El Capitan facing the sunset, Yosemite National Park

As a winter storm was clearing over the Sierra Nevada, in Yosemite National Park, the massive El Capitan faces the setting sun. This time of year, may people visit Yosemite in order to see the "firefall" of the red light of the setting sun causing the the waters of Horsetail Fall to glow and appear to be on fire. Unfortunately, there's no water in the waterfall this year due to a very dry winter. So in this image, we decided we should concentrate on El Capitan and the dramatic-looking sunset. We set ourselves up along the Four-Mile Trail on Yosemite Valley's south side for this picture. We had to leave the trail and go up a little bit of the slope to get a clear view.

This view might also illustrate why Horsetail Fall is a temporary waterfall. The drainage basin that supplies the water for the fall is just the eastern slope of El Capitan. You can see that basin at the upper right of this picture. So without much rainfall or melting snow to feed it, there is no waterfall.

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Black-necked stilt on the move, Cosumnes River Preserve, Galt, California

Black-necked stilts are small wading birds that feed in wetlands. This one was getting in a meal at the Cosumnes River Preserve before the sun set. There were many people at this part of the preserve looking for sandhill cranes, which we could hear in the distance. In this image, notice how the foot is blurred because of how fast it's moving, but it was captured just before entering the water so you can see its reflection in the surface of the water.

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Western bluebird, American River, Sacramento, California

A male Western bluebird perched in a tree near the American River Parkway in Sacramento, California.  The flash of blue that they show when flying can be quite eye-catching.

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Pintail duck pair, Cosumnes River Preserve, Galt, California

A pair of pintail ducks standing in wetlands along the Lost Slough Wetlands Walk at the Cosumnes River Preserve near Galt, California.  Pintails are distinguished from other ducks by their very pointy tail feathers.  The female has a gray bill, while the male has a blue-gray bill and a brown head with a white stripe running along the back of the neck.

We were visiting the Cosumnes River Preserve hoping to get a close look at the sandhill cranes that winter in the Sacramento Valley, but were certainly willing to photograph any other waterfowl or wading birds that inhabited the wetlands along with them.  Unfortunately, we only saw four cranes flying way overhead heading somewhere other than the wetlands we were visiting.  It was a good visit nevertheless thanks to the abundant birdlife flitting about.

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Butler Wash Ruins in Bears Ears National Monument

This is one of the amazing and interesting features in Bears Ears National Monument, Utah. We stopped for a short hike in Butler Wash, within the Bears Ears, on our way to Natural Bridges National Monument, in southern Utah. At the head of Butler Wash is an Anasazi ruin estimated to be at least 800 years old. The hike to the overlook is only about a mile, where there is a railing to protect hikers from the cliff that drops into the wash. When you're there, you wonder how those ancient people could move around from level to level for one thing and get all that material brought in to do the construction of the walls. It's a fascinating site.

It's sites like this that are why this area deserved protected status as a National Monument.

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Arch Rock in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada at night

This is Arch Rock in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, taken at night.  We posted a photo of the "backside" of this arch in a recent post, also a night shot.  This photo is from the road side of the arch.

Bob took this photo with a 30 second exposure, while Rick used a military grade flashlight to "paint" the arch and its surrounding formation.  The f/stop was 16 and the ISO was set at 3200.

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