This place really has it all, aside from skiing that is, though maybe it has that somewheres later in the year. The weather has been perfect and consistent and forecast is more of the same. Blue skies, 60s days, 30s nights. Though a little cloud cover I must say adds to the pic quality.
So the last few days I’ve explored the Glen Canyon area which basically surrounds the joining of the Green and Colorado, returned to Arches a few times for some more shots, and checked out the Slickrock trail. I have found a disinterest in most of the grand scale pics, particularly of the canyon which is a very impressive sight despite the lack of pics showing that.
I found the rules for liquor licensing here to be humorous. A bar has to claim to be a private club and you have to ‘register’ to be a member. The state then counts memberships and charges the bar 3.75$ for each. The one that I went to charged 4$ and then credited it right back to food purchases. lolz.
I called up the local radio station (first time I’ve done that) and made a request for Psycho Killer on Halloween. They played it despite it being a repeat. They don’t get too many callers… I owe them an online donation now. :p
I also made the first print of a photo. I chose an early one I took of a reflected pond with grass.. it looks good at 8″ x 12″ and might even be able to go larger. I am contemplating a camera upgrade rather heavily because I have now studied the technicals enough to manage my own shots manually and I am happy with the results thus far. I think the camera I chose is an excellent one particularly for less than 300$. The limitations are in megapixels, RAW format, exposure length, f/stop range, and viewfinder quality. Haven’t decided on the camera upgrade yet but I think its quite likely. I also need a tripod, polarizer and warming filter. frankly, I’d like a remote as well. Some of those kind of extensions become wasted money if I change camera bodies.
The sun literally is seconds from popping out from behind this mountain. The colors in the pic are surprisingly close to what they were actually like.
Mesa Arch in Glen Canyon. Very tough exposure here.
This shot has absolutely no merit. :p
Basic composition attempt to make something out of nothing.
These coyotes lingered longer than I would have expected which was good for me. Sadie about threw a sprocket. I’m cropping this pic based on two principles. He is position in the upper right corner according to the rule of thirds, and he is glancing towards the frame. Those rules really do work it seems to me. He’s prolly 30 yards away and I don’t recall my zoom.. likely near max.
Here is a depth of field problem I might pass off as art but not really. The insect in the upper left is out of focus which tends to happen on macro shots. Really.. how much more impressive would it be if the bug were in focus? Quite a bit methinks.
I love the noire wood.
Here I am happy the background is blurred. Could prolly crop even closer here. This might be the whiptail lizard.
I was actually gonna post another variant of this, but then I found myself complaining that the background was too distracting. Does this work here with the blurred path or do you generally want the background clear or blurred to oblivion? Not sure…. I find myself looking at this picture and trying hard to bring the path into focus with my eyes. Kind of uncomforable.
Debris scattered on a web.. lovely.. some exposure problems. Very close to washout on the leaf to the right but this IS a tough exposure.. pushing the total range. I am very impressed with the quality of focus on the whole scene aside from some dropoff in the lower left.
From the otherside.. excellent. Less focused than the prior pic but looks good at lower magnify.
Love this composition, some focusing issues. Macro tends to bring a slower shutter speed and this is all handheld. I need a ground level tripod.
These pics were at the same pond (the only body of water I’ve seen aside from the Col and Green R.) I had posted some ‘overly complicated’ pictures of before. Some clever lighting here.. definately simpler.
This is the arch from the more traditional side. I hate knowing I’m taking pics that have been taken a gazillion times. That’s why I included the dude to the left. I doubt THIS pic has been taken. (There are other good reasons for a dude in the pic).
These crows all but sang Tom Jones for attention. Worked to my favor. Loved playing with the manual exposure here to pick up detail in a very dark surface with a fairly light background. I would not trust auto with this. I was going for faster shutter because this was handheld and zoomed, but fairly low overall light requires a higher aperture and this camera tends to put some fringing on the edges with a wide aperture. Worked out here though. You can almost see me reflected in their eyes. Top notch. These were mates clearly and they would coo and rub beaks.
Not sure I like how I cropped this but gives more of the bird.
Texture. Scale free.
This is what I hope to be an unorthodox shot that is still hopefully of some interest.
Spectators for the sunset on the arch. The word is out. This is the best sight at Arches IMO. The trail up is well designed to hide the arch, give you other nice sights along the way, and then surprise you at the end.
Not sure the ‘impatient’ pose fits the patient/durable/timeless impression of the rock but it was a teenager so you know how it goes..
This guy was actually working, pushing cattle up into BLM land. Postcard shot.. I think the polarizer would of helped pop the colors out better. Photoshop might could help. Good shot. i like this one.
I have nothing to say about this one. It is perfect. Such a surprise.
This was a from the hip shot. Impressive that that the camera didn’t explode looking straight at that sun.
Both of these are attempts to make something from nothing. Does it work?
Black and white seemed appropriate here with sharp defined lines. Who cares about the colors?
Too busy for B&W.. I still like it. On this monitor it looks like I should have stepped up the exposure one to catch some of the mountainside and highlight the power poles.. but maybe not. I should just bracket shot everything.
This was from the road alongside the Colorado which is suprisingly calm flowing. I actually prefer the minor rippling here over perfectly smooth.
Random Sadie Shot !!!!
So the rest are of the Slickrock trail. I manually exposed all these, keeping shutter speed VERY high. The bright sun allowed for some leeway so these are pretty good. I also learned the beauty of continuous shooting mode. I think this camera prolly can get 2-3 fps. Not bad.
I like the angle here and the shadow\rock detail this allows.
Back lit subjects still well exposed.
Trucks, motorcycles, bikes, and a dude running around with a camera. They all share this playground. There was a group of dudes on bikes talking about these guys. One said ‘It’s all fun until you rollover then it gets expensive’. The other guy said ‘Nah. Then you just get a new one.’ Lolz.
I like the shots where the bikers watch the trucks, reminds me of different species of animal observing each other.
This guy was game for the camera. Oh the wonders of 1/1600s shutter. No blur at all.
Who is this guy? Threat? Food?
