I love slot canyons. I enjoy wandering in them. Well, you can’t really wander, you can only go up or down stream. At any rate, the canyons are constantly changing with the light and the season. And the deep walls and narrow bottoms make for some interesting photography. I don’t canyoneer, that was something that wasn’t done much when I was young and did some technical climbing. these days they need to be easy to get into and move around in. Usually.

One canyon we love to go into is out by Factory Butte. It’s always interesting, sometimes quite photogenic, like the last time we were there. There was water in the canyon. Somewhat unusal near the top, where I found these wet spots, and, because of the rarity, welcome.

Reflection, Factory Slot

Reflection2, Factory Slot

And of course, the light is always spectacular in Nick’s Canyon. Here’s a shot I did in there:

Red wall little canyon

Be sure to click on the images to see them at full size and with the right colors.

More to follow,

Bob

I’ll start at Capitol Reef and move on from there. Spent a great weekend with old (and new) photography friends and got a few images. Here are a couple:

First, there’s the Twin Rocks as you enter the park. I’ve never spent a lot of time looking at them because there’s always a destination calling my name. Rodger wanted to do some photography here, so while he got his images, I realized this might make a nice black-and-white image.

Twin Rocks

Then we moved on to a canyon Nick and I have been wandering in for years. He calls it Little Canyon, I call it Nick’s Canyon, the Park service probably calls it “That Canyon up There.” You get a great view of the Castle, one of the icons of Capitol Reef. I thought an HDR image might work out, so I tried that. Shockingly, I was right.

The Throne

Off to the doctor to see if s/he can heal my gomboo.

More to follow,

Bob

Anyway, I needed to capture some pixels, so here they are.

Gallatin River

Not as good as bison, perhaps, but not bad.

BTW, I happen to know the taxonomic name for the American Buffalo. It’s bison bison bison. It only took me a few weeks to memorize that.

More to follow.

Bob

My new job is great and I love it, but it’s sometimes hard to spend enough time in one place to have a chance for photography.

The solution? Carry a camera with you. All the gurus say never take a step outside your house without a camera.

OK. I had a few hours to kill in Seattle a couple weeks ago, so I took a walk and actually took a camera. Visited the University of Washington Campus. A little larger than the University of Wyoming.

Closer to spring out there, too. I found some daffodils, my favorite flower. Here they are.

I hope you like daffodils, too, because mine are about to bloom and I’ve got about two dozen in the front yard. You’ll be seeing a lot more in the near future!

DaffyDills

More travel coming up. Keep an eye out!

More to follow (I promise!)

Bob

I went  down to the Yellowstone River a little while back, hoping to see some ice. And I did. Here’s what I found:

Ice, Yellowstone River #1

Ice, Yellowstone River #2

Ice, Yellowstone River #3

I thought I might make these black-and-white, but the little splashes of color here and there just go to help us see how cold that stuff is.

The best thing; I didn’t fall in!

More to follow.

Bob

It’s interesting that so much (all?) of the stunning landscapes we marvel at in the desert have been made by water. Oceans draining started the process. Rivers running at levels beyond modern imagination cut the canyons. Prehistoric lakes allowed different minerals to settle out, creating a colorful landscape that sometimes boggles the mind.

When one is in the desert, water is never far form one’s mind. Hoping to find some if you don’t have any with you (a foolish–perhaps deadly–choice). Hoping it doesn’t rain if you’re in a slot canyon. Standing next to one of the existing streams (if you can find one) and contemplating what water has done.

We went into Zion park and took the shuttle bus to the end of the line. Then we walked with about a million other people up the trail, getting a tantalizing glimpse of the river now and then. We finally couldn’t stand it any more and went down to the shore. And made some photographs.

Water in the desert: what a treat!

Virgin River 1

Virgin River 2

Hard to believe that in a land where you could die of thirst in a matter of days you can find such lush, moist surroundings. It’s magic!

Further magic happened that night and the next day. It rained pretty constantly for several hours and the river changed. There was a lot more water in it and it was red as the sand and mud it was carrying.

Fascinating.

More to follow.

Bob

At one point, we came across a Sacred Datura with one lone blossom on it. The flowers are beautiful, but the plant is pretty dangerous if ingested. If you don’t die of heart failure, you’ll have some serious hallucinations. (I’ve been told.) This is the plant that Carlos Castañeda wrote about in The Teachings of Don Juan among others in his series of Don Juan books. Pretty poison, I guess. Of course, I had to get out the macro lens and get in tight. I think it worked out pretty well.

Datura1

Datura 2

Not bad for a weed, huh?

More to follow,

Bob

I love them when they’re young, when they’re old, when they’re green and, especially, when they’re decked out in Autumn colors. Generally, aspen leaves turn yellow. On rare occasions, they turn orange or red or coral pink. That’s a real treat.

As we drove over Boulder mountain on our race back to Zion NP, we came across some red aspen leaves. Of course we had to stop and photograph them. I did a kind of general landscape shot, then a closeup of some of those great red leaves. I hope you like them as much as I do. (Remember to click on the images to see them full size and with decent color.)

Aspen Forest

Aspen Leaves

Then we made it to Zion. I haven’t been here for a long time. Passed through a couple years ago, but I was in a hurry to get somewhere, so I barely stopped to look around. On the way in, I remembered that it was about 35 years ago to the month that I took a photo workshop with my friend Duck. That workshop was with photographer John Telford, who pretty much owned the desert in those days. We came to Zion and did some amazing photography, and that’s when I got hooked. Hooked on both the desert and on photography. So I guess this is a sort of pilgrimage for me.

Stopped in the upper park and I got this photo of one of the spires Zion is so famous for.

Zion Scenic

Bob

Of course, we weren’t disappointed by our trip to Capitol Reef, undoubtedly my favorite place in the world.

First we met some of the local fauna while photographing in the Boneyard.

Lizard

Then we went to see if we could find a decent sunset spot. The tree you see below is my favorite sunset silhouette.

Sunset Tree 1

And

Sunset Tree 2

It’s great to be back!

More to follow,

Bob

Lava and aspens

When we got to Bryce, we had to go to Sunset Point for, um, sunset.

It’s early and I’m in the middle of an allergy attack, so won’t write much.

More to follow,

Bob