James Neeley Photography

Tetoncam Timelapse

2012-01-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Just for fun...

Brothers All Are We

2012-01-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

Different but alike in so many ways, we stand shoulder to shoulder in this increasingly crowded world, 7 billion of us sharing fears,sorrows, dreams and aspirations, trying to do the best we can, though at times at odds with each other more often than not for unimportant reasons, growing, working, and striving, laughing, loving, and living each day, realizing that by turning outward our empathy, compassion, and desire to serve others increases, that by so doing true happiness, peace, and goodness are found and grow within our hearts.

View other images from the "Words and Images" Project...

Click here to view a full screen slide show.
Click here to view the Project on Flickr.

Big Gallery

It's all about LIGHT, It's all about MAGIC

2011-12-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

After processing and viewing this image, I am reminded once again that it is all about light. Of all the considerations that go into a great photo, light must be of prime importance. The direction, the color, the quality of light work together with a particular subject and composition to endow the image with character, feeling, and even emotion.

This image taken a few minutes after sunrise is dull, yellowish, and lifeless...And yet, just moments before at the instant of sunrise the scene has a much more pleasing character and interesting light...Still earlier during "Civil Twilight" and about 20 minutes before sunrise the light is soft and warm, much more powerful and evocative than the later images...This principle has been demonstrated and reinforced with me many times as occurred on this recent morning at Convict Lake where my first shot about ten minutes before sunrise was unquestionably the best...

Always remember to get to a location early, even an hour before sunrise to catch the fleeting and inviting light of that magical time, Civil Twilight!

A New Perspective

2011-12-01T11:36:00.001-07:00

I'm always looking for a new, interesting, or unique perspective on a common subject. And so shooting this image has been a rewarding project for me and motivated a quick early winter trip to Moab, Utah and Arches National Park.

It all started last Christmas when my Brother and Sister-inlaw gave me this beautiful National Parks photography book.

I was immediately struck with the cover image of Delicate Arch and it's shadow from a perspective I had never seen before. Voltaire said "Originality is nothing but judicious imitation." So with this thought in mind I decided to attempt my own spin on this beautiful and unique image. And so started a year long project.

The first thing I needed to do was find out the time of year the image was taken. I used an ipad app called LightTrac to determine the time of the year that the arch shadow would be in the position in the cover photograph. This app is very helpful in planning sunrise and sunset shoots especially if you are not familiar with an area. It will also show moonrise times and angles which is awesome if you want a moonshot!

It seemed to be December. And so I would have to wait a year for the attempt. Another thing was that there was no snow or wet rock. Arches often gets snow in December and January so I thought to make the attempt late November or early December.

Next I had to determine vantage point. Using Google Maps Satellite view I was able to determine that the shot was taken from a ledge to the south of Delicate Arch. The ledge is often visible on images of the arch from a more traditional perspective. I had just never noticed it.

Now I had to plan to get to that point at sunrise. I figured I would be hiking in the dark and I had never been there before so I again used Google Maps to determine the waypoints for the location and the point where I would need to deviate from the normal trail. I also wanted to make sure I was walking on rock and avoid any cryptobiotic soil that may be present. This is a very important consideration if leaving a prescribed trail to avoid any environmental damage. If you don't know what cryptobiotic soil is find out before you leave the trail!

Finally I entered the waypoint coordinates in another Ipad app called MotionX-GPS HD by MotionX. I also downloaded the Google Satellite image and cached it so it would be visible on my hike.

The blue line is my track the first morning. The red is the track the 2nd day. It was then a piece of cake to follow the trail with my Ipad and deviate at the proper point even in the dark getting me to my destination 30 minutes before sunrise.

Alignment Update

2011-08-22T05:41:00.000-06:00

The latest version of Photomatix Pro 4.1.1 has a much improved alignment routine. I almost didn't notice the unheralded improvement. So I tried a handheld bracketed set which Photomatix previously had a problem with and the results were quite amazing. The alignment was similar to that achieved with Photoshop CS5.

This change is quite liberating for me making handheld HDR much easier and attractive. Thank you HDRsoft!

Multiply Through a Mask and More - A Tutorial

2011-08-20T09:17:00.000-06:00

Don't like HDR? How about using digital blending to equalize the exposure in an image with light and dark components? The image below is a digital blend of two bracketed shots blended with a method explained in the video below...

In this tutorial we will review "Multiply through as Mask" and then extend the technique to other situations including digital blending adding one more tool in your processing toolbox to combat high dynamic range images.

Inside Look

2011-07-29T18:48:00.007-06:00

It was a slow day at the office. Not really, this was done all after hours! I scanned my Nikon D700 with a 70-300mm lens attached in a GE 64 slice Lightspeed CT scanner. The images were then rendered in 3D on the GE AW workstation make the rotation animations.

For a lot of fun try this QuicktimeVR model of the camera here. This is an 18 meg file so be patient.

Hitting the Streets in London

2011-07-16T09:29:00.001-06:00

While walking the streets of London on our recent visit and inspired by an excellent exhibit at the Museum of London, I thought it was time for a bit of "Street Photography."

Click here to view a full screen slide show.

I made a conscious decision to depart from Jay Masiel's technique of no image manipulation and process these images to a greater or lesser extent as pseudo HDR images to give them a bit of a gritty, urban feel. Sorry, Jay. But then you taught us to find our own vision ;-). I used Nik HDR Effects Pro to process the single RAW files.

Choose the Right

2011-06-07T07:11:00.000-06:00

I was hoping for a nice sunrise as a reward for getting up at 4:00 am. I had to find a place within an hour drive from Idaho Falls. I wasn't sure which direction all of the action would be happening in and where the clouds would be so I needed some place that I could shoot in many different directions. And I love reflections so somewhere with water. Decisions, decisions! I got in the car and had about 2 blocks before I had to turn and commit. And the decision is...Camas National Wildlife Refuge north of Idaho Falls.

As I enjoyed the fresh air, sounds of the abundant wildlife, and the beautiful sunrise I was reminded of Galen Rowell's famous quote,

"You only get one sunrise and one sunset a day, and you only get so many days on the planet. A good photographer does the math and doesn't waste either."

and I was glad I made the decision to get up early and come to this place.

Your Turn to Shine

2011-06-03T13:08:00.001-06:00

A MFA worker carefully cleans the Zhan Wang sculpture entitled "Artificial Rock #85" located in the Shapiro Courtyard at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. She used a small bottle of some cleaning fluid and slowly worked around the bottom of the sculpture with what looked like a Q-tip. It was fascinating to watch her carefully and meticulously work.

My challenge was to capture the scene in an interesting way. How would Jay Masiel photograph this? But then Jay would probably tell me something like "Be yourself, make the photograph unique to your style" or maybe his famous quote, "You've got photography in your life. Now put some life into your photography." ;-)

Jay really changed the way I look at photography and I hope I will always remember and use the ideas and principle he taught. The slide show below has a few more images inspired by Jay's teaching...

Click here to view a full screen slide show.

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Have A No Return Policy

2011-05-17T09:24:00.000-06:00

Does something cool, interesting, or beautiful catch your eye? Take the shot! If you think you will return and get it later, you probably won't or if you do it will be gone or changed. I have learned from experience that these special moments are fleeting and the opportunity must be seized. Stop and take the shot!

As a group of us were driving up the Whitney Portal Road a large dust storm could be seen in the valley below. The morning sun reflected on the road making it appear as a silver ribbon winding through the Alabama Hills. Finding a place to stop was difficult and inconvenient but I am so glad I acted on this impulse...

Always remember that opportunity only knocks once. Don't think you will return and be able to get the image. Stop and take the shot!

Crossover

2011-05-15T17:22:00.002-06:00

After concentrating on lighting and portraits recently I have returned to my roots by visiting Moab, Utah (daughter and son-in-law) and leading a landscape photography workshop with my good friend Bill Wight in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California. It is interesting to me how I look at lighting and composition a bit differently after taking the lighting workshops. The crossover learning from the different types of photography is significant, for instance...

Side lighting...

or Leading Lines...

Backlighting...

Composition and framing...

Well, you get the idea. We should never stop learning or trying new techniques because the process will make us better. Our photographic eye will improve, our creativity will be enhanced, and technique will advance. Crossover learning is not only fun but is a sure way to improve your photographic vision and results!

It's in the Eyes

2011-03-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

During the last day of our workshop we shot in the studio. The lighting for this shot is with a large octabox directly in front and above the model. A small softbox with a grid was placed at camera left at 90 degrees. I stood imediately in front of the octabox as you can see from the catch light.

Mixed Lighting

2011-02-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

Location lighting often presents the challenge of balancing the natural and artificial light. This image is really split lighting with the right of the model being window light and camera left being a medium softbox at 90 degrees. And remember that no matter how well a subject is lit we need to consider and interesting perspective and compositional elements!

A little closer with the split lighting pattern...

Here the softbox was moved to camera right to mimic the window light and giving a Rembrandt lighting pattern...

A little clowning around by our model and Alan Thornton ( Instructor ). Even though the shutter speed is only 1/30 sec. the motion is frozen by the short flash duration...

Change It Up

2011-02-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

During our recent lighting workshop we shot manual, metered everything, and used artificial lighting; a lot of work to get set. But once set up, Alan encouraged use to change it up; come in close. back off, change angle and perspective, and of course change the models pose. As a result, once the initial work is done building a scene and lighting, you get a lot of variety of shots from one setup.

As simple and sensible as this sounds I had a tendency to take a few shots and then modify the lighting or change the position of the set requiring new significant time and effort. I needed to constantly remind myself to thoroughly work a set before moving on.

This image uses a single medium sized softbox on the left elevated above the model's head.

Small Spaces

2011-02-26T07:26:00.002-07:00

One of the location shoots during my recent lighting workshop was particularly challenging since we shot in the small rooms of the Cottonwood Motel along the classic Route 66 in Santa Fe. How to light the subject and not completely flood the small spaces with light. In this shot I had one medium softbox to the left and a black flag blocking the spill to the white wall behind.

Beauty Lighting

2011-02-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

Another of my location portraits, this image was lit with a 24 inch beauty dish placed immediately in front and above the model. I shot the image from underneath the beauty dish. This type of lighting is called "Beauty Lighting" which refers to the position and not necessarily the type of light used. It could just as well have been done with a softbox rather than a beauty dish.

Learning Lighting

2011-02-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a wonderful workshop on Lighting taught by Alan Thornton at Santa Fe Workshops. During the workshop we did 3 location shoots and 2 studio shoots with about 13 different models. It was a great experience.

We were not allowed to use photoshop or any processing. Alan didn't want us looking at the images at night. we uploaded and critiqued them the following day. This really helped me concentrate on fundamentals of lighting and exposure to get it right out of camera. Although at first I was not excited about these rules, in the end I could see the wisdom of this approach.

In this location I was trying to balance ambient light with artificial. A small softbox was placed on the left elevated above the models head and a reflector was low on the right (see the diagram below). Exposure was manual and metered. Because there was so much ambient light I left the shutter at the maximum synch speed of 1/250. I thought that I would have to drag the shutter a bit to bring up the ambient level but this level seemed appropiriate so I left it at 1/250.

The final day of our workshop we spent in the studio trying various studio lighting techniques. This on called "Slash Lighting" or "Rim Lighting" uses two vertical strip banks, one on each side and a small softbox set to low power in the front (see the diagram below). A great lighting pattern for males and typically not so great for a feminine look.

We had a interesting variety of locations and models. One of my favorites was the Cottonwood Motel along the old Route 66 in Santa Fe.

For this daylight shot we used a large softbox on the right which blocked the direct sun on the model and also provided nice soft light to illuminate the subject (see the diagram below). Because we were competing with the sun the we nearly maxed out the 1200 Ws capacity of the Profoto strobe!

Join Us in the Alabama Hills

2011-02-11T14:06:00.001-07:00

There are still a few spots left in our spring workshop in the Alabama Hills out of Lone Pine, California. Visit Mountain High Workshops for more information. We would love to have you along for what looks to be a wonderful workshop!

Alignment with Handheld HDR

2011-02-04T23:58:00.001-07:00

Ever had difficulty aligning images from a handheld HDR set? Well I have! But the built in alignment routines in most HDR software are fairly rudimentary. They particularly have a hard time with complex motion or when a wide angle lens. Below is a magnified image showing poor alignment with Photomatix Pro 4.0...

And this one used Nik HDR Efex Pro...

But this is what can be achieved with Photoshop CS5...

Watch this video to see how...

Spring Photo Workshop Announced

2011-01-31T09:05:00.001-07:00

We have finalized plans for our spring workshop in California's Alabama Hills on the Eastern Sierra. For more information visit MountainHighWorkshops.com

Winter in Idaho

2011-01-29T11:01:00.001-07:00

I love winter in Idaho. This is fortunate since we have so much of it. Scenes can vary from stark colorless silhouettes to wonderful soft light and color. It's always a challenge to get out and endure the cold but the rewards are usually worth it! A few Idaho winter landscapes I have shot in the last few years...

The unique and distinctive light make winter a wonderful time of year to photograph the world around us. So get out there, brave the cold, and enjoy this special time of year.

As Days Go By

2011-01-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

The ghost town of Bodie, California is a wonderful place to visit and photograph. It is a great place for HDR photography. If you have been wanting to try HDR or if you want to try new tonemapping setting it's hard to go wrong with images from this old place. Go a little wild here, you never know what you will come up with!

When you visit Bodie, don't forget your tripod and bracket you shots. That way when you come home you will be able to play for months with the images you obtained from this interesting place!

Winter Refreshment

2011-01-24T07:38:00.001-07:00

I was hoping for a little color this morning as I was exploring the back roads north of Idaho Falls in search of an interesting foreground. I could see the sky brighten but the foreground remained fairly dark even as the sun rose because of the low clouds in the east. I elected to shoot 9 exposures at one EV intervals to assure that I covered the entire range of tones. This is the 0 EV image...

When I looked at the set I could see that 9 images -4 to +4 EV was overkill for this scene. I threw out the -4 EV and the +4 EV images and used the 7 images from -3 to +3 (shown below) for the HDR which was then processed using Photomatix Pro 4.01 to yield the final image. One final processing step was to remove the footsteps in the snow using the patch tool in Photoshop CS5.

The Threshold

2011-01-23T16:18:00.002-07:00

Isn't photography a wonderful form of art? Really in it's infancy, picture taking has been around for a little over 100 years. Painting, drawing, literature, music and other forms have been around for thousands! I like this quote...

"Never have I found the limits of the photographic potential. Every horizon, upon being reached, reveals another beckoning in the distance. Always, I am on the threshold."

~ W. Eugene Smith

Black and White Conversion - The Flexibility of Digital

2011-01-19T12:25:00.001-07:00

Bill Wight walks ahead on the boardwalk at the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park.

The black and white conversion was done using the Black & White tool in Photoshop. The upper right portion of the image uses the High Contrast Blue filter while the lower left portion of the image uses the High Contrast Red filter. The two images were layered and merged. The reason for the two filters is that Bill was wearing blue jeans which became totally black with the red filter and I wanted to show some detail here. On the other hand, the red in the spring runoff became an ugly black with the blue filter but show nice light details with the red filter.

I love the flexibility of digital black and white conversion verses using fixed filters which apply the effect globally. Check out the video below for details on the conversion.

Reflections on Reflections

2011-01-18T10:49:00.003-07:00

One of the insights I gained from a week long workshop with Jay Masiel a year ago was to use reflections and unusual perspectives to try to fool the eye. This creates interest as we naturally try to figure the image out. I have since looked for opportunities to try this technique of which Masiel and other masters are so skilled at using.

The image above is of a shiny ceiling at an airport which was then inverted vertically so the figures would appear upright.

Below are a few other images where I have tried to use reflections and reflected light to try to create and unusual or interesting effect.

And of course we all know the power of a good refection in landscape photography...

Keep your eye out for that pool of water or shiny wall or window that you can use to create an interesting and appealing optical illusion.

Restoring the Blacks in HDR

2011-01-17T10:15:00.001-07:00

It was a wet stormy day in the Tetons as we looked for spots to shoot. We came across this little pond just off of the highway just as there was a short break in the rain. The wet conditions made the colors rich and saturated and storm clouds really made the sky dramatic.

HDR can enhance a scene like this by darkening the sky and giving more detail to the reflection and other dark tones. However if we are not careful, the tonemapping can remove black and dark tones from the image making it much less pleasing and dramatic. Check out this tutorial to see how to restore this vital element to improve your HDR images.

A Memorable Graduation

2011-01-11T21:35:00.002-07:00

Last year I had a proud moment when my son received his PhD at University of California Santa Barbara. While waiting for the graduation ceremony I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures...

Levels Adjustment

2011-01-07T19:21:00.006-07:00

Correcting exposure in your image is a critical component of post processing. You can let your software do it automatically or you can let the machine do it when you get your prints...Or you can take control and adjust the levels yourself for your own desired look. See how do this relatively simple but extremely important adjustment in Photoshop in the tutorial below.

Straightening Out Parliament

2011-01-05T11:45:00.003-07:00

Correcting perspective, optical distortions, and leveling can sometimes be a challenging task. This tutorial demonstrates a technique I frequently use to correct strong vertical and horizontal elements of an image which I want to be aligned with the borders of the image.

Watch the video below to see the details...

Serenity

2011-01-04T07:51:00.002-07:00

It was quiet, calm, and cold (-14 degrees F) when I quickly jumped out of my car to snap this image of a drifted over canal north of Idaho Falls. It was the light that motivated me to get out of my warm car and extend the cold tripod legs! There were thin clouds which diffused the early morning light and cast beautiful glow and soft shadows on everything around. How glad I was that I didn't let this fleeting photo op pass as I wandered the snow covered country roads north of Idaho Falls.

A workshop with Jay Maisel

2010-03-09T14:17:00.006-07:00

I recently enjoyed a wonderful weeklong workshop with renowned photographer Jay Maisel. The workshop was entitled "Light, Color, and Gesture" as was held at Santa Fe Workshops. Thank you to Jay for a great learning experience. For pushing me out of my photographic box and encouraging me to explore new area and limits of my photography. Here are a few of the images I took during the workshop where we were not allowed to use Photoshop or otherwise process the images and were encouraged to photography people...

Click here to view a full screen slide show.

A Grand Loop

2009-12-26T07:45:00.003-07:00

My thoughts have turned recently to a memorable visit to Yellowstone last summer with Bill Wight. We were scouting locations for a future workshop. It was a stormy afternoon which made for some dramatic clouds and weather. This is a view of a rain swollen Elk Antler Creek along the Grand Loop Road.

I'm looking forward to our next workshop in Joshua Tree National Park. Details are available at the Mountain High Workshops Website.

Moab Workshop

2009-12-24T15:15:00.004-07:00

We had an excellent November workshop in Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and the are around Moab, Utah. I'm way behind on processing but here are a few images from the area...

Click here to view a full screen slide show.

New England

2009-12-24T15:08:00.004-07:00

We had a wonderful visit to Boston and area in September. Here are a few of the images from this photogenic country...

Click here to view a full screen slide show.

Spring Storm in GTNP

2009-05-10T17:17:00.001-06:00

It was raining and trying to snow (temp was 33 degrees F.) when I took this image near the Buffalo Fork just south of Moran junction in Grand Teton National Park. I wasn't able to see the Tetons but the rain brought out some intense color!

View Large

View the entire Tetons - East and West Set
View my - Most Interesting according to Flickr

Golden Morning

2009-05-04T14:02:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago there was barely a trickle flowing over the falls in Idaho Falls. Now it is a torrent with the release of spring runoff for early irrigation!

Evening Refreshment

2009-05-04T13:57:00.002-06:00

We're on the road visiting our son in the beautiful state of Minnesota. We couldn't resist stopping by and shooting this lone tree in a field near Rochester, Minnesota. The weather was nice and the evening light beautiful!

Winter Wonderland

2009-01-01T11:08:00.006-07:00

We had a great in Yellowstone National Park. The photo ops were wonderful but the best part of the trip was being with family!

1. Entering the park ... 2. On the road such as it is in the winter...

Our little band at the Firehole River...

A perfect end to a perfect day...

Mountain High Workshops - Mammoth Lakes June 3-6 2009

2008-12-01T20:49:00.004-07:00

Click here to find out more about this premier photography workshop in the High Sierras, June 2009!

The Advance of Light

2008-11-24T17:11:00.002-07:00

Morning light streams across a meadow in Grand Teton National Park just south of Moran Junction. This is taken just off of the road. It's always good to keep your eyes open even when you are not in one of the "classic" or well know photography spots! Even a canal and dirt road can be a thing of beauty...

High Resolution View of Idaho Falls

2008-05-03T07:14:00.004-06:00

This view is a stitched panorama of two vertically oriented shots with the resultant image being 26.8 megapixel. The merging was performed in Photoshop CS3 using the photomerge tool.

Buy a print or cards here.

Mosaic Creation in PS CS3

2008-04-30T17:59:00.001-06:00

The Photomerge tool in Photoshop CS3 is great! It was used to create this image. Click the image to see how...

Yellowstone and Tetons 2007

2008-03-28T15:30:00.005-06:00

Thinking about the opening of Yellowstone Park on April 18th reminds me of a wonderful photo trip last fall...

1. Never Stop Exploring, 2. At the end of an Autumn Day, 3. Another World, 4. Boiling Point

Ripples in Time

2008-03-10T13:06:00.003-06:00

Time seemed to stand still as we watched the new light slowly spread over waves of sand in Death Valley, California.

“Each time a man stands for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

-Robert F. Kennedy

Manley Beacon

2008-03-10T12:40:00.005-06:00

On our trip to Death Valley we photographed at Zabrisky Point 3 times, 2 sunrises and a sunset. The 2nd sunrise we hike up a ridge in the dark to have a different perspective. This is a predawn image looking at the Beacon and into Death Valley.

Zabrisky point is a short walk from the parking lot near Furnace Wells. The view is world class. You can still see Ansel Adams photograph as well as many other famous photographers from this spot. About 20 minutes later the view looked like this...

Desolation in Bloom

2008-03-09T08:06:00.000-06:00

The wild flowers were beautiful in parts of Death Valley...

Another World

2008-03-08T22:35:00.004-07:00

I just returned from another world! Death Valley, Mono Lake, and Alabama Hills were wonderful. At a rate of 12 gigabytes a day I've got a lot of images to go through and process. Here is one from a wonderful sunrise at Mono Lake...

Returning to Death Valley from Owens Valley, we drop to Sea level and then below...

On The Road Again

2008-03-02T23:14:00.002-07:00

I'm on the road to Death Valley and looking forward to photographing this interesting place. This image is from last summer of Swiftcurrent Lake on a very still morning!

View the Entire - Glacier National Park - June 2007 Set

Serenity at Coyote Buttes

2008-03-01T09:30:00.007-07:00

The 6 mile round trip to The Wave was nearly as interesting as The Wave itself. You hike along Coyote Buttes and look out over an incredible Utah-Arizona landscape. The melting snow made for brilliant, satuated colors in this already colorful area.

Check out some of my other images from the Utah-Arizona area.
Click here to view a full screen slide show.

My Most Intesting According to Flickr

2008-02-28T14:28:00.001-07:00

Click here to view a full screen slide show.

Conquering the Light

2008-02-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a view of the Toadstool Hoodoo located 0.8 miles off of Highway 89 between Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona.

View large - 'Conquering the Light' On Black

View the entire Utah-Arizona Set
View my - Most Interesting according to Flickr

Other tutorials you may be interested in...
1. Digital Blending
2. A Simple method of Dodging and Burning
3. Lab mode for Pumping up the Color
4. Forgotten Filters
5.Auto Blending
6.Hand Coloring Simulation
7.Gaussian Glow

The Wave

2008-02-28T12:23:00.002-07:00

This is the classic view of "The Wave" on the Utah-Arizona border. The natural formation was incredibly beautiful and I just hope my photography does it justice. To get here you need a BLM permit, drive a very muddy dirt road for 8 miles, and hike 3 miles. The sight was well worth the effort!

1. Here my wife and daughter register at the start of our hike along Coyote Buttes to The Wave...
2. Relieved to make it to solid pavement after a very muddy 8 mile drive back...

This is our little group at the entrance of "The Wave" ...

Another take on this interesting geological structure. The pool was frozen when we arrived about 9:45 a.m. and still frozen when we left a couple of hours later.

Pathway to hell...Hell's Half Acre that is ;-)

2007-06-14T23:08:00.001-06:00

Walkway winds through a lava flow in eastern Idaho called "Hell's Half Acre." Located along I15 just south of Idaho Falls, there are nature walks beginning at rest stops on both sides of the freeway.

View large - 'Pathway to hell...Hell's Half Acre that is ;-)' On Black

View the Entire - Idaho Set
View my - Most Interesting according to Flickr

Idaho Falls

2007-06-14T23:02:00.000-06:00

Morning light streams across the Snake River and falls in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

View large - 'Idaho Falls' On Black

View the Entire - Idaho Set
View the Entire - Snake River
View my - Most Interesting according to Flickr

2007-04-04T12:40:00.000-06:00

Mesa Arch

There was a rain storm in the distance so I could not capture the classic sun flair and rays at sunrise. Non the less it was a beautiful sight looking over Canyonlands through Mesa Arch. Canyonlands National Park near Moab, Utah.

View large - 'Mesa Arch' On Black
View the entire - Photo Tour Set

2007-04-03T17:53:00.000-06:00

Evening light over Monument Valley. This is the last image from my trip I'll be able to upload before I get home. It's been glorious although it will take some time sorting through all the treasure chest of image data! Thank you for all of your comments without me being able to recipacate. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the images I've missed when I get home.

View large - 'Monument" Valley' On Black
View the entire - Photo Tour Set

2007-04-03T17:50:00.000-06:00

As I was leaving Monument Valley our guide, Cliff Zenor said, "Be sure to stop at mile marker 13, look back and take a picture." This is the result. Cliff was spot on in recommending many great photographic locations.

View large - 'Mile" Marker 13' On Black
View the entire - Photo Tour Set

2007-04-03T13:55:00.000-06:00

OK Anasazi Artist, you've had your turn. Now it's ours!

2007-04-02T23:43:00.000-06:00

We spent two days in Lower Antelope slot canyon (about 3 hrs. each day). This one is less traveled and a little quieter than Upper Antelope slot because all of the tours from Page go to upper. You can drive right to this one and have guided or unguided walk throughs. Middle of the day is the best time and even then the lighting is subdued so bring a tripod! It's dusty down in the slots so try to minimize lens changes or better yet take two bodies with the lens you need and don't change (wide angle is usually best. I can't imagine needing much more than 100mm).

View large - 'Where" Light and Rock Meet' On Black
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View my - Most'>http://interestingby.isaias.com.mx/pm.php?id=59514628@N00&theme=white">Most Interesting according to Flickr.

2007-04-02T23:41:00.000-06:00

Three Navajo horses ran across our path while touring Monument Valley. I was quick enough to get my camera but not quick enough to change from aperture priority f22 and hence the slow shutter, but I don't think it would have been as dynamic if I had time to plan the shot. Just a lot of luck!

View large - 'Run" like the Wind' On Black
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2007-04-02T23:34:00.000-06:00

Horseshoe Bend, Colorado River just below the Glen Canyon Dam near Page, Arizona.
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2007-04-02T23:27:00.000-06:00

Waited until dark to catch the sunset color at Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah. The 1.3 mile hike down required my camera CCD cleaning flash light which I happened to have in my camera bag.

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