Tag Archives: NP

March 5, 2013 · 10:43 am

A Telephoto Landscape, Arches National Park, UT

I know this is a sort of cop-out, but in lieu of a full-blown blog post (which I am working on regarding flash photography), I wanted to post the link to my latest article in the Photography in the Parks column of the National Parks Traveler website. I have noted before that I share space with another photographer. She generally has her articles posted near the end of the month while my articles are posted at the beginning of each month. Here’s the latest dealing with the use of telephoto lenses for landscapes. Check it out if you are interested.

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2013/03/photography-national-parks-use-your-telephoto-lens-those-park-landscapes22872

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Filed under Arches National Park, Landscape, National Parks, Photography, telephoto lens, Travel and Photography

Tagged as 70-200, 70-200mm, arches, Arches National Park, Canon, landscape, National Park, NP, Rebecca Latson Photography, scenery, telephoto, UT, Utah, vista

February 23, 2013 · 11:43 am

February in Arches National Park, Utah

The path toward Park Avenue

Ever since returning from my vacation in Arches NP, I’ve been swamped with day-job work as well as updating my Facebook photography page, uploading images to my photo website, working on a contract for a wedding and another one for a possible bellydance portfolio photo shoot, as well as writing a new article for the “Photography In the Parks” column on the National Parks Traveler website (which will show up in early March). So forgive me for such a long absence.

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When I visited Arches National Park in 2012, it was only for about 3 days. Not much time to actually take time to explore the park. So as soon as I returned to Texas, I began planning an early 2013 re-visit to Arches for a longer period of time.

Here are a few thoughts for you photographers:

February is an awesome time to visit the park, if you can handle the cold temperatures. There are absolutely NO crowds – not even tour buses. That means you can explore popular spots like Balanced Rock, the Windows section, and Delicate Arch without having to clone people out of your images. At times, I was the only person there (Balanced Rock and Delicate Arch) and it was an incredible feeling. Plus, it might snow in February like it did for me when I was there.

Becky and Balanced Rock

Delicate Arch All To Myself!

Snow Day in the Park! Five inches of snow, actually.

As you are heading into the park, along the main paved road, everything on the left side of the road (the west side) is best photographed during the morning hours.

Salt Valley and the Devil’s Garden during Sunrise

Everything on the right side of the road (the east side) is best photographed during the afternoon and evening hours.

Balanced Rock and the La Sal Mountains in the Afternoon

This is, of course, a general rule of thumb, not set in stone.

Visit a particular place more than once, at different times of the day. You will be surprised at how different your images look simply because of the time of day

The La Sal Mountain Viewpoint in the morning

The La Sal Mountain Viewpoint in the afternoon

When you encounter one of those days during which you simply can’t get the landscape images you want, try concentrating a little more close-in; use your telephoto lens rather than your wide-angle lens.

One Little Tree in Park Avenue in the Afternoon (while everything else is totally in the shade at this time of day)

February is a bit of a sparse month for wildlife. There are 50 Desert Bighorn Sheep living in this park, but I didn’t see a single one. I did see 3 deer and a few ravens. I did not see any reptiles, tarantulas, or scorpions.

Hello There, My Deers

February is a great month also for discounts on rental vehicles and deals on Moab hotel rooms. It’s the slow time of year for them, so they LOVE having people visit in the winter (the Moab Brewery was practically empty the one time I went there for a yummy lunch of beer cheese soup and a Scorpion Pale Ale). Make sure, though, you make your plane reservations and any other reservations ahead of time (I made my plane reservation to Grand Junction CO and car rental reservation 5 months ahead of time, then, when I arrived in Grand Junction, I actually upgraded to an SUV because Hertz offered me a sweet discount).

If you can’t find a room for a hotel you like on one website, either go to another website, or wait a few weeks and then try again. I originally used Hotels.com to make a room reservation in Moab at a hotel other than the one I really wanted because Hotels.com couldn’t find a vacancy for that time period. About three weeks prior to my departure date, I went onto the website of my original hotel choice (Aarchway Inn) and found a room for a great deal (they actually put me in the very same room I’d stayed in before). Perseverance pays off!

Yes, February is a great time to visit Arches National Park….and nearby Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park, as well.

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Filed under Arches National Park, National Parks, Photography, Travel

Tagged as arches, February, National Park, NP, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, travel, UT, Utah, winter

February 14, 2013 · 8:35 am

Happy Valentine’s Day, Everybody!

Guess which national park I am at this week? Open-mouthed smile

I had the image for this photo in my head about two weeks prior to my trip to Arches National Park, Utah. After I figured out what I wanted to do, I went into MS Word and chose a heart from Clip Art to print on 11” x 17”. I then folded the paper up and packed it away for my Utah trip. I just *had* to make the hike up to Delicate Arch at some point in time during my stay in Moab, but the question was: when? If the weather remained below freezing and/or snowy during the day, I probably would not have attempted the hike because of any icy conditions on the slick rock. But, that one day that dawned crystal clear and the temps felt like spring, well, I *knew* that was the day. So I hiked to Delicate Arch with the paper heart folded into my camera backpack.

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Filed under Arches National Park, Holidays, Humor, National Parks, Photography, Travel, Valentine's Day

Tagged as arches, Delicate Arch, heart, humor, National Park, NP, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, UT, Utah, Valentine's Day

October 5, 2012 · 5:57 am

La Sal Mountains Viewpoint

I had only 2 full days (plus a half day and a morning) within Arches National Park, Utah, but during those days, one of my favorite spots was a place near the park entrance called the La Sal Mountains Viewpoint. I’d stop there each day going into and out of the park. It’s the perfect place for sunrise images.

It’s also the perfect place to get an amazing overview of the La Sal Mountains, The Three Gossips, Sheep Rock, Tower of Babel, The Organ, and some amazing views far beyond of such formations as Balanced Rock.

From this viewpoint, you can see interesting things like the hot air balloon that rose above the rocks each morning I was there.

This viewpoint is also a lovely place to stop and say good-bye to the park until the next time you visit it.

I’ve booked my airfaire for a February 2013 trip back to Moab and Arches NP. If anybody thinks they might be out there during that time, give me a shout; it would be fun to meet you and enjoy some photographic quality time together.

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Filed under Arches National Park, National Parks, Photography, Travel

Tagged as arches, Arches National Park, clouds, La Sal Mountains, landscape, National Park, NP, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, scenery, sunrise, travel, viewpoint, vista

September 22, 2012 · 2:52 pm

Utah Geology Rocks!

I have a couple of degrees in geology, and although I am not a geologist by profession (I graduated with my MS degree at the wrong time), I am still totally enthralled by geology and geologic processes.

Utah is an earth sciences treasure trove. The few photos here that I captured along Hwy 191, at Anticline Overlook, and in Arches National Park are just the tip of the geologic iceberg.

The factoids in this post were taken from the internet as well as three different publications:

Roadside Geology of Utah, by Halka Chronic

Canyonlands Country, by Donald L. Bars

Geology Unfolded, by Thomas H. Morris et al

Travel with me as I depart Monticello, UT and head toward Arches National Park, along Hwy 191.

Sitting by itself, all rounded and monumental, Church Rock, along Hwy 191 heading north from Monticello to Moab, is an erosional remnant (a bedrock formation that remains after extensive erosion).

Anticline Overlook, some 32 miles west-northwest of Hwy 191 along a scenic byway (15 miles of which are well-tended gravel), is so named for the curved, uplifted shape of the Cane Creek Anticline visible across the Colorado river (the left portion of this photo).

Anticline Overlook sits upon a promontory with views of the Colorado River, Dead Horse Point State Park, and Kane Creek Canyon, pictured here (yeah, I don’t get the difference in spellings either, but that’s how they appear on the internet).

One of the first arches one sees along Hwy 191 toward Moab is Wilson Arch, which formed from massive sandstone eroded on both sides by water and wind into a “fin”. Further erosion on both sides of the fin along joints in the rock formed an alcove, then a cave, then ultimately the arch seen here.

Subsurface magma intrusions squeezed in between rock layers to form dome-shaped igneous “laccoliths”. The overlying sediments were eroded away, exposing these laccoliths to become what we call the La Sal Mountains.

I couldn’t quite get the big picture and it took me a bit of puzzling to figure out exactly where the Moab Fault is located (I mean, relative to me. I know the Moab fault is located near Moab, UT). After re-reading the sign at the Moab Fault overlook, right inside the park, I finally got it. Looking at the photo of the area across the highway from where I stood (I was at the “you are here” part of the sign) is the upthrown fault block, while the area on my side of the highway is the downthrown fault block. The fracture line is basically parallel to the highway. The fault displacement (how much it’s gone down/up) is about 2500 feet!

Arches in the making. With continued erosion via water and wind, those holes you see now will eventually become arches….but not in my lifetime….or your lifetime…..or your kids’ lifetimes…..or….well, you get it.

Those squiggly rock layers along the bottom of this big sandstone structure are collectively called the Dewey Bridge Member. A “member” is a distinctive rock within a formation (a formation is a distinctive, mappable rock unit).

The Dewey Bridge Member erodes far more easily than the sandstones sitting atop it. This is called differential erosion. The pinnacle known as Balanced Rock was formed because of differential erosion.

Another example of a pinnacle, the Dewey Bridge Member, and differential erosion.

Salt Valley does indeed consist of salt deposits. Hundreds of millions of years ago, this entire area was a sea. Layers of salt thousands of feet thick were deposited right here. Salt domes were formed, creating uplift in the land. Huge cracks occurred in the uplifted layers, water poured in, salt leached out leaving empty spaces, and collapse ensued, creating this valley. OK, it’s a simplistic explanation, but I’m writing this for mostly non-geologists and this is indeed what happened.

The above photos are looking over Salt Valley toward Devils Garden (consisting of a bunch of those “fins” I described earlier).

These two photos are looking the other way, across Salt Valley toward the La Sal Mountains and the Windows Section of the park.

Here’s a nice example of weathering by water (frost and rain) and erosion.

All arches struggle with the pull of gravity, and Landscape Arch is no exception. This was proved back in 1991 when a 60-foot slab of this arch fell to the ground (that’s 180 tons of rock debris, according to the sign near this arch). There is no longer a path leading to a view beneath the arch. It’s all fenced off now, although I’m pretty sure some photographers still risk it to get that perfect image. The thing is, nobody can predict there won’t be more slabs of rock sloughing off from this arch unexpectedly. Who knows? Maybe in my lifetime, that arch will indeed totally collapse.

Heading out of Moab, UT on toward Grand Junction, CO, I stopped to photograph this view. I later discovered this very same scene had been published in one of the books referenced at the beginning of this post: a real-life stratigraphic column of the Jurassic-age (140 – 200 million years ago) rock found within Arches National Park. I just originally photographed it because I thought it was really cool, with all those differing layers of sandstone….and I figured it would make a great addition to a geology blog post I was thinking of writing Winking smile

These few photos show just a little bit of the wonderful geology found in Utah. You don’t have to be a geologist or a geology student to totally understand the processes that created all of these wonders. All you really need is an observant eye and an appreciation of the geologic results.

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Filed under Geology, Photography, Travel

Tagged as Anticline Overlook, arches, Arches National Park, geology, Moab, National Park, NP, photography, travel, UT, Utah

September 21, 2012 · 6:49 pm

Mug House

“The most important thing we humans can do is to respect all life. The Hopi believe that to not do this is something akin to a mental illness”.

I think things happen for a reason, no matter how incomprehensible they may be at first glance. I think I was steered away from the Square Tower House tour toward the Mug House tour so I could hear the words of the Adopted Daughter of the Bear Clan and experience the kindness of the people around me.

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Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, offers ranger-led, backcountry hikes to Square Tower House and Mug House during certain times of the year, with a limited number of reservations. I really wanted to reserve a spot for the Square Tower House hike because I think it’s a beautiful dwelling (as seen from the overlook), but the tour was offered aftermy stay in Colorado ended. So, I opted for the Mug House tour instead, having not a clue as to that particular cliff dwelling since there is no view area to these ruins.

The Mug House tour begins at the Wetherill Mesa ranger kiosk and lasts from 10AM to about noon for a 3-mile roundtrip hike on a “goat trail” over uneven terrain with some scrambles up and down rocks and boulders.

Our guide was Ranger Denice, an adopted daughter of the Hopi Bear Clan (which I thought was totally cool). Her (and her adopted families’) perspective on this hike offered thoughtful views that I actually remember (as opposed to other things which tended to go in one ear, swish around gray matter in my skull, and then exit by way of the other ear).

Along the route, Ranger Denice pointed out various plants that the Ancestral Puebloans would have used for food, building materials, medicine, basketwork, and ceremonies.

She also stopped and pointed in the distance to the cliff dwelling Lancaster House, which survived a fire that had swept across the Wetherill Mesa area during the not-so-distant past.

As you readers know by now, if you’ve been following my blogs, I’m not a huge people person; I prefer being as far away from crowds as I possibly can. I have discovered, though, when I am away from work and back out in the West (which doesn’t happen often enough for me), I am relaxed, happy, and more open to people. With that in mind, I write that the people who were on the Mug House Tour with me were friendly and so very helpful when it came to making sure a backpack-laden, slightly overweight, definitely out-of-shape (but eager and energetic) middle-aged lady didn’t fall and hurt herself during those scrambles up and down the boulders (I’m not the most sure-footed of creatures) and I definitely learned a lesson: my subsequent day hikes consisted of NO backpack – whatever I needed (snacks, water, memory cards, spare batteries) was stuffed into the pockets of my Domke photographer’s vest.

Our backcountry hike was a “three fer one”: in addition to visiting the main attraction, we also visited two other interesting little sites.

At first glance, all we really noticed were the soot marks on the rock and this red squiggly line we all assumed were mountains….until our eyes grew accustomed to the shade and we noticed one end of the squiggly line had a sort of face/eye. Ranger Denice also pointed out another, fainter red squiggly line facing the larger red squiggly line: two snakes. Water symbols.

The next small site visited remains essentially unrestored. They know a kiva is beneath the soil, and portions of some rooms have been excavated. For the most part, this site is left as is.

Mug House, itself, is a quiet place with a beautiful view (actually, all cliff dwellings have magnificent views). One feels the spirits of the past dwellers swirling around them. It’s also the place where three beautifully-decorated pottery mugs were discovered, tied together at the handles. Hence the cliff dwelling name.

Valley view from the cliff dwelling

Adopted Daughter of The Bear Clan

Part of the cliff dwelling

A “Mesa Verde”-style keyhole kiva

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If you visit the park and have the opportunity to take this tour, by all means do so. And hopefully you will be led to this silent place by the Adopted Daughter of the Bear Clan.

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Filed under Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park, National Parks, Photography, Travel

Tagged as cliff dwelling, CO, Colorado, mesa verde, Mesa Verde National Park, Mug House, National Park, NP, photography, ruins, September, travel

September 5, 2012 · 7:28 pm

The Trail To Delicate Arch

I’ve heard that Landscape Arch and Delicate Arch were – but for a mistake – actually meant to be named the other way. I can understand that (if the story is true), having seen the long tenuous length of Landscape Arch, versus the “sturdier” and thicker curve of Delicate Arch.

Naming conventions aside, it was Delicate Arch I wished to see on my final day in Arches National Park, Utah. That particular landmark, emblazoning everything from t-shirts to water bottles to post cards to advertising campaigns, has been on my bucket list for years. How can anybody visit this park without going to see for themselves this amazing rock formation? It’s not really a very long hike; 3 miles round trip. It is a bit arduous, but not too bad – certainly not bad enough for an arthritic, overweight, out-of-shape gal like me to avoid. And I will tell you right now that this was an accomplishment that was the highlight of my entire vacation.

I’d saved this hike for my last day in the park, having (I hoped) built up my stamina to hiking and higher elevations (by “higher”, I mean anything higher than the 30 feet elevation of the Texas town in which I live) .

I like taking photos of trips and trails and posting them for others to see, because I like to see photos of places I want to visit, so I have an idea of what to expect. Thus, below is a photo travelogue from start to finish of my hike.

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There is a sign pointing to a turnoff along the main road through the park. The sign says something like “Delicate Arch/ Wolfe Ranch”. It’s a little misleading, that sign. You see, not only does that turnoff lead to the parking lot for the Delicate Arch trailhead, but if you drive on a little further past that first parking lot, you will see another parking lot specifically for the Delicate Arch Overlook. That trail is maybe 1/2 mile (straight up) and it affords the viewer a distant landscape vista of the arch.

Many people get the two places mixed up, thinking they are going to the overlook via the shorter route, when they really are taking the longer trail straight up to the arch itself.

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The prime time for photographing Delicate Arch is generally during the late afternoon/evening, and I’ve seen photos of the hundreds of photographers with their spots staked out by tripods, all ready to catch that evening light on the arch. August is extremely HOT during the afternoon and evening hours, so I instead opted to hike in the morning for a couple of reasons:

Fewer people; the tourist buses do not disgorge their riders at the main sights until around 10-11 AM.
Cooler temps. If I’m going to huff and puff my way up the 1.5-mile trail, then I want to do it under less heat-debilitating conditions (and believe me, that intense, dry heat out there literally sucks the moisture from a body). I carried two 32-oz water bottles with me and completely emptied one of them on the way up.

Not only were the temperatures cooler that morning, but it was overcast, with some interesting clouds. Good thing I brought along my Lee 4×6 .9 graduated ND filter and had a polarizing filter on my Canon 16-35mm lens (the only lens I brought with me for this hike). I’ve learned over the years that I don’t do well carrying a backpack loaded with lots of heavy camera equipment. I also learned during this Colorado/Utah vacation that I was primarily using my 16-35mm wide angle lens far more than any of the other two lenses I’d brought along. So that was the lens I took with me for the Delicate Arch hike. Oh, I also brought my tripod, which served a dual purpose as a hiking stick. I’m not a very sure-footed person, and that tripod was a great stabilizer for me.

Along the trail is the Wolfe Ranch homestead (aka Turnbow Cabin). It’s a small building with a protective screen blocking the entrance, prohibiting both man, woman, and beast from entry. It also takes a little creative angles in order to get a lovely photo of it without the screen door or window. I opted to concentrate the lens on the beautiful wood used to construct the cabin out in what was (and sort of still is) the middle of nowhere.

A slight detour from the trail brings the hiker to a set of petroglyphs (carved into the rock, as opposed to pictographs, which are drawn or painted). The detour trail actually loops around and joins back with the main trail to Delicate Arch, so it’s a worthwhile stop to see some ancient artistry.

This little guy was chomping down on some pistachios left on the bridge. It was so busy with the food that it hardly noticed me inching closer and closer to try and get a cute pic (using a wide angle lens).

Who would have thought there would be such an oasis in the middle of this arid landscape?

Onward via the trail, heading toward that area of pink slick rock. In this photo, it looks like it’s gently sloping upwards. In reality, it’s rather steep.

See the couple making their way down from the slick rock?

Pointing the way to Delicate Arch. These artful little rock piles called cairns fascinated me.

On the slick rock, heading up, up, up. That teeny little “blip” near that green dot of shrub is a person way ahead of me.

Looking back toward the parking lot, which is marked by that small swath of blue-green color in the middle of this image, just below the horizon. I’m still trying to find out exactly what mineral created that lovely color. I made the mistake of asking a former geology professor what mineral that might be, and he told me he never saw anything that color out there…..he reminded me he is color blind.

Had I not been fiddling with my water bottle, I should have kept a little closer to those hikers ahead of me in the photo below. If I’d done that, I would not have mistaken a rock pile for a cairn and veered off in the wrong direction. When I looked down a 10-foot drop off to see two real cairns and several other hikers, I knew I’d made a wrong turn somewhere and had to re-trace my steps. It’s easy to re-trace the trail in the daylight, but I shudder to think of how some photographers make it back down at night, after capturing their evening images of the arch.

I saw these little guys and knew I was still heading in the right direction.

Stone steps leading up to a ledge about 3-4 feet wide which wraps around that rock formation for about 200 feet.

Looking back toward some other hikers behind me coming up to the ledge.

The view from the ledge.

Delicate Arch is not visible until rounding the corner of the ledge wall. Then, the destination in sight. Once there, one has to scramble over those rocks you see in this photo in order to gain entrance to the slickrock “bowl” anchored at one end by Delicate Arch.

Delicate Arch is an incredible sight! It’s one thing to look at photos of it, but no photo can convey the feeling of human smallness against the geologic immensity of this rock arch. I gingerly made my way around the sloping slick rock bowl toward the arch and set up my tripod. There were so few people there that morning, and the four guys underneath the arch obligingly moved out of the way to make room for others (like me) who wanted themselves digitally memorialized against that pinky-red sandstone behemoth. I told a couple standing near me that I’d take their photo if they would take mine. My camera was set up on the tripod and all ready for someone to hold down on the shutter button. The cute young couple were thrilled to have someone offering to get their photo under the arch, and I was equally as thrilled that they would do the same for me.

Photographers, take note: I understand that you want people out of the way so you can get your winning image of Delicate Arch, but you must remember that this is a national park – a public place for everybody. Naturally, everybody who makes it up the 1.5-mile trail wants to view in awe (and photograph) this amazing structure. Be nice, be patient, and you should have no issues with your photography. I certainly had no problems being able to photograph the arch from different angles, and if somebody was in the way….well….that’s what the Content Aware menu item on CS5 & CS6 is for.

I met some interesting people while up there, too. A couple from San Antonio, Texas, struck up a conversation with me about my use of the graduated ND filter. As they were leaving, the husband turned to me, remarking that it was a shame it was not a sunny day. I held up my grad ND filter, smiled, and told him that overcast, cloudy days can yield some images every bit as interesting as those taken on a sunny day.

Tenacity

Time to head back down.

Taking a short break resting on Fred Flintstone’s recliner chair.

I made it!!

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Filed under Arches National Park, National Parks, Photography, Travel, Vacation

Tagged as Arches National Park, Delicate Arch, hike, National Park, NP, photography, rock formation, trail, UT, Utah

August 27, 2012 · 2:37 pm

A Taste of Things To Come–Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

I once wrote that I would try to post every weekend (or closely thereafter); I’d read that to keep and increase readership, one needs to blog and blog (relatively) often.

I’m on vacation right now (Aug 24 – Sep 2, 2012). I packed up one of my Canon 5D Mk II bodies, two rented Canon 5D Mark III bodies, my 70-200mm + 1.4x teleconverter, my 16-35mm lens, 40mm pancake lens, and 24-105mm lens (in addition to the circular polarizers and Lee 4×6 .9 soft graduated ND filters) for this trip. I arrived in Denver, then flew to Durango, Colorado and am now staying at the Far View Lodge in Mesa Verde National Park. Now you know which cameras and lenses I used to take all of the photos you will see in my future posts. FYI, I’ve used my 16-35mm more than any of the other lenses so far, with the 24-105mm coming in second.

Since I’m saving my photos (so far I’ve taken over 2000 which I need to cull through and edit) and commentary for the numerous travelogues I will post upon my return to Texas, I won’t go into a whole lot of detail here, except to talk about a few things.

As a fellow blogger put it, water is the most important thing to mankind. It’s one of those required staples, without which one cannot live for maybe more than 3 days. Water creates the landscape, nourishes plant- and animal-life, and in many cultures living in arid lands, is worshipped. The longer I stay in Mesa Verde NP, and the more cliff dwelling tours I take in the hot sun and dry air, the more I understand the importance of water. Yes, I’ve heard others go on about the importance of water, but when I get my water from a faucet with a few twists of the tap, I guess I’ve just taken it’s availability for granted. Out here, I don’t.

Something else that I am trying to accomplish is to become more observant during my hikes. Oh, I look around a lot in search of a grand photo op, but there are times when I’m just putting one foot in front of the other to get from Point A to Point B. With this trip, I’m actually looking, observing, listening, and smelling. I’m taking my eye away from the viewfinder to just soak in the atmosphere around me.

I can smell the Utah juniper and pinyon pine. I can smell (and see) the brilliant yellow rabbitbrush that covers the land here. I can hear the songbirds hidden in the Utah serviceberry, I can hear the night wind whipping around my lodge room balcony. I stand on said balcony (with a Buffalo Gold Ale in my hand) and watch the clouds rolling across the mesas, casting blobby shadows hither and yonder.

I did not observe the little grass snake crossing my path as I tiredly trudged back to my car, until I looked down, saw it, and jumped sky high, scaring myself and the poor little snake. I did observe the black widow spider crawling up my lodge room’s bathroom wall (no, I did not take a photo of it – I hate those things – snakes and tarantulas I can deal with, but not black widow spiders).

I am also reflecting more on each thing I learn from the rangers guiding the tours I have taken (Ranger Pete, Ranger Pamela, “Willa Cather” – aka Ranger Paula, Ranger Denice. My backcountry tour to Mug House was lead by a ranger who is an adopted daughter of the Hopi Bear Clan. Of the many interesting and thoughtful things she said, the one that really stands out is that people must respect the land, and respect all life, for everything has a spirit. To disrespect life is akin to a mental illness.

An interesting thing to reflect upon, since I don’t much care for people, although I notice that I am much more loquacious during this trip, because I am happy. When I am in my element, then I am happy and I actually like people more (most of the time, anyway, until some moron tries to tailgate me because he wants to drive faster than the posted speed limit within the park).

So, stay tuned for more thoughts, travel tidbits, and of course, lots of photos. I’ve got 2 more days here in Mesa Verde NP before heading up to Arches NP in Utah.

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Filed under Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park, National Parks, Photography, Travel, Travel and Photography

Tagged as CO, Colorado, landscape, mesa verde, Mesa Verde National Park, National Park, NP, photography, scenery, travel, vista

June 16, 2012 · 8:03 am

Anticipation (AKA Packing For My August Photo Trip)

Is it too early to start talking about an upcoming trip? Will I jinx things? I hope not, because I’m going to write about it anyway. You see, I live(and work) for my vacations.

Yes, I am packing already for a trip I won’t be taking for another 2-1/2 months. Planning for a trip is part of the fun for me. Besides, it’s helpful for me to pack early because then I have plenty of time to really think, then unpack, then repack. No last-minute packing for me, by golly! My Type A personality likes to get it out of the way early.

I’ve noticed that many photographers are curious as to what camera-lens setups their peers take with them when traveling. I know I’m always curious as to what other photographers take with them when traveling. So I am going out on a limb here and will assume you are curious as to what *I* pack for such a trip.

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Allow me to digress for just a moment.

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I receive 4 weeks of vacation a year – a drop in the bucket, I know, but I’ll take what I can get. Most of my vacations are spent flying to some favorite place out West, renting a car, and staying in a hotel/lodge/resort as a base. I’m so over tent camping (my rheumatoid arthritis dictated that); I like my “beauty sleep”, a desk onto which I can place my laptop, and a nearby bathroom. Sure, I could do that with a SUV-trailer combo, but I don’t own either and don’t want either at this point in time. So, I sing the praises of hotels and lodges.

I usually visit some place I’ve visited previously and really enjoy, but I also try to make at least one trip somewhere to which I have never been. This 2012, I am traveling the last week of August to a place I’ve only briefly been (Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado).

I’m also going to visit a place to which I have never been (Arches National Park, Utah). It’s going to be hot and dry at both places (for the most part), and I plan on hiking from sunrise to sunset, since I’ll be stationed 5 days at Mesa Verde and 3 days at Arches before heading to Durango CO for a day via the scenic Million Dollar Highway.

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Ok, back to the subject of this post.

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I always take 3 bags for domestic trips, one of which I check in at the counter.

The checked bag is the largest one holding all of my clothing, extra shoes, toiletries, underwear, tripod, some food (Clif Bars, those Land O Lakes Mini Moos half & half packets, trail mix), water bottles, hair dryer, assorted cords, and – oh yes – my little 4-cup coffee maker along with a bag of good coffee. It’s a Samsonite Brght Lite polycarbonate hard-side, hot pink 28-inch spinner behemoth that’s a little awkward to lug around but is still a fantastic piece of luggage. I deliberately chose the hot pink color to better identify it on the baggage carousel….besides, who in their right mind (other than the owner) would want to be seen walking around with such a garish suitcase?

The two carry-on bags consist of

1. My laptop case which I purchased at my employer’s company store, packed with my 15-inch laptop, mouse, portable hard drives, cords, memory card reader, and various documentation like my boarding pass and confirmations for my hotel(s), rental car, any tours, etc.; and

2. My Think Tank Airport Antidote 2.0 camera backpack, which is usually stuffed with two or three camera bodies, my 70-200mm lens, 16-35mm lens, 24-105mm lens, and 50mm f1.2 lens (sometimes I even lug my 85mm f1.2 lens around). This case is wonderful and is sized to fit in the overhead bins of both domestic and international airlines (I can tell you this is true from personal experience). I’m a short person (5’2”) and this pack doesn’t overwhelm me sizewise or weightwise (well, the weight thing is a challenge, since I usually overpack). Into the Airport Antidote – in addition to the cameras and lenses – I also pack 35 CF cards (that’s right – I said 35 cards of 4GB and 8 GB size), 5 extra camera batteries, two Lee 4×6 .9 graduated ND filters (which I hand hold flush against the camera lens), my slim-mount circular polarizer filters, slim-mount UV filters, a couple of round grad ND filters (77mm and 82mm), a 6-stop 77mm ND filter, and a backup memory card file storage device (Sanho Hyperdrive).

I also pack my lens hoods, which I may or may not use if I am taking photos requiring the use of either the circular polarizers or the Lee graduated ND filters. The Airport Antidote allows the packing of a 15-inch laptop as well, which I did for my international trip. For domestic travel, however, I prefer to transport my laptop in a separate laptop case.

Yes, it is quite the load to lug around, but I use practically everything I take with me on a trip…including the coffee maker.

Oh, and I always wear my Domke PhoTogs photographer’s vest. I have one in black, and another in khaki. I LOVE all the pockets into which I can stuff my wallet, iPhone, memory cards, extra camera batteries, extra pair of glasses, business cards, pen, etc. And it looks good on me, too (don’t you think?).

For this upcoming trip, however, I’m changing things around. I’m not going to take the Pink Monster, nor will I take the Think Tank backpack. Instead, I’ve been packing (I began a couple of weeks ago packing/unpacking/repacking) an IT Luggage Shiny Large Dots 24-inch hard-side black roller with large white and pink polka dots. When I purchased that little case, I felt pretty sure it would be an almost one-of-a-kind-easy-to-spot-at-baggage claim kind of case much like my hot-pink suitcase. Nope. When I flew to Seattle back in April, I saw a young lady retrieving the exact same case. So I’ve applied strips of neon-green duct tape to my case. That ought to set it apart.

Believe it or not, I’ve packed almost as much into that little case as I ever did in the Pink Monster! This includes the addition of three large water bottles for my hikes, an extra pair of hiking boots, hat, a pair of Keen sandals, and my Induro Carbon 8X CT213 tripod with an Induro BHD2 ballhead (I had to unscrew the tripod head and place it elsewhere within the case). It excludes the coffee maker (my hotel rooms all have coffee makers, so I’ll still take my bag of coffee, the little #2 filters, and my packets of half & half, ‘cause I gotta have my coffee). I’m beginning to realize that I don’t need as much suitcase space as I thought I needed for trips lasting up to 2 weeks. The weather will be relatively consistent (i.e. hot and dry), but I’ll still pack a raincoat and a couple of lightweight fleece tops, since I expect the mornings and evenings to be quite cool.

Below is a shot of my new case, partially packed (the tripod is hidden underneath other stuff, and I still have a few more items to pack):

Regarding the packing of the camera equipment, I’m taking a camera backpack that I originally was going to stuff into the 28-inch suitcase. As I was going to sleep one night, the light bulb went on and I realized there was no way in hell I could pack that particular camera backpack in the smaller case and also take the Think Tank pack. This required some revisions of what I really wanted to take with me for this trip, in the way of lenses.

I’m still taking the three camera bodies (two Canon 5D Mark II bodies and a rented Canon 5D Mark III because I can’t afford to purchase one outright for myself…yet); I am a firm believer in camera redundancy. I like to know that if one (or both) of my own camera bodies break down, I’ve got that extra one. I am paring down the lenses I take. I’ll just have the 16-35mm, the 70-200mm, and I’ve rented a 14mm fisheye (I want to get in as much as I can of the cliff dwellings in Colorado and Delicate Arch in Utah). I may take the itty bitty 40mm pancakeCanon lens I’ve pre-ordered so I can test it out and then blog about it (provided I receive that lens in time – according to my order history, the processing is still “pending”). And of course, I’ll still take all of my filters and lens hoods and memory cards and such.

What backpack am I taking, then? It’s the Lowepro Fastpack 350.

Compared to my Think Tank pack:

It’s awesome! I’ve used it a couple of times for my Brazos Bend State Park and Brazoria NWR photo ops. This pack is lightweight (well, it feels that way compared to my Think Tank, when packed) and nicely padded. Retrieving a camera/lens is relatively convenient – you don’t even have to take the backpack off in order to access things, although I still find I need to take the pack off to get to my gear – I haven’t quite gotten the method of swinging-the-pack-around-on-one-shoulder-while-still-standing ironed out just yet. The top portion of the pack can be used for items like memory cards, filters, snack/lunch, extra water bottle, and light jacket or fleece pullover; that’s the main reason for wanting to take this pack. I’ll be hiking in some really hot areas, where the temps get into the triple digits. I need to be able to carry more than one large water bottle, plus some snacks. The Think Tank doesn’t allow for that, but this Lowepro Fastpack 350 sure does. There is even a padded, zippered slot where I could easily pack my 15-inch HP laptop, if I wanted (and yes, my laptop doesfit in there). One side of the pack also has a mesh pocket for a large-sized water bottle. The only caveat another photographer might notice is that there is nothing handy for attaching a folded tripod to the pack. Not an issue with me, since I use my tripod as a hiking staff to help me maneuver around.

Two-and-a-half more months to go, and I am sooooo ready for this trip Open-mouthed smile

What do you pack for your photo trips?

*Note: with the exception of the map image, and the Mesa Verde cliff dwelling photo, the rest of the photos in this post were taken with a Canon Powershot G11.

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Filed under Equipment, Photography, Travel

Tagged as 16-35mm, 5D mark ii, 5D mark iii, 70-200mm, arches, backpack, camera, camera backpack, Canon, equipment, fastpack, lenses, Lowepro, lowepro fastpack 350, luggage, mesa verde, National Park, NP, packing, photography, samsonite, think tank, travel, vacation

June 1, 2012 · 7:15 am

If You Want To Stay In Paradise, Then Stay At The Paradise Inn

Let me begin by saying I love staying in historic lodges within national parks. Usually, the lodges are constructed of log , wood plank and glass which more or less blends in with the natural surroundings. Historic lodges always have interesting histories to go with the architecture, and publications may be found in local book stores, or online.

Back in October 2010, during a trip to Washington State, I traveled to Mt. Rainier National Park via Chinook Pass along Hwy 410.

My aim was to arrive at the park via the Paradise entrance, drive up to the Paradise area, and stay a couple of nights at the Paradise Inn.

Paradise Inn is located just a parking lot away from the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center. The Inn is a lovely 2-story creation (which now has a large annex of rooms attached to the main lodge). I wanted to stay in the main lodge and the reservationist obliged me. FYI, if you plan on visiting this area, then make your room reservations here early; I made my reservations about 4-6 months ahead of time as the place fills up quickly. In the photo above, my room was the 4th from the far left of the photo, on the upper level.

I chose a room with no bathroom. There was a sink, but the toilets and showers were down the hall, in separate rooms. That was OK, but if I ever stay at the Inn again (and I definitely want to do so), then I will try and reserve a room with the toilet/shower in the same room.

Paradise Inn is not the Hyatt Regency nor the Hilton Hotel; it’s not 5-star with all the amenities. It’s a beautiful, rustic piece of architecture with history and charm. As with most other park lodgings, it’s all about location, location, location. My room was clean and basic, which is all I ever ask of any lodging; I’m spending the majority of my day outside anyway, so my main requirement is a bed. I don’t need radio, television, or internet. The room came with a desk upon which I could place my laptop, portable hard drive, and memory card reader.

The main lobby, as well as the upper level right over the lobby, are the most picturesque portions.

The Lobby:

The upper level during the day:

The upper level at night:

As you can see from the photos, the furnishings are beautifully rustic.

There’s a large restaurant at one end of the Inn; my room was situated over the restaurant and I could hear the clinking of crockery below – a comforting sound to me, rather than an intrusive sound. There’s also a small “deli” at the other end of the main lodge serving ice cream, bottled drinks, and quick foods like sandwiches, soup, and chili. Of course there is a gift shop, and even a little mailbox into which you may drop your postcards purchased from said gift shop. There is no lounge (aka bar aka saloon aka tavern), so if you want a beer or a glass of wine (not accompanied by your meal), you will need to purchase a six-pack or bottle of vino prior to your arrival at the Inn and save it for when you get back to your room.

Paradise Inn is a stone’s throw away from trails of varying lengths, paved and unpaved, all of which afford the visitor stunning views of Nisqually Glacier and The Mountain itself .