Moonbow in Upper Mesa Falls, Mesa Falls Scenic Byway, Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Idaho

 After our successful photo trip to Shoshone Falls to see a moonbow in its mist (see the previous post), we headed to the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway to see if we could photograph a moonbow in Upper Mesa Falls along the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in eastern Idaho.  We had heard from a forest supervisor about a year ago that she already knew that someone had photographed a moonbow in Upper Mesa Falls, so we knew it could happen.

We hadn't modeled the terrain and moon's path ahead of time, so we didn't know where the best vantage point was or when it might happen.  We headed to the main observation platform the night of the full moon, Monday, July 3rd.  The moon was rising behind a cloud bank along the eastern horizon.  As soon as the moon cleared the clouds, its light shot up the canyon making the whole streamcourse glow up to and beyond the Upper Mesa Falls.  We saw this moonbow almost as soon as the moonlight set the canyon aglow around midnight.  It appeared fairly close to the waterfall itself and progressed toward the waterfall as the moon rose.  It soon seemed that the moonbow would be drowned out by the waterfall itself.

We moved to another observation platform to our left and caught sight of another moonbow and watched it as it progressed to the right, toward the waterfall, just like the previous one had done.  We left around 2 AM with that moonbow still visible, but getting very close to the waterfall and we presumed that it was about to disappear.

The photo above is of that initial moonbow sighting and is a vertical in order to show the stars in the sky to prove that it was taken at night.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Sipapu Natural Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah

Sipapu Natural Bridge in Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah.

According to the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, Sipapu is the 13th largest rock span in the world with a span of about 225 feet and a height of about 144 feet.

This is the first of the three meander-type natural bridges that visitors encounter along the loop road in Natural Bridges National Monument.  The bridge is visible from a viewpoint at a pullout along the road, but visitors can also hike a trail down to the bridge itself.  The roundtrip hike is only 1.2 miles, but hikers lose and then gain back 600 feet of elevation and have to climb a couple of ladders.

This photo is from a long ledge along the trail that affords a great view of just how big the opening under this arc of rock is.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Yosemite's Half Dome with a nearly full moon rising during the winter

During a winter cross-country skiing trip, we were out during the time that the full moon wold be coming up alittle before the sun would set completely. That's what made this shot possible. To have the foreground lit up with the moon in the distance, you have to be out one or two days before the full moon. The Glacier Point Road is closed to cars during the winter, so one has to ski, snowshoe, or snow boot travel from Badger Pass to Glacier Point, a distance of about 10 and a half miles, one way. We camped out in the snow for one night, before heading back to Badger Pass.

In this image, you can see Half Dome, the Clark Range to the right, with Tenaya Canyon and North Dome to the left. The image is the result of merging 4 separate images together to get more detail.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Yosemite Valley's upper end from Glacier Point, with Tenaya Canyon and the Merced River

This panoramic image is made up of 6 combined images. The view is from Glacier Point looking basically eastward into Tenaya Canyon, but also including scenes to the north and south. On the left side of the image is North Dome and Basket Dome. Below those features is a feature called the Royal Arches. Tenaya Creek flows through Tenaya Canyon, in some places you can tell where that stream is located. In the lower part of the image, you can see the Merced River flowing through Yosemite Valley. To the right of Tenaya Canyon is Half Dome and Clouds Rest. The canyon to the right, or south, of Half Dome is Little Yosemite Valley, within which you can see Nevada Falls, the upper one, and Vernal Falls, the lower one. We've been to Glacier Point in all seasons, including skiing out to it during the winter, but these images were captured in September of 2011. This image is best printed at a 2 to 1 ratio, such as 8x16 or 10x20, and so on.

Remember, it's not just a photo, it's a story!

Mariposa tulip in the Sierra Nevada, Kings Canyon National Park

The Mariposa tulip blooms in the Sierra Nevada. We found this one along the trail in Kings Canyon National Park, on our Rae Lakes Loop trip in 2012. The term "Mariposa" is Spanish for "butterfly". The characterisitcs of these plants is that they have 3 sepals, 3 petals, 6 stamens, and one three-lobed pistil. The Mariposa tulip is in the lily family. The dark dots at the base of each petal helps to guide the bees that pollinate the flower to their nectar reward. In this image, the flower also has the shadow of an unopened flower stem crosing over the upper petal.

For photos like this, it's a good idea to use a low f/stop setting and a faster shutter speed. For this image, the settings were f/6.7, 1/350 second. The lower depth of field allows the background to blur so that the clearest part of the image is the flower you want to show. The fast shutter speed helps to ensure a sharper image in case of any slight breezes making the flower move. The closer you get to your subject, the more noticeable any motion becomes in the final image. Using a telephoto setting for the lens, allows you to move farther away from the subject, so motion is less noticeable. Some photographers use tripods and clamps to hold the flower stem still, which is a good idea. But, in this case, we were backpacking along a trail trying to make sure we covered enough distance each day. When we got this photo, we still had our packs on and just tried to get a good shot with the conditions as they were.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Sentinel Point, in Yosemite National Park, at sunset.

Sentinel Point towers over the south rim of Yosemite Valley. Not as famous as other features, like El Capitan or Half Dome, it can still offer some spectacular views. This image was taken as the sun was setting and Rick was looking for Horsetail Falls to the west of El Capitan picnic area. After gazing westward at the falls, Rick looked east and was surprised to see the moon rising near Sentinel Point, which is the left-most point of rock in this photo. The image was taken in February as the setting sun reflects from El Capitan's east flank, which only happens in November and February, each year. Because this was in February, you can see some  patches of snow on the cliff.

So many people know about Horsetail Falls glowing red from the setting sun in February, that the Park Service has started closing off one lane for parking, so all the photographers can park and be close to the waterfall feature. We've tried several times to get Horsetail Falls lit up by the setting sun in February, but there are other features around Yosemite to keep an eye out for, so don't fixate on one thing to the exclusion of others.

Remember, it's not just a photo, it's a story!

Bridalveil Falls at sunset with the Cathedral Rocks above and the Leaning Tower above right.

In Yosemite, Bridalveil Falls appears above the trees at sunset. After seeing Yosemite Valley from the Tunnel View, many visitors stop at Bridalveil Falls and hike to the base. Especially in the spring, visitors can get thoroughly drenched by the spray. This makes taking photos near the falls a bit hazardous for the integrity of lenses and electronics.For much of the day, Bridalveil Falls is in shadow. It's only afternoon and evening that the cliff face gets direct light. The setting sun made a slight orange glow on the granite in this January photo.

The Cathedral Rocks above the falls were the first high points in Yosemite to be climbed by mountain climbers and are still popular. Also, climbers ascend the Leaning Tower to the upper right in this image. Together they remind me of something like a Stegosaurus's back with the rocks forming the bony plates, and then Bridalveil Creek flowing over its back before falling. This image was the result of 4 images merged together to capture more detail. It was taken with Rick's 6-megapixel Minolta camera that has since been replaced by a Canon Rebel XSi digital SLR.

It's not just a photo, it's a story.

Manly Beacon viewed from the south showing its cliff face and the trail leading to Golden Canyon with 2 hikers.

This is Manly Beacon as it appears from the south along the Badlands Trail. This is the first time we hiked the Badlands Trail together, in 2007, and we were impressed by Manly Beacon. Usually this feature is seen from the side when standing at Zabriskie Point, which is to the east. From this perspective, you can clearly see the imposing cliff face and what's also impressive is that the trail to Golden Canyon passes below the cliff, as you can see 2 hikers on the exposed slope to the left in this image. The Red Cathedral feature lies beyond Manly Beacon, you can see part of it at the extreme left. In a way, this cliff face reminds us of Half Dome in Yosemite, except it's made of sedimentary rock instead of granite and isn't nearly as high. From this angle, the outline of Manly Beacon is somewhat similar to Half Dome's outline, when viewed straight on at its cliff face.

This image was made with Rick's 6 megapixel camera, which he has since replaced with a 12 megapixel camera. He took 4 images and merged them to get this final product.This was taken on a very bright day in December. The settings were ISO 50, f8.0, and 1/500sec shutter speed for all 4 images, to make combining them easier.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

The Slot, narrow canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California. It's east of San Diego and is made up of many different sections with the town of Borrego Springs somewhat in the middle of  everything. One of the interesting natural features in the park is called The Slot. It's a very narrow canyon made up of dried mud, sand and gravel. In some places, you almost have to turn sideways or duck down to pass through. The drive to get to this feature involved a short segment of dirt road off of Highway 78. Once you get to the canyon, you have to hike to the upper end and carefully work your way down to the bottom on loose gravel and sand.

The day Rick was here, the sky was a bit cloudy with alternating sunshine throughout the day. The canyon generally runs east-west, so the afternoon sun lit up the vertical ridges of the canyon. While Rick was hiking the canyon, some GPS runners came up the canyon trying to mark the canyon with their GPS units so it could be accurately shown on the map. After they got beyond the narrowest part of the canyon to the wider section, they planned to turn around and head back down.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!