Holidays and work have taken their toll on my flickr presence lately. Also I've run in to a horrid stretch of mediocre light conditions and bad weather over the past 4-5 months. Mother nature likes to test our commitment occasionally, by not cooperating with epic sunsets and sunrises and so one has to look for other opportunities that have some unique and interesting beauty.
Recently completed a short trip out from Vegas with Kevin Benedict, and stopped for a morning shot at Coal Mine Canyon near Tuba City, Arizona. While not as deep as the nearby Grand Canyon, it nonetheless is pretty spectacular and is a little bit off the beaten path photographically (indeed we were the only ones around on this day). The whole west coast seemed to be socked in with an enormous cloud system and we charted a path where we thought we'd have the best chance for some interesting light conditions, and also access to slot canyons that pretty photogenic in any light. Coal Mine looked promising but as it turned out the sunrise was largely blocked out by cloud. For a few brief minutes just after sunrise some gaps in the cloud allowed a few rays of sun to peek through, which cast some interesting highlights among the deep shadows in the canyon.
On the far right in the foreground you can see the evidence for how Coal Mine canyon got it's name, there are patches of dark coal seams visible all around the canyon rim.
Title is a line from one of my favorite movies. As soon as I saw this pattern of light in the canyon I thought of it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbq0OuJtErs
Tags: Coal Mine Canyon United States west western landscape Pentax K-1 Pentax 15-30mm Pixel Shift Arizona Tuba City sunrise light shadow
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I've gone to this particular photographic well before, having posted a couple of other shots of my morning shoot with the Cormorant Fishermen on the Li River in Guilin China. Not super original, but still among my favorites both for the fascinating subject and exotic landscape and because it was a magical morning and one of my favorite all time photographic experiences. Here the first sunrise tones are just reflecting low on the river backlighting the fisherman.
This was a bit of a crazy adventure, and definitely took me outside of my comfort zone. At the tail end of a working trip to China I had saved a day before my midnight flight back to the US. I was originally considering a side trip to see Wulingyuan National Park with its famous "Avatar"-like Karsts, but after some research realized that a) this would be more than a one day undertaking, and b) that there was an equal if not better Karst environment around Guilin and much more accessible.
I'd arranged for a local guide to pick me up early in the morning and drive me to meet with the Cormorant fisherman before dawn, so after just a couple hours of sleep I was up again and heading out in to the back country up river with a little bit of apprehension. While I've never felt in any physical danger in China, there are still plenty of scams and people ready to take your money and/or things, and it isn't that hard to find yourself suddenly in uncomfortable circumstances (been there, done that!). However, I'd booked the guide through a reputable company and figured the risk was minimal.
Indeed, we arrived at a small fishing village after a longish drive without any hiccups at all. The humid tropical smells hit me immediately and woke me up. Morning is my favorite time under normal circumstances, and on this day I was very excited; every sense really felt alive, and I was thoroughly engaged and in the moment. The surroundings were exotic, the skies just beginning to reveal the cloud structure in the early morning darkness and I could see a lot of cloud but not an unbroken gloom. I was introduced to the fisherman and he paddled us out to a little dock and then floated off on his bamboo raft and lit his small lantern. Later, once the dawn broke fully he took out his net and set his cormorants to work, demonstrating this ancient working relationship between these wonderful birds and their handlers.
After a couple of hours on the river, we packed up and headed out to take some other landscape photos throughout the day, including a couple of tough climbs up to the peak of some of the Karsts to get a better view of this amazing area. Finally just after sunset it was time to leave, and after a bit of a delay and a small panic I made it back to Shanghai in time to catch my flight to the US. An extremely tiring but incredibly rewarding experience. That feeling of total immersion in a moment of time was truly priceless and is my favorite thing about this hobby.
I would very much like to go back to Guilin and spend much more time appreciating this spectacular location. Hit up my album for China if you're interested in seeing other pics from Guilin.
Tags: Guilin Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Republic of China Cormorant Fisherman fishing Li River sunrise karst landscape reflection lantern sky matthews photography Pentax K1
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It is scenes like this that keep us all coming back for more. It had been a few months since our last road trip and Kevin Benedict and I were starting to suffer from withdrawal symptoms, which can include obsessively starting at each sunrise and sunset and muttering, forming "picture frame" hands around random things, envious perusal of other peoples' flickr streams, and constantly observing to spouse how great Iceland would be at this time of year.
We met up in Salt Lake City for a quick trip around Utah (in a Volkswagen Tiguan so cheaply made that I managed to yank the door handle straight off, but I digress). One of our stops was in Moab UT for visits to Canyonlands and Arches. We had a hard time finding accommodation because it turned out there is an annual car show in Moab and this was the weekend for it. It did make for some very entertaining and unusual sights on the street. I have to say that Moab seems like the new Austin to me, now that Austin has become so grown-up and touristy, it's not so "weird" any more. Moab is much smaller of course, but manages to capture much of the authentic individualist weirdness that Austin used to be known for. That's a good thing. Keep on weirding on Moab.
This is the well-known and frequently shot Green River Overlook. Of course, it's frequently shot for a good reason, because it is damned majestic and highly photogenic, and just a general pleasure to look at. A storm chased us up to the overlook and caught a few hints of interesting light at sunset before shutting it down altogether. I've not even been home for two weeks and I'm already trying to figure out the next outing. More to come from this trip.
Tags: Canyonlands National Park Green River Overlook Utah Grand Canyon sunset Moab storms clouds rock river Pentax K-1 Pentax 24-70mm Pixel Shift landscape western
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Dutch Amnesty International office in Amsterdam. Beautiful colored windows made for a great nighttime picture. Also called "Coymans House", the building was designed in 1625 by a famous Dutch architect (Jacob van Campen). I didn't know what this building was when I photographed it, though I did recognize the Amnesty logo and a few of the well-known dissident profiles, so I took an educated guess on google and sure enough. I don't know if this is an ongoing display or I just got lucky but a quick search did not turn up any other pictures.
Tags: amnesty international amsterdam color night reflection city lights Coymans house Blinkagain Bestofblinkwinners
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Zurich LE at night along the Linmat river.
The 3 churches visible, starting from the left are:
-Fraumunster
-St Peter
-Grossmunster
Tags: zurich night city lights linmat river Flickr Bronze Trophy Group
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