A Few Shots from the Shootout and Afterward

pathfinder

Last year after the shootout I posted a long multi-pictured thread about our (Nightingale and I) road trip to and from the shootout. This year I am not going to have the time to post as many images due to other time constraints in my life. But I do have few images that I have finished post processing that I would like to share.

I want to start with a large thank you to SmugMug and Baldy and his crew for making the shootout possible again this year. It was a great event and enjoyed by everyone who was able to attend. A great thank you goes to Baldy and his families support for smugmug and dgrin.

I want to thank Andy for his time and efforts spent in making it successful also. Andy is a great guy, and a real assett for Smugmug and the shooters who frequent dgrin.

I also want to thank Mark Muench for the superlative job he did in teaching and encouraging us all at Bryce and Zion. He was superb.

So on to the pictures.

Bryce - I always seem to find Bryce challenging. But I think the secret is to only shoot when the light is sweet. Not really a secret is it??

Here are a few frames from Bryce that I like



[imgr]http://Pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/73918255-L.jpg[/imgr]



Zion - larger than life and with endless photo ops - so hard to choose just a few

Sunrise on the Slick Rock


On the way up to Angel's Landing a small maple tree


Looking down on Angel's Landing


Wildflowers on top of Zion Canyon


After the shootout Nighingale and I followed the route that Nickolai and his cohorts led through Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley and along the southern edge of the Escalante Wilderness.

A Kiva at the Edge Of Cedar Mesa Museum


Petroglyph reproduction at the Edge of Cedars Museum


Petroglyphs at Arches National Park


Petroglyphs on Potash Road Moab Utah


Monument Valley at sunset




Navaho Visitors Center



And last, but not least, Upper Antelope Canyon in Page Arizona

Near the Entrance


The Light always makes the picture....


Sometimes there are ghosts in the Canyon




And sometimes there are altars as well


The trip through Upper Antelope Canyon was conducted in the midst of a windstorm and sand rained down on us the entire time we were in the canyon. Sand was caked around my lens mounts - I cleaned my gear with a fine camel hair brush very carefully afterward.


The remainder of shots I have posted on Smugmug can be found here - http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/gallery/1504304/1

As always I welcome comments and criticisms with a cheerful demeanor:):

gluwater

pathfinder wrote:

Sometimes there are ghosts in the Canyon

Those are all just great Jim, but this one is excellent. I would never have thought of that. You are so right about the light though. I have tons of shots from Bryce that are just blah because the light was poor.

aero-nut

W O W ! I love them. The monument valley and antelope Canyon shots just blow me away. Now I wish I would have stayed for the post shoot-out. Thanks for sharing. Great hangning out with you.

Sam

Ecelent photos, and comments! Thanks for posting.

Sam

mushy

wow, wow and wow!! All those shots were stunners, I'd be tempted to print the lot if they were mine and I had the wall space.

David_S85

Jim, these are all fantastic shots. I'm not sure if a ghost is the cause of the lens flare you got, but I wouldn't put it past them (the ghosts).

I'm glad I bought those expensive hiking shoes with the extra gripping power or you might have caught quite a different action shot.

ehughes

Great job Jim, but this one thumb

Sweeet shot!!

pathfinder

Nick, Kendall, Sam, Mushy, David, Ed - thanks all for the kind words.

Ed, this one is a favorite of mine also.


Sometimes, I think I see a good shot and when I get it home I realize it is not any good at all. I wonder what I thought I saw, when I shot it.
But as I stood there with sand pouring down on my head, I could see the sand falling in the light shaft and I knew there was a good image in there somewhere. I'm glad I was able to capture it and others to see it also. The small file on dgrin does not do it justice - you can actually see the individual grains of sand falling in the upper half of the image at 100% on my monitor.

[imgr]http://Pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/72154748-L.jpg[/imgr]










Here is another image from Monument Valley that you may have see similar images of elsewhere

Sam

pathfinder wrote:

Nick, Kendall, Sam, Mushy, David, Ed - thanks all for the kind words.

Ed, this one is a favorite of mine also.

Sometimes, I think I see a good shot and when I get it home I realize it is not any good at all. I wonder what I thought I saw, when I shot it.
But as I stood there with sand pouring down on my head, I could see the sand falling in the light shaft and I knew there was a good image in there somewhere. I'm glad I was able to capture it and others to see it also. The small file on dgrin does not do it justice - you can actually see the individual grains of sand falling in the upper half of the image at 100% on my monitor.
_____________________________________________

I too have noticed it's impossible to post or view the REAL photo on here, or maybe the whole internet. I have a pretty good 22" Lacie monitor, and as good as it is the print always looks better.

While I may not be able to see all the fine detail on these photos, I can see good composition, and great color, and I know you have the detail.

Sam

GREAPER

Great Set Pathfinder.

The monument Xalley ones blow me away.

I was great seeing the two of you again.

USAIR

Jim awesome photos
Couple that come to mind are the ladder at Cedar Mesa Museum and all the photos at Antelope Canyon.

Great set and it looks like everyone had a good time too.

Thanks
Fred

kudbegud

great shots Jim. thanks for posting...love um!!

ian408

Jim,

I'm particularly keen on that alter shot. That is just beautiful.

Ian

pathfinder

Thanks Fred and Ian.

Here are two more from Upper Antelope. I have printed the color one and the alter, posted earlier, 10 x15 and plan to hang them together.

[imgl]http://Pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/74320277-L.jpg[/imgl]

[imgr]http://Pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/74320399-L.jpg[/imgr]


The light in Antelope can be so sweet!!

ian408

That B&W is good. The branch reminds me of a scepter illuminated by a
church window light

pathfinder

One of the things I took away from Mark Muench's talk the last day of the shootout - he examines each image in B&W quickly - in each of the RGB channels - and if an image is not good in B&W, it probably won't be any better in color. He seemed to use that for a quick way to cull images before beginning post processing.

Most of Antelope's images are displayed in color, yet most of them will fare fairly well in B&W, I suspect. I just do not remember seeing that many images of Antelope in B&W.

Thanks again, Ian.:):

gus

pathfinder wrote:

Thanks Fred and Ian.

Here are two more from Upper Antelope. I have printed the color one and the alter, posted earlier, 10 x15 and plan to hang them together.

[imgl]http://Pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/74320277-L.jpg[/imgl]

[imgr]http://Pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/74320399-L.jpg[/imgr]


The light in Antelope can be so sweet!!

Now they are GOOD !!

Mikko

Hey Pathfinder,

Nice pics, I really like the Monument Valley ones. Well done. That is one of the places I really want to go to and I envy you for going there.

Keep up the good work,

Mikko

pathfinder

Thanks Gus. I know you don't just hand out praise lightly, so a very hearty thank you indeed.

Mikko, one of the secrets of getting good shots in Monument Valley is hiring a good Navaho guide who understands the lighting, and making sure you are in the right place at the right time. I have numerous shots of the west mitten that are uniformly awful, because the light was not there at that time.

I used a fellow by the name of Daniel Chee and he was excellent. He can be reached at 435-727-3227. Remember - cell phones do not work in the Valley, so call several weeks ahead of time to make plans.

Here he is, sitting in Tear Drop Arch