McMilky FallsMcWay Falls Big Sur, California It's been a while since I've had a photo to post … although it seems like I've been up late editing photos every day for weeks. Between getting sick, dabbling in people photography and trying to get through hundreds of fiery Hawaiian volcano photos I haven't got much sleep lately. This particular night especially... Years ago I remember seeing John Harrison's photo of McWay Falls in Big Sur, CA and knew I had to visit. Last year Rick Whitacre shot the Milky Way here and once again I knew I had to go back. Thwarted by fog and busy schedules I never had my chance, that is until this awful heat wave we've been having here in west coast. The high temperatures kept the fog from creeping in and with the summer time position of the Milky Way I knew I had my chance! Turns out Rick was on his way down that night but I wasn't going down until the following day. Yan decided to join me for a bit of fun. Yan and I arrived at sunset and setup our compositions and focus while we still had some light out. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. At 10pm another photographer, Joel, from Canada arrive and he came with some mighty powerful LED lights. We waited some more. It wasn't until after 1pm that the Milky Way finally moved its way far enough into the frame for my liking. Joel setup the LED lights far to our right to avoid the backscatter of the lights reflecting off the moisture in the air and also gave it a natural look -- all in one shot Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S: 20mm, f/2.8, 20 seconds, ISO 3200
Ancestor's DelightSunrise Over Ancient Petrogylphs California It's not every day that you can witness snow capped peaks and 5,000 year old petroglyphs while the sky explodes with color around you. As fate would have it I was treated to this amazingly rare scene while on a weekend trip to the Eastern Sierras. Knowing how special this morning was I made sure to cherish every moment of it, as well as to step away from the camera to embrace the scene and take it all in. Carved thousands of years ago by removing the top layer of granite these symbols let ones imagination run wild as to their meaning. The weekend was spent with early mornings, long car rides, constant Wunderground iPhone App checking, a little bit of prayer, much less complaining than the previous weekend, and most importantly beautiful scenes. In all I drove about 1,000 miles, saw my first Joshua Tree, roamed around dry lake beds in Death Valley, bundled up in jackets, stripped down to just shorts and t-shirts, survived a snow storm, and explored natural sandcastles. The weather reports for this weekend had been changing daily and it wasn't until the hotel cancellation deadline had passed that the trip became a reality. Boy am I glad it did! The previous afternoon started with clear skies and no cameras but as the sun started to set I caught my first glimpse of the clouds. After sprinting back to the car, lots of exhaustion and a race with time my 4th attempt at photographing the petroglyphs ended with a colorless sunset. It was early to bed and an even earlier to wake but my 5th attempt turned out much more successful! The storm clouds had finally rolled in and as I began my trek to the petroglyphs I watched as the sky lit up with beautiful pinks, oranges, and reds all around me. I constantly walked in circles just to take it all in. What an amazing morning! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S: 17mm, f/11, 1.0 sec, ISO 125
Decaying Leaf in Goyote Gulch Canyon Escalante National Monument, UT I love photo trips that produce a number of quality images and this trip to Escalante Grand Staircase was quite fruitful. Willie and I explored a number of slot canyons, played amongst gigantic hoodoo rock sculptures, and practically repelled into gorgeous red rock river canyons. We found this pool of water whilst walking through Coyote Gulch Canyon. 300 foot red rock walls surrounded us as we walked through the river in search of waterfalls and autumn color. Shortly after photographing a stunning waterfall we came upon this pool of water with decaying leaves in it. As the leaves die they leak oils into the water. Light reflects and refracts off the oils, causing the wavelength of light to change and giving this puddle the multi-colored spectrum you see here. I walked around until the yellow leaves from the tree above were reflected in the puddle. From a different angle the entire pool looked blue but I loved how the yellow water matched the yellow leaves. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 70mm (then cropped), f/9, 1/160 sec, ISO 400
