A visit to Rifle Falls

Posted on 13 September, 2017 by Eric

As I may have mentioned previously, we bought a camping trailer earlier this year. So since camping is now a lot more comfortable for us than it used to be, we’ve been taking advantage of it to spend time in a lot of places we’ve not been to before. So it was that we spent a weekend in Rifle Gap State Park, on the west side of Colorado.

We honestly didn’t go into this trip knowing a lot about the park — we primarily thought it’d be a nice, quiet place to spend an otherwise hot August weekend. The camp site itself was clean and well-maintained, if lacking in trees to slow the wind. But not that far away from the Rifle Gap campsites is their sister park, Rifle Falls State Park — a real hidden gem of the Colorado State Park system. Continue reading →

Out Across the Lake

Posted on 7 August, 2017 by Eric

Looking west across Lake Louise; Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada:

Looking down the canyon

Posted on 29 April, 2017 by Eric

A fisheye view of Echo Canyon in Zion National Park, seen from under “Weeping Rock:”

This scene, BTW, is just a taste of the attractions in Zion. The place can get a bit crowded during the summer, but a shuttle bus service runs up and down the canyon, and many impressive sights are just a short hike away from a shuttle stop.

EXIF:
Olympus E-M1
Olympus M.Zuiko 8mm Fisheye lens
f/22, 1/100 sec, ISO 200

Navajo Mountain

Posted on 17 March, 2017 by Eric

An interesting view, taken from high above Glen Canyon while on a flight home from L.A.:

The feeling of falling

Posted on 30 July, 2016 by Eric

For your weekend relaxation — a view of Montmorency Falls, near Quebec City, Quebec, Canada:

As waterfalls go, Montmorency is both photogenic and easy to get to, if you’re in the neighborhood (it’s a relatively short jaunt off a nearby highway). Some thoughts, though, should you be planning a trip to Quebec City: Continue reading →

Moraine Park

Posted on 28 April, 2016 by Eric

Looking to the west in Rocky Mountain National Park…

This shot looks up Moraine Park (a glacier-cut valley) to the continental divide. The peaks here are relatively low — only getting up to a bit over 12,000 feet above sea level (Colorado has many “14ers,” 14,000 foot tall mountains, further south).

Scenes from a Colorado overflight

Posted on 23 April, 2016 by Eric

We recently did a bit of family travel — on our way from Denver to Phoenix, we were fortunate enough to have relatively clear skies and a late afternoon flight. Perfect for some aerial twilight photography of various spots in Colorado and the four corners region of the U.S.

First up for you, Colorado Springs (top of frame) seen over the snow covered Rampart Reservoir, not far west of town.

Colorado Springs is one of those places I normally see while driving through (in this case, on I-25) — from that perspective, the mountains form a wall to the west of the city. But from above, the fact that the mountains are essentially a (tall) rumpled plateau is much more evident.

Continue reading →

Spirits of the Ancestors

Posted on 8 March, 2016 by Eric

A muted, somewhat ghostly shot for you — from Upper Antelope Canyon in Arizona:

A few things to note if you want to visit either Upper or Lower Antelope Canyon for photography:

Only the upper canyon has nice, wide alcoves like this; also, it’s easier for people with mobility issues to move in, thanks to its relatively-wide sandy floor.
You need to move fast (and get a little assistance from your guide) to get a shot of an alcove that doesn’t have other people in it — this is particularly true for the upper canyon.
It helps to visit the upper canyon in the winter — you can see light rays in various places in Summer, and since this is well-publicized, the place is even more crowded then.
The upper canyon has a two-way pedestrian flow (as opposed to the lower canyon, which has an entrance on one end and an exit on the other), so there can be jostling as people try to go their separate ways.

Thor’s Hammer

Posted on 5 August, 2015 by Eric

A particularly photogenic “hoodoo,” Thor’s Hammer is one of the marquis sights at Bryce Canyon National Park, in Utah:

Continue reading →

Indoor peak

Posted on 3 May, 2015 by Eric

On our trip to Iceland this January, we got to see a new perspective on a subject we’ve had earlier experiences with — lava tubes. Formed when lava flows crusted over and subsequently drained, we’ve walked through some in Hawaii — but never previously seen one in a colder clime.