View allAll Photos Tagged pullout
When I drive through the glorious Owens Valley of eastern California, a particular mountain comes into view around Bishop. That mountain is Mount Tom, a picturesque 13,658 ft peak that commands attention from across the area. From the east it has a nearly perfectly isosceles triangle form. From the northeast as seen here at sunrise on a frigid winter morning, Mount Tom still commands attention as it ascends some 9,000 feet over the valley floor below. On this day Tom was covered completely in snow from top to bottom as a testament to the strong arctic winter storms this winter that have dipped this far down south. The mountain is named for Thomas Clark, a pioneer who is credited with the first ascent of this peak in the 1860s. For this image I stopped at the scenic viewpoint pullout off of US 395. Just to the left of the peak and hidden in the precipitous clouds beyond is the Bishop Creek drainage area where I love to see the fall colors of golden aspen trees in autumn.
While at a roadside pullout along the Avenue of the Giants (California 254) with a view looking up and to the south at nearby coast redwoods in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.
I just returned from a 2-week trip to the Big Island of Hawaii with so many new favorite
photos that it will take a while to sort them out! So here is one from Yesterday morning to get started. A very destructive new lava flow has inspired park officials to aggressively keep people many hundreds of meters from lava flows, so I got no lava pictures... just so you know. No HDR.
Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!
See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/486052295...
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @29
1/4-second exposure @F9
LEE soft ND grad (100x150mm - 4x6in) 0.9 + 0.9
Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring
No polarizer.
ISO 100
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod
Manfrotto pistol-grip ball head
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The Story
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I just returned to San Francisco last night and it seems impossible that I saw this view just yesterday morning my time just 3 hours before my flight. I could not resist one more pre-dawn hike into this scenic valley.
The Big Island has a wide variety of climate zones and geological regions. Lava flows create lots of new land and those areas are rough and new. Areas like this valley are on the older side where the volcanos are extinct and the land is being sculpted into fantastic forms. The almost 14,000-foot (4200m) Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea volcanoes create rain forest upwind and barren deserts downwind. And they can exist just 4 miles apart! The beaches vary from black sand, to white, golden, red and even green. It is a photographer's paradise, but it is big and you have to do your research to find the best spots.
To get here, you must get up well before sunrise (it is not a sunset beach), drive to the tourist pullout and hike down a 400-foot trail in the dark to get here in time for sunrise. It is not a difficult hike but it is slippery and one mistake and your day is ruined! Also, this is a great place to spend the day, far away from civilization. I'll write more about this valley in future uploads.
The map shows the exact location.
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Other stuff
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My pictures are featured on the front page of the newly redesigned
The state Gov. of California website. Have a look! It is Flash with my pics cut into layers for a 3-d slideshow. If you are into building apps, the State has opened up lots of data to the public, so check it out!
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Resources:
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Google Earth
Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.
Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr
Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235
Wave Heights (I choose 'North Pacific from Global')
polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/main_int.html
Or Here:
www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/RP1bw.gif
Photos of every inch of the California coastline from a small plane. Excellent for close in detailed views.
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Taken at a pullout driving away from Mammoth Lakes, California on the 395 freeway. It was freezing, but the snowy landscape was amazing, especially since it was so different from sunny Los Angeles where I’m from.
The one-way Firehole Lake Drive takes you through the woods and back to a place where hidden geysers and thermal features that can't be seen from the road, are found. Several pullouts and parking areas along your drive make it easy for you to get out of the car and take your time admiring these natural wonders. This is also where Great Fountain Geyser is located. Great Fountain Geyser is the only geyser not in the Upper Geyser Basin that is predicted at the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center. Eruptions 100 ft. high shoot out from a pool of water in a magnificent display. The road continues on and squeezes between Firehole Lake and Hot Lake before taking you back into the woods where it eventually meets back up with the main road right across the street from the Fountain Paint Pot parking lot and boardwalk. Ample parking is available at Firehole and Hot Lakes with boardwalks leading you along the banks of the steaming water. RVs, buses and trailers are not permitted on this road due to narrow sections along the way. Pick up an Old Faithful Area Trail Guide at any visitor center so you can read about all the different features and stops around Firehole Lake Drive. [Source: www.youryellowstonevacation.com/index.php?p=region&re...] Yellowstone's Firehole Lake Drive is a 3-mile, one-way side road off the Grand Loop located between the Old Faithful exit and Madison Junction. It has many geysers and hot springs visible from the road. There is also a boardwalk around the Firehole Lake itself, leading you to small geysers and springs. [Source: www.yellowstonepark.com/road-trips/firehole-lake-scenic-d...]
Yellowstone National Park is a national park located in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first National Park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, one of its most popular features. It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion. [Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park]
One of the first photos of the Grand Canyon I took on this trip after arriving at the Desert Watchtower pullout near the East Entrance.
I left my campsite early to drive up to Clingman's Dome for sunrise (the highest point in the park). But as I got closer to the end of the road, the clouds got thicker. So, I turned around and found a little pullout with a small view through the trees and joined another photographer from Boston for this awesome sunrise.
Yosemite's lowest hanging fruit, the Valley View pullout..lol... It is amazing how this scene is just handed to you on a silver platter. But I chose to come here when the light was good and the water was flowing well. And I had to do some risky moves to get out to this spot. No HDR.
Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!
See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/360139158...
Also, I am a winner in the 2009 Natures Best Ocean Views contest. This photo was a winner! The print looks a LOT better than the Flickr upload for some reason.
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 20 (very wide but it still all just barely fits in!)
1-second exposure @F16
LEE soft ND grad (100x150mm) 0.9 + 0.75
Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring
ISO 50
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
This is the classic view along the river near the entrance to the valley. Even though there is a nice car park just 100 feet away from where I set the tripod, there was not another person in sight during nearly this entire sunset. I'm not sure why. Probably because it had been raining and even snowing above 6,000 feet elevation until about 20 minutes before I made this image. It was looking almost hopeless, but I could see openings in the clouds developing. And this spot seemed to have the best chance for the best light. I had other plans for sunset, but the light was bad there. Everything in the frame seemed alive, from the rock and grass in front, to the rapids in the middle, to the light on El Capitan and Bridalveil valls.
Of course I could not just put the tripod on the concrete sidewalk and take the shot. I carefully composed this scene after waiting for about 30 minutes on a slippery small rock where you had to jump across several other slippery rocks. I should have just taken my shoes off but standing on river-bottom rock for 30 minutes would have torn my feet up and it was snowing at 6,000 feet elevation at this time even though it was June. So the water was cold! Yes, I should get wellies...
I wanted to show the grasses close up, along with the orange reflections on the right. And all the way to 1612 ft. Ribbon Falls in the upper left. The highest freestanding waterfall in North America just beating out Upper Yosemite Falls. Earlier there were some guys with big 8x10 view cameras fiddling around on the sidewalk for quite a long time. They could not have made this image with their clumsy equipment, believe me!
The map shows exactly where this is. Just downstream from the pullout about 100 feet.
See my Flickr profile for a link to my website where I have limited edition prints and less expensive open edition prints.
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At a pullout overlook along the Going-to-the-Sun Road with a view looking to the southwest in Glacier National Park. My thought on composing this image was to take advantage of what I perceived as layers present and use that to capture look beyond. Nearby was a forest of evergreens and other small trees, with the waters of Saint Mary Lake beyond that. As a backdrop, there were distant mountains with the ridges and peaks of the Central Lewis Range with Mahtotopa Mountain, Dusty Star Mountain, Fusillade Mountain, Gunsight Mountain, and Dragons Tail. I decided to keep a more leveled-on view with the horizon and let the blue skies above the a contrast to complement the earth-tones present in the lower portion of the image.
Columnar basalt is a really cool thing. I was watching the Central Washington Univ productions of Nick on the Rocks (geology videos of Washington state that are long enough to be educational but short enough not to tax short attention spans) and learned some new things about columnar basalts. It cools from the top to the bottom, and shrinks and fractures. The really fractured stuff at the top usually gets eroded or swept away, so what you see is the middle portion of these formations.
This photo was taken from a pullout maybe less than 1/4 mile from the US 26 turnoff onto OR 19. These basalts are called the Picture Gorge Basalts. Like the Picture Gorge Ignimbrite (tuff and other volcanic mishmash), these basalts make nice marker beds for geologists.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
A view looking to the southwest at a roadside pullout along the Maligne Lake Road in Jasper National Park. This was of a mother black bear and one of her three cubs.
On an exploratory trip to Montana, driving around lake Koocanusa. This was next to a pullout we stopped at.
Catholic Bay Panorama - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Just back from the Palouse in Eastern Washington State. What a great area to photograph. I am still fighting a bit of jet lag and will start posting some of my photos on Wednesday. Until then, a couple of Grand Teton photos.
There is a spot just past Jackson Lake Dam that just screams panorama. The pullout is long enough to fit a number of cars, and you get this great view of the Tetons in all of their majesty. The body of water is Jackson Lake and this particular part of the lake is known as Catholic Bay. I have heard this also called Chapel Bay, but after a bit of research, I found a reference to it as Catholic Bay on the National Park Service's website. Regardless of its name, it still is a jaw dropping scene.
© Jerry T Patterson - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use. Absolutely no permission is granted in any form, fashion or way, digital or otherwise, to use my Flickr images on blogs, personal or professional websites or any other media form without my direct written permission.
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As a preliminary issue, I don't care how Flickr is adding additional sharpening...and there's a definite difference between what I had before I uploaded this photo and what you and I are now seeing.
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Fall in the Tetons is approaching fast so for those traveling there I thought I'd give you something to consider. As a matter of fact, right now, in some areas of Jackson Hole, you will definitely notice that fall colors are starting starting to show up and in some places like the 2nd pullout for Willow Flats just before Jackson Lake Lodge the Aspens in one group are near peak color !!!
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I've had a number of people email me ask me if plan to offer a 2013 Jackson Hole, WY mountain wildflower photo shoot / workshop. The answer is yes but I haven't set the dates yet.
If you're interested in joining me next year for a 3 day sunrise to sunset JH wildflower photo shoot please see my profile for contact info.
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Time to kick back an relax to Valdi Sabev's song ... Perfect Day
If you right click on the highlighted link and select "Open Link In New Tab", you can listen to the music as you review your Flickr photos. For you Mac owners, if you hold down the "control" key and click on the url, you'll be able to select "Open link in New Tab".
You may also find me at: .. Amazon || Smashwords || SmugMug || 500px || 72dpi || Google+ || facebook
Thanks for stopping by.
Along the Blue Ridge Parkway,
Western North Carolina
We had just stopped briefly, not exactly off the road, when we saw our first white trilliums (which were much more worn). Luckily I found a pullout to reset our GPS and that's where we found this one and a mass of others.
We stopped at this pullout that had a great view of the foothills and wildflowers. While we were looking around a couple told us that the oak tree had swallows nesting in knots of the tree. We found one that mama kept coming in and out of and I set up the tripod. It was kind of nice to bring out the big lens and get a nice capture. Mama came back a couple of times and this was probably my best shot. It was a nice break from the flower shooting to watch them swooping through the air in search of insects.
In Joshua Tree National Park at a roadside pullout looking to the south and across a snowy landscape with Joshua Trees and other desert plant-life. I liked the layered look of this national park landscape with the snow covered foreground, leading up to the hillside of rock formations that was itself also getting snow covered.
A setting looking to the southwest while taking in views along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The view beyond is with the western part of Glacier National Park with McDonald Creek in the image center and ridges and peaks with Mount Cannon, Stanton Mountain, Mount Vaught, and McPartland Mountain to the sides. My thought on composing this image was to align myself with the valley to my front as best as I could from the roadside pullout. The rest was metering the exposure given the bright afternoon sunlight that day. Almost like there was a slight haze but the ClearView Plus tool in DxO PhotoLab 6 helped to minimize that while also working with control points in to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.
A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views across a nearby forest and lake to the more distant ridges and peaks with Mount Rundle (Rundle Peaks). This is at a roadside pullout along Trans-Canada Highway 1 at the Vermilion Lakes Viewpoint in Banff National Park.
On our self drive safari to Serengeti this was the view from the pullout area at Ngorongoro where the main road descends into the crater, the cloud was beginning to break but we were heading out from Serengeti NP to Tarangire NP and didn't have time to wait for the sun to appear properly.
A 220° panorama from west (left) to east (right) of the bright aurora in a classic arc across the north, on April 19, 2018. This was from a roadside pullout on Highway 564 north of Strathmore, Alberta.
The waxing crescent Moon is setting at left in the northwest; Jupiter is rising at far right in the southeast. The lights of Calgary light the sky and clouds at far left.
This is a 10-section panorama stitched with Camera Raw. All 8-second exposures at f/2.8 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 1600.
A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views to Mount Rundle and Sanson Peak. This is in Banff National Park while at a roadside pullout along Vermilion Lakes Road. In composing this image, I decided, as the caption noted, for a leveled-on view to the horizon that allowed for a balance between the mountain, with its ridges and peaks, and the reflections on the lake waters.
While along the Blue Ridge Parkway and roadside pullout with a view looking to the west-southwest. This is at the Rock Point Overlook with a distant view of the ridges and peaks of Kelley Mountain and Torry Mountain. In composing this image, I angled my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera slightly downward to take advantage of the higher ground I was located on and bring about more of a sweeping view, looking down this ridge into the nearby valley below.
Here's your Sunday sunrise (since I'm uploading it on a Sunday) courtesy of Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming.
I'd never visited this national park before, so I included it on my national park itinerary during my road trip move from Texas to Washington state.
Because I'd never visited this place, I had no idea what spot to choose to capture a sunrise shot. I had gotten up pre-dawn and checked out of my hotel, but knew as I was driving along that I'd have to figure out a place for photography soon, as I could see the pink glow of the sun beginning to peek above the horizon. So, I just parked in a pullout and took tripod and camera a few feet out into the sagebrush meadow and decided this was as good a place as any for a sunrise.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Perhaps the most popular waterfall in Mount Rainier National Park, Narada Falls has an ever-present following of visitors. Veiling over a wall of basalt, the Paradise River slides and plunges 17 feet into a small pool then spreads out and veils 159 feet in a lacy display that can stretch to 75 feet wide at peak flow. When the river is running high, be prepared to get soaked at the viewpoint - the spray is always funneled straight at the trail. While the commonly enjoyed viewpoint provides the best views of the falls, a second, less developed viewpoint further downstream yields a side view of the falls from below, which has been used for some of the more famous pictures of this waterfall. The falls can also be partially viewed from the side of SR 706 near a large pullout about ½ a mile east of the bridge over the Paradise River. During the winter, the falls freeze and become 150 feet of Icicles, which attract ice climbers from afar.
Source: www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/waterfall/Narada-Falls-5227
While at a roadside pullout along the Akamina Parkway in Waterton Lakes National Park. The setting is with a view looking to the west. My thought on composing this image was to pull back on the focal length so that I could capture the full height of the trees in the forest to my front and also include some of the ridges and peaks with Mount Rowe and others in the Clark Range. I didn't want to blow any of the highlights in the overcast skies above as I felt there was still some details present, so I slightly underexposed the image. I knew I could pull out the more shadowed areas later in post-production.
A Conrail local passes through the “other” side of East Penn Junction in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The more commonly known East Penn Junction was near the end of the Reading’s East Penn Branch at Auburn Street in Allentown, more commonly known as “Burn”. At one time the Reading maintained a small yard and engine facility there, and locals served area customers as well CNJ and LV interchange traffic. The Lehigh Valley maintained a small yard of the same name along its main line, about ¼ mile away from the Reading facility.
With the 1971 CNJ pullout from Pennsylvania, the LV took over Allentown yard, and the East Penn Junction connection between the LV and RDG was no longer necessary. The advent of Conrail did nothing to change that, but the little-used connecting track took on new importance. With the Allentown corridor becoming the main east-west route through eastern Pennsylvania, Conrail upgraded the connector, which remains a heavily-used piece of trackage for all trains that have no work in Allentown. This scene is at LV’s East Penn Junction, known locally as “in the hole”, due to its lower elevation.
A colorful formation in contrast to the gray cliffs that follow the Hole-in-the-Rock Road, Devil’s Garden is a unique, easily-accessible natural play park. After driving 12 miles down the graded road, there is a signed pullout for this spot designated as an “Outstanding Natural Area.”
As part of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, this desert destination features hoodoos, natural arches, and various sandstone formations—some are reminiscent, on a smaller scale, to areas such as Goblin Valley.
Devil’s Garden is a maze of sandstone formations formed by, and continuously shaped by, erosion. Nature’s hand has been at work since the Jurassic Period more than 166 million years ago. Presently, Devil’s Garden boasts hoodoos, arches, and other rock protrusions from the sandy, desert landscape.
Source: Visit Utah
My Love Poem to the Mountains:
When I'm with you, I am happy!
At a roadside pullout along the main park road in the Many Glacier area with a view looking wot the west-southwest across a nearby grassy field with the ridges and peaks of Grinnell Point as a backdrop. This is in Glacier National Park. I had wanted to capture a view from a low point I was on looking across and above the nearby grassy meadow but the focus would be on the trees and mountains backdrop. That’s what I set the focus on for this image. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 6 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.
The fins at Arches are great for exploring and taking pics of. These are between the main parking lots from a pullout.
A setting looking to the east while taking in views across ridges and peaks of the Northern Blue Ridge while at a roadside pullout along the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is located at the Three Ridges Overlook. My thought in composing this image was to take advantage of the two lone trees to my front and then have a backdrop of the more distant ridges and peaks. I didn't want to have them in the image center, so I put them a little off-center and figured I could balance those with the mountains as a backdrop.
Taken from a short stop at a pullout near the East entrance of Zion National Park, which ended being about a 2-1/2 hour exploration of this amazing terrain.
Driving along the U.S. 441 Scenic way through the Great Smokey Mountains, just outside of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, you get glimpses of the white water of the Walker Camp Prong flowing beside you. Luckily there is a parking pullout or two where you can get closer to water and even dip in your toes if you'd like. As I sat here and listened to the water flow over the rocks, I felt any tension I had flow away with the water.
While at a roadside pullout along the Blue Ridge Parkway with a view looking up and to the east-southeast. This location is at the Virginia and North Carolina State Line. What I wanted to capture with this look was the trees caught in the light of the morning sun and the backdrop of blue skies and clouds. Both the light and the backdrop seemed to bring out vibrant colors in the trees.
While at a roadside pullout along Utah Scenic Byway 12 with a view looking to the southwest across the high desert of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. My thinking in composing this image was to take advantage of the nearby foreground to create a layered look with some nearby canyons and eroded gullies leading up to more distant colorful slickrock. I felt including some shrubbery and small trees helped to add to that look of the American West in the image captured.
While wandering around the Lower Otter Creek Overlook with a view looking to the northwest. This is at a roadside pullout along the Blue Ridge Parkway. What drew me into the setting was the lone tree in the center of this parking area that had blue skies as a backdrop. I also liked the way the contrail was cutting across the sky, adding to the setting for this image captured.
We were in the park very early last week when we saw a wolf out across a meadow. We stopped in a pullout to watch it, and when we did, it started trotting toward us. It went into the road and checked us out through the window. This is a highly cropped image from a long lens.
While at a roadside pullout area along Alberta Highway 93A with a view looking to the south-southwest across the waters of Leach Lake to Mount Fryatt and Whirlpool Mountain. This is in Jasper National Park.
While at a roadside pullout along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The view is looking to the northwest at the Raven Rock Overlook. In composing this image, I angled my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward, so that I could bring out more of a sweeping view across this mountain landscape. That would in turn allow me to raise the horizon and bring out more of a sense of grandeur present in the image.
Oct 27-30, 2007
The Great Smoky Mountain
A very beautiful place to shoot
Cades Cove is a lush valley surrounded by mountains and one of the most popular destinations in the Great Smokies. Deer are almost always sighted in the fields, and observations of other wildlife, including bear, Wild Turkey, and fox are possible. Please use pullouts when viewing wildlife and never approach or feed animals.
A wide array of historic buildings dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries is scattered through-out the cove. These include a grist mill, a variety of barns, three churches, and a marvelous collection of log homes and outbuildings.
An 11-mile one-way loop road takes you around the cove. Traffic will be heavy during the tourist season in summer and fall and on weekends year-round.
A visitor center (open daily), restrooms, and the Cable Mill historic area are located half-way around the loop road.
Numerous trails originate in the cove, including the five-mile roundtrip trail to Abrams Falls and the short Cades Cove Nature Trail. Longer hikes to Thunderhead Mountain and Rocky Top (made famous by the popular song) also begin in the cove.
Several designated backcountry campsites (camping by permit only) are located along trails.
Only bicycle and foot traffic are allowed on the loop road from sunrise until 10:00 a.m. every Saturday and Wednesday morning from early May until late September
TGIF: Painted Rock pit against setting sun in Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park.
This is a easy drive to spot and perhaps a best spot to the park to photograph sunset.
If you are planning a trip to this area, check out Curecanti point. while scouting the area, I thought it is a great spot for sunrise. Didn't have time to return for sunrise the following morning. Curecanti point is nearby, but not within the boundary of the national park. There are two view points at Curecanti pullout, be sure to go the one to your right. Thats the one I liked.
You can order prints on 500px.
In the past week, Yosemite has suffered from fires caused by dry-season lightning. So here is a spring time view to recall greener times. The rainy season will not come for a few more months so let's hope the fires subside! No HDR.
Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!
See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/386733837...
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 30
2-second exposure @F18 (pushing the limits of diffraction!)
2 hours before sunset when the light is still on the cliff face.
LEE soft ND grad (100x150mm) 0.9 + 0.75
Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring
No polarizer. I wanted reflections in the water
ISO 50 (for the long-ish exposure)
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
Bridal Veil falls in Yosemite flows year-round, but in the spring it flows at its maximum rate as the high elevation snow melts. I moved around to find an opening in the trees to show as much of the falls as possible. Even though this was taken at the touristy 'Valley View' side-of-the-road pullout, you can still be creative and move around to get the best composition that you can. I've seen literally thousands of pictures taken from within 50 feet of this spot and have not seen this sort of image made. Also there were other photographers there with expensive tripods taking shots from vantage points that barely showed the waterfall at all. Did they even notice what they were shooting? They also had long lenses and were not including much if any of the water. But the water was an important part of the scene.
I waited for the last rays of the sun to light up the cliffs and waterfall. Then I made many exposures ranging from 1/4-second to 30 seconds with a dark filter to try to get the best effect in the water. I settled on this 2-second exposure because it showed the most reflectivity and still have nice texture so the viewer can visualize the water flowing by. I always try to adjust the exposure time to add realism. Sometimes the best is short and sometimes long.
The map shows exactly where this is. It is a 20-foot hike from the nearest road. lol!
See my Flickr profile for a link to my newly designed website.
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