Going against the grain

Life is full of twists and turns and sometimes there is light and sometimes we are in the shadows. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from truly seeing things as they are and not as we wish them to be. Listen to the voice of the spirit and live with no regrets.

Seeing all around

Although I do a lot of 360 degree panoramas for Google Earth, I sometimes take 360s without the 180 degree element. This gives a very narrow and long picture that is decidedly strange. Like many other pictures I put here on this Blog, you have to click on the photo to get a larger, more easily seen, view of the photo. There are a number of Apps for the iPhone that will produce almost flawless 360 degree panoramas or you can do the same thing with some camera's utility programs. They do take a lot of storage room on a hard drive however.

Walking towards the light

There are really two completely different sections of Antelope Canyon, the Upper Canyon and the Lower Canyon. Antelope Canyon is entirely on the Navajo Nation (Reservation). Interestingly, it is only about a five minute drive from Page, Arizona. Both canyons are operated through concessionaires from the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation and each has its own family/company. Access to both canyons is strictly controlled and subject to a substantial tour/daily use fee. There are several companies in Page that also have tours of both sections of Antelope Canyon as well as other slot canyons in the area. There is a two hour limit per visit to Upper Antelope Canyon. Commercial photography within the Navajo Nation is highly regulated and subject to a use permit. After all that is said, you should be aware that the tours are well worth the charge.

This picture was taken in Upper Antelope Canyon.

Are the colors real?

Whenever I see a photo from the canyons of Arizona and Utah, I always have to ask myself if the colors are real. How much of what we see is Photoshop and how much is reality? I can say one thing with certainty. The camera can never capture the full spectrum of the experience of seeing these places in person. I have noticed that my own eyes, right to left, see color differently. If I look out of one eye at a time and then switch eyes, not only do I get a change in perspective, I also get a marked change in color. So what is the real color of the scene? If you were standing in Antelope Canyon and taking this picture, would you see what is represented above? No. The camera does not record the same light/shadow/color combination that you would see in your eyes. Part of being a photographer is to recognize the potential of the scene and begin to see what can result from taking the picture, not what is there before your eyes.

Masked Faces in Stone

The more I look at this picture, the more faces I see. I can't decide if this confined space, the heart of light, is more bizarre than the open desert. The name "Antelope Canyon" loses all of the mystery and allure of the place and gives no image in return. I could move one foot in any direction and this picture would disappear and another would take its place. There is no other place, except the slot canyons where this is possible. If I were on a mountain top I would only have a wider view, not a more interesting one.

The Heart of Light

Photography is painting with light. This is the heart of light. There are few places on earth where you can really see light as a tangible substance that you can use like paint on a canvas. This is one of those places.

The heart of the agave

Most people classify all sorts of desert plants under the category of "cactus." There is a tendency to equate spines and stickers with cactus. But many of the common desert plants like this agave or Century Plant, are not cactus at all. The cacti are a mostly easily identifiable plant, the spines on cactus are surrounded by areoles, usually light to dark colored bumps out of which grow the spines. No other plants have these structures. This is not a cactus.

A Devotionary Niche

I have lived most of my life in the Southwest and I am acutely aware of the cultural and religious differences of the people all around me. Even if I do not share the specific fundamental religious beliefs of the people who constructed this niche, I certainly understand the devotion and motivation that created the the architectural embellishment. Part of my understanding of their motivation comes from speaking Spanish since I was a teenager. I first learned Spanish in Argentina and then later in Panama and since I graduated from the university with a degree in Spanish, I have background in Spanish literature. In this photo, there is a contrast between the aging relic and the cholla cactus. Both survive in a harsh desert environment and both have endured because of their inherently persistent natures. 

Round Tail Ground Squirrel

I don't take very many animal pictures. The main reason is time and patience. When I see an animal I am usually doing something else and either I don't have a camera or I don't have the time to take the picture. Taking animal pictures is something you have to set out to do and have the time and patience to sit for long periods of time with nothing happening. This was an opportunistic photo, this round tailed ground squirrel was anxious to have its picture taken.

A Matter of Perspective

The huge marble cliff in Little Cottonwood Canyon, just across the Canyon from Snowbird, is shown in the this photo to give some perspective. This is just one of the many cliffs in this canyon, but its distinctive color makes it stand out from its surroundings. I had a closer view of the cliff in my last post and decided to show how the cliff was part of the Canyon and not the dominant feature. One side note, the presence of limestone/marble in the Canyon invites speculation as to the presence of caves and yes, there are caves in these mountains. Just to the south, lies Timpanogos Cave National Monument. Just to the north, is Neff's Cave, which was once considered the deepest cave in North America. Presently, the deepest cave in the world is Kubera on the coast of the Black Sea at 6,824 feet.

The Marble Cliff

I have always been fascinated with this cliff in Little Cottonwood Canyon, outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. Almost all of the other rocks in the area are quartz monzonite commonly called granite. This cliff is in the Deseret Limestone and Gardison Formation and is often referred to as marble and is composed of a metamorphic white limestone. This formation is the location of most of the silver mines located in and around Alta. The cliff is on the north side of the canyon just as you reach the ski resorts.

Top of the Tram, Snowbird, Utah

This year, by the end of the summer, there was still a considerable amount of snow in the high Wasatch Mountains. Snowbird has the Aerial Tram, 10 chairlifts including four high-speed detachable quads and six doubles (most with arm and leg rests), and two conveyor lifts. The top is at 11,000 feet and the bottom is at 7,760 feet above sea level. The Tram covers 2,900 vertical feet in about seven minutes. As usual, you have to click on the image to see the whole picture as it is meant to be seen.

The ultimate view

Humor me. This is the last Grand Canyon picture for a while. But I saved the best for last. You can only see this picture if you click on it and expand it to full size on your screen. The picture captures the essence of the Canyon. There are few places on earth that present such as overwhelming contrast of shapes and light.

Across the Canyon

If you hear about someone hiking across the Grand Canyon, this picture shows the general location of the trail. This section of the Canyon is referred to as the "Corridor" meaning the trails between the North and South Rims of the Canyon. The picture is looking north into Bright Angel Canyon and Roaring Springs Canyon. At the very bottom of the picture to the left of center, you can just see Indian Garden. The prominent trail at the bottom of the picture is a trail the dead ends at Plateau Point. If you hike from Rim to Rim it is about 25 miles and at almost any time the temperatures at the bottom of the Canyon can be very warm to extremely hot.

A Far View, The Grand Canyon in Winter

I guess I am fixated on Winter and the Grand Canyon since it is now going into September and the temperatures are still way over 100 degrees down here in the aptly named Valley of the Sun. We were supposed to have rain the last two days and I suppose someone in the Country did have rain but it never got to us. I always wonder when rain is forecast and the next day is as clear and blue skied as most of the other 365 days we have here every year. Don't get me wrong. I do not mind the heat unless I have to work outside in it. Most of us troglodytes never see the sun except through a double-paned window. 

Winter Storm over the Grand Canyon

Bad weather equals good photography weather. In bright sunlight on a clear day, the Grand Canyon looks like a giant backdrop, there is no perspective to give depth. With the advent of bad weather, the entire scene changes and the cliffs come alive with color and the Canyon shows off its depth and intricacy. It is a fabulous place to visit and if given the chance, I would go to the Grand Canyon almost before any other location on the planet.

Snow Flurries and the Grand Canyon

The white dots in this photo are snowflakes. The tremendous changes in altitude in the Grand Canyon, over a mile, mean that the bottom of the canyon is desert and the rims of the canyon are in pine forests. The temperature differential can be more than 70 degrees in the same day from the Rim to the River. One day we started out on the North Rim at 6:30 am and the temperature was 28 degrees. By the time we reached Phantom Ranch on the Colorado River at 11:00 am the temperature was 97 degrees and went up from there. I like this photo of the Canyon because it isn't your standard view, but it is more like what you might expect, especially in the winter months, than the travel brochures would have you believe.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I like to highlight my winter shots during August and September to remind me that the whole world is not condemned to 110 degrees and above. Yet. August, 2011 was the hottest month in the recorded history of Arizona. The average temperature, including morning lows and afternoon highs, was 98.3 degrees. August also had the highest average high temperature, 109. The highest average low temperature, 87.5. How did I survive? I really don't know, I never went outside almost the entire month.

An Underground City in the Grand Canyon?

I am always amazed to find yet another huge mystery associated with the Grand Canyon or Arizona, for that matter, that I hadn't heard of previously. This time the story seems to originate from a front page story in the Phoenix Gazette of April 5, 1909 entitled "EXPLORATIONS IN GRAND CANYON Mysteries of Immense Rich Cavern being brought to light Jordan is enthused Remarkable finds indicate ancient people migrated from Orient." There are dozens of online articles and blog posts about the rumored underground city. Although the article attributes the whole investigation to the Smithsonian Institute, which organization denies any involvement.

Here is a quote from the Gazette article so you can get the flavor of the story:

Under the direction of Prof. S. A. Jordan, the Smithsonian Institute is now prosecuting the most thorough explorations, which will be continued until the last link in the chain is forged. Nearly a mile underground, about 1480 feet below the surface, the long main passage has been delved into, to find another mammoth chamber from which radiates scores of passageways, like the spokes of a wheel. Several hundred rooms have been discovered, reached by passageways running from the main passage, one of them having been explored for 854 feet and another 634 feet. The recent finds include articles which have never been known as native to this country, and doubtless they had their origin in the orient. War weapons, copper instruments, sharp-edged and hard as steel, indicate the high state of civilization reached by these strange people. So interested have the scientists become that preparations are being made to equip the camp for extensive studies, and the force will be increased to thirty or forty persons.

 I am afraid that I am becoming more and more skeptical about reports of coverups and strange phenomena. The Grand Canyon is large (understatement) but it has been crawled over by hundreds of hikers, surveyors, mappers, prospectors and assorted other people for over 150 years and it would be more than remarkable if something of this magnitude had simply disappeared or covered up for all these years. As a genealogist, I picked up on the claim that the explorer, G.E. Kincaid, was supposed to be the first white child born in Idaho. If that were the case, he would have been well over 70 years old, because the first white child born in the area that is now the State of Idaho was born in 1838. See what you think. Do a Google search on Underground City in the Grand Canyon.

Faces in the wild

Sometimes I wonder about my mind. I have a tendency to see faces in patterns, not just in the clouds but in rocks and trees. I know there is a well known reason for this, but it is still interesting nonetheless. Can you see the face in this shot of some moss on a rock? Hint. Don't look too carefully. I am always fascinated by the contrast in textures as well as the light and shade. The rock in this case is exquisite.