Ultra-wide Again

I have done without an ultra-wide angle on my Canon 5D Mark II for some time. And for the most part, I wasn't missing it. But several friends advised me that I would appreciate (need) a wider view for some of the locations I planned to visit during my October Utah trip. I was able to borrow a friend's 17-40mm, and enjoyed using the lens. In fact, some of my best shots from the trip resulted from that lens. So, I began shopping for my own. After months of considering and researching all (yes, ALL) the options available from Canon, Zeiss, Nikon with an adapter, etc., etc., I decided on the Canon TS-E 17mm f/4 L. Why? Well, it certainly wasn't price! Ouch! This is an expensive lens. But image quality and tilt-shift were the deciding factors, for me. And all the reviews I read, led me to believe that I would not be disappointed.

I'm not going to go into a full review. You can find those elsewhere. But what I will say is... This is a superb lens. Absolutely top-notch build quality. A joy to use in the field. Outstanding image quality - sharp corner to corner, no vignetting and no chromatic aberration. I would recommend this lens to anyone.

I went out to my familiar stomping grounds, Chautauqua Park, this morning lucked out with some spectacular sunrise light. So here is one of the first images off my new 17mm. Its going to be fun to again play with the ultra-wide perspective...

Return to Slickhorn Canyon

I apologize for my posts jumping back and forth between Canyonlands and Slickhorn Canyon. I was inspired (in different ways) by both locations. So I keep returning to both image folders. And I've been processing images as they strike my fancy - the benefits of one's own blog. ;-)

Here are a few more images from Slickhorn Canyon...

The site of the Slickhorn Kiva also has several well preserved and interestingly constructed granaries. This granary not only has a cool sloped roof, but was situated next to another structure which at one time was roofed with cedar timbers. The roof has since collapsed, but the hand-hewn timbers are still present.

Kiva Granary

Previous visitors have collected pot shards from the site and arranged them together on one of the timber roofed granary wall stones. Personally, I prefer to leave artifacts right where I find them, but creating such collections seems to be a common practice. And its certainly better than visitors pocketing the goods.

Slickhorn Shard Collection

So far, I've posted mostly images of the incredible ruins in Slickhorn Canyon. Well, there's plenty of great scenery in these canyons too! October is the time for fall colors, and the canyonlands hold some beautiful changing foliage.

Slickhorn Autumn Palette

Oh, and... Watch your step!

Luckily this small rattlesnake sensed me approaching and let me know he wasn't happy with my human intrusion. He was no more than 24" long, but could have caused me a lot of trouble with a poorly placed step. Let's just say the nearest hospital wasn't, well... very near. I left him alone after a few quick shutter clicks. I believe this is a juvenile Great Basin (Western) Rattlesnake, but I'm not a snake identification expert. Please, let me know if I'm wrong!

Great Basin (Western) Rattlesnake

Slickhorn Kiva

This is an amazingly well preserved kiva in Slickhorn Canyon in Southeastern Utah. Its fantastic condition is largely due to its remoteness, difficult access and relatively recent discovery.

I find words hard to describe the reverence and awe that I feel when I'm visiting such places. The lives of those who lived and communed here were so different from my own. Yet, at our core we could not be more similar - love of family and spirit and appreciation for the land and sky. I hope I may one day share these ancient places with my children.

Aztec Butte Granary

Aztec Butte Granary ~ Canyonlands National Park, Island of the Sky District...

I can't believe that I had this place all to myself for the entire evening. I spent almost 2 hours shooting the changing light as the sun set. This image was my favorite of the bunch and was taken just after sunset.

Mesa Arch Starry Night

Recently, I've seen some amazing night photography from some of my peers. Some of this has been spurred by the incredible light sensitivity - high ISO capabilities - of recent imaging sensors. It has inspired many to stretch their creativity and continue taking photos long after sunset.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try my hand at night shooting and light painting while spending time under some of the darkest skies in all of North America - the Utah desert. Another photographer, Eric Vaughan, and I spent over an hour at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park - Island in the Sky District. The sky was very dark by 8pm and we began experimenting with exposures, strobes, and a large "million candle power" hand held spotlight. It was a lot of fun and the instant feedback of viewing images on our camera's LCD screen made the trial and error much easier and more successful. The following image was taken with my Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L @ 17mm, with an exposure of 25 seconds @ f/4, ISO 3200 and a dash with the spotlight across the arch. I'm amazed and the number of stars visible and the relative lack of noise. This image probably won't hold up for large prints, >16"x20" due to the amount of noise and slight trailing of the stars. But the fact that this is only a 25 second exposure just blows me away. I will continue to experiment with some of the newer blending and night shooting techniques and try to further improve the resulting image quality.

Slickhorn Canyon Granary

I just returned from several days in the Canyonlands and Cedar Mesa areas of Utah. I visited some well known locations and did some long hikes to lesser known spots. I'll be posting new images from this trip over the next couple of weeks.

Here is an image a very well preserved granary deep inside Slickhorn Canyon...

Another Red Peak Sunrise

Here's another from the same area looking at Red Peak...

First Light on Red Peak

Earlier this month I'd planned on spending a weekend backpacking at Willow Lakes, in the Eagles Nest Wilderness - a place that has been on my "must photograph" list for a long time. Unfortunately, I had to cancel/postpone that trip, yet again. I couldn't get that location out of my mind and I just couldn't bear to let it slip away, yet again, this summer. So yesterday I woke at 1:15am and drove to the trailhead and hit the trail. Roughly 5.5 miles of hiking in the dark landed me at the location shown below at just the right time.

First Light on Red Peak ~ Eagles Nest Wilderness

I'll post more images from this area later this week...

Paradise B&W

Watanga Mountain and an Unnamed Spire - Paradise Park, Rocky Mountain National Park

Ten Lake Park

Another location from the Paradise Park trip a couple weeks ago. This is sunset at Ten Lake Park...

And a vertical, if you prefer...

Frost in July

We spent our last night at Ten Lake Park (yes, there are 10 lakes - at least) and we woke to a crisp, fresh and slightly frosty morning. And yes, this is July in the Rockies - at 11,250 feet elevation! We had mostly cloudless skies and our location shadowed us from the early morning sun. So my attention turned to the minute details of the frost edging the wildflowers leaves and lacing the tundra.

Bistort and Globefower...

The leaves of the Globeflower remind me of Strawberry plants and looked beautiful trimmed in frost...

I shot the above image at the extent of my Canon EF 24-105 L f/4's macro capabilities. But we can take advantage of the Canon 5D MarkII's megapixels and zoom in with a severe crop. Of course, the image below will not hold its detail for large prints, but it is wonderful to look at on the web...

And here's one more where you can see the frozen crystals on the tundra...

I could have stayed here admiring these frosty details for hours. But we had a long day of hiking in front of us, and of course the frost disappeared the instant the sun touched us.

As beautiful as the morning was, packing up a wet and frosty camp is not a lot of fun - cold, wet hands and sloppy, soaked equipment...

Watanga Mountain Sunrise

A spectacular sunrise to start off our 3rd day in Paradise Park...

The Unnamed

We found many strikingly beautiful features in Paradise Park that were unnamed - lakes, streams, waterfalls, and even significant peaks. This is an unnamed waterfall just below the outlet of a large unnamed lake which is located in an unnamed cirque below a rugged, craggy unnamed peak. How's that for vague? For all you geo-inclined, its here - 40.19065833 N,-105.69019667 W.

View from Camp 2

On our 2nd day in Paradise Park, we only moved our camp about a 1/2 mile. We spent the rest of the day exploring down further in the basin - lush and gorgeous. After hiking most of the day (more of those pics will follow), we were treated to a stormy sunset dappling light across the rugged landscape. Rocks, tarns and mountains. Gotta love it!

View of Paradise

I recently returned from a very special place - Paradise Park in Rocky Mountain National Park. This is a special research area. There are no established trails and overnight camping is prohibited. My good friend, Erik Stensland, obtained a special permit for us to stay several nights to photograph and document this little seen part of the park. It is SPECTACULAR. This is our 1st camp. More images will follow...

Calypso Cascades

This is the popular Calypso Cascades just 1.8 miles up from the Wild Basin trailhead. The mid-day light was not optimal for rushing water images. But I found this image pleasing to my eye, so I thought I'd share.

Pine Grosbeak

I ran into this colorful, fluffy, little guy along the Lion Lakes Trail (see previous post) just after sunrise. He was hopping around sipping dew off the bright green Whortleberry leaves and didn't seem to mind my company. This is the first Pine Grosbeak I've seen in all my years of hiking. So he had me guessing at his identification until I got home and looked him up in my bird guide. And yes, he is a "he." :-)

I started my day very early this morning - waking at 2:15am and driving to the trailhead. I donned my pack and headlamp and left the trailhead just before 4:00am, headed for Lion Lake #1, approximately 6.5 miles into the beautiful Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park. This is a strenuous hike, and the trail was very wet with snowmelt and remnants of previous day's rains, so I was pleased with my pace. I arrived at the lake shortly before 7:00am - too late for sunrise, but the light was still pretty nice as it worked its way across Mount Alice and down the hillside to the various ponds and lakes. Storm clouds began brewing very early this morning and I watched them pour over the ridges as I grabbed a quick snack. This was mostly a scouting trip (I plan to return later in the summer), so I didn't spend too much time at the lake though the incredible beauty beckoned me to explore for hours.

Here's a shot of Mount Alice before it was enveloped in clouds...

Happy 4th of July!

Here's a shot from last night's fireworks after the Colorado Rockies game at Coors Field...

Rockies Game

A few from last night's Colorado Rockies game. Big thanks to my friend Brent Doerzman for inviting me to share some great seats. :-) And just to be fair, my camera was being passed around and I'm pretty sure at least one of the following was taken by Brent Murphy.

Fern and Flowers

It's a little hard to believe that green undergrowth like this is from Colorado. But the season has been extraordinarily wet and the Hanging Lake trail is a wet place.

Piney Lake False Hellebore

I'd planned on photographing Piney Lake, north of Vail, CO, for sunset last Saturday, but clouds moved in, the ceiling lowered, rain started and the higher elevations were obviously getting snow. Luckily the drive in was not a total bust. The wet meadows were full of Marsh Marigolds, Corn Lily (or False Hellebore) and whatever those pretty little yellow flowers are (I couldn't find an ID for them).

By the way, apparently False Hellebore is quite toxic. So even though those leaves look perfect for your backcountry ceasar salad, definitely refrain from munching on them. ;-)

Butterfly

I'm not much of a wildlife photographer, and certainly not a insect macro expert. But when the opportunity presents itself, I'll try to get some snapshots. Here's a butterfly that was hanging out on the wildflowers (penstemon?) along the trail to Hanging Lake. Can anyone help with the butterfly ID?

Sunset on Grizzly Peak

Since he accused me of teasing with just one image from Hanging Lake, this one's for TC. ;-) Thanks for letting me borrow some of your clouds Saturday!

This is Grizzly Peak from the top of Loveland Pass.

More from Ute Pass, Hanging Lake and Loveland Pass on the way. Stay tuned!

Hanging Lake

I was out and about yesterday hitting a couple new photo spots and an oldie but goodie, Hanging Lake. This is a very popular 1.2 mile hike in Glenwood Canyon, just outside Glenwood Springs, CO. I spent a few hours hanging out for the right conditions - some clouds, no wind, no people in the shot. Here's a quickie with not much processing and 2 out of 3 of the above. :-)

One more Big Dominguez waterfall photo

Here's another perspective of the large waterfall in Big Dominguez Canyon...

We were lucky to have a powerful thunderstorm passed just North of our sunset photo location. Lucky that we could photograph the storm and even luckier that it didn't dump rain and hail on us!

No Man's Mesa Sunset

A spectacular view was the reward for the difficult climb to this location above Little Dominguez Canyon.

Backpacking Dominguez Canyons

I spent 3 days backpacking in the newly created Dominguez Canyons Wilderness, just South of Grand Junction, Colorado. My goals were to explore further into Little Dominguez and some of it's side canyons, and to get a better image of the large, unnamed waterfall in Big Dominguez. Both goals were accomplished!

We had uncommonly rainy weather, but it provided some dramatic skies and kept the temperatures cool. I'll be writing up a detailed trip report with some fun Google Earth gadgetry. But before I get to that, I'll post some images and comments here over the next week or so.

Here is one of my images of the Big Dominguez Waterfall - a three image vertical stitch...

More Morning Snow

Here's another from yesterday morning - same spot, slightly different composition. Fellow nature photographers seemed to like the horizontal better. I like both, for different reasons.

This version is nicely balanced and you can "see" the whole tree in the foreground. But I like the tight crop and foreground of the vertical version too.

Morning Snow

Colorado has seen a series of recent spring snow storms. This morning I had Chautauqua Park and the Boulder Flatirons all to myself...



Canon 5D Mark II w/ 24-105mm f/4 L IS

Boulder Falls

This is one of the first Canon 5D Mark II files I've done any significant work on. Its not anything spectacular, but I thought I'd post since the big 5D2 files are so nice to work with. This was taken during mid-day light, so I multi-processed 1 raw file into 4 exposures and blended them, did a little burn and dodge and boosted the contrast and saturation just a tad. With respect to the contrast and saturation of the 5D2 files, I'm really pleased with the way the files come straight out of the camera. Anyway, here is Boulder Falls outside of Boulder, CO.

Canon 5D Mark II First Impressions

I took delivery of a Canon EOS 5D Mark II yesterday. Throughout the day, in between work and family, I played with the camera and read through the manual. Here are some first impressions, likes, and dislikes...

• I'm pleased with the overall build and ergonomics. Much of the button, wheel, dial layout is familiar (coming from the 30D).
• The viewfinder is large and bright and the LCD is quite nice.
• The menu redesign is much improved.
• Live view is cool (coming from large format) and the grid, info and histogram overlays are fantastic. But you can't shoot with mirror lock-up from live view? Bummer. Although, its easy enough to compose in live view, then switch off and shoot with mirror lock-up.
• The customizable mode dial settings (C1, C2, C3) and "my menu" are great features that I will use a lot. It will be great to be able to jump from one type of shooting situation to another with the flick of the dial. Here's how I've configured them (for now)...
• C1 - Landscape from tripod: Aperture priority starting @ f/16, ISO 100, mirror lock-up, 2 sec. self timer, etc. I'll likely often use live view with this setting.
• C2 - Trail and Travel hand-held: Aperture priority starting @ f/11, Auto ISO, single shot
• C3 - Wildlife and quick grab: Shutter priority startting @ 250th, Auto ISO, AIServo, multiple shot.
• My Menu - Exposure bracketing, format card, mirror lock-up, date and time (I set this often to sync with GPS), long exposure noise reduction.
• Image quality - wow! I haven't made any prints, yet. But on screen pixel peeping shows lots and lots of details. I post more on this after I do some printing.
• Video - fun! I probably won't use the video for more than casual, documentary. But my kids thought it was cool that we shot video, plugged the camera directly into our HD TV and watched "movies."
  

I ventured out early this morning for a sunrise shoot. The light was less than stellar, in fact boring, and the few clouds did not light up. But I shot a few frames anyway and processed them in Lightroom. It will take a bit more practice to get the best out of the 5D II files, but here's a preview...

Photographer's Sunday

I left the house at 4:00am, drove to Echo Lake and hiked up to the Goliath Natural Area on Mt. Evans to photograph the Bristlecone Pines at sunrise. I had great clouds, but unfortunately the wind was really howling. So many of my images (like the one below) have shaky limbs - nice but probably not gallery material.


But it was a nice hike and it was good to be out. I'll post more images from this hike.

I also worked up a couple panoramic prints for a customer. This is something I really enjoy - not only seeing the final product, but really exercising my craft to squeeze the very best out of and image.

Independence Aspens

Here are some aspen boles from along the West side of Independence Pass, near Aspen, CO.

I've finally got around to updating my Recent Images Gallery, too. Cheers!

Cathedral Spires

I hiked the Cathedral Lake Trail for the first time on September 28, 2008. The trailhead is up the Castle Creek Road from Aspen in the Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness. It is a short (~2.8 miles), but steep (~2000 ft elevation gain), hike to the incredibly scenic Cathedral Lake and it has many, many wonderful views along the way.
The following image is near the end of the trail, about 1/3 mile below Cathedral Lake. I love the blazing color of the tundra and low willow shrubs set against the striking spires in the background.
You'll be seeing a more images from this hike in future posts. :-)

Snowy Range Trip Report

I just posted my full Snowy Range Trip Report with a short write-up, overview map and slideshow.
Enjoy!

Snowy Range Wildflower Trip

I recently returned from a wildflower photography trip to Wyoming's Snowy Range. The wildflower bloom was fantastic and the weather was great. I've begun working through my images and wanted to share a preliminary version of this sunrise 5 image stitch panorama from the Lakes Trail. I still have some tweaking work to do on it, but I really like it so far...

In larger versions, the detail throughout the image is remarkable - from the grasses in the tarn to the jagged rocks of the mountains. This one will definitely end up on the printer. ;-)

Great Sand Dunes Redux

I added another image to my Recent Images Gallery.

This one is a B&W conversion of a dunes abstract I've titled "Pattern and Shadow." I love the dark line patterns leading into the image and the contrast between the hard lines in the foreground and soft shadows playing across the dunes in the background.

The location is mid-way up the Star Dune complex from Medano Creek - a steep and surreal hike.

It looks like a tranquil scene. But as is often the case on early summer afternoons, the wind was howling across the dunes - sand blasting my ankles and attempting to wreak havoc on my camera equipment. My tripod required some extra attention after returning home, but thankfully the rest of my gear escaped the dreaded grit.

Minnehaha Park - Minneapolis

I just returned from a quick weekend to Minneapolis/St. Paul visiting in-laws. After my plane landed, I had an hour to kill. So I'd planned ahead of time to visit one of the oldest parks in Minneapolis... Minnehaha Park. Oddly, the taxi driver had no idea where the park was even though it is less than a 10 minute drive from the airport. Luckily, I'd brought my printed Google Map. There is a nice set of trails centered around Minnehaha Falls and there are also some interesting historic sites. This site provides a good overview. It was an enjoyable morning. Here are a few photos...

Minnehaha Falls

Flowers near the river

Pasque Flowers in the gardens