June 14 - Springfield, MO
Not much to post lately, but I did get out this evening for a few flower pictures. This one is a "Cup Plant" (Silphium perfoliatum
June 2 - Mesa Arch
An early morning start (3:30am) meant we could get to Mesa Arch before the sun would. I've seen many beautiful images of this arch and was quite thrilled to be in front of it with good light and a camera in my hand.
Here are the images in the order in which they were taken. (OK - I know it's a lot of pictures of the same arch, but I really like them!)
Here are the images in the order in which they were taken. (OK - I know it's a lot of pictures of the same arch, but I really like them!)
June 1 - Dead Horse Point State Park
After driving around Canyonland National Park during the heat of the day (had a nice hike or two, despite the sun) we stopped by Dead Horse Point State Park. This park is just North of Canyonland NP and contains some pretty views of the Colorado River.
I started at the observation area and took a few pictures, but a bus full of teenegers arrived not too long afterword and I moved on (literally, a Greyhound-sized bus pulled up and teenagers carrying pizza and drinks walked up to the observation area).
Here's the picture I took from that viewpoint. Legend has it that cowboys herded horses onto this mesa and blocked it off forming a corral bordered by some very formidable fences. For whatever reasons, the cowboys took a few of the horses and left, letting the rest die of thirst with the Colorodo River in sight. (Gruesome, isn't it.)
I moved on and took a few more pictures from the same area as the sun went down...
One of the other sunset observers was in the way, so I included him in the picture.
A close-up view of the sunset.
A little bit of a different take on the view towards the sunset - that's the 1/4 moon in the upper left.
And finally, back towards the river after the light was nearly gone.
I started at the observation area and took a few pictures, but a bus full of teenegers arrived not too long afterword and I moved on (literally, a Greyhound-sized bus pulled up and teenagers carrying pizza and drinks walked up to the observation area).
Here's the picture I took from that viewpoint. Legend has it that cowboys herded horses onto this mesa and blocked it off forming a corral bordered by some very formidable fences. For whatever reasons, the cowboys took a few of the horses and left, letting the rest die of thirst with the Colorodo River in sight. (Gruesome, isn't it.)
I moved on and took a few more pictures from the same area as the sun went down...
One of the other sunset observers was in the way, so I included him in the picture.
A close-up view of the sunset.
A little bit of a different take on the view towards the sunset - that's the 1/4 moon in the upper left.
And finally, back towards the river after the light was nearly gone.
May 31 - Arches National Park
It was late afternoon by the time we arrived at Arches NP. While it was certainly incredibly beautiful, I couldn't really grasp how one would approach the massive structures of rock with a camera in hand. I always like sunsets, though, and when it finally arrived, I was ready.
This just means that I'll have to return to Arches someday and take some real pictures.
This just means that I'll have to return to Arches someday and take some real pictures.
May 31 - Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde was the next stop. It's a beautiful area with incredible buildings that the early Americans built into the sides of cliffs. There is so much to see and do. As always, being at the right place at the right time of day means everything to photography.
We took a tour of Cliff Palace, but my best shots came the next morning when I could set up a tripod and think more about what I was doing. Here's a small part of the dwelling:
And here's the entire Cliff Palace - I'd seen it treated this way in a gallery and thought I'd imitate that effect.
We took a tour of Cliff Palace, but my best shots came the next morning when I could set up a tripod and think more about what I was doing. Here's a small part of the dwelling:
And here's the entire Cliff Palace - I'd seen it treated this way in a gallery and thought I'd imitate that effect.
May 29 - Durango
I've been hearing about the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge railroad for quite a while. Maybe it was a Travel Channel feature, but I've always wanted to see what it was all about. I finally got my chance. Photography (or at least good photography) I found to be kind of difficult from the moving train, and although I took over 500 pictures I only had a few that I thought were half-way decent.
Here's the train as it is going around a corner so sharp that it allows the back cars to see the engine clearly.
Regardless of my inability to take good pictures from a moving train, I highly recommend this trip. Two recommendations: dress warm, and be ready for soot.
Here's the train as it is going around a corner so sharp that it allows the back cars to see the engine clearly.
Regardless of my inability to take good pictures from a moving train, I highly recommend this trip. Two recommendations: dress warm, and be ready for soot.
May 28 - Santa Fe
Santa Fe is fun - very diverse and kind of artsy. In fact, some of the best photographers and artists in the country work in and around this area. Studios and galleries are ever present - as are the booths of artists selling their wares.
There is a lot of interesting architecture in Santa Fe - here's one building on Burro Alley. The clouds were what interested me in this picture - they looked like they were coming out of the building...
This is the same building, but just down the alley a little more. Street photography has never been something I've been that good at - it's a challenge since everything moves all the time.
We drove on toward Abiquiu (pronounced uh-BEE-key as far as I could tell) to find Georgia O'Keeffe's home of some 35 years. We did find the home, but didn't know that you needed reservations months in advance for the tour. Oh well, Abiquiu had some other interesting architecture, such as this small church.
There is a lot of interesting architecture in Santa Fe - here's one building on Burro Alley. The clouds were what interested me in this picture - they looked like they were coming out of the building...
This is the same building, but just down the alley a little more. Street photography has never been something I've been that good at - it's a challenge since everything moves all the time.
We drove on toward Abiquiu (pronounced uh-BEE-key as far as I could tell) to find Georgia O'Keeffe's home of some 35 years. We did find the home, but didn't know that you needed reservations months in advance for the tour. Oh well, Abiquiu had some other interesting architecture, such as this small church.
May 27 - Drive to Santa Fe
I've been traveling on vacation for the last week, so I have a lot of updating to do during the next few days. The trip included stops in Santa Fe, Durango, Mesa Verde National Park, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Needless to say I still have a lot of pictures to process.
On the way out, we stopped in Oklahoma City to see the Memorial. I thought is was really well done and well worth the visit. Here's my tourist snapshot...
In the panhandle of Texas, even the BBQ grills are Texas-shaped. This one's from a windmill powered rest area.
And this is my first New Mexico Sunset - not a great sunset, but I had fun stopping on the road and shooting this before the light disappeared.
We arrived at Santa Fe in the dark - which may not be the best time to arrive if you've never been there before. Santa Fe has city ordinances that keep the city dark to keep light pollution down. This is really great, because it's one of the only cities I've been in where you can see the stars vividly, but it can make finding things a little bit more difficult.
On the way out, we stopped in Oklahoma City to see the Memorial. I thought is was really well done and well worth the visit. Here's my tourist snapshot...
In the panhandle of Texas, even the BBQ grills are Texas-shaped. This one's from a windmill powered rest area.
And this is my first New Mexico Sunset - not a great sunset, but I had fun stopping on the road and shooting this before the light disappeared.
We arrived at Santa Fe in the dark - which may not be the best time to arrive if you've never been there before. Santa Fe has city ordinances that keep the city dark to keep light pollution down. This is really great, because it's one of the only cities I've been in where you can see the stars vividly, but it can make finding things a little bit more difficult.
May 21 - Alley Mill
On Saturday I floated a portion of the Jack's Fork River with the camera club. I took quite a few pictures on the river, but so far I haven't been pleased with any of them. It was a fun trip, and though it's been some 25 years since I've been in a canoe I didn't tip over once!
It was a cloudy morning on Sunday, and Alley Mill sounded like a good destination for the cloudy, wet and still conditions.
This is one of the "classic" views of the Mill. I always come back to this shot to try and improve things. This particular image is a blend of two images in order to optimize the effects of my polarizing filter.
There is an additional overflow to the right of the waterwheel. It wasn't flowing at all last year, but finally with the recent rains it's flowing again.
This is one of my favorite spots to photograph the Mill. I used a tilt-shift lens to create some interesting blurry effects.
It was a cloudy morning on Sunday, and Alley Mill sounded like a good destination for the cloudy, wet and still conditions.
This is one of the "classic" views of the Mill. I always come back to this shot to try and improve things. This particular image is a blend of two images in order to optimize the effects of my polarizing filter.
There is an additional overflow to the right of the waterwheel. It wasn't flowing at all last year, but finally with the recent rains it's flowing again.
This is one of my favorite spots to photograph the Mill. I used a tilt-shift lens to create some interesting blurry effects.
May 13 - Hercules Glades Wilderness Area
I had the weekend to myself, so I spent most of the day in the wilderness. It was great to return - and well worth the visit! Though threatened with a forecast of clear blue skies, it turned out to be mostly cloudy all day long, which greatly assisted my photographic efforts.
There were hundreds upon hundreds of Columbines out today. These things are like really big kites on a string and getting them to stay still long enough to photograph is challenging.
I've taken a lot of photographs of this section of Long Creek. But while photographing this scene, I started to lose my balance. Knowing that there was a small bluff to my left, I put my arm out to catch myself. What I forgot was that the wall had a lot of shale sticking out and it was quite sharp! I had to effect a few repairs to my arm before I could continue shooting.
I was surprised to find this Yellow Lady Slipper. I've never seen them before - anywhere! So it was a real treat to see them today.
Back to the falls - I've taken many pictures of these falls. Today, I was interested in the swirling patterns in the lower right. It was a long exposure (about 15 seconds).
A little further up the creek is the nicest green pool full of water with lots of little water falls running into it.
I stopped on top of one of the glades on the way back to take a picture of the sunset. I stayed until there wasn't much light left in the sky. I was still an hour or so away from the car, so I strapped on my head-lamp and headed off into the night. It was a very nice day to be in the wilderness!!!!!!
There were hundreds upon hundreds of Columbines out today. These things are like really big kites on a string and getting them to stay still long enough to photograph is challenging.
I've taken a lot of photographs of this section of Long Creek. But while photographing this scene, I started to lose my balance. Knowing that there was a small bluff to my left, I put my arm out to catch myself. What I forgot was that the wall had a lot of shale sticking out and it was quite sharp! I had to effect a few repairs to my arm before I could continue shooting.
I was surprised to find this Yellow Lady Slipper. I've never seen them before - anywhere! So it was a real treat to see them today.
Back to the falls - I've taken many pictures of these falls. Today, I was interested in the swirling patterns in the lower right. It was a long exposure (about 15 seconds).
A little further up the creek is the nicest green pool full of water with lots of little water falls running into it.
I stopped on top of one of the glades on the way back to take a picture of the sunset. I stayed until there wasn't much light left in the sky. I was still an hour or so away from the car, so I strapped on my head-lamp and headed off into the night. It was a very nice day to be in the wilderness!!!!!!
May 9 - Busiek State Forest
I dropped by Busiek State Forest for a short hike and a few photos. With water finally in the creeks around here, I just had to stand in the middle of one for a while and soak it in (actually, I had waders, but it was still fun). There were a few flowers out, but they looked kind of waterlogged.
May 1 - Dogwoods and Commercial Street Bridge
It's been raining nicely the last few days (weeks?) and after one of the rains on Saturday, I wandered over to the Commercial Street pedestrian bridge - a familiar photo opportunity. The sky was very nice, and with everything wet it sure made things interesting.
On Monday, after another rain, I stepped out in front of my apartment and took a few pictures of the rain-covered dogwood. Everything's pretty green again, thankfully!
On Monday, after another rain, I stepped out in front of my apartment and took a few pictures of the rain-covered dogwood. Everything's pretty green again, thankfully!
April 24 - South Mountain Park / Phoenix
I'm in Scottsdale for business, but being on a business trip doesn't mean you can't have a little fun while you're in the area! So I hauled a few bits of my camera bag and a tripod along with me and made a quick trip down towards the South end of Phoenix to watch the sun set. There's a mountain park there with several observation areas. I got there slightly too late to watch the sun set, but there were some good colors left on the horizon long afterwards.
This is a stitched image from three negatives taken with a tilt /shift lens (and looking at it closely, it looks like one of the seams are showing, so I'll have to go back and do some more work!).
After it got darker, the color wasn't as interesting, so I developed this picture as a black and white. This is the small building at the observation area.
This is a stitched image from three negatives taken with a tilt /shift lens (and looking at it closely, it looks like one of the seams are showing, so I'll have to go back and do some more work!).
After it got darker, the color wasn't as interesting, so I developed this picture as a black and white. This is the small building at the observation area.
April 22 - Broadwater Hollow
The camera club took a trip to Arkansas today to hunt for waterfalls. Broadwater Hollow is a familiar place to me, as is the surrounding area. Nearby Cecil Cove is a favorite hiking place, and is in the Ponca Wilderness Area - also one of my favorites.
I decided to get up pretty early to get into Broadwater Hollow before light started hitting the water, and I was in place and shooting by 6:00am - just as it was getting light enough to see without a flashlight. It was a lot of fun scrambling around the rocks, trying to get into a good position for a picture or two.
I started at the top of the falls and used a special Blue and Gold filter that can do some interesting things with water...
The next two are of the larger falls. Broadwater is a series of interesting little falls with one nice sized one, though small by comparison to other Arkansas Falls. Not too far beyond this point the creek disappears entirely into a sinkhole and standing on top of this sinkhole you can hear the creek running many feet below - I hear it runs into an underground lake at some point.
I decided to get up pretty early to get into Broadwater Hollow before light started hitting the water, and I was in place and shooting by 6:00am - just as it was getting light enough to see without a flashlight. It was a lot of fun scrambling around the rocks, trying to get into a good position for a picture or two.
I started at the top of the falls and used a special Blue and Gold filter that can do some interesting things with water...
The next two are of the larger falls. Broadwater is a series of interesting little falls with one nice sized one, though small by comparison to other Arkansas Falls. Not too far beyond this point the creek disappears entirely into a sinkhole and standing on top of this sinkhole you can hear the creek running many feet below - I hear it runs into an underground lake at some point.
April 19 - Springfield MO
I went out briefly tonight near dark on my Uncle's property north of Springfield to see what was blooming. It was a pretty nice night for photography with nearly no wind, though the pollen count was pretty high and I sneezed quite a lot.
First up was a dogwood tree - something I've always struggled to photograph justly.
Not too far away, I found a patch of May Apples. These are plants I've always loved, the shape of the plant, the flowers, the fruit - all really cool!
I was surprised to find a Shooting Star, but it's another of my favorites. If you look really closely, you'll see a tiny worm on the stem between the petals. I think he was jumping up and down because I had a really hard time getting the plant to stay still long enough to photograph.
First up was a dogwood tree - something I've always struggled to photograph justly.
Not too far away, I found a patch of May Apples. These are plants I've always loved, the shape of the plant, the flowers, the fruit - all really cool!
I was surprised to find a Shooting Star, but it's another of my favorites. If you look really closely, you'll see a tiny worm on the stem between the petals. I think he was jumping up and down because I had a really hard time getting the plant to stay still long enough to photograph.
April 16 - Yard Flowers
Both of these flowers were found at ground level in several back yards of places in which I found myself this weekend.
The first, a Grape Hyacinth, is from Springfield. Beautiful little "grapes" on these guys.
And the second, a Bleeding Heart, is from Illinois. I've seen these many times in books, but have never had the chance to photograph them in the wild and was very appreciative of the opportunity to see them today. I love these interesting flowers!
The first, a Grape Hyacinth, is from Springfield. Beautiful little "grapes" on these guys.
And the second, a Bleeding Heart, is from Illinois. I've seen these many times in books, but have never had the chance to photograph them in the wild and was very appreciative of the opportunity to see them today. I love these interesting flowers!
April 8 - McCraw's Ford
The camera club took a trip to a nearby location to snap a few pictures of wildflowers. I didn't have a lot of time to shoot since I had commitments out of town. But here are a few of the pictures...
lots of bluebells!
and a Dogtooth Violet.
lots of bluebells!
and a Dogtooth Violet.
April 1 - Busiek State Forest
I went out twice today to take pictures. The first trip was to Mt. Vernon Prairie (unsurprisingly, just North of Mt. Vernon), but didn't find the circumstances very conducive to wildflower photography - just not enough flowers. So, after several hours, I gave up and headed home.
The next stop, later in the afternoon, was to Busiek S.F. It had just rained, so everything was slightly damp (delightfully so).
The dark skys were moving out of the area when I arrived, but there was just enough clouds left aroound to make this sycamore pretty interesting.
It wasn't a very long before I started seeing wildflowers in abundance! Some of my all-time favorites were there including this Purple Trillium.
These next two are of an unknown (to me, anyway - I've tried to ID it from my reference material, but have had no luck so far), but ir ended up being very attractive.
And then there's the gaggle of Dutchmen's Britches. I don't think I've ever seen quite so many flowers bunched together! One of my favorites!
The next stop, later in the afternoon, was to Busiek S.F. It had just rained, so everything was slightly damp (delightfully so).
The dark skys were moving out of the area when I arrived, but there was just enough clouds left aroound to make this sycamore pretty interesting.
It wasn't a very long before I started seeing wildflowers in abundance! Some of my all-time favorites were there including this Purple Trillium.
These next two are of an unknown (to me, anyway - I've tried to ID it from my reference material, but have had no luck so far), but ir ended up being very attractive.
And then there's the gaggle of Dutchmen's Britches. I don't think I've ever seen quite so many flowers bunched together! One of my favorites!
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