### Saturday Nov 05, 2011 at 00:07

# 51 weeks and counting

I figured I should post something here before the bell tolled on a full year of blog silence. It’s been, shall we say, an interesting year – one which provided few opportunities for photography.

Since settling back in Colorado in August, I’ve had a few opportunities to start shooting again. Alice and I took a road trip around Colorado to try and catch some of the fall colour.

Starting out in Aspen, we proceeded from there to Crested Butte then down to Ridgway and Telluride. Without at doubt, the San Juans of SW Colorado are my favourite part of the state.

Fall Colour on Last Dollar Road (click image for larger view)

The picture this year was very mixed – some very poor conditions (particularly around McClure Pass – I’ve seen shots from here in some years that are amongst the very best aspen images you’ll find), but also some very intense, bright colours in other parts of the state.

The reds and oranges along Last Dollar Road were the best I’ve seen them (in four years of visiting):

Full Spectrum (click image for larger view)

Dallas Divide did not disappoint either, with some glowing leaves mixed with cloud and snow (although not as much as was to arrive a couple of days after this shot):

Full Spectrum (click image for larger view)

I’ll post a few more in the coming days.

Posted in Locations

Stephen · Saturday, November 05, 2011, 00:07 · Permalink · Comment

### Friday Nov 12, 2010 at 19:27

# Back on the road

For the first time in a long while, the camera had a chance to come out and play on a recent, brief trip over to Utah. With our friends Doug and Terri, we headed over to Zion National Park hoping to catch some peak autumn colour. While we were around a week early for that, things were still looking very pretty in the Narrows:

Virgin River Narrows (click image for larger view)

On the day of our hike, the river was running at around 52 cfm (cubic feet per minute), less than half the max allowed by the park service for walkers to enter the Narrows. Water temperature was a chilly 46F, so I was glad we hired dry-suit pants from the Zion Adventure Company. (We saw a couple of parties wading up-stream in bare legs and running shoes – they didn’t look happy and didn’t stay very long. Quel surprise.)

Wall Street (click image for larger view)

We ventured as far as the Wall Street section before heading back out. The day was perfect – blue skies overhead (giving a very cool feel to the canyon) and perfectly still – great for foliage shots (unlike my visit last year where things were moving way too much in the wind).

The next day, we explored a couple of other areas of the park on the hunt for some decent colour. At higher elevation, the maples were turning nicely:

Mixed Maples (click image for larger view)

We headed back to Colorado via Scenic Byway 12 and Route 24 – one of the great drives of the American West – passing through Capitol Reef National Park just in time for sundown:

Chimney Rock (click image for larger view)

…then onward to Moab for the night. The next morning, we briefly explored Negro Bill Canyon, located off the 128 road that follows the Colorado River back towards I70. Some nice scenes in the shady parts of the canyon (sadly, not too many shady areas left by the time we got there):

Autumn cactus (click image for larger view)

Wish we could have spent longer, but it’s still possible to see a ton of great stuff in just a couple of days.

Posted in Locations

Stephen · Friday, November 12, 2010, 19:27 · Permalink · Comment [2]

### Tuesday May 11, 2010 at 16:30

# Blooming Arches

Spring is sprung in Arches National Park. The image above is from this morning, right by the roadside at Courthouse Towers, minutes from the park entrance.

I shared this spot with Joe Zinn who I’d previously run into at the Pawnee Buttes last June.

Joe told me that this particular plant has been around for at least the last ten years. So long as you’re equipped with a suitably wide-angle lens, it is perfectly situated for this shot (as other, more famous, photographers have long known!)

Off to the Fiery Furnace now.

Posted in Locations

Stephen · Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 16:30 · Permalink · Comment [4]

### Saturday May 01, 2010 at 20:51

# It was chilly in New Mexico

Sand, Snow, Sky (click image for larger view)

Courtesy of the Icelandic volcano, our friend Jim from the UK ended up staying for an extra week. Thinking what best to do with the additional time, we decided a brief trip back down to Santa Fe was the thing to do.

Santa Fe has great food and interesting architecture, and the prices for accommodation at this time of year were fantastic! I hadn’t expected to wake up to snow there last Friday morning however. Not too surprising I suppose, given that Santa Fe lies at 7,000 ft.

On the way back north we stopped for one night at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. They had received 18” of snow the previous night and much of it was still left. We headed out for dawn the next morning.

Sunrise was blocked by clouds, but there were still some interesting shots to be found. The image above shows the snow blending into the wind-blown dunes. The patterns and gradients contrast well with the clearing skies above, I think.

The image was converted using Nik Silver Efex Pro, which does a wonderful job at this sort of thing. I pulled the brightness down a little, increased contrast and structure before applying a red filter to darken the skies and then going further and reducing the blue sensitivity to add a touch more drama. A small amount of grain emphasized the textures found in the lower half of the shot.

Medano Creek was flowing with a wonderful mix of ice shelves and frost all being gradually eroded away by the continuous surge waves that make this such a unique place to visit.

Posted in Locations

Stephen · Saturday, May 01, 2010, 20:51 · Permalink · Comment [1]

### Sunday Apr 11, 2010 at 18:23

# Around Page, Arizona

I hit a couple of the Page “classics” last night and today, Horseshoe Bend and Lower Antelope Canyon.

I’d guess that on an average non-winter’s day, on the basis of this morning’s attendance, there are probably at least 3000 photographs taken in Lower Antelope Canyon per day, so taking something original is going to be a challenge. But that’s not really the point – it’s such an amazing place, that, original or not, it’s well worth the visit.

Lower Antelope is far less of a circus than Upper. Fewer visitors and no need to be shepherded around, if you pay for a photographer’s pass.

Horseshoe bend – again, originality isn’t the theme here, but, what a view:

Off to Stud Horse Point with Jim Talaric now…

Posted in Locations

Stephen · Sunday, April 11, 2010, 18:23 · Permalink · Comment

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