Instead I’ve decided to share a few new images that I’ve been working on, all with a common theme:  long exposure.   In the right situation, a long exposure provides extra time for either the camera to move, or elements within the frame to move (like clouds or water), adding unique drama to a scene.

First, I recently purchased an 8-stop neutral density filter.   I’ve wanted one for quite a while, after seeing some great long exposure work from other photographers.  Mac Danzig has a great tutorial/informational blog post on them here.  I waited for a stormy morning with dramatic skies to try it out at a local beach, with some great rock formations.  The rock in the second image reminds me of a molar from a Pleistocene-epoch carnivore…

Stormy morning, November 2011

The sea's jaws, November 2011

In addition to letting the scene move, interesting effects can also be achieved by moving the camera while the shutter is open.  Zoom blurs have become more popular over the last few years, but I added another element.  In addition to zooming the lens during the exposure, I also rotated the camera.  The subject I chose to try this out on is California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum foliolosum); I have always loved the fall color palette of this plant, but haven’t been able to make an image of I like.  Finally, with this technique–although it won’t appeal to everyone–I feel like I’ve gotten the colors to blend in a way that’s appealing to me.

Hallucination I, October 2011

Hallucination II, October 2011

Looking out my window, I think autumn may have finally come to southern California!  I hope you have a great November; in the U.S. its a time we give thanks for many things–what are you thankful for this month?

Despite all of that, I had a great time.  A funny thing happens after outdoor experiences like this one: we seem to forget all of the “bad” parts of a trip, remembering the good things.   Do the bad experiences really go away?  Not completely:  We learn from them.  As a novice backpacker, I learned several things about hiking in poor weather; I learned them the hard way, but I survived.

The thing that stuck in my memory more than anything else from that first trip to the Grand Canyon was the magnificence of the place.  The sheer drops, layers of sandstone, and of course the power of the Moenkopi-colored mud flowing in the Colorado River.  I’ve returned to the Grand Canyon more than almost any other national park.  During my first trip it was simply breathtaking; since then it has become breathgiving.

Vishnu's Sun Salutation, May 2011

Since 1992, I’ve backpacked the Grand Canyon once more, and have camped on the rim multiple times.  Each time I say to myself, “Why don’t I visit more often?”  Yes, its packed with people, especially on the holiday weekends when I find time to visit, but there’s a magnificent peacefulness that surrounds it.    There are small pockets, places, you can go and hide, and despite the hordes, its almost as if you have this huge amphitheater to yourself.

Just like so many other geologic wonders on the Colorado Plateau, there really is nothing like the Grand Canyon on earth.  Although I’ve enjoyed it for 19 years, I just now have images of it.  Click the image or here to see the rest.

Any visitor to the southwest should become quickly acquainted with hoodoos–rock spires usually found protruding from a drainage or badlands.  Hoodoos are typically formed when a rock or boulder from a newer (therefore stratagraphically higher) layer of sandstone falls onto an older layer.  The boulder erodes more slowly, but it also protects the rock underneath it from eroding, leaving the characteristic spire with the cap rock on top of it–in this way the cap rock almost shelters the underlying rock from erosion.

On my recent trip to Utah, I made a couple of sunset visits to the Toadstool Hoodoos, located in the extreme southern end of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.   Like other hoodoos, the Toadstools were formed when boulders from the Dakota Formation fell onto the older rock of the Entrada Formation.  Dakota Sandstone erodes more slowly, leaving vibrantly colored hoodoos in a stunning badlands setting.

(Click on the diptych to view it large.)

Toadstools , March 2011

A large part of the draw of the Colorado Plateau is the interesting geology.  For me, its one thing to marvel over a beautiful formation; its another, more fulfilling, thing to marvel over how it formed.

Hoodoo Garden, March 2011

Geology, as a science, studies the forces responsible for shaping and changing the earth.  Sometimes those shapes and changes can simply be otherworldly.  On my recent visit to the Vermillion Cliffs-Paria River Wilderness in northern Arizona, I was able to witness the magnificent results of some of these forces firsthand.

On a hike early one morning, we found ourselves on a small sandstone plateau.  The sandstone was beautifully colored, but what really grabbed my attention were the bizarre rock formations.  They reminded me of some petrified prehistoric gargoyle or ruins of an ancient civilization.

Gargoyle, January 2011

What’s happening in this image (and the one below) is called boxwork.  The idea is that the sandstone was fractured at some point, and then some sort of fluid intruded and precipitated out, but it was more completely lithified so the surrounding rock eroded before the boxwork.  I’m not entirely sure what intruded (calcite?), but it does make for very cool formations.  I hope you enjoy the images.

Broken Cathedral, January 2011

Over the holidays, we visited family in central Wyoming.  While there, I had the opportunity to visit Devils Tower National Monument in the northeastern part of the state.  Devils Tower (yes, the apostrophe has been eliminated from the name) is an igneous intrusion that arose when the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills were uplifted, allowing volcanic magma to leak through the earth’s crust about 65 million years ago.  The tower is the result of that leakage.

I took this image on Christmas Eve morning; one of the coldest mornings I’ve ever done photography.  The temperature was near 0°F with high humidity; in the hour or so before sunrise I had frost forming on my camera’s tripod and lens hood.  My breath caused more frost to form on my ball head.  But, once the rising sun illuminated the tower, it made the very cold wait worth it.  I thought the setting moon was an added bonus here.

I hope you enjoy this image; have a great January!  Click here to see the rest of my images from Devils Tower.

Devils Tower sunrise, December 2010

Vasquez Rocks was set aside, in part, because of its unique geology; the rocks were uplifted as a result of activity in the Elkhorn Fault (an offshoot of the San Andreas fault), and with time the erosion of sand away from the sandstone left rocks that jut out of the ground at very picturesque angles.  The sandstone has a variety of mineral deposits, giving it unique colors.  In addition, I found a rich lichen diversity, and enjoyed taking detailed shots of it.

Several examples of the lichen present at Vasquez Rocks

In addition, Vasquez Rocks’ proximity to Los Angeles has made it a popular filming location for several movies and TV shows, including Star Trek, Zorro, and MacGyver.  Because I visited in midday, I wanted to focus primarily on intimate compositions (like the lichen above) or contrasty black and white shots; fortunately the clouds were on my side in providing an interesting sky.

Otherworldly

In addition to the great scenery, the upside of stopping here is that the rocks didn’t move in the wind!

What a mouthful right?  As sandstone is formed, sand is laid down, either by prevailing wind current, or water current.  However, over geologic time, those currents shift, causing sand to be laid down in a different direction.  What you get is cross bedding.  I love all the cross bedding in Zion National Park and thought it would make for a good abstract photo.  To make this, I intentionally underexposed the photo by ~1 stop, to emphasize the shadows, then I converted to black and white in Photoshop and applied a very light tint to the image.

Cross bedding abstract, Zion National Park, January 2010

You can see all of my Zion National Park images here.

Columnar Basalt, Devil’s Postpile National Monument, October 2009

And I can’t resist a “self-portrait” in places like this, either:

Columnar Basalt, Devil’s Postpile National Monument, October 2009

Looking into the Amphitheater, Bryce Canyon National Park, August 2009

Part of the Claron formation, the rocks in Bryce were deposited by an ancient inland sea and are about 100 million years younger than the rocks in Zion National Park.  The rocks exposed in Zion are younger than the ones in the Grand Canyon; there are, however, formations that are shared by all three areas.  This creates a sequence of superformations geologists refer to as the Grand Staircase.  Bryce Canyon’s formations are the youngest known formations in the staircase.

The colorful hoodoos that Bryce is famous for are formed by a chemical weathering process, similar to erosion.  Today’s photo of Thor’s Hammer, the tallest of these hoodoos was taken in August 2009.  I would have wished for slightly better light, but a clearing thunderstorm gave me interesting dappled sunlight, and allowed the limestone to display its beautiful color!

Thor’s Hammer, Bryce Canyon National Park, August 2009