Goblin Valley

Here is another panorama that you will need to click on to view properly. This is one of the strangest formations in the entire world. Goblin Valley lies in the middle of Utah's eastern desert. When I first visited Goblin Valley it was at the end of an obscure dirt road. Now the road is paved, it is a Utah State Park and has a campground with showers. It is still strange.

Sierra Panorama -- King's Canyon

This is one picture you will have to click on to see. Panoramas don't view so well in thumbnail views. There was a forest fire burning down-wind of the canyon. The haze is the smoke from the fire. We had to drive on a dirt road for a few miles and then hike up the side of a hill to get to this view. It was worth it. King's Canyon is between Sequoia National Park and Yosemite. Actually, the National Park is King's Canyon/Sequoia National Park.

The power of water

Water holds a power and a fascination for anyone who has lived most of their life in the desert. This is the classic view of the power of water to compel your view. We all know that pure water is a colorless liquid, but we know equally as well that lakes and the ocean sometimes appear blue or green. Here the water is a bright green color. But it is pure and not tainted by anything making the water green. It is the light in the water.

Western Azalea (Rhododenron occidentale)

Although sweeping vistas of mountains and canyons have their attraction, there are always overwhelmingly beautiful spots that capture you attention but are limited to one tree or one plant. One of my regrets is that I cannot be someplace every day of the year to see the succession of beauty that occurs. I am certain that if I lived in the mountains, I would find a new surprise every day of the year. Here is the Western Azalea (Rhododenron occidentale) growing beneath the canopy of the giant Sequoia forest in the Western Sierra Nevada.

Into the depths, the shadow of night falls...

What can you see? In broad daylight you would never be able to see the depths of the Canyon, not because they are not there, but because you cannot see them when there is light. I don't mean that they aren't visible. What I mean is that you do not see the depths because there is too much light. You see other details in the cliffs and rocks and cannot see the huge abyss lying at your feet. Like life, you don't appreciate the light until you have seen the darkness.

The North Rim

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is a totally different experience than that on the South Rim. You are a thousand feet higher and there are almost no crowds of people. You can drive for hundreds of miles on dirt roads to remote overlooks and never see another person. When there aren't any forest fires burning, the air is clear and the weather noticeably cooler. It also takes a good six to eight hours to drive from the South Rim at Canyon Village to get to the North Rim. This is a typical very warm sunny summer day at the North Rim. The mountains on the horizon are the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona, about two hundred miles away by road and about 50 miles away by air, straight across the Canyon.

Dramatic light

If you review a lot of landscape photography, you will quickly learn that one factor is the use of dramatic light. Most of the memorable shots come in the early morning or late in the evening when the lower sun brings out more of the reds and yellows. Midday sun usually results in harsh shadows and flat colors. Time constraints create windows of opportunity, but you need to be up early and stay late to get the best shots. As I walk along, where ever I happen to be, I automatically frame pictures in my mind. That is not to say that some of my pictures do not benefit from cropping, but I try to choose a well composed subject matter initially. Let the light draw your eye into the photo. See what is really there, not what you initially think is there.