this trip, so I shot it anyway, if for nothing more than a record of it’s existence and location, recording its GPS coordinates on my InReach Explorer.

Bisti Hoodoos. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 38mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 64.

The above hoodoos are in the vicinity of the “alien woman”, just a bit more to the east.  These are moderately sized ones and would probably be best photographed earlier in the morning.  One can see that these are fragile and easily damaged.  I have seen photographs of people standing on some of the larger hoodoos in Bisti, which is not a good thing to do, it is not only dangerous, but could result in injury to oneself and possibly destroy or damage the hoodoos.

Hoodoo Window. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 64.

The “elephant head” like hoodoo above bridges a gap in the supporting structure, making a window in the rock.

The Seal Hoodoo? Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 56mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 64.

The smaller hoodoo in the background (above) looks like one that I have seen referred to as “The Seal”; although, I thought “The Seal” was located more to the west, so maybe this is not “The Seal”.

The aquarium/fish face hoodoos. Focus stack of several images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 58mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 64.

I can imagine that the caps on these hoodoos look like fish faces, so I am calling this the “Aquarium” or “Fish Face Hoodoos”.

Dark Tower. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 26mm (prior to crop), f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

I made numerous images of the features above with the intention of focus stacking them; but when I looked at those photos, they just did not measure up to what I thought I saw when making them.  Consequently, I cropped one image to include the major features on top of this hill.  Since the back side of the tallest feature is in shadow, converting to black and white, makes it look like a “dark tower”, surrounded by guardian hoodoos.  (The one on the far left looks somewhat like a shark).  This image contains a view of “The Seal” from another angle, just to the left of the dark tower.

Finally realizing that the best of the morning light was gone, I headed back to the parking lot.  Just as I approached my vehicle, the photographer, whom I had met at The Nursery the previous afternoon, came out from his RV to greet me, saying “I knew when I saw you leaving at 5AM that you were serious about photography”.  Standing in the parking lot between our vehicles, we chatted for quite a while.  I was entranced as he talked much about his background and experiences as a photographer and as he offered suggestions on photographic topics that I questioned him about.  Near the end of this impromptu discussion, he said, “If you don’t mind, I have copies of a book that I offer to those I find with a serious interest in photography and I would like to give you one”.  Of course, I accepted and he autographed the book for me.  The book, The Ancient Shape of Man, is filled with beautiful, very sharp, large format monochrome images.

The gift from John Eric Hawkins, whom I chanced upon in Bisti.

Meeting and conversing with John Eric Hawkins and receiving his book as a gift was the highlight of this trip.  I found his website listed in the book, which he told me he has not updated for awhile;  nevertheless, his website has beautiful images and more information about John Eric.  His website is worth a visit for those of you interested in fine art photography.

Be sure to check out the images in this post on Flickr, where these appear in higher resolution and in a larger size.

Thanks for following and please feel free to offer comments, suggestions and critiques of the images and the writing within this blog.

 

2018 Colorado Fall Color Road Trip – Day 3 – Sunset

After early and mid-morning photos on day 3 along Owl Creek Pass Road, I drove around exploring other areas and spur roads off of the main forest road, looking for another suitable campsite that would put me near a place for sunset photos.  Many of the best campsites were already taken and I ended up across the creek from my first night’s campsite, where I saw a couple of hunters breaking camp.  I pulled into the site, struck up a conversation with the hunters, the younger one a chemical engineer from Missouri and son-in law of the older one from Arkansas.  The older hunter has been coming to this area since the 1970s.  They had been elk hunting, unsuccessfully; but they had an antler shed, which they offered to me.  Having no desire for the shed, I left it at the campsite for someone else to find.  After they finished loading their considerable camping and hunting equipment, including an OHV, onto a trailer and into their pickup trucks, they headed out and I moved into the flattest area of the site.  This campsite was very open and it was a sunny day, so I put out the solar panels and allowed them to charge the Sportsmobile batteries, until about an hour before sunset, then I packed those away, since I did not want to pack them up after dark and I expected it would be dark soon after my sunset shots.

The views from this site were very similar to those on my first night and first morning of camping, but with more trees and the creek between me and the mountainside.  I walked around the area and down along the creek, looking for suitable places from which to shoot, then had a sandwich, potato chips and Gatorade for dinner, while waiting for the late afternoon light.

The photos from this site were so similar to those from the first day of shooting and with more clutter in the foreground, that I initially thought about not including any in this blog; but as I looked at them a second time, I thought some might look better, if converted to monotone or edited with one of my other image editors, in addition to Lightroom adjustments to the raw images.  So I did just that, experimenting with Nik Silver Effects Pro and Color Effects 4 and Skylum Luminar 2018 software.

The photos posted here are also posted to Flickr (just click on an image), where the images will be sharper and brighter than in this post.

One of only two color photos chosen to post from this shoot. I’m not really enthralled by this composition and in particular the bland sky, but I think it might be the best of the color images that I captured during this shoot. I processed the raw image in Lightroom and Luminar 2018. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 46mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 160.
This is the best sunset light that I saw on this feature. I might have brought out the colors in the foreground a bit more, but I wanted the emphasis to be on the rocks in the mountainside.  Raw image processed in Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 160.
I really wanted to see the cliff face in this image appear colorful in the setting sunlight, but it never got as much light on it as I wanted. At least, the color bands, shadows and highlight along the rock face add interest in this version. The trees in the foreground are colorful, with contrasting color and shapes, but just did not seem to work as well in the color image.
This large cliff face was just south of my campsite. The rock is not colorful and the setting sun did not produce a colorful glow at any time as the sun went low on the horizon, so this and all the other color photos of this feature were bland. In this B&W conversion, I wanted to emphasize the rock along the edge and top of the mountainside, while keeping hints of the trees in fall color in the foreground. The sky was mostly bland, adding minimal interest, other than the cloud along the right side, so I made the sky go mostly dark, making the cliffside look as if it had been purposely light painted. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.
Those of you who have viewed the photos from my first blog about this photo trip will recognize this feature.  In this B&W version,  I like the contrasts produced by variations in the tree foliage color and the shape of the trees in the foreground, as well as the highlight on the rock outcrops. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 160.
This is a similar view to that in the above photo, with more sky, less of the trees in the foreground and more of the mountainside.  The sky was bland, so I let it go black to emphasize the rock along the skyline, while retaining the hints of fall color in the deciduous trees. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/15s, ISO 64.
The rock face in the original color photo is very colorful in the setting sunlight; but the foreground is distracting in the color photo. I have kept a hint of the foreground color in the trees in this image, while highlighting the rocks with its texture and shadows. I like the way the two tall evergreen trees appear to be pointing towards the rising moon and the diagonal lines formed by the tree lines and the jagged, horizontal line of the top of the mountainside, both converging near the rising moon. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/15s, IDO 64.
I was trying to capture the reflection of color in the sky in the branch of the creek near the center of this image, but it just did not fit well with the rest of the image. I like this B&W conversion with the fall color in the trees, showing up brightly against the dark evergreens. I do not like the tree along the left edge, but I could not find a pleasing composition of this scene that excluded that tree. There is also a halo effect, produced by the Nik Silver Effects Pro software, that is quite noticeable along the top of the peak on the right side of the image. I do not really like this effect; but I currently do not know how to eliminate it. I’m sure there must be a way to tone this down. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 30mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 160.

The opinions expressed about the images here are my subjective ones.  I welcome your feedback, opinions and critiques, as I can always use those to improve my work.