Life On Mars

Red Rock on Highway 313

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting the Colorado Plateau of Utah, Arizona, and Colorado, it's not like any other place on Earth. Human beings are rather used to seeing life all around them: we look at the mountains not thinking about how we aren't just seeing the rock, but also the living things on the mountain and the result of those organisms being there. Make no mistake plants hold mountains together, and they can change a dull rock into an enduring testament of life: think of a tree seemingly fused together with a solid granite bolder.

But the Colorado Plateau is somewhat different. It's basically a giant photography studio. Here the scenic beauty is dominated by the landforms and the plants and animals have little if any impact. Which is what makes it so photographically appealing: red rock with green plants? How great is that? You don't even need to worry about filters (I was sitting dead red in terms of filter the entire trip) or shooting in black and white (a tremendous waste of red rock in my opinion). In fact the only thing you really need to worry about since everything is so still and lifeless is light.

Well, that and weather. My recent trip to Canyonlands National Park and Goblin Valley was marred somewhat by bad weather. August is the wettest and most unpredictable month weather wise, and in the desert the weather can change fast. Very fast. This is why I did not hike Little Wildhorse Canyon, a fantastic and photogenic slot canyon. While it was dry as a bone when I went to the trail head, the dark thunderclouds ahead just posed to great a risk of a flash flood.

In fact, massive merging thunderstorms prevented me from hiking there, albeit while giving me a hell of a show in terms of lightening. Lesson in photographic frustration: I stood at the viewpoint for 30 minutes snapping well over 200 pictures trying to get a shot of lightening. Nothing. Nothing even though I was snapping while lightening struck. Shutter speed was off, and too make matters worse, I was increasing the shutter speed when I should have been lowering it.

No technical details with these photos, because, well I just fooled around until I got the light right. That's what makes red country so inviting: it's easy to shoot, and everything is photogenic.

Colorado River

This photo I took just east of Moab. The Colorado River here is muddy with red soils, but unlike a lot of other rivers, mud does not make the Colorado uglier, in fact it makes it more beautiful. I took this to show the contrast between the shaded river and the sunlit river.

An experiment in perspective: cliffside view from the first angle. Step forward two feet and it looks like an aerial view.


Goblins at Goblin Valley. Actually, just one Goblin taken from different sides. These rocks are fascinating and I'm sure you could easier scour the valley trying to find the most photogenic one. Goblin Valley was one of the most lifeless and serene places I've ever been. It truly is Mars on Earth.


I was hiking early in the morning and turned just in time to see the light hit the Butte before it hit the rest of the valley. The result was two minutes to shoot this spectacular, once a day lighting situation.



The fun thing about red rock is that lowering the aperture and/or shutter speed essentially dictates whether the rock will appear dark red or a glowing orange, and in both cases it makes for great photos.


15 Second Exposure of a campfire. Accident that occurred when I was trying to shoot at night and I decided to have some fun.

Sierra Nevada National Parks

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park. It was a lot of fun for the most part. I really enjoyed Sequoia, particularly Generals Highway, a winding, climbing road that takes you from a hot Mediterranean like hills to cool, fern covered forest higher in elevation, to dryer forests dominated by Sequoias. Sequoia is also a park with a huge back country and relatively small front country, so there's plenty of exploring to be done.

Yosemite is awe-inspiring but I must say that it is just impossibly busy in the summertime: I did some rough mental math and the density of the Yosemite Valley on a summer weekend is roughly the same as that of a mid-sized city. It was difficult to get shots without people in them and I didn't even stop anywhere in the actual Yosemite Valley outside of Bridal Veil Falls because it was so busy, although I stopped more frequently over Tioga Pass.

Photography wise, at both Sequoia and Yosemite, the conditions were less than ideal because of a slight haze: some of it from forest fires, and some of it, like most of California, I'm sure was from smog. And lots of tourists.

It's been a while, and I took a lot of shots, so I'm a bit light on the technical side this post.

Anyway....some shots:

Pano From Washburn Point

This is a decent shot through the haze and the obvious photo seam on the right side, but that just goes to show how spectacular the scenery in Yosemite is.

Pano From Glacier Point

This shot is a bit better, but notice the haze still surrounding Half Dome and the deeper pockets of air.

Tioga Pass Panos

I like these two panoramas taken over Tioga Pass (unfortunately I don't know what specific geographic features/mountains they are) and in them I'm kind of channeling Ansel Adams. The Sierra Nevada lend themselves well to black and white, although you lose the contrast between the green trees and the gray rock when you go to black and white.

General Sherman Pano

Increasingly I'm getting the hang of using panos to get full pictures of tall objects, and General Sherman, the largest tree on Earth, was perfect for this. It's impossible to fully appreciate the size from this picture, but it's better than just a one click looking up photo.

Moro Rock Through The Trees

Instantly this made me think of the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Moro Rock dominates the view from Generals Highway as you enter Sequoia, and when you get to it, it's an easy climb: kind of a poor mans Half Dome. At this point the forest is still hot, full of bugs (mosquitoes unlike anywhere I've ever been....and that's including Alaska) and mostly made of scrub oak.

Tumbling Water

In this photo I tried to show the clear green water above, the bands of color in the rock, and then eventual tumbling whitewater.

Visiting Goblin Valley and Canyonlands soon.....will do better to post soon after the trip.

Some Photos From The Coast

Thought I would share some photos from a recent trip to the Oregon Coast....didn't really have time to stop and take a lot of shots, but just a few, and a bit unique for me so far as they are almost all of wildlife.


An elk outside Veneta, OR. This was early morning and I shot a dozen or so shot in sport mode, it worked well, but with the slight black out on the display after each shot it was sometimes hard to keep pace with the elk.

Flowers near Newport.


This shows how sequences can work out great (even if they are a bit overexposed)


Pop: suddenly another harbor seal appears!

Checking out the photog in the river.

Thank You For Voting-Photo Contest Vote Winners

I want to quickly post the winners of the Oregon Wild Photo Contest Vote. Thank you to all who voted and I hope you all check in from time to time.

The Horseshoe


Proxy Falls


South Sister Pano


Marys Peak Trees


Mt. Bachelor Through The Buttercups

Obviously, expect a post if any of the photos win in the contest.

Thank you again!

Checking In!

Today is the last day to vote in the Oregon Wild Photo Contest....voting closes at Midnight.

In the meantime, I have finished the bar exam and have hit the road for a solid month, so expect lots of updates with pics of Sierra Nevada forests and red rock deserts.

VOTE-Oregon Wild Outdoor Photo Contest

I am entering the Oregon Wild Outdoor Photo Contest and need your help to pick the five photos to submit. Please vote in the sidebar survey, or by commenting, and vote for five please. Voting ends August 1st. Here are my candidates:

The Horseshoe

Marys Peak Trees

Mt. Hood From Marys Peak

Broken Top

Odell Lake from Eagle Rock

Clear Lake Rainstorm

Metolius Chipmunk

Watson Falls

South Sister Pano

Mt. Bachelor Thru The Buttercups

Mt. Bachelor Meadows
(And let me know if you think this is too bright, I have other exposures)

Proxy Falls Trails

Mt. Jefferson at Dee Wright

South Sister with Flower

Proxy Falls

Proxy Falls

Upper Proxy Falls
Shutter Speed: 1/4
Aperture: 8.0
Mode: Manual

Overall, this was a decent day shooting wise. We got to the waterfalls early in the morning around 9 AM, and we were the first ones in the parking lot. First we went to Upper Proxy Falls, and I had forgotten how impressive it is in person, yet frustrating a photographic subject: its thin, difficult to frame, and even in the early morning the contrast issues between brightly lit trees and the dark soil was apparent. This made it difficult for me, but even more difficult for the "auto" feature on the camera. In the few shots I took with it, the lighting was horrible.

Still I managed to get some good shots, and more importantly learned how to use shutter speed and aperture in tandem to get the right lighting and effect.

Proxy Falls Panorama
Shutter Speed: Mixed
Aperture: 5.0
Mode: Landscape

Proxy Falls (or Lower Proxy Falls) was really to brightly lit to get great shots, and I don't really like the view from high up. It really is much more gorgeous in person, and you don't get that even in a panorama like this one. When you get down closer, you can get better shots.....but the problem becomes tiny drops on the lens. They don't show up at 1/100 speed, but they do at 1/4, creating undesired raindrops on the camera lens. Still the area right under the falls is a beautiful series of cascades over a variety of fallen trees, covered in mosses and ferns. I did get some cool shot there like this one:

Cascade Below Proxy Falls
Shutter Speed: 1 sec
Aperture: 8.0
Mode: Manual
Color Filter: Positive Film

As you can gather by the longer shutter speed, it was quite dark, and I actually took shots with even lower speed (2.5 sec) that turned out well. The lowered speed creates the effect that the water is hitting something hard when in fact it's just hitting a (relatively) deep pool.

At any rate, it was well worth it, and by the time we got done with Proxy Falls it was starting to get hot, and starting to get busy. (Including two photographers who had far better equipment and more experience than me. Their advice: master software manipulation of the photos.) I suppose the lesson is go to Proxy Falls when its overcast: it will have better lighting for photos and fewer people out hiking.

Outside of that, I did take a whole series of pictures of all the trail signs, in sepia tone, which I really am falling in love with (probably too much).

Gallery: Return from Silverton

Poppy Fields
This is a framing issue for me. I like the way a photo of flowers or dense vegetation looks when framed so that nothing else appears....it looks more colorful. Unfortunately for my purposes, Google Earth would not accept this as there is no landmarks in the photo. Still I like it. B


Mt. Jefferson from Detroit Lake
If I'm honest the picture seems like a waste. Mt. Jefferson is quite impressive here, but would be more so if the lighting was better. The snow doesn't seem that differently colored than the sky, and the three layers of trees having fading colors looks ugly to me. D+


Mt. Washington and Blue Skies
Anyone care to guess I shot this with a blue filter? I like the effect, although there's too much of it, and it makes it looks a bit "70's" to me. But the framing is good, I like the sense of size of the sky. B

Mt. Washington Black and White
Same photo as above yet the framing seems off on this one....too much sky. Still the contrasts between the trees are more apparent, and Cascades always shoot well in black and white. B-

Sparks Lake Sign and South Sister
For the record.....I generally hate sepia tone as needless gimmicky or downright pretentious, but I liked the way the sign looked in this one. Lighting is a bit off, it needs to be lighter. B


Mt. Bachelor Meadows
This is what happens when a great photo gets made into merely a good one. I took 74 photos with different angles and lighting, and while I like the framing, I just couldn't get the brightness of the yellow flowers right. I also worried about the snow getting a nuclear glow. If anything though I learned the camera viewfinder makes the scene look brighter than it actually is. I assure you this is a great photo that turned out to be a good one. B


South Sister Panorama From Elk Lake....

Below are the photos used to make the panorama on the title bar. I was thrilled with how it turned out...I didn't use the panorama feature on my camera because I think this is more fun and I'm a bit skeptical about that. The stitching of the photos has a slight, but barely noticeable flaw near the left of the summit, and that software error is the only thing keeping this from being a straight up A. Thus A-

(The pics are in reverse order from the way they were taken.