I started out as a photographer capturing landscapes and loved it. The feeling of harmony and connection with our beautiful world becomes palpabile in the early beams of dawn. With the sound of the echoing surf breaking on the beach, the chill in the air was refreshing and exhilarating. The extra hour afforded by the end of Daylight Savings Time meant I could convince my wife to accompany me to the cliffside before dawn. Sharing something this beautiful made the sunrise even sweeter.
May 2015 Desktop Calendar
Feels like forever since I've written, and I'm sorry about that. I'll try to stay more current in the upcoming months. Your May calendar photo is from trip my wife and I took to Sedona AZ last year. It seems there are beautiful vistas everywhere in Sedona, so capturing a wonder like this isn't to hard. We were right off the road obviously.
You can download the high resolution version here: May 2015
Sedona AZ
Access
I have plotted picture taking spots in numerous locations on maps, and I have been disappointed many times. Sometimes there’s no path through a section of dense woods, other times, where I wanted to go would only be accessible by a transport I didn’t have. More and more I find some areas are just forbidden, either by signs, or fences, or “I wonder what the hell that thing is, but it doesn’t look safe!” I’m not one to let a little thing like a sign stop me from snapping a picture of a breathtaking view, but I’m not foolish either. If the sign read “rattlesnake breeding area” I would retreat and regroup.
I have frequented Marsh Creek State Park many times over the past years because it is close to my home, it’s well kept, clean, and friendly. There are many parts of the lake that are not visible from the main boat launch areas, and one area in particular that had peaked my interest. A park official explained to me that last winter Marsh Creek’s volume was decreased by six feet because Hurricane Sandy,as a preventative measure against flooding. I didn’t quite fully understand the complexities of water table maintenance for the tri state area, but I nodded politely. The notion of being able to control the amount of water in this lake led me to the conclusion that there must be a dam somewhere, and it was probably in the one place I had never seen directly. This thought, buried in the back of my brain for months, rushed forward a few weeks ago when I was viewing the lake from an elevated position that I had never seen it from before. I spied the dam!
Arriving atop the dam a week or so later yielded the view you see here. Of course this area was no well kept secret from anyone except me; there were plenty of hikers, canoers, and bikers already there.
Nikon D800 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 30mm f/16 ISO 100 9 image HDR
#TravelTuesday Sunset Point, Sedona, Arizona
I’ve spent the past few weeks sharing pictures of our trip last Thanksgiving to Sedona Arizona. Its landscape is both beautiful and exotic. These pictures were taken from “Sunset Point” which is located atop one of the hills close to the center of town. The tiny airport that serves the city was directly behind me where I took the pictures. This rest area, having such a romantic name, is populated with many onlookers as the sun declines. Elbowing tourists, protecting my position, and keeping an eye on my gear can be tricky, and I hate doing it, so... luckily for me, before the sun comes up, the area is pretty much vacant. The first picture was taken pre dawn. The sun would eventually rise behind my right shoulder and slowly bath the red rocks in the distance and creep down into the valley, and yet another day would begin in Sedona.
Nikon D800 Tamron 16-24mm f/2.8 @ 20mm f/9 ISO 100 1/15 sec
Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 48mm f/9 ISO 100 1/40 sec
Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28mm f/9 ISO 100 1/200 sec
Hiking in Sedona
One of the best things about Sedona is its multitude of hiking trails. There are miles and miles of walking trails for all different types of hikers. You can meet other people, sit and rest by a cool stream, breath deeply the thin air, have a picnic lunch, all while keeping your eyes open for wildlife that may in fact kill you. Attacks are rare and shouldn’t dissuade anyone from walking the glorious valleys or climbing the breathtaking ridges that make up Sedona, but sightings of bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and scorpions occur often. The great thing is, every trail I have ventured onto was clearly marked, well maintained, mildly strenuous and worth every penny. Plenty of trails are free of course, but there are some in places where there is a minimal charge for admission or parking. Not that these are the best trails or come with cocktail service, but if a small fee is what’s needed to keep the trails in the condition they are, then it’s well worth it. Splendid views arise every few minutes, as a reminder of how small we all are in the world. The picture below was taken after climbing about 75 feet up a cliff at the end of the Fay Canyon Trail. It’s a six photo panorama. To give you some sort of scale, if you look directly in the center of the picture and see the rock structures in the distance, they are taller than the rocks on the right and left. This is the view looking through the canyon and my 75 foot climb was merely to get above the tree line. The mountain behind me is much bigger.
Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm @ 32mm f/6.3 ISO 100 1/60sec 5 image panorama