Choo Choo TrainThe 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
Windy LadyLower 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
Logan's Bat CallTriple Falls, Logan Pass Area Glacier National Park, Montana A year or two ago Willie and I saw our first photo of Triple Falls and immediately said "we have to go there!" Alan joined in and the 3 of us flew down to Glacier National Park for what we hoped would be a great weekend. Our first stop: Logan Pass and Triple Falls. We were in for a lot of surprises, and most of them not what we wanted. Our first surprise came as we drove into the park. A giant sign stated "Road construction: Going-to-the-Sun Road Closed 9pm to 7am" between Logan Pass and our cabin. Well that put a kink on photographing Logan Pass for sunset and sunrise! It turns out that at 2am a pilot car would come by and take anyone that was "stuck" through the road closure. Our plan of attack became "shoot sunset, sleep in the car till 1:45am, take the 2am pilot car, get an hour of sleep in the hotel, then wake-up for sunrise." We did this on several occasions. It might explain why we became nocturnal. Another surprise was the weather. We watched what we had hoped would be perfect clouds disappear right before our eyes, just minutes before sunset. For 2 days it rained so hard and was so foggy we could barely see our feet. In the end we made the best of the situation and came home with 3 or 4 keeper shots and one morning of great light. On our last day in the park the thunderstorms finally started to clear and we raced to Logan Pass in hopes of a nice sunset. With plenty of time before the sun went down we played around, shooting wildflowers, running around from waterfall to waterfall, and trying our hand at some long exposures with the Lee Big Stopper. In this 75 second exposure I was able to capture some of the last of the fleeting clouds as they streaked over the mountain peaks. The shadows created from the clouds left a "batman" symbol on Piegan Mountain. About 15 minutes later it was clear blue skies again. I'm glad I managed to get this in before the clouds were gone! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S: 17mm, f/20, 75 sec, ISO 80
