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2013-05-20 23:09:44 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

In just a few more days, I'll be flying off to Denver International Airport to start an epic long weekend road trip to see such wonders as Carhenge, Mt Rushmore, and Devil's Tower...  and it's a full moon weekend as well, so woohoo for night shooting!  

How many states and sights can I cram in to 3 days?    Can I keep from becoming hopelessly lost in the square states?   Will I get eaten by wildlife?    Adventure awaits!

2013-05-19 16:47:22 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

An experiment I've been meaning to try for awhile now.  I strapped a tripod to a handhold on the Jeep's dash and set up the intervalometer to capture an image every second.

2013-05-19 16:47:04 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

An experiment I've been meaning to try for awhile now.  I strapped a tripod to a handhold on the Jeep's dash and set up the intervalometer to capture an image every second.

2013-05-19 05:48:26 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

After spending a couple days driving around Utah and Arizona, it was time to head home to Los Angeles, but not without a stop to visit Zion National Park on the way!

2013-05-18 16:13:24 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

On the way home, via Zion National Park, we made a quick stop at the Glen Canyon Dam

2013-05-17 03:24:12 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

This album is made up of many (most) of the images from the "unadulterated" shots of Monument Valley, but in this set I've composited the images to have cloud-filled skies.   I've used the same cloud image for all off them, so it's clear when you see them all in thumbnails, but that's ok with me, I'm not trying to fool anyone, I just want the pictures to be pretty :D

2013-05-15 06:19:11 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

When we arrived at Monument Valley, the sun was pretty awful, so we left to explore nearby wonders, and then returned nearer to sunset and better light.

2013-05-14 04:53:06 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Muley Point, Utah, and the terrifying road leading up to it.

2013-05-13 16:38:35 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

We made a snap decision to run out to Natural Bridges State Park while waiting for better light to come across Monument Valley.

2013-05-13 03:19:01 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

A quick stop at Valley of the Gods, which we quickly abandoned in favor of a run to Natural Bridges State Park.   I'm including both the composite (clouds added) and boring clear-blue-skies versions.

2013-05-12 14:17:38 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

An odd little solo monument on the Trail of the Ancients, on the way to Valley of the Gods.  Composite images (added clouds).

2013-05-12 05:58:41 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

At long last I got to see the Horseshoe Bend. Sadly, we arrived in the parking lot at sunset, and had only fading light by the time we made it to the overlook, but it was still a beautiful sight that I am glad to have visited.

2013-05-11 21:28:41 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

During the long drive through California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, my band of erstwhile photographers debated the perceived ethics of replacing clear blue skies with cloud filled ones.   Is there a real difference in adjusting exposure, saturation, balance, cloning out sensor dust, cloning out unwanted elements, etc, and the wholesale replacement of incredibly boring elements with something visibly more interesting?

For my part, I've decided that it's acceptable.  Clouds are a rarity in my part of the country.   I frequently have to replace the sky with a fresh gradient to manage sensor dust or banding, and I see no deep issue with replacing the sky with something more interesting than that gradient.

So I've decided that this trip, encompassing 3 days, 1600 miles, and 2500 images, would be a good practice.   I used the same cloud source for all in this group,and so wh... more »

2013-05-11 16:24:58 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

We stopped in Valley of Fire on our way to Monument Valley to stretch our legs and break up the long drive.    Valley of Fire is breathtaking, and I can not wait to return during a full moon weekend for night shots!

2013-05-10 05:05:49 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Tried to chase the storm, but caught a rainbow and sunset instead!

2013-05-06 16:08:50 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

While visiting my home state of Ohio, I took a day trip down the the stunning Hocking Hills State Park. Since I had a lot of free time waiting around in airplanes and airports, I decided to process and upload a few shots from the iPad.

2013-05-01 04:37:58 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona

2013-05-01 04:21:36 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Arch Rock at Valley of Fire, Nevada

2013-04-30 15:53:27 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

The Owachomo bridge in Utah's Natural Bridges National Monument

2013-04-30 15:50:38 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

I've just returned from a whirlwind road-trip across 4 states!   7 photographers, 3 days, 2000 miles, 1 minivan.    Great fun!    Here's a night shot from outside of Monument Valley.

2013-04-23 22:50:20 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Hertz Rent-a-car officially has the worst customer service I have experienced in living memory.

While trying to reserve a car online recently, the website kept giving me an error. I finally gave up and rented from another company. I left feedback on Hertz explaining the problems I'd had with their website, and never got a response.

Then yesterday I get an email reminding me of my upcoming reservation... huh? So I call in to find out what's going... come to find out, despite getting errors, despite never receiving a confirmation number or email, I indeed had a reservation... a pre-paid reservation... and only the web department could cancel it, as I found out from the 4th person I talked to, who then hung up on me transferring me over... I talked to 6 people, over almost 45 minutes, and not 1 single agent apologized for their shitty website, phone support, disconnecting me, or... more »

2013-04-21 03:58:33 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Part Rorschach, part nightmare, and completely cool....

2013-04-18 15:54:44 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

The ghostly ruins of Rhyolite made a perfect stop for sunset, and a return after dark as well!

2013-04-17 05:33:53 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

One of my favorite places in Death Valley, Artist's Palette.

2013-04-16 15:38:18 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

The next stop on Day 2 was the Natural Bridge, an astounding huge arch in a wash.  I'd recently discovered night photography, and wasn't very good at it yet, but I loved the spot so much I went back after dropping the rest of the group off at the hotel.

2013-04-16 06:28:04 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

As day 2 dawned and the sun started chasing the overnight cold from Death Valley, we started out our explorations at Badwater Basin.

2013-04-15 16:20:05 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

On the 3rd day in Death Valley, we made the trek out to what is probably my favorite spot, The Racetrack Playa.

2013-04-15 03:37:54 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

On the 3rd day in Death Valley, we visited Ubehebe Crater and Tea Kettle Junction on the way to spent a day at the mystical Racetrack Playa.

2013-04-14 16:15:48 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

On the final morning, we rounded out our Death Valley adventure with the obligatory Zabrinskie Point sunrise, a hike through Golden Canyon, a quick stop at the Harmony Borax Works, and walk a little way into Mosiac Canyon.

2013-04-14 06:04:41 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

After spending a long weekend in Death Valley, we made a sunset stop at Alabama Hills.   There are MANY arches here, I have only found about 4 of them so far.

2013-04-03 04:51:39 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

A walkabout in Downtown Los Angeles to get some iconic shots, get hassled by security guards, and get a bite to eat, with the every fun and talented photographers +Rob Lopes, +Bobby Gibbons, +Brent Fishman, and +Tony Payne    

2013-03-27 21:36:42 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

WooHoo!  I'm one of the  #glassexplorers !

2013-03-27 14:59:53 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

This was the first time I tried to do long exposures of LAX traffic over Dockweiler Beach, and the effort was largely failed due to the moon working into the frame and by the lens fogging over pretty early.     The next trip I went on a new moon, and I wrapped handwarmers around the lens to keep it dry.    I did manage to get a couple interesting shots on this night though.

2013-03-26 05:41:27 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

"One of the most beautiful beaches in Malibu, with sea caves and large rocks on the beach, El Matador State Beach attracts many beach goers on hot weekend days. A steep dirt trail goes down to some stairs, which makes this location inaccessible for the handicapped. The views from the upper cliffs are incredible, looking down on large boulders and deep blue water filled with kelp forests."

I loved this trip to El Matador Beach in full moonlight.   It's an amazing place! This visit kicked off a 3 night full moon photo marathon.   It was great hanging out with +Rob Lopes, +Bobby Gibbons, and +Mark Esguerra!

2013-03-25 05:15:18 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

On the 2nd of a 3 night photo marathon, there was full moon and fire spinning fun at Trona Pinnacles with +Rob Lopes and +Bobby Gibbons 

2013-03-22 16:48:29 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

The unusual qualities of the Salton Sea, some clouds, a full moon, and the company of talented photographers like +Rob Lopes and +J. Rae Chip make for my favorite kind of photo outing.  

2013-03-22 04:45:21 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

A cool and rather windy evening allowed me to get something unusual...  shots without a bunch of people in them at the Griffith Observatory!

2013-03-19 06:12:29 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Once a prehistoric lake and then desert...  the Salton Sea has been one of my favorite places since my first visit there a few years ago.  Sadly most of it is gone, or nearly so.   The factory in in this collection has been mostly demolished, and the small towns around the lake are cleaning up the trailers and buildings.   Even the mud volcanoes are now off limits, there were no trespassing signs and rough looking dudes guarding it last time I was out there, courtesy of the new geothermal plant that has gone up next to them.

It's been over 100 years since it's accidental re-formation.  It's been nearly 60 years since it was a jewel of yacht clubs and resort communities that would draw people for two decades.  The wonder and decay of Salton Sea has lasted another 35 years after the fall from grace.  But all of that has been disappearing rapidly over the last few years.  Within ano... more »

2013-03-18 15:07:39 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

A day trip to Fossil Falls and Alabama Hills, with some stops along the way

2013-03-18 05:04:17 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Long exposures and time-lapse of LAX take-offs over Dockweiler Beach

2013-03-17 18:13:52 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

The pedestrian bridge in Long Beach provides a handy place to do traffic time-lapse and long exposures.

2013-03-17 03:45:07 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

A day trip out to Mojave National Preserve.    I actually never processed and uploaded these before...  I'm not sure if I didn't like them then or forgot about them, but I like them today :)

2013-03-16 16:51:52 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

A full moon outing to Vasquez Rocks with some great G+ peeps

2013-03-16 07:00:34 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

A full moon outing to one of my favorite places, Anza Borrego.

2013-03-15 22:53:21 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Ok... I want to shoot the comet this weekend, so I need a good high place, away from city lights, with a western view... a mountain overlooking the ocean, for instance... where to go?   

Wonder if I could get a good view from Sequoia... 

2013-03-15 16:14:13 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

I only managed to capture 1 lyrid on camera, still working out how to best photograph shooting stars, but I had a great time out at Red Rock Canyon all night trying!

2013-03-15 05:08:07 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Friends of mine from Sydney came to visit, and we had a day of tourism...  Griffith Observatory, Hollywood, La Brea, Beverly Hills...  

2013-03-14 15:18:49 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

While Mono Lake is a beloved photographers spot for sunrise and sunset, when the "super" full moon rolled around, I knew I wanted to shoot the tufa in moonlight.

2013-03-14 05:47:27 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

A couple scenic stops on the way home from Mono Lake

2013-03-13 15:52:46 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

A must see for many visiting photographers, the 4th St bridge is a great place for long exposures of traffic in downtown Los Angeles.