Canyonlands images

I have been going through my Canyonlands images recently as I have Gigabytes of images I created over the years that I have never put online yet mostly due to lack of time. There are some really nice images in there and I am only scratching the surface yet.


Sunrise at White Crack. Buy a print. See it large. See it on flickr.
Assembled from 5 images. Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16mm at 14mm, f/8.0, 1/125s, ISO 200

White Crack is the southernmost tip of the white rim. There is a small campsite here that you have to reserve almost a year in advance with the park service to get on. There is also a trail that goes from here all the way down to the confluence of the Green and the Colorado river. I hiked most of it with one of my companions on this trip (the rest of the group spent the day drinking cocktails at the campsite or with their legs dangling over the rim ;-) ) as we were at White Crack for two nights.


White Crack sunset. Buy a print. See it large. See it on flickr.
Assembled from 8 images. Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-55mm at 18mm, f/8.0, 1/60s, ISO 200

This panorama looks towards the Green river and shows the area where the White Crack trail (you won't find it on any map) goes down from White Rim.


The tree. Buy a print. See it large. See it on flickr.
High resolution image assembled from 12 images. Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-55mm at 34mm, f/16, 1/30s, ISO 200.

This tree is one I photographed years before and that is hidden in the area just south of the campground. I photographed it at sunset.


Dusk falls over the La Sals. Buy a print. See it large. See it on flickr.
High resolution image assembled from 9 shots. Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-55mm at 48mm, f/8, 1/13s, ISO 200.
This is at dusk looking towards the La Sal mountains that still have a small amount of snow on them. I love the deep colors in the canyon.


Moses and Zeus at dawn. Buy a print. See it large. See it on flickr.
Single shot Nikon D50, Nikkor 18-55mm at 18mm, f/8.0, 1/160s.

This is am image I took in 2007 that I never shared. I interpreted this in Lightroom 4 which allowed me to pull the drama out of it that I experienced at the moment that I was there but that I never was able to shine through in the image before. Moses and Zeus are two popular climbing destinations in Taylor Canyon at the west side of Canyonlands.


Tortured. Buy a print. See it large. See it on flickr.


Tortured in B&W. Buy a print. See it large.
Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16mm at 11mm, f/11, 1/125s.

This is a tree I found along the Gooseberry trail that leads from the Gooeseberry campground up to the Island in the Sky. I like both the color and black and white interpretations, so I left them both up. I remember I spent considerable time around this tree to get a nice composition.


Last Rays. Buy a print. See large. See on flickr.
Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 mm at 11.5 mm, f/11, 1/30s, graduated ND filter

This was taken at White crack again looking towards the sunset.


Ticklish. Buy a print. See it large. See it on flickr.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-55mm at 24 mm, f/11, 1/160s

This is along Gooseberry trail. One of many dead Junipers.

Much more to follow.

Solar eclipse 2012

We only had a partial one here and lacking any really high ND filters, I just made a simple pinhole camera to show the eclipse to the kids. I punched a approximately 1 mm hole in a metal cap of something and used that to project an image from the sun. Worked great as you can see below. Nice low-tech solution and to complete the low-techness I photographed it using my cellphone. Due to the way a pinhole camera works, the image is upside down (and mirrored but that is not that important here). We also did not have a full eclipse in the Denver area. The light was very interesting for a short while though with the sun mostly covered.

Another angle

On the tree


Sweeping. Buy a print.
Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 mm f/2.8 at 11 mm, f/13, 1/100s, ISO 200.
Flickr image, Google+ post.

Badlands sunset

Badlands National Park. Buy a print.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 at 46 mm, f/9.0, 1/1000s, ISO 100/

An image where you don't need enormous resolution. Made from the parkinglot of the little restaurant there a few years ago. This is a new interpretation of the image here using Lightroom 4 beta. I really like the way it handles the highlights.

Dutch perspective on San Francisco

Dutch perspective on San Francisco. Click for bigger. Click here to buy a print. Image on flickr. Google+ post.
Technical info. D300, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 at 11mm, f/8.0, 1/640s, ISO 200. Processed in LR 4 beta.

This was taken on a sail boat ride on the San Francisco bay when we were returning to harbor. The title of course is a pun.

Sequioa

This is an image of a group of giant sequioa that can be seen in the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park. This group is very well known and is called the "Bachelor and the Three Graces." As the google link before shows, one can find thousands of images of this across the web. This photo breaks all the rules you are supposed to follow for the photography of these trees. They should be in fog (no fog for any of the days we were in Yosemite so no go there), snow (no snow in Yosemite this year!), and definitely not full sunlight. I largely just focused on the composition of the image with the foreground tree dark and brooding and the background trees (the graces in the name) in radiant sunlight and to juxtaapose these. I basically took it to hone my skills. To my surprise it actually is quite an interesting image. I made a 16x20 print of it that is just luminescent with beautiful deep but detailed shadows and radiant highlights. The detail on the bark in this high resolution image is stunning (at least I think so ;-) ). The image is pretty close to how it came from camera and stitching.


Bachelor and three (?) graces. Buy a print.
Composite of 12 images. D300, ISO 200, nikkor 18-55mm at 48 mm, f/11, 1/10s. Circular polarizer.

I also generated a tighter image that I took to black and white. It is meant to convey the size and solidity of the trees by excluding most of them.


trunks. Buy a print.
Composite of 9 images. D300, ISO 200, nikkor 18-55mm at 48 mm, f/11, 1/10s. Circular polarizer.

For those socially inclined:
Flickr image. Google+ post.

A few more Boston images

Walking between the conference center and the hotel I stayed in, I was able to shoot one or two pictures. I like to stay in hotels that are not too close to the conference center so I get a little walk in going to and from the talks. I'll spare you all the iPhone images from bars and such as they are really only interesting to the people in them. The below is a tree in the same park as the previous post was from:


Radiant. Buy a print.
Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 mm at 11 mm, ISO 200, f/11, 1/80s
Google+ post. Image on flickr.


Nature's bed (I know cliché!). Buy a print.
Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 mm at 11 mm, ISO 200, f/11, 1/25s
On flickr.


Reflection. Buy a print.
Composite of three images from Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f1.8DX ISO 200, f/8.0, 1/60s
I love how the building becomes sort of radiant because of all the reflections bouncing around in these urban canyons.


Geometric. Buy a print.
Composite of three images from Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f1.8DX ISO 200, f/8.0, 1/60s
This is a different crop of the above image.
On flickr.


Having a smoke. Buy a print.
Composite of four images from Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f1.8DX ISO 200, f/8.0, 1/400s


Corridor. Buy a print.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f1.8DX ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/500s

Sunset on the Great Sand Dunes

A few weeks ago, I spent a night near the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Due to the fact somebody drove through a stop sign and hit me in the rear of my car in Durango, I arrived too late to get a spot on the NPS campground. Luckily the very helpful ranger told me about a BLM just south of the park near Zapata Falls. This was a great tip as that is just an awesome campground with very few people on it and it is free and maybe 20 minutes from the dunes including the dirt road leading to it. So I set up my tent and set off to the park again to be on the Dunes by sunset. This was just fantastic. I posted three panoramas from the sunset before here. I hiked along many of the ridges near the high dune in order to find some good shots and found many. The wind was blowing like crazy and it was a major challenge keeping sand out of my gear. Below I'll show a few. Most of these shots, excluding the composites were done handheld as it was just too windy. Later I'll post images from next morning's sunrise expedition which yielded a lot of very nice pattern shots that I am dying to show.

Backbone. Buy a print.
High resolution composite from nine images at 48mm, f/13, 1/80s, ISO 200, Nikon D300.


A gigantic nuclear furnace. Buy a print.
Single shot at 26mm, f/16, 1/80s, ISO 200, Nikon D300.


Windblown steps. Buy a print.
Single shot at 24mm, f/8, 1/60s, ISO 200, Nikon D300.

Sun worship. Buy a print.
Single shot at 18mm, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO 200, Nikon D300.


Smoke Signals. Buy a print.
Single shot at 55mm, f8.0, 1/100s, Nikon D300.


The long S. Buy a print.
High resolution composite from 9 images at 46mm, f8.0, 1/50s, ISO 200, Nikon D300.


Contrast. Buy a print. High resolution composite from nine shots at 48mm, f/16, 1/40s, ISO 800, Nikon D300.


retrace. In the print you'll see the people that are trying to get to the top of high dune which is the dune on the right side. Buy a print.
Assembled from 2 shots at 18 mm, f6.3, 1/60s, ISO 800, Nikon D300.


Visitors on Mars. Buy a print.
Single shot at 16mm, f/5.6, 1/25s, ISO 400, Nikon D300.


The road travelled. Buy a print.
Single shot at 11mm, f/4, 1/13s, ISO 400, Nikon D300.


On High Dune. Buy a print.
Single shot at 16mm, f/4.0, 1/80s, ISO 200, Nikon D300.


Purple dunes at dusk. Buy a print.
Single shot 16mm, f2.8, 1/4s, ISO 800, Nikon D300.

And last and not least here is me on top of the dune. Shot by a kind stranger.

From 2011-08-31

Sunset panoramas on the Great Sand Dunes

These are images I created during sunset on the great Sand Dunes. I have many non-panoramic images both from this sunset as well as the next day's sunrise. I haven't had time to work everything up but in the mean time thought I'd share these panoramic images with you all. This place is absolutely magical during sunset and sunrise and I would highly recommend heading out on the dune during those times. Hard to keep your camera from gathering sand inside though as during sunset the wind can blow quite hard.

All these panoramas are extremely high resolution and will print superbly at the largest sizes available. Prints will not have my logo on it (many people email me to ask). To get a better impression click on the image to get a much larger version.


Dune ridge sunset. 13 images at 18 mm, f/16, 1/30s, ISO 200, D300. Tripod. Buy a print. Clock on image for bigger.
This is right at sunset on a ridge near the high dune. I was photographing lines in the dune to the right and decided to make a quick panorama. You can clearly see my trail leading up to my position on the left.


Sunset on the Dune 2. Stitch from 10 handheld images at 18mm, f6.3, 1/50s, ISO 200, D300. Buy a print. Click on image for bigger.


Dusk on the dune. Stitch from 18 images, 16mm, f2.8, 1/20s, ISO 800, handheld. Buy a print. click the image for much bigger.
This is on the top of the high dune after sunset. The full moon is visible on the left. The wind was blowing like crazy.

Much more to come.

Black and white conversions of snowy landscapes

I was rummaging through old material in Lightroom recently and I noticed some shots from an awesome multihut ski trip I did a few years ago (2008) with some friends. I wrote then about it on my blog and my friend Teresa actually made a writeup of that trip at that time here, where you can see some of the very few photographs that ever got made of me (elusive guy). I am in the red wind shell most of the time in the pictures from Teresa.

Anyway, I noticed that I never got around stitching several multi-image shots I made back then. For weight I was carrying my old Nikon D50 with the kit lens and I did not bring a tripod (more booze could be packed this way). In some cases I was doing handheld multishot panoramas to create higher resolution landscapes. If you do this right, they can still be stitched well even though you might have to do a little touch up afterwards. I worked up a few of these lost landscapes and below I'll post some. I am most focusing here on the aspect of black and white conversion as I noticed that this really works well with some of these. For example, this shot from the front of the Goodwin/Greene hut was captured around sunset. The sun was coming through a thin cloud of snow crystals and generated this absolutely gorgeous light. I cannot believe I never stitched this image.


5 shots using a Nikon D50, 18-55mm kit lense at 18mm, ISO 200, f/10, 1/320s. Assembled in hugin. Pretty much as shot - no nasty HDR. Buy a print

This image really has to be seen large, which you can if you click on the link. To get back here use your browser's back button.

I converted this to black and white in Lightroom simulating a light red filter which again has to be seen large.

Buy a print

Another new image that I really like is this panorama of our group coming up on a pass, rising out of a foggy valley.

5 images from a Nikon D50, 18-55mm kit lens at 30 mm, ISO 200, f/11, 1/500s. Buy a print

In the same place, but looking in the other direction, I took this image:

6 images from Nikon D50, 18-55mm kit lens at 24mm, ISO 200, f/11, 1/500s. Buy a print.
At the moment, my blog's banner has another version of this image that was taken a few minutes later after the clouds on Castle and Cathedral peaks cleared up a little. This cloudy view is also quite nice and will print really nice large for on your wall ;-)

I have several more images waiting to be born in my library from this trip. We'll see when I get to them. I still have a gigantic backlog to deal with with some very nice images in them too that I haven't spoken about yet. I have a little picasa gallery of new snowy black and white conversions here.

Mesa Arch

As I have written before, I visited Canyonlands last year in order to ride the white rim trail on my mountain bike. The bike I rode it unfortunately was stolen, but I digress. Because I got there the evening before (Halloween actually) our ride and was camping out on the campground (nobody there at that time of year), I visited false kiva in the evening and did Mesa Arch the next morning. A great surprise was to meet my buddy Dave at the trailhead. I have written about the gaggle of photographers at Mesa Arch before. This place is extraordinarily popular since it is an ultrashort hike and sunrise is spectacular. Some clouds would have made the scene better (with some gap light preferably) than I captured here but nevertheless I am happy with what I got.


Mesa Arch sunstar. Buy a print.
Assembled from 15 shots (3 rows of 5) at 35mm, ISO 200, f/16, 1/5s. This is an ultrahigh resolution image. In large prints, you will notice reflections from puddles of water standing in the little pits that you see all around white rim.


Why it glows. Buy a print.
Single shot, Nikon 18-55mm at 18mm, ISO 200, f/16, 1/40s handheld.


Everybody left, still glowing! Buy a print.
Single shot, Tokina 11-16mm at 11mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/100s


Washerwoman and La Sals framed. Buy a print.
Single shot, ISO 200, 18-55mm Nikon at 48mm, f/9, 1/60s

See the entire gallery at my smugmug site. Many more Canyonlands images are here.

The throne

Foggy and icy morning

This is last Friday morning. It had frozen very hard the night before and snowed the day before.

The image links to a larger version on smugmug. Check it out in flickr here. In order to not blow out the sun, I created this image from 5 bracketed handheld shots combined using enfuse and did a small amount of brightness/contrast and curve work in Lightroom afterwards.