Moving On

First off I would like to apologize for being so unpredictable when it comes to blogging, but I'm lazy about some things (most things?) and blogging happens to be one of them. That being said, though, doesn't make it ok.

When I started this blog a year ago it was never my intention to post in a scheduled way, but then I never figured anyone would be reading it either! And now that some folks do, I feel the need to adhere to some sort of regular schedule. If not for myself, then to at least keep my faithful readers from wasting precious time by checking to see if mcmurma has done anything lately. Heck, if I can get to work on-time 99% percent of the time, then surely I can post in a regular fashion!

So what kind of time frame should I work on? Once a day is out of the question, I would never make it. Even though I greatly admire those who do. So I have decided to shoot for once a week--every Monday. It's more or less what I have been wanting to do, even though I have missed the mark more often than not.

Anyway, enough reflection, self-loathing, and what not... on to the last of the Utah images.

Now, about these Utah images. Frankly, I'm glad to be done with them. It was a great experience, to be sure, but it happened almost 6 months ago and it's time to be moving on.

This first image is of the Colorado river, shot a hour or so before sunset at Dead Horse Point. It's not the classic gooseneck shot (which was already in deep shade) but a view more to the east, towards Colorado.

The second is one was taken just minutes before sunset from a viewpoint along the scenic Islands in the Sky drive. Both parks are within a few minutes drive of one another, and Islands offered a much better all around view so we raced over there after taking in Dead Horse Point.

I still have an image or two I'd like to share from our visit to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado, but for Utah, this is it. I reserve the right scare up the odd Utah image on some rainy day, but for now, I hope you all have had a Merry Christmas, and are looking forward to a Happy New Year!

Addendum: Ok, so I am slow. I just tried Advman's idea of saturation and clarity increase and I must say the results are much better than what I initially came up with. I had already increased saturation a little, and also done a clarifying, so I was skeptical that even more could still look so natural. Well, I was wrong. I really like the results. Compare for yourself... as if there is any real comparison.

Thanks Andreas. I was willing to leave well enough alone until I tried it. Now I'm glad I did :)

Arches Part Two

As our afternoon at Arches wore on it became increasingly evident that we were going to get some rain, the only question was how much? The wind was blowing fiercely as we scrambled through the park to take in as many locations as we could before the storms hit. In fact, I can't even recall exactly where we were when I took some of these images.

I believe the first image was taken near the Cove of Caves area, but I couldn't swear to it. I took dozens of shots of this scene trying to get one where the wind wasn't moving the brush too badly, but it was impossible. This was one of the few images where the wind effects weren't too bad. (In my previous post Ted noted that one of the images was over-sharpened. Can't argue with that, it was. I hope this is not as bad, but I suspect it may be a bit oversharp as well.)

The next shot was one that I was seeing in black and white even as I took it. There was so little color present in the original that using monochrome wasn't much a stretch. Besides, there was a parking lot in the foreground and I couldn't see any good way to blend it into this scene:)

The last shot is one of Balanced Rock. There was very little light actually on the rocks, so it made sense to treat them in silhouette. Also, the color is a bit fanciful. (As if you couldn't tell!)

The next stop will be a few shots from the Islands in the Sky area of Canyonlands. It's a wonderful drive that gave us an opportunity to look down upon the White Rim Road that we had taken earlier in the week.

Arches National Park

Ok, ok. So I have been absent for a while. Sorry about that. Things have been rather busy around here what with children coming home from fall classes, my sisters wedding tomorrow, a rather whirlwind couple of weeks at work... Well, you get the idea.

Now, back to Arches. It's a lovely place, it really is. We only spent a day in the park, which was a full half-day more than we had originally intended, but we did get a nice bit of weather while we there.

The morning started out with a hike through the Devil's Garden area under mostly overcast skies, mild temperatures, and a near gale-force wind. Not to mention several hundred other tourists.

The first image is Landscape Arch. It's one of those hard images. It was the only one I was remotely happy with, so I worked an HDR from 9 images out of a single RAW. Which is not a method I can recommend. That eerie HDRish thing is going on and I can't say that I'm overly pleased with it, but it will have to do.

The arches in Devils Garden (and the entire area for that matter) have eroded from a mixed set of what they "fins" and "slots", which are basically long slender rock formations cut by cleft valleys that parallel one another as they run through the park. Water and wind have undercut the fins in many places, leaving the magnificent arches behind.

The next image is from Double Arch. If you look closely you can just make out the smaller arch beneath the large one.

After Devils Garden we stopped to check out Sand Dune Arch, which was hidden deep between two fins and surrounded by so much sand that it was difficult to walk.

I've got a few more Arches shots to go before our day in the park was over. Hopefully these will do for now :)

A Change In Plans

Our original plans for Utah included several days at a remote campsite in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. To be more specific, we were going to stay at back country site called "Horsehoof" (of all things). The problem was that the site is situated deep within the back country and requires that you either hike in (we weren't prepared for that) or traverse a rather serious 4wd trail known as "Elephant Hill" to get there. Our intentions were good, but one look at the weather report (forecast was for rain) and a good, long look at the first section of the trail sent us looking for, well, shall we say, less cumbersome adventures.

I had planned to spend my time there in relative seclusion (few tourists visit due to the difficult access) photographing in an area of the back country known as "Chesler Park." The place has been described as a photographers paradise, and getting into it will be at the top of my list next time I visit, even if I should have to hike in. But as we surveyed our situation at the gates to Elephant Hill (arriving in the park with only a few hours before sunset didn't help) we all decided that it was best to head back to Moab and Negro Bill, where we couldn't get rained-in if the weather turned foul.

So a new plan was hatched. One that would keep us safe regardless of the weather and allow to spend more time in Arches National Park than we had originally planned. On the way out of the Needles section we stopped at a site known as "Newspaper Rock." Hundreds of years of signs and symbols have been pecked into the patina of the cliff walls here, and no one has any good idea of what the symbols mean, when they were created, or even exactly who left them.

The first of today's pics was literally taken roadside as we were leaving the Park. The second shot is from NR, and it's one you wont see in the guidebooks. It was taken to the left of the main panel as I was trying to show the whole environment rather that just the rock art.

Next stop, Arches NP.

Dealing with Flare

The Zenitar 16mm is not the kindest lens with regards to flare. In fact, as you can see in today's photo, it's pretty bad. As a rule I try to accept flare and work with it when I can. After all, it's a natural part of the photographic process, so why fight it? Besides, all those funky little spots intrigue me. And sometimes I think they can look pretty cool.

This image shows another arroyo, this time looking down towards the Colorado river. Its another HDR that has had more cosmetic work done on it than Phyllis Diller, including the addition of grain and lots of selective sharpening. (and a little blurring in the background)

This is the last shot I'll be sharing from the White Rim Road. It was taken the morning we drove out and the next stop will be an image from the Needles section of Canyonlands.

The Big Dipper

One of the neatest thing about being in the desert was the relative lack of light pollution. It really made for some starry skies. Had it not been for the waxing moon, which rose well before sundown, I'm sure things would have looked even better. We all talked a couple of nights about setting an alarm to get up early after the moon had set, but it never happened.

This shot was taken at the Airport camp along the White Rim Road, and I believe the tower on the left is the one they refer to as "Airport Tower", but I couldn't swear to it.

In this image the rising moon puts just enough glow on the tower and the surrounding cliffs to make it interesting. This was a 30 second exposure at f4, using iso800 with a 16mm Zenitar lens. The Zenitar is kinda fishy, so I did defish it a little so that it didn't look so twisted. But frankly, now I'm not sure I like the image as well. The defishing led to some cropping and it looks quite different from the original frame.

Also, I did run neat-image through the shot to clean it up. So some of the smaller stars were no doubt gobbled up in the noise reduction.

Undecided

This is an image of one of the many arroyos that wind down to the Green River. I initially chose the sepia treatment because the color version seemed so tame, but then once I had them both it was really a tough decision. I like different aspects of each.

Then I got to thinking... there is nothing to keep me from posting two images. So there ya go.