it’s tough out there. Conditions out here on the west coast have been bad, epic wildfires, a pandemic, social unrest, etc… Sometimes it can be hard to feel inspired, but sometimes natures throw you a bone and you have to jump on it, even if it doesn’t work out like what you would have hoped.
Now that I have my Really Right Stuff baseplate for my Fuji X-T4, I didn’t need the factory strap split rings. Honestly, it took me a minute to figure out how to remove it. Turns out it wasn’t a big deal, I was just overly cautious and didn’t want to damage my camera.
Sometimes its easier to talk than it is to type. My Fuji X-T4 has video so why not try it out?
Mather Point, Grand Canyon National Park.
The plan was to participate in a workshop and spend a long weekend around the Mono Lake California area to shoot Milky Way. September is one of my favorite months to spend on hwy 395. Daytime temps are warm and cold overnight temps but don’t need to bring the arctic gear. One of the nights would have been a late-night shoot at Bodie State Park. Bodie typically closes around 6 pm so an opportunity to shoot the park at night would have been awesome. Also, I have never participated in a workshop before. I was really curious about the process, teaching styles, how to handle a small group, etc. Also, I am sure I would have learned a few things. Everything was good to go until labor day happened. As of writing this, Bishop California has experienced 156 days without any measurable rain. The west coast is a matchbox waiting to go off. Over labor day weekend, several fires kicked up on top of existing fires. The creek fire being the largest south of Yosemite National Park and the now infamous El Dorado Fire outside San Bernadino that was started with pyrotechnics at a gender reveal party. So the entire state of California is on fire and the apacolypse 2020 tour continues on. I’ve been checking smoke maps and webcams in hopes we would have some hazy but clear skies, and the final nail in the coffin was California department of foresty has decided to close all national forest so any opportunity to get above the smoke was gone. So 2 days before I was scheduled to leave, my trip was cancelled. Now I fully understand there are bigger problems in the world and a canceled vacation isn’t something I should cry over.
I decided to just find another place. Now pretty much the entire western US, from the pacific ocean to the Rockies is under a cloud of smoke. I did my research and I decided to head on over to Northern Arizona. The smoke at the time didnt seem too bad down there. Hotels are cheap and not a lot of people are traveling at the moment. I didn’t want to go camping because I really want to limit my exposure to COVID. Shared bathrooms, showers, and other common spaces, I really wanted to avoid. I packed up my Dometic Fridge with 5 days worth of groceries so I would not have to worry about food. The only public place I would be stopping at was a gas station. I was able to score a hotel room for $35 a night in Williams, AZ. About the price of a campsite so all was good. Left on a Thursday and made the 3.5 hr drive. Thursday seemed fine. The smoke was way to the south and only a little bit of haze so I thought I lucked out. Went to bed early since I knew I had a 3am alarm to head to the grand canyon for sunrise. 4 am Friday morning, I was on the road to the Grand Canyon. When I left the hotel, I could see a dark black sky and plenty of stars. I arrived at Mather Point at around 5:20 and the most amazing thing was happening. I was the only person there. People were filing into the parking lot, but they were making their way down the Rim Trail. You could see a steady stream of headlamps. I am all set up, I am at the overlook and I had the place to myself for almost an hour. I just got to see the sunrise and there was no one around coughing on me. I have never experienced that before at the Grand Canyon. Just quiet, no talking, no footsteps, coughing, sneezing, farting, yelling at kids. Nothing, total peace and quiet. About 5 minutes before the scheduled sunrise, people started walking in, but there were maybe 30 people? Any normal day, that overlook would be filled to the brim with people. Not this time. I was probably able to take my best photo of the Grand Canyon to date. While the skies were clear, there was enough smoke in the canyon and air to add some texture. Unfortunately by 10 am Friday, the winds shifted and the smoke came. The skies were “overcast” during the duration of my stay, however, I did my best to use the smoke to my advantage.
During my weekend, I went to Wupatki, Sunset Crater, Montezuma Castle, almost died on the stairs at Walnut Canyon, Jerome, Tuzigoot, and visited several tourist traps like Bearizona. Look I am not above photographing wildlife in a zoo. I think I came home from that trip with a few photos that turned out good.I was happy about that since my trip down here was unplanned and last minute. I am currently going through my photos and I even filmed a couple youtube videos. So stayed tuned for all that. I’ll be adding to my gallery as I finish a photo.
House on Fire Ruins, Utah
The House on Fire Ruins has been a bucket list item for about 35 years. I was finally able to visit the site in June of 2019. I spent a good hour photographing, observing, testing, in hopes of getting that shot I was looking for. I thought everything was good, came home, looked at the photos on a large monitor, and that’s when it hit me…. I missed focus. So honestly, it wasn’t too terrible, but there was one spot on the image that wasn’t in focus. Now, most people wouldn’t have noticed it until I pointed it out, and even then, they would be struggling to see it, but I saw it. It was a glaring mistake that stuck out like a sore thumb. I knew that I would have to come back for another attempt because this place meant so much to me that I wanted that “perfect” photo. I didn’t cross it off my list and figured when I am visiting that area of Utah again, and I’ll fit this in my itinerary.
First off, why is this place so special to me? When I was about 7, I remember vividly going on our first summer family trip out of state. We were going to be spending a week in St George, Utah and visit Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and so on. Now, I wasn’t a smart kid, and honestly, it’s probably debatable that I am smart now, so hearing the news, I had a bunch of questions. I remember sitting in my patio with my friend and neighbor at the time, Roger Martinez, trying to figure what language do they speak in Utah, and how do I talk to the locals? I went to the Torrance Public Library and found a random book on Utah. I was flipping through the pages, and that’s when I first saw a photo of the house on fire ruins. It was a black and white photo, but the textures, and flame looking rock, everything about this amazed me. Growing up in the Los Angeles area, I didn’t have much of a relationship with nature or anything outside of city life. Sure I have been to Griffith park, but I am talking out in the middle of nowhere nature. I had no idea stuff like this existed up to that point, and that sparked my interest and desire to explore. Just that one photo completely changed my trajectory in life. My well being is based on my ability to have easy access to public land to explore. In 2010, I had to move to San Antonio, TX, for work. While yes, Texas has a lot of history to see and learn, it’s mostly fenced off to the public with only 1.77% open public land. I lasted 18 months, and the first opportunity to come back to the west, I took it. I couldn’t handle it. Also, the humidity, mosquitos, and tex-mex were also deciding factors, but I digress. I do believe a photograph can inspire people and change lives just as it did to me.
Fast forward to 2020, My travel plans originally were to spend a week in Yellowstone National Park to do more wildlife photography., Well the pandemic that hit us in March pretty much shut down all my travel plans. For five months, I stayed local, but I was getting restless. I have not taken any time off from work for the first six months of the year, and I was feeling it. In early July, I decided to plan a trip to take a long weekend somewhere. I researched all my travel notes and decided to head out to the Capitol Reef National Park area. A couple of factors that went into that decision. I wanted to maintain as much physical distancing as possible. Out of Utah’s Big 5, Capitol Reef is the least visited National Park. In the height of the summer vacation season, I never had a problem with crowds or lack of parking.
Also, Capitol Reef is an International Dark Sky Park, so it would be the perfect place to photograph the Milky Way and also see the Perseid Meteor showers. The meteor showers were scheduled for early August, so the hotel was booked and time off scheduled. I arrived at the hotel on a Wednesday, and that evening I drove out to Goblin Valley State Park to stargaze and to do some test shots.
My star tracker was working great, found a good composition or two for the next night of photography. I was good to go. Thursday was when everything changed. Thursday morning was fine, explored a little, hike a trail or two, but the afternoon, a thick fog of smoke had descended into the area. California is on fire again, and the winds changed, bringing smoke into the area. I could barely make out the mountains and mesas through the smoke. My milky way shooting was a no go. Thursday evening, I started going through my notes again, looking for a plan. I saw that the House on Fire ruins was only a 2-hour drive, and the conditions I was experiencing would not have a negative effect on my shot. While the daytime temps were hot, they weren’t triple digits, and most importantly, no thunderstorms were forecasted.
I made the 2.5-hour drive down to the mule canyon trailhead, and paid my $5 fee and was pleasantly surprised I was the only one there. Now, this place is out in the middle of nowhere, so don’t expect large crowds, but there might be a car or two. It was 9 am and descended into the canyon to make the 45-minute walk. To get to the ruins, its only 1 mile, so it’s not a difficult long hike, but that doesn’t mean there isn't any danger. The best time to shoot this is during the summer months, and late morning, so you’ll be out during the heat of the day. Pack light, wear sunscreen, bring lots of water, and wear appropriate shoes. Flip Flops and a 16oz water bottle isn’t going to cut. The closest town is 1 hour away, so if you get into trouble, help will be a little while.
For equipment, all I had was my D810, 14-24mm, a remote, and a tripod. I arrived at the ruins at about 9:45 am. I got set up, found my composition, and then just waited for the sun. It was nice to lay on the sandstone and listen to the crow's squawk, feel the breeze, and honestly, I fell asleep for a few. It was just a peaceful place to be. When its time to shoot, you need the sun to be at the highest point in the sky. To get the effect on the ruins, you need the reflective light from across the canyon and the sandstone shelf your standing on the light up the ruins. Otherwise, your image will look very flat. At about 11:15 am, the light was getting good, and I started shooting. I shot 12 image blocks to focus stack to ensure I have every inch in focus. When you're at the ruin, you’ll notice the roof is “pointing” towards you, the houses are angling away from you, and the gound has these interesting layers that are pointing down to the right. It’s a very complex scene. Also, I set the picture control to vivid. I wanted to capture as much red and orange tones as possible. I had a good hour with the light. I didn’t feel rushed. So if you show up and there is a crowd, there is plenty of time for everyone to get their shots. I shot the scene several times to make sure I got it
Processing might be a bit controversial? The scene is very monotone earth colors. Shooting in vivid helps warm up the image and bring out the red and oranged. This is called the House on Fire ruins, so I want it to look like it's on fire. I did push the reds, oranges, and saturation a bit farther than I normally would to get the effect I was looking for. It’s an artist's interpretation of the scene. After my processing, everything came out exactly as I had hoped. Focus stacking sharpened up the image. While I did post the image on the landscape page of this site, I will continue to tweak while I get it ready for print. Overall I am happy I finally got it, and its been finally crossed off.
New Equipment
I apologize, I have not posted a blog in a long time. I have been spending the last couple of months of learning video. There is a bit of a steep learning curve learning Adobe Premier.
Back in March, right at the beginning of a global pandemic and financial uncertainty… I bought into a new camera system, yeehaw! I have been keeping an eye on the mirrorless side for a while, just waiting for the right time to pull the trigger. Am I ditching my DSLR? No. However, I want to add to the tools available to me. I needed something smaller in size, and I wanted video capabilities as I want to start filming my adventures. Size, walking around Las Vegas, especially downtown and the Strip, with a DSLR and a lens like my 24-70 F2.8 VR, I have been getting stopped by security more often than not just asking what I am doing. Big professional cameras with a big professional lens can draw attention to you in a crowded place. Also, when I am out doing street photography, people notice you and behaviors that you want to capture change before you can press the shutter button. You stick out like a sore thumb. Also, the weight, carry around a DSLR and fast glass can hurt after a while. Also, for travel, I want to take something small with me that’s easy to pack. I was looking at the Nikon Z series, but the lack of a flippy screen was a deal-breaker for me. If I am self-producing, I need to be able to see myself to make sure I am in focus. I am not all that concerned about the amount of memory card slots, but having two is added insurance. I did take a good hard look at the Sony A7III, but again no flippy screen and the glass is pricey. I visited my local camera shop once they received stock of the Fuji X-T4, held one in my hand, and that was it, love at first sight. It was compact, lightweight, flippy screen, and dual card slots. I also liked the classic look to it. All the controls I need are easily accessible with dials on the top. I went ahead and bought one with the Fuji XF 10-24mm F4 OIS Lens. The lens was great for vlogging and photography, but it was a bit wide, so two days later, I picked up a Fuji XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR Lens as my general walking around lens. I have been shooting this camera a lot over the past few months and couldn’t be happier with its performance. Fuji color science is a lot more pleasant to my eye compared to my Nikon. Skin tones are a little bit “rosier” with Nikon being a little more on the yellow/green side. Of course, any color weirdness can be fixed in POST. Here in the desert, we have a lot of reds, yellows, and oranges, so the colors are looking good out of the camera, so I am not doing a lot of editing. Nighttime street photography, I do not have to carry a tripod with me all the time, so less gear. The IBIS works great for my needs. Doing astrophotography and nighttime landscape, I do believe my full-frame DSLR has an advantage. The photos are super sharp and detailed, even on my older D810. I’ll be doing more video and on the photo’s I post, I’ll put a note on what camera it was shot on.
Old Water Tower, Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nv
May 23rd, cabin fever has been getting the best of me. I spent that Saturday, going through all my notes, looking for something that might be interesting. Nothing but clear skies so not feeling the landscape stuff, and I was getting a little burned out going to the downtown area. I just needed a change in scenery. I looked at the moon app, and we had a new Moon that night. I have not shot a single Milky Way photo so far this year. What I am going to shoot was decided it just a matter of figuring out where.
May is my favorite time of year to shoot the Milky Way. Weather is warming up, and the Milky Way is up at a “reasonable” hour. March, you need to be up and shooting at 3-4 am and who’s got time for that? Late May, the Milky Way is above the horizon at 11 pm. Heat equals noise, so the lower overnight temps help with sensor heat soak. Also, living in the west, forest fires are a thing, so it can be challenging shooting late in the season. I was looking through darksitefinder for locations. I needed a place with an interesting foreground, but I didn’t want to drive too far from home. I settled on Cathedral Gorge State Park. It’s not as dark as I would like due to the light pollution from Panaca, but you’re inside of a small valley, and the canyon walls do a great job blocking some of the light pollution. I have shot at this location before, so I am familiar with compositions and locations. I just wanted to try new settings and new tools.
I made the 2 1/2 drive and arrived around 10 pm. It was am add feeling showing up because even though I wasn’t out in the middle of nowhere, there were no campers, and I truly had the park all to myself. This time I wanted to keep things simple. Camera, 14-24mm ƒ/2.8, and an intervalometer. No tracker, no dark frames, nothing fancy. The plan was to take a block of 15 images and stack them. I settled on the water tower mainly because its right next to the road. The bathroom light from the campground across the valley does an excellent job of lightning up the scene. I used a single F&V HDV-Z96 Led Panel with a warming filter to light the water tower. Once I got everything in place and camera ready, just hit start on the remote and let the camera do the work.
After about 30 minutes of shooting, two more cars pulled up. Some additional photographers from Vegas made the trip. Honesty, it was good to have some folks around. The sound of coyotes yipping and moving around you can be unnerving at times. It was good to chat with some other people. I was missing that human contact but still kept 6 feet apart. Once it was midnight, it was time to pack up and make the 2 1/2 hr drive back home. I made a quick stop at the extraterrestrial highway sign. I was exhausted, but I was feeling better. Trying to find the new normal, but found some comfort in knowing somethings won't change.
Photography has always been about playing the long game for me. Rarely do I ever nail the shot the first time. I research locations, plan, read weather reports, but sometimes I just need to lay eyes on the subject to get an understanding on what and how I should shoot a scene or subject. I would say a large portion of my photo outings is scouting. Sometimes, everything does come together and I am good. Sometimes I gotta keep working at it until I finally get what I envision in my head. Something I always tell myself, I don’t take photographs, I make them.
While The Strip might be the destination for most here in Las Vegas, I find the downtown area to be more visually interesting. Older architecture, interesting art, graffiti, people, and such. Its old Las Vegas, and it feels like the real Las Vegas. There is a lot of character here that is really inspiring to me. Landscape photo’s do take a lot of work, planning, long drives, overnight stays, and such. Sometimes I just want to stay close to home. Downtown is a 25 min drive, parking is cheap, and the food is good, so why not make an evening out of it. I have always had my eye on this particular building. I am not the biggest fan of Art Deco, but the sign and breeze block does give it that mid-century modern feel that I do like. Growing up in Southern California, I have been exposed to a lot of ’50s, ‘60s houses. Palm Springs is one of my favorite places to drive around and look at architecture and design. This Downtowner Motel photo was about 5 years in the making. I have walked around this building more than I can count.
Taken several photos, some were okay, a lot were not. You have a large building taking up a lot of real estate. Shooting with my Nikon 14-24mm, has a bit of distortion that I was having issues removing. My Nikon 24-70 has minimal distortion but isn’t wide enough. On the weekends, there are a lot of people in the area. I don’t mind people in the shots if it adds to the image or story I want to tell, but I just want a clean picture of this particular scene. I’ve been here at 5 am waiting for a sunrise, but cars are all lined up on the street in front. Sometimes the weather isn’t helping. Because there are no highrises behind the motel, you need a sky that is interesting and not clear blue. Long story short, I’ve been here a lot. When Nevada shut down, that did help me out quite a bit. The tourists and people were gone. I kept coming back and coming back, chipping away at it. So about two weeks ago, I was in the area photographing a corner market, and unexpectedly, the sky blew up.
I wasn’t expecting it because it was pretty breezy, and I figured the clouds in the area would have left by sunset. I got my shot of the market and raced over to the Downtowner. I had maybe 30 seconds of light left. I didn’t have time to park and set up, so when I got to the 4 way stop, I just stuck the camera out the window and snapped a few photos. I shot with my Fuji X-T4 and Fujinon XF 16-55mm ƒ/2.8 , and it all just came together. I finally got it. During my previous visits, I never tried going out into the street because I don’t like playing in traffic. Of course, I am not 100% happy because there is muraled plywood covering the corner bar. I would have loved to have the bar in the shot. But I think I can finally check this off the shot list and move onto other things.
Like most of you I’m sure, the current covid-19 situation has been a disruption to my photography routine. In some good ways and bad. I have been out exploring, but I am sticking to the Las Vegas/Boulder city area. Most national and state parks near my vicinity are closed so there isn’t much opportunity for any landscape work. BLM lands are open as far as I know, but the last thing I want is to have some type of emergency and now I am putting myself and other people at risk saving my rear end. I will say that it’s nice to not wake up at 2am and drive to a location to shoot. Building a photography career while also working a full-time job can lead to a lot of tiredness. Resting and catching up on sleep has been a long time coming. As my previous blog post stated, I have been documenting this situation here in Vegas and putting together a zine. It’s taking a bit longer than expected. My goal was to have 36 pages but I will probably pair that down to 24. I was finding that a lot of the images were feeling a bit redundant and wanted to stick to a very clear storyline as I assemble this zine. I still have a handful of images to go. I have ideas in my head, just need to go out and find them. In the meantime, been teaching myself Adobe InDesign to put together the layout. I decided on a printing company, magcloud to handle the printing and sales. The charity I am thinking of supporting is called Three Square. I am not sure how many of these zines will be sold so I wanted to make sure every dollar is utilized the best way possible. I am hoping I can be done here in the next couple of weeks. I just want to get this project done and move into the next. I have 3 photo book ideas that I was to move forward with. Also want to get into video. I created a YouTube channel in case I want to do something on there. I have a fuji X-T4 on preorder. Learning new skills and having different avenue of creativity can only be a good thing. At this point, I am making the best of a bad situation. I hope you all stay safe and healthy.
What an interesting and surreal time. I am mostly into landscapes and aviation photography; however, a lot of State and National Parks that are around me are closed and restrictions on BLM lands. I don’t have an opportunity to really get out of town, nor would I want to at the moment. When you’re traveling to these places, you pass by a lot of small towns and rural areas, and the last thing I want is to pass on any illness to the locals. I have been living in Las Vegas since August 2011 and I have never known a day without crowds and traffic downtown and along the Strip. We are obviously in unprecedented times, so I wanted to document as much as I can, while also making sure I am doing it, safely. I have dabbled in street and urban photography during my travels, but it was never my strong suit. It’s been drilled into my head to specialize in a subject and stick with it. So I never really bothered to really spend time learning that craft. Well, now I am going to take this opportunity to get some practice in.
I spent the first couple of weekends just driving around the city looking for an interesting story, compositions, and the way the light interacts with the city. While there are opportunities for photography on the Strip, I will mostly focus on the downtown area and Fremont Street. I always felt downtown, and Fremont has a lot of character from the architecture, neon, abandoned building, etc. IMHO, the Strip is the fake smile that people first experience, but Downtown is real Vegas. I was able to shoot a few photos on what I feel is interesting. Now to think about how I am going to present it. Sure, I could upload to this website and Instagram, but I don’t feel that’s the right medium.
I have published a few photo books and would Like to do so again. I have read that zines are all the rage, so I will probably head that route. I am looking at options on what to do with the proceeds since I don't feel comfortable profiting from this situation. I am fortunate that I do have a regular job, so my photography isn’t what pays the bills. I am overwhelmed by what’s going on, as most of you, I am sure. I am inspired by seeing people contributing to their communities, and if I could get the creative juices going and send some money to a local cause, then great. I should have enough photos over the next two weeks to tell the story I want to say. I am going to need to learn Adobe InDesign to put everything together. I have a printing company in mind, and luckily, they do offer templates to make the process easier. Two weeks is my goal, and I’ll be providing updates as I move forward.
