Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Colorado River

Escalante Butte – Lipan Point, Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Photography Technique, Robert H Clark Photography No Responses »

Aug 042011

Escalante Butte and the Unkar Plains, Lipan Point, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Nikon D3x and Nikkor 70-200mm lens at 150mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This one is short and sweet. I am leaving early Saturday morning for the North Shore of Lake Superior for my workshop with Alec Johnson. Alec and I are heading up early on Saturday to set up for the workshop and to get in a little shooting before everything starts in earnest on Sunday. We are looking forward to a great photography event for the week. I might be able to get in a post but time will be limited so for now I will leave you with another view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. This view is from Lipan Point on the South Rim. The massive formation in the foreground is part of Escalante Butte. This is a late afternoon shot with an open, cloudless sky, and a hard blowing wind. I used the rock outcrops on a point away from the parking area to find some shelter from the wind. With the bright sky and no clouds I choose to shoot some of the canyon details and after some exploratory compositions settled in on this view of Escalante Butte and the Unkar Plains along the Colorado River. The low sun angles lit up the Escalante formation which provided at beautiful contrast to the diffused, soft light in the inner canyon.

As to technique I shot from a low tripod position for a more solid platform to combat the high winds. I also use mirror lock-up to help eliminate any other potential camera shake. The light was not changing too quickly so I had plenty of time to wait for the winds to cycle. Pretty simple, I know, but in windy conditions it pays to be patient and consistent in your shooting methods.

Well that is about it. I’ll send out an update if I can from Lake Superior.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Coronado Butte – South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Photography Trips, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset 4 Responses »

Jul 292011

Coronado Butte, South of the Grand Canyon. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 24mm PC lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 0.7 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am a week away now from the North Shore of Lake Superior Workshop and I am busy balancing my work load and getting ready for the trip. Packing is not really a problem for me as I keep shooting and outdoor gear organized. I do not like last minute packing because this is where you can forget something in the mad rush to head out the door. I have also been working on several new blog posts and I have to pull images to present at the workshop. So its never a dull moment.

Light at the Grand Canyon can go from contrasty and dull to sublime in a matter of minutes. And sometimes it takes just a little longer for the magic to occur. Several days before I took this image I scouted this location which required an off trail climb to get out to the rim. It is a spectacular location that works equally well for sunrise and sunset. This is Coronado Butte looking east at sunset. To the west a massive cloud was blocking the sun and for over an hour I pondered my chances of the sun being able to clear the cloud bank and dropping along the horizon. I knew if the cloud shifted enough the sun would drop into a clear slot and light up the butte. Within minutes of sunset my patience payed off and Coronado Butte was bathed in a brief but beautiful light. The rim edge glowed in the warm light as the clouds overhead revealed a deep blue sky.

This image was all about pre-visualization. I knew the sun angles and given the right atmospheric conditions I would be rewarded with an atypical Grand Canyon image. I used a Singh-Ray 3-stop soft edge split neutral density filter to balance out the sky and foreground exposure. My white balance was set to 5500K which I adjusted slightly in processing the RAW file.

Hopefully I can get out another post before heading out to Lake Superior. If not I will see you back here in a few weeks.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

South Kaibab Trail – Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Photography Composition, Photography Trips, sunset, Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 122011

Along the South Kaibab Trailhead, South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikon 70-200mm lens at 200mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. One of my favorite things to do when visiting the Grand Canyon is to get a cup of coffee and take and evening walk along the Rim Trail. It is a wonderful way to wind down after a busy day and experience twilight along the South Rim. Invariably I will meet other strollers and engage in the kind of general small talk reserved for such occasions. As the vastness of the canyon recedes in the dying light the subject of conversation often turns to the notion of scale. Many first time visitors, and even those who return often, are struck by the sheer enormity of the canyon. I have many trips to the canyon and never tire of its sense of scale, or in reality, my perception of it. It is of such proportions as to leave you spellbound. But the sense of scale can be confusing. Standing along the rim near the El Tovar you can see down to Indian Garden and out to Plateau Point on the Tonto Platform. As a rock falls, so to speak, it is not that far. But take the hike down and you soon realize that it is much farther than you thought.

Looking across towards the North Rim and the vastness is almost incomprehensible. When I was on a helitack crew at the canyon I had the opportunity to make many helicopter flights into the inner canyon and along the Colorado River. Dropping off the sheer cliffs of the Abyss towards the Tonto Platform was like taking a roller coaster ride. You soon understood how small you were in relation to the canyon environment. Huge, vertical walls, towering pillars of stone, buttes and temples, warrens of confusing canyons and washes all combined to overpower the senses.

Consider today’s image. It is a shot of the upper portion of the South Kaibab Trail. To find the trail just come down the upper slope from the rock pillars to a horizontal line that angles slightly down from right to left. Do you see it? This is still near the top and there are many miles to go before reaching the inner canyon and the Colorado River. Beyond is the North Rim. In a shot such as this, compressed by the telephoto lens, scale is hard to determine. Not even the trail helps. But take a look at the image below. It is an enlargement of the image. Look inside the white circle and you will see two small hikers. If you look very closely you can just make them out in the image above.

Detail from the South Kaibab Trail. Look inside the white circle to see the two hikers.

Now the immense scale of the canyon is evident. Dwarfed by the landscape the hikers have entered a world that can literally swallow them. The next time you make a visit to the canyon I would invite you to take the opportunity to experience this landscape up close and in person. Move away from the rim and let the canyon swallow you for a few hours. I can promise you will have a different sense of scale when you return.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

South Rim Sunset, Lipan Point – Grand Canyon National Park

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Jul 092011

South Rim Sunset, Lipan Point, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikon 70-200mm lens at 85mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for one second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am finally home after being away for the last ten days to participate in my daughters pole vaulting camp. Not too much in the way of landscape shooting but a lot fun photographing the vaulters. Now that I am back I can concentrate on some of my latest landscape shots from my last trip to the Grand Canyon.

Today’s image was made from Lipan Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. If I had to make a choice of favorite shooting locations on the South Rim, Lipan Point would get the nod. The vista looking towards the East Rim Palisades is truly remarkable. In my humble opinion when I think about the grand landscape my mind invariably goes to this view. It is an arguable point and some of you may choose other locations from Yellowstone, Glacier, or even Yosemite. But my heart lies here. On a recent trip to the National Gallery of Art I found myself pondering some Albert Bierstadt paintings. In many of his paintings the foreground was rendered in detail which gave way to a vastness of suffused light and detail. His paintings often used atmospheric effects such as dramatic lighting, fog, clouds, and mist to complement his work. Though I am not comparing my image to the work of Bierstadt, his paintings were on my mind as I shot this day. The late afternoon light was beautiful. A gusty wind whipped up dust in the inner canyon and the Painted Desert beyond. The wind, in fact, was brisk and I had to find a sheltered shooting position on a point out from the overlook. Shooting with a large lens like the 70-200mm can present problems with camera shake in the wind. To help I shot from a lower position with my tripod legs spread wide to provide more stability. Focusing was done manually through live view and I used a small weighted beanbag on top of the lens to dampen some of the wind movement. I also set the camera to shoot with Mirror Lock-Up. In most cases, not always though, wind comes in cycles of high intensity to near stillness. When confronted with wind pay attention to the cycles and wait for the calm cycle to trip the shutter.

At this time of the day, and year, it pays to understand how the sun will illuminate the canyons features. As the afternoon sun moves lower in the sky, light will begin to soften in the inner canyon to the point where certain landforms are lit while others are not. In this image the sun is strongly illuminating Escalante Butte, to the left, and Cardenas Butte, to the right. The inner canyon light is softer and there is only a hint of light along the upper rim of the East Palisades. The effect is truly beautiful and dramatic. The image has a strong foreground with detail that gives way to an atmospheric condition brought on by wind blown dust particulates. The paintings of Bierstadt were indeed on my mind this day. To understand how the light changes and is affected by other environmental conditions compare this shot with the June 23, 2011 post which was shot on a different day.

The image was processed to emphasize the leading lines that draw your eye into the image. The line of “light” running up Escalante Butte on the left gives way to the darkened ridge line that frames Cardenas Butte. From there I increased the contrast and detail in the Colorado River to lead the eye towards the lighted rim of the East Palisades and the mass of Temple Butte in the Upper left. This image remains one of my favorite shots I have taken from this location.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

South Rim Sunset – Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset 2 Responses »

Jun 282011

South Rim Sunset, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Nikon D3x and 24mm PC lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 8 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Well I am on the road again for the next week and a half. I might get in a little shooting but this is strictly a father daughter affair as we are heading to south Georgia for a pole vault camp session with Kay’s coach. It is way down below Macon. Way down in the deep south, below the gnat line, where it will be hot and muggy. So I will be out of pocket, so to speak, for a little while.

While I am out of town I will leave you with a another image from my recent Grand Canyon trip. This shot is looking west along a succession of ridge lines on the South Rim. Cloud cover extended over much of the canyon this day and I was not sure anything would happen. In fact, this was the same front that caused me to cancel my Canyon X trip in Page. Somewhat defeated by this turn of events I drove back to the canyon only to find the same dull, gray cloud cover. But though Mother Nature can “take away” an opportunity, she can also provide. On this day Canyon X was not to be. But the gift of a glorious sunset lifted my spirits. This was shot from a remote overlook point that I had scouted several days before. Reaching the spot requires a bit of a climb but the views east and west are amazing. For most of the late afternoon the sun was veiled by the clouds and a fairly stiff wind blew along the ridge line. Higher up the wind was pushing the clouds apart and a hole opened up along the horizon. The clear horizon allowed the light to come through and provided a beautiful show.

This was a delicate shot to balance. I needed to have enough exposure to bring out the trees and Kaibab stone along the ridge but at the same time balance the sky so the two parts remained in visual harmony. At this time of the day if the land had appeared too bright in relation to the sky the overall effect would have appeared unnatural. To help with the balance I used a Singh-Ray, 4-stop, hard edge, split neutral density filter to hold back the sky during the exposure. I watched the histogram and tried to get as much of it to the right as I could, without too much highlight clipping. Though a little clipped in the upper highlights, it was easy to recover in Lightroom during RAW processing.

Though the day started with disappointment it sure ended with a fireworks. I was able to capture several other images from this evening shoot and I will post those as soon as I can get them processed.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Enveloping Storm – Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Photography Trips, River, Sony α900, Zeiss Lenses 4 Responses »

May 292011

Enveloping Storm, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 40mm. Image exposed at ISP 100 at f16 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This image was shot at Moran Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I woke on this day to a canyon enveloped in storm clouds and while I did not hold out much hope for any photography this morning I still drove out to the rim to check on the conditions. When I arrived a stiff wind was blowing and the clouds began to lift and roll out from the canyon floor. At sunrise the clouds lifted towards the east to reveal the sinuous curves of the Colorado River. Ever so subtle, the rising sun lit up the river, and brought shape to the canyon beyond. Within minutes however, the eastward blowing storm soon enveloped my position and pelted me with ice and rain. I had a dickens of a time keeping the lens clear of water droplets. I was able to get 6 shots off before the vista became cloud bound again. By this time the rain was falling in earnest and I had to pack up.

In all honesty when I got up that morning it was all I could do to force myself out into storm. I was thinking a little more sleep and breakfast at the El Tovar Hotel sounded like a much better idea. But I had never seen the canyon like this before so I just willed myself to move. Six shots. That is all I got. Six photographs captured on a CF card. But it is not all that I got. I will tell you that watching the storm roll through nearly brought me to tears. The sheer power and majesty of being in that moment is still with me today. I can still see the swirling clouds rolling up from the canyon floor. The North Rim horizon was completely socked in. Scale and distance was lost in the clouds, swept away to the east on a brisk wind. I can still feel the stinging touch of ice and hear its pinging notes as it struck my camera. Nature put on a show for me that morning and I felt small and humbled by this gift. Six shots. That is all I got. That and a lifetime of memories. Oh, and I did get breakfast at the El Tovar.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Apr 262011

Last Light on the East Palisades, Desert View, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 70-300mm lens at 70mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 2 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This image was shot near Desert View on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. This view, looking east, is one of the most spectacular on the South Rim. Here you get a real sense of the expanse of the canyon as it turns northward. Down below the Colorado River rolls through the inner canyon on its way to Lake Mead. I do not have a story about this shot. For me it just seems to speak for itself. I don’t want to suggest that it is a timeless image or that I have created some masterpiece. It is just that, for me, it captures the sheer, rugged expanse of the landscape. From my lofty position, save for a gentle wind, I heard only silence, and felt only peace. As the sun set lower to the horizon the light moved up the canyon walls till it just lit the upper precipice. The rock seemed to rise up to capture the light, to hold on to its warm embrace before night set in.

To balance out the exposure I used a Singh-Ray, 3-stop, soft edge, split neutral density filter. The soft edge of the filter has a smooth gradation and I could drop it in to compensate for the brighter sky and just hold on to the light on the canyon walls. The RAW capture was more saturated than I wanted so I dropped out some color to tone this down. I also took out some blue saturation in the inner canyon walls. The RAW image was processed in Lightroom with final finishing in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Horseshoe Bend Overlook – Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Adobe Lightroom, Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Glen Canyon, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Circle, Horseshoe Bend, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Singh-Ray Filters, Sony α900, Split Neutral Density Filters 2 Responses »

Mar 182011

Horseshoe Bend Overlook, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. My apologies to all my visitors for a slowdown in my posts. I have been quite busy in a few other endeavors and needed to take a small break from the pace. Today’s image is a shot from the Horseshoe Bend Overlook located just outside of Page, Arizona. Next to Toroweap, on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend ranks in my top 5 places to visit in the US. It is simply unbelievable. The sheer exposure you feel while walking along the canyon rim is nauseating.

On the day I shot this image I was nearly 15 miles away shooting in the Wahweap Hoodoos when I noticed a band of clouds moving in. Based on the direction of movement I knew they would be sitting right over Horseshoe Bend. I raced out of Wahweap and made the 4 mile hike to the car in record time ( at least for an old guy). Then it was a race to the parking area outside of Page and another hike in to the overlook. I made it in time and sure enough the clouds were radiating out over the canyon. The light was soft and beautiful. I have shot the classic image of the canyon showing the full turn of the Colorado River around the butte but lately I have been working on a series of images featuring more of the canyon rim as part of the composition. I think this helps provide an entry point into the shot as well as a more dynamic foreground element. Along with the clouds, the foreground rocks and the angular direction of the river creates a series of dynamic lines that add visual interest.

I used a 4-stop Singh-Ray split neutral density filter to balance the exposure. The image was processed in Adobe Lightroom and exported to Photoshop for the final layer work.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Hopi Point Sunrise – Grand Canyon National Park

Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, National Parks, Photography Trips, Photoshop Workflow, River, sunrise No Responses »

Jan 312011

Hopi Point Sunrise, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 28-70mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 200 at f18 for 1/20 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. In past posts I have eluded to the fact that I often revisit files in an effort to tweak out more detail through better processing. This image is one of those that has been processed several times and each time I do I get a little closer to realizing my original vision for the shot. The image was made from Hopi Point located on the West Rim Drive on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The large formation in the foreground is known as “The Alligator” and the formation to the right is part of “The Tower of Ra”. The shot was made just after sunrise and illustrates just how intense the sunlight can be as it illuminates the canyons buttes and landforms. The intensity of the light striking The Alligator was difficult to balance with respect to other formations in the shot and for some time how I wanted to process the shot escaped me. Shooting red rock formations such as these can pose some problems in terms of the luminosity of the image capture. In this case the light was so intense that much of the buttes detail was lost in a wash of intense color. The trick was to retain the beautiful sunrise color but dial back the colors luminosity and recover the detail. The way to do this is to reduce the color saturation slightly and then dial back the color luminance. Using the sliders in the HSL/Color/B&W panel in Adobe Lightroom I selected HSL and clicked on Saturation. Here I reduced the saturation in the Red and Orange channels. Next I clicked Luminance and reduced the Red and Orange channels. The net result decreased the color intensity and enabled me to recover some beautiful detail in the rocks. Working the Color Sliders along with manipulating the Curves achieved a good RAW file to import to Photoshop for final finishing.

Proper RAW file development is one of the cornerstones in creating a good image and you should not rush through this process. After selecting an image to work on I always start by “zeroing” the image to return it to the RAW state captured by the camera. I almost never rely on the established development Preset in Lightroom. From there I set the White and Black Point and manipulate the Curve Sliders while also working with the Fill and Recover sliders. It is a back and forth process where I am looking to bring out the maximum detail in the shot. Once I finish the major curve manipulations I look to adjusting the color saturation and luminance. In some cases I work these sliders along with the curve sliders. The final step is to apply capture sharpening and noise reduction.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Bob

Tamarisk Tree and Rocks – Colorado River, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Arizona, Colorado River, Desert, Glen Canyon, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, River, Sony α900 No Responses »

Jan 302011

A tamarisk tree clings to life along the Colorado River, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 70-300mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f18 for 1.5 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I have ben away for a week and as is always the case the return home brings a host of things to catch up on, from family matters to e-mails, and of course a new blog post. Add to all this the clean up from a 13 inch snowstorm and the weekend just flies by. As the old saying goes there is no rest for the weary. Today’s image was shot along the Colorado River above Lee’s Ferry and just below the confluence of the Paria River and the Colorado. The mad rush of the river’s flow often reminds me of my life. On this day, many miles from the inner gorge of the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River was flowing fast and furious, its roar echoing off the canyon walls. I was struck by the concept of edges. Behind me, from the edge of the river, the land slopes upward gently. But in front of me the rivers edge flowed against a sheer red wall of rock. As I walked down from the Paria I came upon this embattled jumble of rocks with a lone Tamarisk clinging to life. I wondered how many times the river had risen and attempted to up root the tree. I wondered how long it might last in the face of the rivers fury. Of course only time will tell.

There is a metaphor here I think. Some of us are like the river. We flow from one thing to the next sometimes so quickly that we do not see what passes before us. Others are like the rocks. Slow and methodical, pushing hard against the flow. Though we may flow like the river or stand fast like the canyon walls we are all cut from the same place. The river reminds me that all things change. The tamarisk reminds me of the power of perseverance in the face of change. It becomes a duality-a yin and yang. And in this there is balance. I am reminded of Norman Maclean’s words from a River Runs Through It, “Eventually, all things flow into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.”

Though I am like the river I have the power to stop. My life, as are the lives of many of us, is filled with a furious pace. For me it is a noise, a distracting chatter that pelts me from all sides. So I become the river and the rocks alternately riding the flow and pushing against its force. On this day in the canyon I stopped and for a small moment of time experienced the delicate balance of nature. On this day I let the river go and became the rocks. On this day I sat upon the rivers edge and contemplated the fate of the tamarisk.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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