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 plans for sunset on day 2 of my May visit to Bisti was to go back to the Conversing Hoodoos and shoot with my 24-70mm lens, since I was not completely satisfied with the wide angle 14-24mm shots the day prior.
However, it became increasingly windy and gusty as the day progressed into late afternoon. I even put my penthouse top down due to the wind and rain concerns. I could see rainfall in the distance, but it might have been evaporating before it got to the ground. The rain was in the east and the wind from the west, so I was hopeful that the wind would at least keep the rain away from me. The parking area is all clay soil and would be very slippery and messy, if wet.
As I was sitting in my vehicle, either reading or writing in my journal, a vehicle stopped nearby and a man got out, approaching my vehicle. He had thought that I was someone he had seen earlier. Anyway, he introduced himself as Yan or Jan (not sure of the spelling) from the Netherlands. Since I had served in the U.S. Air Force in the Netherland, we had a bit in common to chat about. He was very familiar with the area around the NATO base at which I had been assigned.
He informed me that he had researched this area via internet posts, at least one site was the same that I had used. He introduced me to his wife, Alida (spelling is uncertain), who had remained in their vehicle. They liked visiting the southwestern U.S and had been to the Valley of Dreams (VOD) in this area. VOD is also known as Ah-She-Sie-Pah (various spellings) and is on Navaho land. I was interested in going there on this visit, but overnight stays on Navaho land near there is not recommended and for my purposes, it works best if I can stay overnight. The drive from Bisti to VOD requires a long drive along dirt roads, which means a slow commute, making it awkward for sunrise and/or sunset photography. If it rains, those dirt roads are not passable and Jan related a story of one of his friends that got stuck on a muddy road and got one of the local Navaho to pull him out.
I’m thinking that, if I can find a local near VOD, I might get permission to stay overnight there in the future. I have seen some amazing features in photographs from VOD.
Later in the day, another couple of guys (Tony and George) parked nearby and came over to chat. They were both from California and Tony was apparently leading a group into Bisti for photography. George was keenly interested in my Sportsmobile and walked around it looking underneath and all around it.
They had camped at the Cracked Eggs in the south portion of Bisti the night before, saying it got very cold and windy at night. (It got down to about 44 degree F in my vehicle the night before). Tony also told me about tent camping in very low temperatures at Yosemite on a recent visit. Shooting at Yosemite in winter would by good, but tent camping there, especially in winter, does not appeal to me.
Around 3:30Pm the wind was very strong with sand and dust reducing the visibility to zero on occasion. It sprinkled rain a little and as a precaution, I moved the van to an area near the parking area exit, where I could quickly exit, if it began to rain in earnest.
The forecast, obtained via my InReach Explorer GPS, showed windy conditions until 9PM – not looking good for sunset photography. The wind subsided around 5PM and I began to think a sunset shoot would be possible. Several car loads of people came into the parking area. They all got out with camera gear and headed into Bisti. From a distance, I thought that I recognized the vehicle that I had seen Tony and George driving.
The wind soon picked up again and it became much cloudier. The clouds could add drama, but too many on the western horizon, of which there were many, will not allow good light for sunset.
Around 6:15PM, I walked up a hill, where I could get a couple of bars of cell service, to make a phone call. Standing there in the gusty, dusty wind convinced me to abort a sunset shoot today.
Later, the sunlight did look good near sunset, but it was still very gusty. which can make shooting difficult and blowing dust and sand is not good for the gear. I had no regrets about not going out.
When the group that had gone out earlier returned, one walked towards my vehicle. It turned out to be Tony. He said the light was great and he liked this area better than the south area. He said that if I came to Southern California he could fix me up with great beaches at which to shoot.
So to wrap up this day, I met some interesting people, had a few interesting conversations, but did not get to shoot at sunset.
A previous post referred to the areas that we scouted during our second day at Cold Springs Campground, looking for potential places for more sunset and sunrise photo shoots. This post will present a few of the iPhone shots taken during that scouting with some comments.
A dead tree near Smith Lake Trail, Routt National Forest, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
This striking looking dead tree trunk, spotted along the Smith Lake Trail, looks like a good photographic subject, but it was so tall one would have to have a really wide field of view of shoot upwards from near its base to fully capture it. We never got around to trying to shoot this properly.
A wilderness boundary marker along Smith Lake Trail. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Efex Pro 4.
This boundary marker has nothing to do with photography, I just thought it interesting to see this marker. Someone, wondering around in the forest, not hiking along a trail, would never know when entering or leaving a designated wilderness area.
Smith Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
This view of a mountainside with Smith Lake in the foreground, suggested that early morning light would make this a good place for a sunrise shoot.
Smith Lake Panorama. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A panoramic view of Smith Lake and the mountain in the background, suggests possible multiple compositional possibilities.
Columbines and fallen tree. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I found this batch of Columbines down the slope from the roadway south of the campground. (Click on the photo to view on Flickr).
Approaching storm. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Looking up the hillside south of the campground, it was apparent that it was time to return to the camp before getting caught in a storm. However, after getting to the Sportsmobile, I did take a chance and try to shoot at a field of Columbines, but I had to beat a hasty retreat again as the storm came in.
Near the end of the storm. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
As the storm began to subside, a double rainbow appeared to the east of the campsite. The complete semicircle rainbow was visible at one time, but I could not get a shot of it with my iPhone. One can see sunlight from the west striking the mountainside in the lower left, so as long as the storm clouds, which were moving westward, did not obscure the sunset, we would get good after the storm light.
Possible good indication for sunset light after the storm. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A fuller view of the sun lite mountainside south east of the campsite as the storm passed, gave us some hope of getting sunset light on the mountainside.
A subsequent post will cover the actual sunset shoot after the storm.
After having scouted some of the northern part of the Bisti Wilderness in New Mexico during my March 2019 visit, but not having time during that visit to photograph in that portion of Bisti, I wanted to go back and spend more time on the north end and I wanted to go before the hot weather of summer set in. For various reasons, I had delayed going back, but I finally set out in late May. Since I was eager to get there, knowing that leaving on a Friday would maybe present problems with finding a suitable and available stop over place and staying over on a Friday would result in arriving on a weekend, which tends to be a busy time for visitors, I decided to drive straight through (about a 12.5 hour drive, according to mapping software). With stops for fuel, food and to take time to walk around at rest breaks, I figured it would take 14-15 hours to get to Bisti. I had intended to leave home around 7AM and anticipated arriving at Bisti around 9-10PM and with total darkness not arriving before about 9PM, I would not have to drive for very long in the dark. However, as usual, I got away from home a little latter than the plan, so I arrived closer to 10PM than 9PM and it was already totally dark, when I arrived at the dirt road entry to the unofficial North Bisti parking area.
As I pulled off of NM 371 in total darkness, the dirt road looked different than I remembered. I had not been there in total darkness previously. Thinking more light would let me verify my location, I switched on both the upper and lower LED light bars, which are really bright. Even with that much light, initially I could not be sure that I was in the right place and I did not want to drive into the wrong area, so I consulted my iPhone map, which seemed to confirm that I was in the correct location. Nevertheless, I proceeded with caution. As I drove along, I began to feel more confident, as I recognized features from the March visit here.
As I turned past the bluff behind which was the large, open parking area, I saw a truck and an RV trailer in the distance. Not wanting to be a nuisance with my bright lights, I stopped at the edge of the parking area and switched off the LED light bars, made sure the regular vehicle lights were in low beam, then parked a respectable distance from the RV and truck. (For some reason, people coming into such areas like to park adjacent to others, even when there is much space available).
I walked around my vehicle with a flashlight to verify that there was no problem with my parking area. I noted how dark it was there and I marveled at the infinitely many stars in the sky. Seeing a campfire near the RV, I walked over to say hello and to be sure whoever were there were satisfied that I had not parked too close to their camp. (I must have been about 30 or so yards away, but I had plenty of space to move away more). As I approached their campfire, hailing whoever was there, and I got close enough, I saw one person sitting by the campfire, then another came out of the truck or trailer. The one by the campfire was a youngish man from Denver and the other an older man from Oregon. They confirmed that they had no problem with where I parked, then the older one said, “That is quite the light arrangement you have”. To which the younger one added, “I thought I was being abducted by aliens”. So it is good that I turned the lights off, when I did, rather than leaving them on until I parked!
I saw them again from a distance in the morning, but I never visited with them again, since they left sometime the next day, while I was out in the Wilderness.
My original plan for the first morning was to go out for sunrise photos, but since I was getting to bed after 11PM, had slept only 5-6 hours the night before, I would not get more than 5 hours sleep this night, if I got up early for sunrise and I had no definite route planned to get to a destination for sunrise, I decided it best to sleep in and scout the area first, rather than wander around in the early morning darkness.
So the first morning, after coffee and breakfast, I installed the solar panels, then went scouting, adding more GPS waypoints and shooting iPhone scouting photos. This is a really remarkable place to explore. There seems to be no end to interesting features, geology and photographic opportunities.
The “unofficial” north Bisti parking area. iPhone photo.
As I was installing the solar panels, a passenger type van with a sign on the side that I could not make out, passed by and parked near the corner of the fence line at the border of the Bisti wilderness area. A number of young people got out and I assumed it might be a geological field trip, maybe from a university. I anticipated encountering that group later, during my scouting of the area, but I never saw them again and the van was gone when I returned from my scouting walk about.
Petrified tree stump with twin peaks landmark in the background. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
As I returned from scouting the area, I frequently stopped to look around and behind me to get a feel of the area and to make mental notes of landmarks. I did not encounter anyone during my walk about, but at one point, I saw a group of people on an elevated area in the distance. I assumed that they must have come from the official south parking area, which is the most popular place for visitors.
Rock Ridge Landmark. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
This rock ridge image illustrates the “leading line” technique in photography, with the line of rocks leading the eye through the photograph. (Click on the photo to view on Flickr).
Some of numerous hoodoos that are found along Bisti canyon walls. iPhone photo.A wing shaped hoodoo along a Bisti canyon wall. iPhone photo.An interesting turtle like hoodoo in a Bisti Canyon. iPhone photo.A finger like hoodoo along a Bisti canyon wall. iPhone photo.Odd shape ( a bird like one?) hoodoos along a Bisti canyon wall. iPhone photo.Headless Hoodoos with a Native American house in far background. The house makes a good navigation landmark, which can be seen from far away. iPhone photo.
I was alone in the parking area, much of the day, but others began to arrive in the afternoon, going out and returning well before sunset. I noted some were crossing the fence line near the corner and walking directly into the wilderness, rather than going to the south end of the parking area, where there was no fence at a drainage crossing, which I had been using. When I saw one such group returning to their vehicle in the afternoon, I approached them and asked about the route they were taking into Bisti. They assured me it was a good direct route with easy crossings of the deep drainage. They were all from a local mission and offered much advise on the area, including where to get water locally, rather than driving 45 miles into Farmington. One of them was a Navaho, but he did not look like a Native American, and he had lived in the area for 37+ years.
Wing like Bisti hoodoos, iPhone photo.
Crossing the fence line near where I parked would save a quarter mile (one way) walk across the parking area and maybe another 1/4 to 1/2 mile (one way) of walking otherwise. I found that walking directly east along the fence line led to a very easy place to get into the drainage, then I only had to walk a few yards along the drainage to an easy exit. So I am very glad that I watched and learned from other local visitors.
Large Bisti wing like Hoodoos. iPhone photo.Bisti hoodoo with a multi-colored layered base. (Click on the photo to view on Flickr).
I shot so many photos during this scouting session that I will break this post into multiples with more frequent posts. Hopefully, the frequency of these posts will not be too much for you.
In the morning of July 13 we shot sunrise photos just east of the lake at Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest. We began shooting from a hillside just east of the lake.
An area adjacent to the Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 2s, ISOAn area adjacent to the Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 2s, ISO 64.
I thought that the weathered tree stump made an appropriate foreground object here.
The lake made a great mirror, reflecting the clouds in the sky and the trees along the edge of the campground. None of the other campers were up and about yet. We tried to be as quiet as we could so as not to disturb them.
A scene adjacent to the Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, CO. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @24mm, f/16, 1.3s, ISO 64.
I put the weathered stump and a taller stump with slight side lighting at the edge of this photo.
After shooting on the hillside, we moved down into the meadow at the base of the cascade. There were lots of white and blue wildflowers in the meadow, especially around the cascade and stream. The area below the cascade was wet and marshy, which I had not anticipated and I was not wearing my water resistant hiking shoes. My shoes, socks and feet got soaked with cold water.
A mountain stream cascade in the area adjacent to Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1.6s, ISO 64.A mountain stream cascade in the area adjacent to Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64.A mountain stream cascade in the area adjacent to Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64.A mountain stream cascade in the area adjacent to Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64.
As you can see, I got multiple compositions of the cascade with varying amounts of the surroundings. I used slow shutter speeds to get the silky effect of the flowing water. There was not much wind, but there was enough motion in the vegetation to keep from getting really sharp images of the wildflowers. I tried to make the images at times when the wind was most calm in hopes of getting sharper images. This works with only limited success.
After breakfast, I hiked to the marshy area above the cascade, where there were many wildflowers in another meadow around the stream. By the time I got there the clouds were mostly gone, the light harsh, still a little too much wind and many swarming mosquitoes. I tried a few shots anyway, but those were not presentable. Somewhere in there, I apparently lost my Rocket Blower, which I had just put into a pocket for convenience, rather than take it along in my backpack, which I left behind in the vehicle. (For non-photographers, a Rocket Blower is a device for blowing dust off of lenses, filters and camera sensors. This is an essential piece of gear, in my opinion, so I have since acquired another one. For the rest of this trip, I had to borrow my son’s whenever I needed it).
Later in the morning we walked 10 minutes down the road to Smith Lake Trailhead. Smith Lake Trail is only 0.7 miles, steep in a few places, mostly near the start, but mostly an easy trail. We hiked to Smith Lake and decided to return the next morning for sunrise photography.
On the way to Smith Lake Trailhead, we noted a small field of Columbines, which would possibly be good for foreground shots at sunset, assuming the clouds cleared by that time, as it had gotten much cloudier and rained lightly off and on during the day.
We also walked back to the reservoir, hiking a short distance along one of the two trails starting at the reservoir. We turned back as lightning and thunder got closer and more active. It only sprinkled lightly and we took time to explore more in the area south of the roadway, along the stream from the reservoir.
That is it for this post. Stay tuned for the sunset shoot results,
To avoid possible monotonous posts, I’ve decided to mix up things a bit. I still have a week’s worth of photos from a May visit to the northern area of the Bisti Wilderness, but since I’ve had many consecutive posts about Bisti, I will now intersperse posts about other areas with the Bisti posts. This means getting posts out of the heretofore chronological order. I hope this will keep followers from being overly bored and will not result in confusion due to the lack of timeline continuity. This is the first such out of chronological order post.
In July, 2019 I traveled to my oldest son’s place north of Denver, Colorado and we set out the following day for a week of camping and photography in the northwestern portion of the state.
Our first destination was Cold Springs Campground in the Routt National Forest adjacent to the Flat Tops Wilderness, named for the Flat Top Mountains of the Rocky Mountain Range.
When we arrived at the campground, there was only one spot left in the first come, first serve campground. Even though it was not the most sought after camping spot for most, it was actually a good spot for us and the Sportsmobile, since it was fairly level, easy to pull into and out of and had full sun exposure, which was perfect for utilizing the solar panels for maintaining the battery charge. The spot was closest to the roadway, so we got some dust from passing traffic, which tended to travel faster than the speed limit, but the dust was minimal and not a real problem.
The Sportsmobile in Cold Springs Campground July 2019. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Since all other campers or those looking for an empty spot had to pass our location on the way into and out of the campground, we had several people asking about our camping vehicle and taking photos of it. One couple even stopped beside us in their vehicle, as we hiked along the roadway towards the reservoir, after they had seen us around the Sportsmobile. They asked questions about the vehicle and seemed interested in looking into acquiring one, making a note of the Sportsmobile name.
The biggest problems at this campsite at this time of the year were the mosquitoes and other swarming insects, which swarmed us every time we were outside for any length of time. This is typical of forested mountain areas in the summer, especially those near water and there was a small lake adjacent to the campground fed by a mountain stream cascading into it on the north end of the campground. We used lots of insect repellant, still it was difficult to concentrate with so many mosquitos and/or other insects buzzing about. I also had to edit out a number of mosquitos from some images. There might be others hidden in the image details that I did not see, when editing.
There were fairly abundant wildflowers in the area, especially around the wetter areas near the streams.
Mountain Stream and Wildflowers. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 40mm, f/16, 1/15s, ISO 800Mountain Stream and Wildflowers. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 30mm, f/11, 1/15s, ISO 320
I tried to use higher ISO to get faster shutter speeds to freeze the flowers, but with limited success, since I still wanted to have a slow enough shutter speed to get a silky effect on the flowing water.
There is a small reservoir, maybe a half a mile up the road, where the roadway ends. We hiked to the reservoir to check it and the area to the south of the roadway, looking for suitable areas for photographic interest.
We also explored around the small lake adjacent to the campground, determining that we could do sunrise photos on the east side of the lake.
A Gnarly Tree Stump in the forest near Cold Springs Campground, Routt National Forest, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
At sunset, we got good light, after the afternoon clouds opened, shooting south of the roadway.
One of the Flat Top Mountains in the Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64One of the Flat Top Mountains in the Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/50s, ISO 800One of the Flat Top Mountains in the Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 31mm, f/8, 1/8s, ISO 400Routt NF, CO, Near Coldsprings Campground. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 38mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 400.
The bands of color in the sky of this photo are in the raw file. I thought this was not normal and would not have included this photo, but my son convinced me that this is not the abnormal banding sometimes seen in digital photos. He thinks there are just layers of clouds that are separating the colors in this manner and I can see some layering in the atmosphere. It just looks so unusual to me, so I am still not fully accepting that this is normal coloration.
Stay tuned for more about our Colorado experience and resulting photographs.
While in Farmington, I took advantage of the city amenities to do laundry, have a simple restaurant meal and acquire a few more provisions, including food, water and filling my spare fuel containers, before heading to Bisti.
Upon arriving at the parking area for the southern access into Bisti/De Na Zin, I noted only a few visitors were there; but with the eminent weekend, I expected more soon and, indeed, more began to arrive as I set up.
I parked in a north-south direction near the back end of the parking lot and began installation of my solar panels on the roof rack, being sure to secure them well, since it was quite windy. Normally, I would move the solar panels during the day to get the most power possible from them, but with them on the roof and the required tying down, it would not be convenient to move them, so I just left them facing south at about 45 degrees to the roof rack. It turns out that this arrangement was sufficient to keep the house batteries charged, as I did not have to resort to running the engine at anytime.
The Sportsmobile with solar panels on the roof rack and the Penthouse raised. iPhone photo.
The photo above was actually taken near the end of our stay in Bisti.
I met and chatted with a few of the visitors Friday afternoon before heading into the wilderness area. It was a windy, cloudy day with a considerable wind chill, even though the air temperature was not so cold. I knew the possibilities for late day light were slim, but I went out late in the day, just in case. I wanted to explore new areas, anyway. If nothing else, I would be able to scout possible places to return to in more favorable photographic conditions.
An interesting feature in Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I spotted the small hoodoos/toadstools in the above photo high up on a hill top. There was no direct way to get to these. So I hiked around this area for awhile, eventually finding a not prohibitively steep slope to climb up a hillside from which I hoped to be able to work my way to these features.
Interesting features in Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The view to the east in the above photo is at the top of the hill that I climbed. I continued walking along the hill top to the west, looking for access to the interesting features that I had spotted from the valley below.
Scouting Photo, Bisti. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
On the northern side of the hilltop, I spotted this small wash with emerging hoodoos.
Working the area scouting photo in Bisti. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The view to the south of the hill, overlooking the area through which I hiked, to get here was quite good.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
After a short hike along the ridge, I came upon the features for which I was looking. I wanted to be on the far side of these at sunset. Carefully walking around so as not to damage anything or leave footprints, which I did not want in a photo, I looked for a safe way to the other side. The drop off on the right side, I deemed too steep for a safe descent; but I could walk along on the left edge of the ridge past the hoodoos and the slope below was not excessively steep.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
It is always a good idea to look at a photographic subject from various view points to find the best possible vantage point, so I took a number of iPhone photos as I worked around this area. One might note that these natural features can look much different from different view points.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A view from just below the feature from the west side.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Another possible composition from the west side.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
And a wider view from the west side.
One of my concerns at this location was where my shadow would appear as the sun went low into the sky. So I thought I probably would need to go a bit more down the slope below this feature.
A view from just below this feature in Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The view above is a bit deceptive. This photo is not taken from as far away a view point as it appears. From this point of view, I can see several different places along the slope from which to shoot and possibly eliminate my shadow from the composition.
Since I still had plenty of time prior to sunset, I continued to explore the area.
A view from a hillside in Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Another possible feature to shoot from the top of the ridge is shown in the above photo.
I continued back down into the valley below, since it appeared that the increasing cloud cover was not promising for late day photos. I eventually set up to shoot one of the large colorful bluffs and waited for the sunlight to peek out from underneath the clouds.
I was rewarded with really good light for a brief moment, only to see that my shadow was a prominent feature in my composition. There had been no shadow due to cloud cover, when I set up my shot. I worked quickly to modify my composition, but the sunlight vanished more quickly.
Soon I gave up hope for more light and headed back towards the parking area hoping to avoid hiking too long in the dark.
About half way back to the parking area, the sun made a brief appearance. I turned around to see the desert lit up by great light and I hastily set up to attempt a shot.
Late day sunlight briefly illuminates the Bisti Wilderness. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 18mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
With such an interesting sky, I put the horizon roughly in the middle, which is generally not a good idea. I considered cropping this image, looking at various scenarios, but in the end I liked the original composition better than the crop possibilities. I think the little drainage wash coming in from the bottom right leads the eye into this image, then the diagonal lines formed by the vegetation and their shadows adds to this effect.
After this shot, I quickly tried another composition with one of the red hills in it, but the light faded quickly.
Late day sunlight briefly illuminates Bisti wilderness. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Note that in this image I included much more of the sky and less of the desert foreground, since the light was much more dramatic on the clouds in the sky.
Maybe had I gone back up the hillside to the little hoodoo/toadstool area, I might have gotten a good shot, if I had been prepared and waited patiently for the light. Then I would certainly be hiking out in the dark, but that is not a big deal here.
Even though this afternoon’s photographic excursion was disappointing, my expectations had not been high and I had found places to revisit again at another time. Such is the life of a landscape photographer.
The third stop in my 2019 Spring road trip was Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico. This was mainly a convenient place to overnight on this trip, but I was, also, curious about this area. The camping area here is really nice with good restroom facilities, but no showers. The camp sites tend to be rather close to each other, but during my visit the area was almost empty with only a few scattered campers. This being my first visit, I stopped to chat with the camp site host, whom I spotted as I drove on an exploratory trip around one of the loops, all of which were open, even though the official website said some might not be open during the off season. The camp host suggested that I drive around, pick out several sites that I liked, then go to the self check in kiosk on the roadway just prior to the first loop. I did so, picking out a site with no one near it, but near a restroom. Most of the parking sites seemed to be at least slightly sloped, but not so much that it was uncomfortable, so I did not feel the need to try leveling my vehicle.
After setting up and having a late lunch, I headed out to the visitor center, which I arrived at just after the 5PM closing time, so I did not get inside there. There are a number of trails near the visitor center, so I picked up a trail guide outside the visitor entrance and decided to take a quick hike along the main trail.
Prior to this visit, there had been much snow in the area and the website said some trails were snowy and icy, so I brought along ice crampons for my hiking footwear. However, the snow and ice were all gone while I was there, so I still have new, unused crampons. I had received a weather notification of another spring storm heading this way with heavy snowfall expected over some areas.
Recent flooding had closed some areas and trails, all of which sounded more interesting than those that were open.
For landscape photography, I did not find this area of great interest, at least not on this visit. This is a beautiful forested (mostly evergreens) area, but a bit enclosed and confining for my inclinations. On my short hurried hike, I did not bother taking my DSLR and other gear, since I had no idea about what to expect.
Native American Ruins along the Main Trail in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are interesting Native American ruins here, so there is much of historical and archeological interest.
Kiva remains, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A Kiva and entrance, Bandelier NM. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Ladder access into a Native American Cave Shelter in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
One is allowed to enter into any of the ancient dwelling with the ladders provided. The ladders are not ancient, of course.
An interior view of a Native American cave shelter, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The ceilings of the cave dwellings are blackened by fires used by the ancient dwellers. There were remnants of log elements protruding from the ceiling in some of the caves with a few charred by fire. These do not appear to have been necessary for roofs, so I’m guessing they were used for other purposes, maybe for hanging pots for cooking or storage. There is probably more information about these dwellings on the park website.
Native American Cave Shelter, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There were quite a few caves carved into the volcanic rock of the cliffside along the main trail.
Ruins as seen from the main trail along the cliff face, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are interesting rock shapes along the cliff side trail and good views of the ruins on the valley floor.
Native American ruins along a cliff face in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are holes in the cliff face, where roof supports were originally installed. Some of the shallow alcoves along the cliff face contain paintings or petroglyphs.
After leaving the visitor center area, I went back past the camping area to a parking area at the Frey trail head and walked along the trail for awhile. The portion of the trail I walked along, just prior to sunset, was mostly through a thinly forested area. At a high point along this trail, there were good view of snow covered mountain peaks and I paused for awhile to see what the sunset would be like.
Sunset Clouds in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Skylum Luminar.A dramatic sunset sky in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Skylum Luminar.
On this brief exploratory hike, I only had my iPhone camera with me, so the quality of the sunset photos are limited, but at least give one a sense of the possibilities here.
None of the photos in this post are published on my Flickr page, since I do not consider them of sufficient quality for sharing there (not to say that I have not ever published some poor quality photos on Flickr).
I will be away for a few days, so the next post may be delayed.
The second destination in my Spring 2019 road trip was Guadalupe Mountains National Park (GUMO). According to my map, the travel time to GUMO from the Sandhills via the shortest route should be about 2.5 hours. However, a backup due to road construction on US 285, just past a signal light at my turn off from US 285, resulted in an hour delay. The longer routes would probably have been faster, but I did not double check the traffic before I set out. My bad!
Guadalupe Mountains rising from the plains of West Texas. This is an iPhone photo taken from miles away from the mountains.
In the above photo the sharp drop off on the left end of the mountain range is a feature referred to as El Capitan.
After getting to GUMO, setting up in the RV parking lot and having a brief lunch, it was around 3PM. Since I had never visited here, I did not have any idea about where to go for sunset photos. After reviewing the trails and information on those trails, I decided to take the Guadalupe Peak Trail, but not to take my camera gear. It was overcast, so the prospects for good sunset light was slim and I knew the heavy camera gear would really slow my pace on the trail.
An image from the park websiteTrail information from alltrails.com
This trail is around 8-9 miles round trip, rated strenuous and the literature said to allow 6 to 8 hours for the round trip. By the time I made my preparations for the hike, it was well after 3PM. So even if I could make the round trip in only 6 hours (doubtful), it would be after 9PM and dark before I made it back. I took my headlamp and an extra flashlight and extra batteries, just in case, but I knew it was not a good idea to be on this trail in the dark.
Shortly after getting underway on the trail, I realized that not bringing the camera gear was a good decision. There are very strenuous portions of this trail, it is mostly steep with considerable rocky portions requiring care in hiking. As I met hikers coming down and heard their comments, I really began to realize that I would probably not make it to the top, if I expected to get back down before dark.
This image illustrates why this trail is rated as “strenuous”. (iPhone Photo)
The weather was good for this hike, since it was cool and overcast. Even so, I quickly worked up a sweat, hiking with only a shirt and t-shirt on my upper body. I had put a fleece, gloves and windbreaker in my backpack, since I knew it would be cold somewhere along the trail. Indeed, in some windy portions it got quite cool with even a light snow off and on; but the effort going up the trail kept me warm.
If only I had a mount from which to dismount. iPhone Photo
As I progressed and became hungry, I realized that I had forgotten to put my trail bar snacks into my day pack. Fortunately, I had a full reservoir of water in my Camelbak. Otherwise, I would have had to turn around. Wanting to go as far as possible, I pushed on and I was able to ignore the hunger and my decreasing energy level.
A portion of the cliffs past which equestrians were to lead their horses. iPhone Photo
The haze in the distance of the photo above is actually a light snow.
As I neared the upper portion of the trail, I even began to think that I might actually make it to the top. However, as it passed 6PM, even though thinking I only had about 30 minutes more to hike to the top, I decided it was best to turn back or I would surely be hiking down in the dark.
Elevation profile for Guadalupe Peak Trail
I went some distance past the campground, so maybe I was only a few hundred feet below the peak, when I decided to turn around. It was disappointing to be so close and have to stop before reaching the peak. I just needed to have started about an hour earlier in the day.
I think this is where I decided to head back down the trail. iPhone photoThis is at or near the point on this trail, where I decided to turn back to avoid being on this rugged trail in the dark. The trail goes from the lower right corner down around the scrubby vegetation. iPhone PhotoThis is a view from just below my turn around point on Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone PhotoA cloudy, cool day for a hike on Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo
The feature on the mountain side at the upper right-center of the above photo is El Capitan.
Since the trip back was mostly steeply downhill, I was able to make much better time than I had expected. I was almost sure that I would have to stop and put on the fleece at some point, but I never wanted to stop long enough to do that. Even had I put the fleece on, I would have had to stop and take it off as I got back to lower elevation.
A view on the way back down Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo
There is at least one trail visible along the mountain side in this photo. I think the one in the center is the Tejas Trail.
On the way down, I had to frequently remind myself to slow down on the more treacherous portions of the trail. There were plenty of places with tripping or sliding hazards. I was making such good time on the way down that I passed a few people that I had met on the way up as they were coming down.
Sunset glow on a peak across the wash from Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo
The golden hour light in the above photo is what I looked forward to finding the following day.
Golden Hour Glow in Guadalupe Mountains. iPhone Photo
A zoomed in, noisy iPhone photo of the late day light on a peak opposite my route on Guadalupe Peak Trail is above.
A Scene from a lower portion of Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo
I was greeted by a nice sunset scene over the plains from the lower portion of the Guadalupe Peak Trail.
I made it back to the RV lot just after dark, with sore, sensitive, achy feet, a strong appetite and no plan for where to go the following morning. I had been on the trail for about 5 hours, so I think I would have made it to the peak and back before dark, if I had started up the trail just an hour earlier.
Before I continue with photography within this park, I will offer a brief review of the park and facilities. There was some work being done at the visitor center at the entrance, when I was there. This required one to go into the center to confirm one’s arrival and pay any fees that were due, rather than pay in the typical way at a reception window. However, I was a bit confused by the signage at the entrance, thinking that I needed to drive on into the park to find the place to check in. So I continued, following the signs to the camping area. Upon getting to the RV area, I found a ranger helping another RVer with a big rig get into his assigned spot. He came over to chat with me for awhile and told me how to best get to my reserved spot and told me I had a good spot adjacent to a sand dune on one side. He also told me that he could come by, when he made his early morning rounds, and take me back to the visitor center to check in. I informed him that I would probably be in the dunes in the early morning hours and late day hours. I did not tell him why and he did not ask, but he looked a bit confused, since apparently few visitors get out that early into the dunes. Anyway, even though I saw him passing by my place during my subsequent stay, he never stopped by and I never got any note on my vehicle, even though I did not have the typical sticker or receipt that the parks require on vehicles within the park. I did stop by the visitor center as I was leaving the park to be sure all was ok and I was informed that all my fees were paid by the online reservation and I was all set to go. I knew that I had paid the campsite fee, but I still thought that I had to pay the entrance fee, since my annual membership card was expired.
This is an old park and the facilities need some refurbishing, especially the restrooms and showers. The showers are open with no privacy doors. The shower water valves do not operate the way I expected and I initially thought there was no hot water. This is a sandy place and visitors using the showers naturally leave much sand in the shower area.
The park is just north of I-20 and a railway that parallels I-20. Being in the heart of the Permian Basin, there is much oil field truck traffic on I-20 and there were numerous trains passing by through out the night, so it can be rather noisy at night. I must admit that the train whistle sound during the night was a bit nostalgic, since I recall hearing these during the night in my childhood home.
The days were mostly pleasantly cool during my visit, but the late night and early mornings were cold. Even with chemical hand warmers in my fleece mittens, that opened to fingerless mode so that I could operate the camera controls, my finger tips got numb, especially just before sunrise, when I need them to not be so numb.
This is an Adobe Photoshop focus stack of 5 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 31mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64.
Apparently, there is much night life activity in the sand dunes, too. The evidence of such is reflected by the many animal tracks in the sand, especially in the early morning hours before people walk through the dunes, disturbing the surface.
This image is created via focus stacking 5 images in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/11, 1.6s – 2.0s, ISO 64.An early morning photo of multiple animal tracks across sand dune ripples. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, ISO 64, f/11, 1/30s. Two images focus stacked in Adobe Photoshop, edited in Lightroom and DXO Nik software.This is a composite of 5 images, edited in Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 29mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64.
In the late day excursions into the sandhills, I could hear coyotes yelping and they did not seem very far away. I saw numerous coyote tracks in the dunes, so I’m sure they were hunting prey in the night time hours within the dunes.
You might note that all of the images above are created by focus stacking a number of images in Photoshop. I like doing this to get sharpness through out an image, but there can be problems with doing this. In particular, if there is motion, such as movement of vegetation or clouds, while taking a series of shots, the focus stacking might not work out well. Since I knew I had this taking place in many of my shots, I inspected the results of each focus stacked image. If there were movement effects noted, I would either abandon the focus stack method or try again with different photos. If the movement effects were far in the background, where the image is not extremely sharp, anyway, I might ignore that and keep the resultant image. This is ok as long as the image is not enlarged to such an extent that the movement or misalignment is apparent. This is just a judgement call one has to make for such shots. I’ve also noted that Photoshop sometimes selects the portions of images that it uses in the focus stack in what appears to be a non logical way, with blobs of images included within an area where most of a separate image is selected. I’m sure that this is just a limitation of the software’s ability to distinguish sharpness for some portions of an image. This might be corrected by manually stacking the images, but that gets into a lot more work in the editing process.
In a couple of my initial focus stacked images, I noted glaring misalignments that could not be attributed to motion. Upon inspecting the original images, I noted that even though I typically sync adjustments across the images to be used in the focus stack process, the lens profile correction did not get applied to all images. This might have been my error, not the software’s problem. Upon correcting this, the focus stack misalignment issue went away. So just something else to be aware of when using this technique.
Early morning in Monahans Sandhills SP. This is a composite of 5 photos, edited in Adobe LR, Photoshop and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 64.Coyote footprints in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 22mm, f/11, 1/200s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
Readers might note that this is a great place to use the “leading lines” technique in photography. There are very evident lines of multiple kinds in most of these photographs that serve to lead the eye through the photos.
Early morning light and shadows in the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.
I like the long shadows streaking through the late day sunlit highlights on the dunes and the numerous animal tracks in the sands in this shot.
Early Morning in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64.
In the photo above, I am not pleased with he sky. Note that it is very blue on the right and much too bright on the left. I first considered cropping to remove the sky, but I did not think I could get a pleasing crop. Subsequently, I considered deleting this photo due to its obvious defect, but then I thought that this can be an example from which to learn. The dark blue is probably due to the effect of the polarizing filter in a wide angle shot. I usually try to minimize this effect, but I apparently neglected to do so in this shot. I do not specifically remember using a graduated neutral density filter in this shot, but I think it most probable that I did. I tried to edit the sky color to even it out a bit, but I did not like the results, so I just left it as it was. Someone with great patience and skill in Photoshop could probably fix the sky, but I’m not so inclined.
I still have a few images from this park to share, so it looks like I will need to continue this in a separate post or two.
