Laser ChiefLower 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
Narrow BeautyThe 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
Mesquite Dunes at Sunrise Death Valley National Park, CA The beauty about sand dunes is that they change drastically when the sun gets low on the horizon, when the shadows creep in and plunge half the dune into darkness. The shapes and squiggles and lines come out while the rest of the dune glows bright golden colors. Willie and I had purchased the “Bigma Bazooka” lens just to photograph the sand dunes. The Bigma is a 150-600mm lens made by Sigma that is perfect for compressing the sand dunes and the mountains behind them to make them feel closer than they really are. We finally had a chance to use the lenses in November. Willie and I woke up early in Las Vegas, drove 2.5 hours to Death Valley and walked straight out to the sand dunes. While exploring the dunes I came upon the squiggle shapes here and knew I had to take a snap. I loved the way the closer sand dune drove a curvy line into the overlapping dunes behind, while the band lands mountains behind loom in the distance. Nikon D800 w/Sigma 150-600mm: 370mm, f/9, 1/200 sec, ISO 500
