Monument Valley Tribal Park

                                        Tear-drop Arch

                             Monument Valley is located on the border between Arizona and Utah.  It belongs to the Navajo Nation, but visitors are able to drive through the park on a specific road.  To visit other sections of the park, it is necessary to hire a local guide, which are easy to find at the visitor's center.  Tear-drop arch is one of the sites that requires a Navajo guide to visit.  It is best lit in the late afternoon.


Tech details:  Nikon F3, 24-55 mm Nikkor zoom, Fujichrome Velvia, film scan.

                   Sandstone monoliths


Tech Info:  Mamiya 645, 45mm lens, Polarizer, Fujichrome Velvia, film scan.

                                         Mittens- Sunset

     The mittens are probably the most well-known monoliths in Monument Valley, having been photographed in several western movies as well as television commercials.  Favorite times of the day to photograph these buttes are sunrise and sunset, especially if there are picturesque clouds present to catch the warm light.  On this evening, we had spent a long day out photographing, and were getting hungry.  On the way back to our room, we stopped at a small restaurant outside of the park and had a Navajo Beef platter.  It was one of the most delicious foods that I've ever had, but on my next visit to the area, I found that the restaurant had closed.  I hope that some day, I can find another restaurant in the area that serves a dish as good as that one!     


   If any of my Facebook friends have a chance to visit this area, I would highly recommend it as one of the most photogenic and enjoyable areas in the Southwest.                        

White Sands National Monument

Afternoon in the sun, on the dunes of White Sands


   After my younger daughter Christine's High School graduation (well over a decade ago), she requested that I take her on a photo trip to the southwest.  She wanted to go to New Mexico, I think partly because some of her friends had told her how cool Taos was.  We decided to see White Sands on the way, and here are a few shots that we took there.  The dunes of White Sands are made of gypsum, a mineral that is entirely different from the silica sands that one usually finds at beaches or other areas of the Southwest.  To me, White Sands has a sort of stark beauty that is different from other deserts.  For the photographers out there, when photographing white sand or snow, it is usually advisable to add at least a stop of extra exposure above what a light meter calls for, since the meter is calibrated to provide only 18% reflectance, or neutral gray. 

Christine photographing at White Sands


   We spent an enjoyable afternoon photographing in the dunes, and then as nightfall approached, I captured the image below as the moon rose in the East.  Notice that Christine takes instruction well- she's using a tripod, just like Dad told her!


Tech info (All images):  Nikon F3, 70-300mm Nikkor zoom, Fujichrome Velvia, film scan.

Moonrise- White Sands National Monument 


   

Antelope Canyon- Page, Arizona

                              Lightbeam- Antelope Canyon

    Antelope Canyon is a very popular and very photogenic slot canyon located near Page, Arizona.  It is located on land owned by the Navajo Nation.  To visit the site, one can either hire a Navajo guide at the road, or there are several guide services in the town of Page which will transport you from downtown to the canyon, plus show you the ins-and-outs of the location.  There are actually two separate canyons, called upper and lower.  The photos shown here are all taken at Upper Antelope Canyon.  This is the more frequently visited of the two, and one can walk through its entire length without any climbing or obstacles (other than an occasional sidewinder rattlesnake that might hide in the shadows now and then).  I've also noticed black widow spiders on the walls in spots, so be alert.  The lower canyon is reputed to be a bit more difficult to negotiate, and is less popular with tourists (although many photographers extoll its virtues).
   If you visit Antelope Canyon with the intent of photographing, the most critical things that you need are a sturdy tripod and a cable release, because it is relatively dark in many parts of the canyon, and long time exposures will definitely be required.  (And don't even consider using flash, or all the beautiful natural lighting, which is the whole point of this spot, will be completely overpowered.)


Tech Info:  Mamiya 645, 45 mm lens, Fujichrome Velvia, scanned transparency

                   Near the entrance to Antelope Canyon
   Early in the morning, the area near the entrance is pretty much dark, and the best light is found at the far end of the canyon.  Later in the morning, the sunlight moves further toward the entrance.  The images above were taken late in the morning


Tech Info:  Mamiya 645, 45mm lens, Fujichrome Velvia, scanned transparency

   Getting optimum exposures here can be a bit tricky, especially with transparency film.  I used spot metering to try to estimate a neutral gray exposure, then bracketed exposures both directions from that setting in half-stop increments for a couple of stops.  My only visit to this spot was in the B.D. era (before digital).  I'd like to go back again someday and try this spot with digital equipment.  Actually, I'd just like to go back again, period, regardless of the circumstances!!

Tech Info:  Nikon F3, Nikkor 24-55mm zoom, Fujichrome Velvia, scanned transparency

Depending on one's tastes, you can make relatively abstract images like the one above by using longer focal length lenses and aiming up higher into the canyon.  These more abstract images are especially found at the far end of the canyon, earlier in the morning.


Tech Info:  Nikon F3, Nikkor 70-300 zoom, Fujichrome Velvia, scanned transparency


I hope all you visitors to my blog will someday be able to visit this spot in person.  In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed viewing these images.
Bill

Mount Hood

                        Sunset- Mt. Hood

My very first look at Mt. Hood was the view above.  We had spent a pleasant day driving down the Oregon coast, then heading east toward the Mt. Hood area, where we had reservations to spend the night.  I was hoping that I'd be able to make it close enough to the mountain that I might be able to get some photos of it at sunset.  The view was totally obscured until the highway passed around the foothills to the left of this view, and then, suddenly, there it was in front of us.  Luckily, there was a small pull-off along the road.  I hurriedly set up my tripod, put a 150mm lens on my medium format camera, and was able to grab this photo before the light changed.


Tech info:  Mamiya 645, 150mm, Fujichrome Velvia, polarizer, warming filter, film scan
   

           Stream with Flowers

The following morning, I spent a pleasant couple of hours exploring the area surrounding Mt. Hood, including this small stream.

           Mt. Hood and Mountain Stream

Sometimes on a trip, there are places that you just don't want to leave.  I've only had a very few hours to spend around Mt. Hood so far, but it's definitely on my list of spots that I'd like to return to some day, for a longer visit.

Tech info:  Mamiya 645, 80mm lens, Fujichrome Velvia, film scan

I hope that my friends viewing this will also have the pleasure of visiting this wonderful area some day.

Bill

Old Barns of Grand Teton National Park

Barn & Bison

On my first visit to Grand Teton National Park, back around 1992 or 1993, my daughters and I were traveling with my Mother and Father in their motorhome.  We had picked up a small pamphlet in Jackson that explained where to find all of the iconic photo locations in the park.  Dad tried so hard to convince me that we should go to the barns on what is called "Mormon Row", but I wasn't interested!  Somehow I had this peculiar notion about what I did and didn't want to photograph in the Tetons, and it probably ran mostly along the lines of Ansel Adams' famous black and white image taken from the Snake River Overlook.  (You can see my previous post of a couple of weeks back for my images taken more recently from that spot.)

Thankfully, I guess that I've become slightly more open minded over the last 20-something years, or at least I've learned to enjoy photographing a few more spots that I stubbornly resisted back then!  Now I always enjoy coming to this spot, even though I've been there many times before.


It is not unusual to find Bison grazing in this area of the park, sometimes in large herds.  On this particular morning, several passed back and forth through my view, but this one fit my composition best.

Sunny Morning- Grand Teton N.P.

Both of the barns above are located within a quarter mile or less from each other.  I've photographed this spot at sunrise before, but I really like it better later in the morning when all of the detail in the barn is well illuminated.  In retrospect, perhaps a few puffy white clouds in the sky might add to the composition, but this just gives me a reason to come back again sometime to this park.


I hope all of my friends will enjoy these images, and that you'll also get a chance to visit this spot.
Bill