Windy Lady Lower Antelope Canyon Page, Arizona Last year I visited Antelope Canyon twice and was blown away both times. When we had a half day to kill on our 2012 trip Willie, Yan, and I immediately knew we'd spend it at Lower Antelope Canyon. We arrived slightly before they opened and were the first people down into the canyon. Because we asked for the photography pass we were given 2 hours in the canyon, by ourselves, without a guide. We didn't see another person in the canyon for at least an hour! Willie and I both bolted for the Lady in the Wind. Although we have photos we both liked we wanted a different take or two on her. I based my photo on Skyflake's (Phill Monson) black and white image from here. I think I practically bullied my way into position, forcing Willie to back up and take a different shot. Just kidding … I was a nice photographer and let him take his shot and then he kindly let me take mine. Turns out he didn't quite get what he wanted but he ended up with a shot he forgot he wanted. I got the shot we wanted but forgot to get the other shot. Doh! Guess I'll have to go back another time! We were treated this morning to beautiful pink, purples, oranges, and yellows during our 2 hour stint here. So beautiful! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 35mm, f/11, 2 sec, ISO 100

The beautiful Southwest USA ... Arizona, Utah, and more.

gallery pages: 1 2 3 >

< 3 of 24 >

Laser Chief
Lower Antelope Canyon
Page, Arizona

One of my fellow photographer friends, Jave, has a wonderful photo in Lower Antelope Canyon of light beams in front of the Granite Chief. Willie, Yan, and I had spent the night in Page, AZ and we found ourselves with half a day to kill. We arrived at Lower Antelope Canyon before they opened and were the first ones in the canyon. We didn't see anyone for over an hour.

At some point one of the Navajo guides walked past and I stopped him and asked if he knew what time the light beams crossed in front of the Granite Chief. He told me that it was later in the afternoon but we had a flight to catch and couldn't wait for that to happen. Willie wanted to get a photograph of the Chief anyways. Willie took some shots and just as we were about to leave I noticed a light beam forming near the eye of the Chief! Sure enough the tiny little light beam grew and grew as the sun came up through the canyon. We stopped and fired a number of photos. I like how this looks like the Chief was Cyclop's early teacher … look at those laser beams coming out of his eye!

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
38mm, f/11, 2 sec, ISO 125

Fish are Friends, Not Food
Lower Antelope Canyon
Page, Arizona

Last year I visited Antelope Canyon twice and was blown away both times. When we had a half day to kill on our 2012 trip Willie, Yan, and I immediately knew we'd spend it at Lower Antelope Canyon. We arrived slightly before they opened and were the first people down into the canyon. Because we asked for the photography pass we were given 2 hours in the canyon, by ourselves, without a guide. We didn't see another person in the canyon for at least an hour!

While wandering around Lower Antelope Canyon I came across this rock that was getting a pretty purple glow on it. I was on a purple color hunt and as soon as I saw the color I stopped and setup. That's when I realized that this rock looked like a smiling face. I actually thought it looked like a smiling shark. My first thought was "FISH ARE FRIENDS, NOT FOOD" -- from the movie Finding Nemo. I had to crop this photo to avoid another rock on the right side and now I don't think this looks like a shark anymore. It's a smiling something though. You can make out the nose, the mouth, the shin, and the cheeks.

What do you think this looks like?

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
70mm, f/10, 1.3 sec, ISO 125

Windy Lady
Lower Antelope Canyon
Page, Arizona

Last year I visited Antelope Canyon twice and was blown away both times. When we had a half day to kill on our 2012 trip Willie, Yan, and I immediately knew we'd spend it at Lower Antelope Canyon. We arrived slightly before they opened and were the first people down into the canyon. Because we asked for the photography pass we were given 2 hours in the canyon, by ourselves, without a guide. We didn't see another person in the canyon for at least an hour!

Willie and I both bolted for the Lady in the Wind. Although we have photos we both liked we wanted a different take or two on her. I based my photo on Skyflake's (Phill Monson) black and white image from here. I think I practically bullied my way into position, forcing Willie to back up and take a different shot. Just kidding … I was a nice photographer and let him take his shot and then he kindly let me take mine. Turns out he didn't quite get what he wanted but he ended up with a shot he forgot he wanted. I got the shot we wanted but forgot to get the other shot. Doh! Guess I'll have to go back another time!

We were treated this morning to beautiful pink, purples, oranges, and yellows during our 2 hour stint here. So beautiful!

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
35mm, f/11, 2 sec, ISO 100

Little Brother
The Second Wave
Coyote Buttes, Arizona

While doing research on The Wave I came across another photographers photo of the "Second Wave", the little brother to The Wave. This area is about half a mile from the main wave and also has some really interesting shapes and textures carved out of the sandstone. When I showed Willie and Yan the photo they both said "Wow, I want to find that!"

We were the first group to arrive at The Wave but a group of 4 showed up later. They were very friendly, waited for us to finish, then setup for their shots. One guy had clearly been here before and had gone through the trouble of lugging FOUR cameras (and 4 tripods) so he could leave his cameras at various places and get a number of shots. Eventually we decided to leave and find the Second Wave. Despite having GPS coordinates we couldn't find it! While wandering around I bumped into the guy with his 4 cameras and started chatting with him. Turns out that he had been here 17 times and could take us to the Second Wave.

Thanks to our new friend we found the spot! I pulled up the photo we liked on my iPhone and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to find out where exactly the photo was taken. The funny thing was, when we looked up from the iPhone, that our friend had been sitting on the EXACT SPOT the ENTIRE time! I think he must have been internally laughing at us.

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
60mm, f/11, 1/640 sec, ISO 200

Surf's Up!
The Wave
Coyote Buttes, Arizona

After spending 3 days in Zion it was time for another one of our most anticipated parts of the trip: a hike to The Wave! I had been here a year before but the weather conditions weren't ideal for photography here. Hoping that this trip would turn out better Willie, Yan, and I had been monitoring the weather rather closely and kept praying that the clouds and rain from the past couple days would finally leave and give us some blue skies. I think we checked the weather forecast perhaps every 20 minutes to see if we would be in luck!

Several months earlier I had applied for and been lucky enough to get a permit for 4 of us to visit the Coyote Buttes North, which includes the Wave. This section of Pariah Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness is on the border between Utah and Arizona. As we hiked the several miles to The Wave we could see the clouds disappearing. We got really excited!

It only took us 1.5 hours to reach The Wave and we got here just in time. We were the first to arrive after passing several other groups along the way. We had the entire place to ourselves for about 20 minutes before the others showed up. We also arrived just before the shadows started to creep in. Most people photograph this during the summer, when the sun is overhead and creates less shadow and our early arrival gave us a shadow-free window. A half hour later and the sun dropped huge black spots into the wave.

I absolutely LOVE this place. Photographs make this area seem larger than it is, but it's actually quite small. Still, the sweeping lines, beautiful texture, and wind-swept sandstone rock make for an amazing scene. We didn't want to leave, and I'm sure you can see why! I tried a number of different angles but as always, the classic shot is always the best! Later on we found the "Second Wave", a "Brain", and some other interesting rock formations!

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S:
17mm, f/16, 1/100 sec, ISO 100
B+W Circular Polarizer

Surprise!
Waterfalls at Emerald Pools
Zion National Park, Utah

Willie, Yan, and I planned on spending 2 days in Zion and then heading to Escalante to find our way to Zebra Canyon. Mama Nature had different plans for us. While hiking The Subway, the previous day, clouds had begun to roll in as we hiked. By the time we were back at our hotel for the night the clouds had gotten thick and rain started to come down. In the morning we woke up to a pretty heavy rain. Zebra Canyon was no longer an option due to flash flood potential. Not knowing what to do we decided to just roam around the park and see if we could find any fall colors that would be evenly lit with the clouds overhead. That's when we noticed waterfalls all over the park! Normally the waterfalls in Zion are a spring occurrence but with the temperature warm enough to be rain and not snow we were in for a treat!

After photographing a waterfall near the Temple of Sinawava we decided to see if the waterfalls above Emerald Pools were going. Sure enough, they were raging! The 3 of us practically raced the mile to the pools and couldn't wait to take some shots. A trail leads behind the waterfalls and we carefully, lest we slip and fall, made our way to the other side of the falls. I wish a couple more of the trees still had their yellow leaves but I really liked how the water came pouring over these cliffs. I included the 2 by-standers in the right of this photo to give you a sense of scale.

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S:
17mm, f/14, 0.8 sec, ISO 125

Choo Choo Train
The Subway Hike
Zion National Park, Utah

When I visited Zion National Park in 2011 one of the hikes that I absolutely loved was The Subway. In fact, I went so far as to call it my most favorite hike I've ever done! Willie, Yan, and I had hiked the Narrows the day before and also found it to be equally amazing. Yan, having heard me raving about the Subway insisted that we head here on our second day in the park. I wanted to try something new, specifically hike to Kanarra Creek, but Willie and Yan convinced me that emerald pools and glowing walls would be worth it. The Subway it was!

We arrived at the parking lot quite early and were shocked to see so many cars had already arrived! It was decided to see if we could pass *all* of them and we took off almost at a run at times. Other groups came and went in our wake as we flew up the Virgin River towards the Subway. About halfway through the hike I realized that our blistering pace was causing me to not enjoy the hike at all and I forced Willie to slow down so we could take in the scenery. This also gave us a chance to look back and realize that the clear skies we were hoping for were being covered with clouds … not good for glowing walls in the Subway. On the other hand, it was perfect for photographing Archangel Falls located slightly before the Subway.

Despite our fast pace to the Subway we were the second group to arrive. We had to wait for them to finish taking their pictures and then waited some more while they got out of ours. Turns out that waiting was well worth it because the clouds that had been blocking the beautiful glow inside the Subway disappeared for about 15 minutes and we frantically snapped photographs. A flash flood 2 months earlier deposited sand inside the Subway and left the emerald pools looking yellow and boring. It took some "special sauce" in post processing to bring back an emerald color to the pools.

We brought a bag of leaves with us and were able to get beautiful some beautiful swirling motion in the water, which had eluded me when I photographed this in 2011.

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
24mm, f/16, 8 sec, ISO 50
B+W Circular Polarizer

Narrow Beauty
The Narrows, Wall Street section
Zion National Park, Utah

One of the most amazing hikes in Zion National Park is The Narrows. Once Willie, Yan, and I donned on our drysuit pants, neoprene socks and canyoneering shoes we trudged 9 miles up and down the Virgin River through this beautiful slot canyon. In the morning the suns rays bounce off the red rock walls, causing them to glow with beautiful color.

One of the first spots we found with glowing walls was here in the middle of Wall Street. This is only a small section of the rock wall that was lit with a beautiful orange and yellow but I really loved how the water was also reflecting the color. I decided to use a less traditional landscape (horizontal) orientation so that I could include the glow of the water in this photo.

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
24mm, f/11, 1.3 sec, ISO 320
B+W Circular Polarizer

Pink Mile
SR 163, Mile 13
Monument Valley, Utah

Last year I did two trips to the Southwest and found the landscape to be both breathtaking and jaw-dropping. There's just so much amazing scenery out in Utah and Arizona and I knew I had to go back. Andy and I found a cheap flight into Grand Junction, CO and made a quick 1.5 hour drive over to Moab.

The first two days we visited all around Moab, Arches and Cayonlands National Parks. We witnessed sunset at Delicate Arch, light painted with the tail of the Milky Way at Double Arch, saw a beautiful sunrise at Mesa Arch and amazing grand views at Green River Viewpoint, did a short hike to Bow Tie Arch and Corona Arch (and saw people bungie jumping off Corona!), and lastly hunted down False Kiva for sunset. By the time we got back to the hotel on Saturday night we had decided we had seen enough and wanted to head to Monument Valley, which isn't close to anything convenient, but was only 2 hours from where we were.

It took us a couple hours to make our way south towards the Arizona border but we eventually made our way into the Navajo Nation and the familiar scenes of Monument Valley came into view. I say familiar because I can remember seeing these mesas, buttes, and spires from the age of 6 when I first played the computer game "Oregon Trail" on an old Apple IIGS. After stopping at the iconic "Mile 13" we drove into Monument Valley, paid the $5/person entry fee, and then drove through the 17 mile dirt road in our little (crappy) rental car.

After having a weekend of boring skies, cloud had finally rolled in and we debated where we wanted to photograph the sunset! I haven't had much luck shooting east for sunset and we decided to head back to Mile 13 since the view faced southwest. It was actually a lot of fun having to run into the road, setup the tripod real quick, snap a few shots, and then run out of the way as cars drove by from both in front and behind us.

Looking down at my watch I noticed that the sun had set and we only had a touch of color in the sky above "Stagecoach", "Saddleback", and "King on his Throne" mesas. To our right, further west, I could see beautiful pinks. As we waited the color started moving closer and closer to the mesas. I started screaming "KEEP COMING, KEEP COMING. JUST A LITTLE FURTHER!" Sure enough 5 minutes later the sky lit up with amazing pinks, even providing a nice frame above the mesas. The color was so bright, in fact, that I had to tone down the saturation a bit to make this actually look believable! I also debated removing the cars from the road but ultimately felt it gave the scene more place and helped draw the eye in.

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR:
112mm, f/11, ⅛ sec, ISO 100
No Filters

Windy Lady
Lower Antelope Canyon
Page, Arizona

Last year I visited Antelope Canyon twice and was blown away both times. When we had a half day to kill on our 2012 trip Willie, Yan, and I immediately knew we'd spend it at Lower Antelope Canyon. We arrived slightly before they opened and were the first people down into the canyon. Because we asked for the photography pass we were given 2 hours in the canyon, by ourselves, without a guide. We didn't see another person in the canyon for at least an hour!

Willie and I both bolted for the Lady in the Wind. Although we have photos we both liked we wanted a different take or two on her. I based my photo on Skyflake's (Phill Monson) black and white image from here. I think I practically bullied my way into position, forcing Willie to back up and take a different shot. Just kidding … I was a nice photographer and let him take his shot and then he kindly let me take mine. Turns out he didn't quite get what he wanted but he ended up with a shot he forgot he wanted. I got the shot we wanted but forgot to get the other shot. Doh! Guess I'll have to go back another time!

We were treated this morning to beautiful pink, purples, oranges, and yellows during our 2 hour stint here. So beautiful!

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
35mm, f/11, 2 sec, ISO 100

Windy Lady Lower Antelope Canyon Page, Arizona Last year I visited Antelope Canyon twice and was blown away both times. When we had a half day to kill on our 2012 trip Willie, Yan, and I immediately knew we'd spend it at Lower Antelope Canyon. We arrived slightly before they opened and were the first people down into the canyon. Because we asked for the photography pass we were given 2 hours in the canyon, by ourselves, without a guide. We didn't see another person in the canyon for at least an hour! Willie and I both bolted for the Lady in the Wind. Although we have photos we both liked we wanted a different take or two on her. I based my photo on Skyflake's (Phill Monson) black and white image from here. I think I practically bullied my way into position, forcing Willie to back up and take a different shot. Just kidding … I was a nice photographer and let him take his shot and then he kindly let me take mine. Turns out he didn't quite get what he wanted but he ended up with a shot he forgot he wanted. I got the shot we wanted but forgot to get the other shot. Doh! Guess I'll have to go back another time! We were treated this morning to beautiful pink, purples, oranges, and yellows during our 2 hour stint here. So beautiful! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 35mm, f/11, 2 sec, ISO 100" href="javascript:openLB(2323606146,'',XLarge,'',1024,684);">