I’m back at the computer and trying to finish up my photos from our visit to the southwest. I’ve recently posted new galleries to my Adobe Portfolio site and am continuing to add more as I go. It feels like I’m only halfway, but I think I’m a little further along than that!
Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona
We visited Saguaro with our friends Cheryl & Mike, over the course of two days. The park is divided into the West and the East, and we visited the East on a cloudy afternoon, and the West the following day with sunshine and blue-sky. The sunshine and blue sky made all the difference in the world in appearance, quality of images, and not least, the heat! It gets warm in the desert, although not nearly as warm in April as later in the summer!
Red Hills Visitor Center at Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona
The Red Hills Visitor Center in Saguaro East was especially picturesque, with the lattice roof casting dramatic shadows at mid-day. Interestingly, I’ve seen very few photos of this, although I managed to make more than a few of my own! Maybe I just didn’t look in the right place.
Saguaro National Park near Tucson, ArizonaSaguaro National Park near Tucson, ArizonaSaguaro National Park near Tucson, ArizonaSaguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona
Anyway, here is a sampling of my photos from our visit. There are more to be found on my Adobe Portfolio site.
Saguaro National Park near Tucson, ArizonaDead cactus at Saguaro National Park near Tucson, ArizonaSaguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona
On the beach in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Whenever we travel, one of the dilemmas I consistently face is what and how much camera gear to take with me. Usually I default to my three zoom lenses because they are convenient and cover just about any common focal length without a lot of lens changes. On most occasions I’ll toss my prime lenses into the mix with the best of intentions, but either because I’m lazy or I just want to have the most flexibility, the primes often don’t come out of the bag.
On the beach in Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaOn the beach in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
I love my Fuji prime lenses for several reasons. First and probably most important, they give me excellent results – sharp when I want sharp and good bokeh when I want bokeh. They are lightweight and small, so it isn’t hard to carry 2-3 along in a small bag or fanny pack.
On the beach in Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaOn the beach in Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaOn the beach in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
But I’ve said for years that the more lenses I have with me the more likely I’ve got the “wrong” one on the camera. So I make a point to putting one lens on the camera and go out and “see” with that one lens. It’s especially useful with my prime lenses, because it really forces me to think about composition and framing, to “zoom with my feet” in order to establish what is in and out of the frame or to give me the relationship I want between near and far objects.
On the beach in Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaOn the beach in Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaOn the beach in Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaOn the beach in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
For our recent trip to the beach, I reversed my usual methodology and put the prime lenses into my “every day bag” and put the zoom lenses into my “just in case bag” (I use two bags because I like having a smaller, lighter bag to take on day trips and when walking around and don’t want to carry all my stuff at once). I never took the zoom lenses out, opting instead for using only my prime lenses. To be fair I didn’t shoot a lot (for me) with less than 400 photos over a 2 week period. Most of the time I went out with just one lens on the camera, although at sunrise I went out with all four of my prime lenses, and actually used all of them depending on what I was shooting.
Palmetto Bay Marina, Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaPalmetto Bay Marina, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
We’re home now for a few weeks, resting up for our next adventure. I’m seriously considering leaving the zoom lenses at home this time, opting for a smaller, lighter kit and keeping things rather simple. We’ll see if I actually have the nerve to do it. I’m betting I will!
Palmetto Bay Marina, Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaPalmetto Bay Marina, Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaPalmetto Bay Marina, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
When I awoke this morning at 4:50am I knew I was in for another morning on the beach. Sucks, don’t it? 😉 I was greeted by some distant lightning that I wasn’t able to capture adequately, but did get a few more pools reflecting the morning light. A little different from yesterday, but that’s why we go more than once! No promises for tomorrow, but I do have a streak going now. 🙂
Today marks the third anniversary of our retirement. I think we’ve spent our time well and look forward to many more years. We celebrated last night at one of our favorite local restaurants and look forward to a few more days on the beach.
Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
We’ve been at the beach for a week but I hadn’t managed to drag my sorry self out of bed for sunrise – until this morning. I was well rewarded. I’m kind of picky about when I’m willing to get up – tides, weather and sunrise time play a role. I looked at the weather forecast before heading to bed last night and decided it would likely be a good chance for photos. We’ve got some clouds rolling in today with a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and overnight. Tomorrow might be a good morning too, we’ll have to see if I can motivate myself two mornings in a row. 😉
On the beach in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Believe it or not, this is just the top 2-4 inches of drift fencing that is 3-ish feet high. I guess the fence is doing its job. No, I can’t stay away from these fences – must be some kind of addiction. 😉
I like to photograph the moon on the night before the “full” moon because there is still enough light in the sky, and on the foreground if you have a foreground, to illuminate the landscape and provide some detail. Sometimes, like Tuesday night, the rising moon is actually more full than it will be on Wednesday night. Of course the part that gets all the press is the so-called “Supermoon.” (because now we have to name everything) which “officially” happened this morning, but the moon wasn’t visible here at that time.
According to The Photographer’s Ephemeris, the moon was at 99.65% at moonrise last night and will be at 99.49% at moonrise tonight. What does that get you? Add a couple of bucks and it gets you a cup of coffee.
Photographing the moon rising over the ocean can be kind of boring and usually works better with an interesting foreground. We have some nice trees in front of our rental condo here in Hilton Head, SC. So I was able to have my camera on the balcony while we were having dinner, and managed to take a few shots between bites and sips. 😉
According to my metadata, I only photographed for about 30 minutes on our evening at White Sands. But other than perhaps the evening I spent in The Palouse last fall, it was perhaps the most productive 30 minutes I’ve had with a camera in a long time. The most fun, too!
White Sands National Park, New MexicoWhite Sands National Park, New MexicoWhite Sands National Park, New MexicoWhite Sands National Park, New Mexico
I “only” took 43 photographs, but have marked 33 of them as “Picks” in Lightroom. That’s a very high percentage for me. 🙂 Of course not all of them will end up on a wall or even on my website, but a few of my favorites definitely will.
White Sands National Park, New MexicoWhite Sands National Park, New Mexico
White Sands is the kind of place where you can shoot for as long as you have. And unless you really mess something up, you are likely to come back with something you like. Interestingly, as huge as the park is, I only moved a total of about 100 yards (after trudging through the sand and scrub to get to the spot I had found) in that 30 minutes. I shot exclusively with my 55-200 lens, on a tripod, in manual focus mode. All of the scenes I found were that small. For me the tripod is essential in situations like that, because in addition to allowing for critical focus, it is a must for precise composition.
White Sands National Park, New MexicoWhite Sands National Park, New Mexico
The biggest issue in a park like White Sands is finding places that haven’t been covered with footprints and sled tracks. In fact, there is one setup where I had only taken one frame before a head popped over the horizon, and some dude came sledding down the pristine slope I had been set up to shoot. Luck of the draw.
White Sands National Park, New MexicoWhite Sands National Park, New MexicoWhite Sands National Park, New Mexico
When we returned the following morning, we found that we didn’t get the benefit of the wind that often “erases” the footprints and that results in pristine conditions. But in a few places I was able to make use of the softened textures in the sand – still remains of footprints but worn down just a bit – superimposed against a crisp blue sky. It was different from the evening before, but very nice.
White Sands National Park, New MexicoWhite Sands National Park, New Mexico
White Sands is one of those places where you can get something interesting however long you are there. Whether for an hour or two, a day or two, or a week or two. Like The Badlands or The Palouse, it is a place I would love to revisit with more time. But what I came home with is good until I have a chance to do that.
The Midpoint Cafe, halfway point on Route 66, near Adrian, Texas
We’re home now, but I’m a few days behind in processing photos.
We stopped for breakfast at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas. It is purported to be the halfway point between Chicago and L.A., and who am I to argue? Great breakfast and interesting memorabilia make it a worthwhile stop.
The Motel Safari on Historic Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico
Kathy & I spent a night at this motel on the “strip” in Tucumcari, New Mexico. A town with a long history as one of the highlights of Route 66, Tucumcari is struggling a bit these days, although a few of the classic hotels appear to be doing a remarkable job of hanging on. The Motel Safari is one example of those classic hotels. I’ll have more to say regarding our Route 66 experience, but suffice it to say that we would not hesitate to return to this motel.
The Very Large Array at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory near Socorro, New Mexico
So what is the Very Large Array, you ask? From Wikipedia:
The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array is a centimeter-wavelength radio astronomy observatory located in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, 50 miles west of Socorro. The VLA comprises twenty-eight 25-meter radio telescopes (27 of which are operational while one is always rotating through maintenance) deployed in a Y-shaped array and all the equipment, instrumentation, and computing power to function as an interferometer. Each of the massive telescopes is mounted on double parallel railroad tracks, so the radius and density of the array can be transformed to adjust the balance between its angular resolution and its surface brightness sensitivity.[2] Astronomers using the VLA have made key observations of black holes and protoplanetary disks around young stars, discovered magnetic filaments and traced complex gas motions at the Milky Way’s center, probed the Universe’s cosmological parameters, and provided new knowledge about the physical mechanisms that produce radio emission.
The VLA stands at an elevation of 6,970 feet above sea level. It is a component of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The NRAO is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
