Slot Canyon Redux

Had the wonderful opportunity to revisit a previous location with a good friend of mine. Back in April I hiked part of Little Wild Horse Canyon in the San Rafael Swell. This time I was able to hike the full length of the canyon and the loop behind the top of the swell and back down Bells Canyon, though Bells was somewhat of a disappointment. We then turned our attention to the bottom half of Ding Canyon just down the road. One day I will go back and do the full Ding/Dang Canyon loop. Yes there is a pair of canyons by those names, best of all there is a geological feature between the upper canyon mouth called the "Ding Dang Dome", I just gotta visit that just so I can say I did!

Early Morning + Hot Air Balloons = FUN!

I was texted by my Sista, that there was going to be a balloon festival in a local city on Friday and Saturday Mornings of this last week. Seeing as I had something going on Saturday morning, and I didn't have to be to work until later on Friday....... I decided it was time to try my hand at something new.

I must say I had a BLAST! Even if my photo's weren't the best (I forgot and left my ISO at 800 after the sun came up so my shots are a little more noisy than I like... sigh....) I had a great time and I really think I need to go up in a balloon one day.

Anyway, here are a few shots that I liked, I had to cull pretty ferociously I shot over 140 pictures.

First Day at the Beach July 7, 2009

This next series of posts is from a recent family vacation to Oregon. The purpose was not to take photographs but to have fun as a family. I still did made time to take a few photo sessions and I think I got a few good ones.

Before I show you all my photos I do want to briefly digress and discuss equipment. As I often do, I took more than I used. I guess it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and NOT have it, but I am not convinced.

What I am convinced of is this: My Sigma 17-70 is a GREAT all around zoom, I doubt I will ever get rid of it unless something comes along that is A) Weather Sealed B) Better zoom range & C) is faster and has better Image Quality. Those three things are going to be tough to find. The other thing I am convinced of is that a lightweight/reasonable sized telephoto zoom is a must have for traveling. I was given a Cosmicar 70-200 f4 manual focus zoom by a friend shortly before leaving. It is actually a fairly stellar performer for being a 20+ year old budget zoom without the modern Pentax multicoating (SMC) that seems to really do a good job. My only difficulty with the zoom is that it has a greenish cast, meaning everything is slightly green especially in more dimly lit/underexposed settings. It can be fixed but it is another step to slow down processing of photos. All of which has convinced me that saving for the Pentax DA 55-300 f4-5.8 lens is my best option for my budget. I think that would have been a killer lens for my zoo trip. Not being sealed it would have been less helpful at the beach and probably would have sucked in a lot of dust and sand, but still useful. Anyway, on with the show.

As soon as we reached the Oregon coast we went north to Gearhart, OR checked in and unpacked the van. Then we headed for the beach, which was literally 2-300 yards away from our front door, and visible from our porch. It was a glorious afternoon with beautiful sky. Here are a couple of quick shots taken at that point.

Looking southwest past Seaside, get used to looking at that headland I tried hard to capture it in all it's different phases.

Abandoned crab shells littered the beach, I thought it made an interesting foreground, this was the first time I felt that live view with a tilting screen would be a nice addition to my camera. Not sure that I will ever feel that again though. (Sigma 17-70)

This is/was our view while eating dinner at MO's in Canon Beach, definitely worth the time to stop and eat the clam chowder if you are passing through... or anywhere close for that matter. (Cosmicar 70-200)

Beachwalkers just down from our parking area at MO's. (Cosmicar 70-200)

Sunset June 8, 2009 Gearhart Oregon

Cosmicar 70-200, Tripod and wired release.

I never really captured this headland as I really wanted to. This is close, I stopped down to f32 and exposed for 1s to blur the waves. I find myself wishing I had used a higher vantage point to get more wave blur action in the frame. I do like this shot though.

Actually a HDR here taken with the Sigma 17-70. This is not the crazy HDR kind of shot but the kind that helps to keep from blowing highlights. Subtle you would call it.

Thursday Night at the Beach Gearhart, OR (07/09/2009)

This was (I think) the best sunset night we had, I had been getting the kids ready for bed and didn't think sunset was as close as it was, I finished and glanced out to see that the sun was nearly to the horizon. So I grabbed my trusty Sigma 17-70 and my Cosmicar 70-200 and ran, sprinted really, down to the beach. I'm really glad we were close by. I managed to get down onto the dunes before the sun slipped below the horizon, and even better without falling and putting my camera into the sand. Which would have been lens first with my luck!

I have been wanting to find a bench to get a good picture of for a thread the appears every so often on DPReview. It is called a "Lonely Bench" Thread. There are several of these benches in the area of Gearhart.

Going under!

Last gasp here!

Textures and Light

Headland to the south with Cosmicar likely at 200mm.

Party on the beach. (Also with Cosmicar)

Remains of the day.

Lonely walker.

Don't forget to turn around.

Immensity.

Just two from the Family Picnic in the Park

Went to Rood Bridge Park for a family get together as part of my Wifes 20 year High School reunion. Wandered off from kind shooting responsibilities (Photo's not.... Honestly what are you thinking?) and I found another example of my favorite kind of flower. Red. I don't know why but I love a nice red flower.