CHASING THE LIGHT - April 8

April - 8 CHASING LIGHT IN ARCHES N.P.

Today was basically our last day of shooting this trip. It started with an overcast morning as we tried to capture what little light was around on the structures: The Three Gossips, Tower of Babel, and the Organ. Did not have much luck. The sun was sleeping in!! It was also awfully windy and so we gave in, and went for breakfast. This we grabbed at McDonalds and took it back to the house so we could have two tutorials. The first was on how to clean your sensor, and the second was on Photoshop using two of our images we had shot yesterday.

It was raining most of the afternoon. Later in the afternoon we went to an early dinner at the Moab Brewery. As the Raven Maven I tried their Black Raven oatmeal stout. It was quite good. Lin and I shared a mushroom burger with fried onion rings for the meal. We treated our driver to his beer, and then Lin treated me to a souvenir glass with the Black Raven Logo on it.

After eating we headed back into the Park though it did not look very promising. Due to the rain we explored an area where water pockets form. It is an opportunity to get reflections of towers in the water pockets. The challenge is that you need a very wide angle lens and be very close and low to the ground. I had to do most of photography hand held so had to push the ISO up to 800. Will look at the pictures shortly to see how they came out. You also have to be sure that the horizon is straight, which is difficult when you are down on your knees or back. Thankfully I started using the in camera level feature. It really helped. We stayed out until after sunset which was about 1953.

Three Gossips

Dead Tree and Three Gossips

Park Avenue

Storm Clouds and Reflection

Water Pocket Reflection

Evening Storm Brewing

 

HOMEWARD BOUND - April 9

Our bags were packed and we were ready to go by 0530. We needed to vacate the two houses, dump trash, and get all our gear stored into the vehicles. We succeeded and headed back to the water pockets located fairly close to the road that we had photographed last night.

The skies were overcast with a drizzle falling. We got to the area, and assessed the situation. There was no hope of a break in the cloud cover so we headed back into town for breakfast at the Moab Diner. After breakfast those of us heading heading home, drove off to Grand Junction, CO to catch planes. Mark was driving onto Omaha, NB, to catch a train, while Roger was driving through to his home in Illinois. They were concerned about the weather, as a snow storm was forecasted for Colorado, and points East. Their main concern was getting over the Rockies before the storm became an issue. I believe that they succeeded.

Our flights went smoothly both to Salt Lake City and San Diego. We arrived back in San Diego to a lovely clear afternoon with light winds, about 25 minutes early. The flight from SLC was not full, and I shared my row of seats only with a gent who was on the aisle while I was in the window seat.

Once we had landed and gotten our luggage we were off to Point Loma Seafood for an early supper of crab sandwiches. They were most delicious. The drive back to the house went smoothly though it was the peak of the afternoon commute.

Lin took off as soon as we could load her car as her Mom had been admitted to the hospital with severe chills, and weakness. This may all be due to the fact that she has not been able to eat much for the past couple of months. They are checking her out quite thoroughly.

It looks like I will be home until we head to Bishop, CA, for Mule Days. This is always a great deal of fun, and we get to see and visit with our daughter, Tina, who comes out for the Mule Show from Swanton, OH. This year my husband George will do some fly fishing with our son-in-law, Justin, in the Eastern Sierras while we are up there. I will, of course, have my camera to photograph some of the many events such as English jumping classes, and pleasure classes; western classes, packing events for the pack teams, etc.

We head for the North Rim, Grand Canyon on May 29. We will be volunteering there for the summer so if you are in the area you may run into the Raven Maven giving a program or hiking trails. 

Backdrop to Salt Lake City, The Wasatch Range>>>>

The Salton Sea >>>>

 

San Diego and the Coronado Bridge >>>

SUNDAY IN ARCHES N. P. - April 7

SUNDAY HAPPENINGS - April 7

We had some good light this morning while we were at the Windows area for Sunrise. The other half of the group went up to the ledge East of North Window and capture Turret Arch through the window. The rest of us went below the North and South Windows, also called the Spectacles, for sunrise. We wandered around and found compositions with either rocks or small junipers to be foreground elements.

We regrouped in front of North Window and then shot some more images of Turret Arch before calling it a morning. I took the challenge of getting really close to the ground and a juniper trunk for framing. It took a long time for me to get the image right as I was propped up on an elbow, and  hand holding the camera. It was a good lesson though. As we continued to have sunlight we were off to Double Arch for some more photography. It is about a half mile walk to the arch. We enjoyed making compositions along the way, and then went under the arch and photographed up into the arch. Lots of fun. We also worked on getting star bursts along the edge of one of the arches.

Breakfast was really lunch back in town as we prepared for the afternoon hike to Delicate Arch, the icon of the state of Utah. We ordered sandwiches from Subway for our dinner to be eaten along the trail to Delicate Arch.

As you will see, we try different compositions at each location. This is not a study in point and shoot and move on, but compose, experiment, and shoot. All of the images were taken in Arches N.P.

Sunrise Light on North Window

Sunrise Light on the Spectacles

 

Ledge for shooting Turret Arch through North Window

Turret Arch

Photo Challenge - Turret Arch

Double Arch

Double Arch

Star Burst under Double Arch

Who Lives Here?

Sand Arch

Sand blowing in front of Sand Arch

Sand Falls in front of Sand Arch

Inukshuk showing way to Delicate Arch

 

A sense of size at Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch

CLOUDY DAY IN UTAH - APRIL 6

There was some high clouds this morning, but it did not deter us from going for sunrise light at Mesa Arch. En route we stopped at Shafer Canyon overlook for the actual sunrise. It was muted due to a cloud bank along the horizon. It turns out that it is not necessary to be at Mesa Arch for the actual sunrise, as what you are going for is the golden glow on the underside of the arch which is dependent on the sun reflecting off the rock wall below the arch, not on the actual sunrise. The glow continues well into the morning, and we had fun playing the angles for about two hours after the bus load of Japanese photographers had left.

We enjoyed our time there and had our group photograph taken before we left with Mesa Arch in the background. We drove back into town after a stop at the Visitor Center for the Island District of Canyonlands. Breakfast was at the Eclectic Cafe in town. It was the best breakfast to date. We dined outside on the patio.

In the afternoon we regrouped at 1530 to decide our plan of attack for the afternoon. It was a fairly thick layer of clouds so the hike to Delicate Arch was postponed for another day. It was decided to drive to the Needles District of Canyonlands to see the formations there including Elephant Rock, and the formations that gave the district it's Name. It was about an hour and a half drive. Once at the end of the road, we were also able to see some serious four wheelers driving down the Elephant Trail. This road is gnarly to say the least. We had some time to photograph some of the geology in the area as well before heading back to Moab.

Dinner tonight was the special dinner of the week at the Sunset Grill. The restaurant was the original home of John Steen who was the "King of Uranium" after he discovered and established the largest uranium mine in the U.S.A,  just outside of Moab. He became a multimillionaire as a result. Times changed and he ended up a pauper,  The house, now restaurant, sits up on a hill overlooking the town of Moab with a lovely sunset view. The dinner was excellent on all counts, from appetizers to dessert. Lin and I shared a prime rib cut of beef which was juicy, delicious, and very tender.

The plan for tomorrow of course depends on the clouds and sky. We are hoping to return to the Windows and Turret Arch area so that the other half of the group is able to shoot there with good light. A second choice is in Arches as well, and is the Wall Street area I believe. Anyway, again it will be a 0545 departure time from the houses.

Overall it was a good day today though again there was a lot of driving. The weather as usual is a factor in photography and most of the time works well as we can generally seize upon an opportunity. Here the weather has been iffy, and not provided lighting conditions in our favor for a trek out to Delicate Arch. All we can do now, is wait for the best that is provided to us.

Sunrise at Shafer Canyon Overlook - two versions:

 

Looking Down The Wall

Mesa Arch:

Mighty Stick

Budding Cottonwood Tree

TO MONUMENT VALLEY - April 5

ON THE ROAD IN EASTERN UTAH - April 5

Off as usual at 0545 for a sunrise shoot. Regrettably it was too overcast for a shoot so we returned to town for a fairly early breakfast at the Moab Diner. Then we had a couple of hours off to rest or in my case do some computer work - downloading pictures, checking e-mail, and working on the blog.

We were off about 1000 for points South. Our first stop was right off the highway at Wilson Arch. It was a bit of a climb to get to he base of it, but we all made it. It was fun to be there right under it. Took lots of pictures, many of which had people in them. There were lots of others who climbed the slope to reach the arch. We all were a bit concerned with a family that had small children running
around at the top, including what we think was a four year old. Oh well.

The second stop was to Newspaper Rock, a great pictograph site. There are lots of figures to try to interpret, but there also has been some vandalism of the site.  The site is very easy to get to and there is only a metal fence between it and the general public. It can easily be scaled to get to the wall.

Our ultimate destination today was Monument Valley. Before we reached there we stopped in Bluff and spent a good hour or hour and a half photographing old cars, and older wagons, etc. Shortly after that we stopped in Mexican Hat for an early dinner at the Old Bridge Cafe located right next to the old bridge used to cross the San Juan River. The restaurant was operated by some local Navajo, and we all enjoyed a Navajo taco. It was good, but did not compare with ones I have had at the Cameron Trading Post, or at Mule Days in Bishop, California. It served the purpose of being an early dinner, and filling.

Back on the road, we headed for Monument Valley. This is a very iconic area. It was used in many movies of the old west. Movie director, John Ford, filmed a large number of his films here. It is known for the Mittens formations, and other large eroded sandstone structures. Regrettably the clouds had thickened so we did not have a great sunset shoot, but we had some cloud filtered sunlight.

As sunset these days is about 1950 we did not get back to Moab until after 2200. That is why there has been a break in the blog entries. Pictures will have to wait for another day. :-)

Canyon Wall

Working the Arch:

 

On The Road to Monument Valley

Woodsy Raven Maven cleaning up foreground of trash