Half Dome and Pacific Dogwood flower

Around May each year the Pacific Dogwood trees bloom in Yosemite National Park.  This image is of Half Dome taken from Ahwahnee Meadow in Yosemite Valley.  Dogwoods were blooming in front of cottages that overlook this meadow, so Bob framed up the shot of Half Dome and then bent a branch of dogwood into the view. The dogwood flower is actually a composite of many smaller flowers combined at the center and large white "leaves" called bracts forming what look like petals around the outside of the central disk.

Bob took two still images with a high definition camcorder.  One shot was of Half Dome in focus with the dogwood flower blurred and the second one was a flash shot with the dogwood blossom in focus and Half Dome blurred.  We then combined those images to produce this final one with everything in focus. The results were better than expected. Because this image was taken with a relatively low resolution camera, we recommend anyone buying this image keep the size at 8x10 or smaller.

Remember, 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!

Double Arch in Arches National Park, Utah, March 20, 2008. First Day of Spring.

Southern Utah is famous for its red sandstone arches and natural bridges. Rick visited Arches National Park for the first time during Spring of 2008. This arch is easy to get to. You can already see it when you park your car. He wanted to stand where he could view both arches clearly, but also see the towering rock formation behind the arches all the way to the top. The weather was cool, but clear, making for excellent lighting.

This image is the result of 6 separate images that have been merged to provide much greater detail. At the time, Rick had a 6 megapixel camera and was regularly using the post-production technique of photo stitching to get more data into the final product. In looking around for other angles, this one seemed like the only one that fully included the rock tower beyond the double arch. One of the lower images had a person standing in it admiring the view, but Rick used the clone stamp tool to remove her from the final image.

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

Burney Falls and springs at McArthur-Burney Falls State Park

Burney Falls is within the McArthur-Burney Falls State Park in California. Burney Creek splits into 2 streams at the brink to form 2 waterfalls, but the rest of the cliff face oozes spring water in huge amounts. The park is in northeastern California in a volcanic region that includes the Cascades, Modoc Plateau, and Lava Beds National Monument. The water from rain and melting snow percolated through loose volcanic rock and travels sideways after coming to an impervious layer deeper underground.

This image is a composite of 8 separate images taken with a film camera, scanned into the computer, then combined. The separate images were taken in the vertical direction. We were in the park on the Fourth of July. The park was packed with people and parking was a problem. This view was just off the road along a side walk that stops at a viewpoint. The walk continues down to the creek where you can stand in front of the falls across a pool. Some people even took a dip in the water.

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

Sedona, Arizona's Red Rock Crossing

Sedona, Arizona is famous for its red rock formations. In 2006, we made a side trip to Sedona as part of our travels to see the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River. This image was of Red Rock Crossing.  Oak Creek is in the foreground and Cathedral Rock towers in the background.  These formations show the erosional patterns of sandstone rock formations in a desert environment.  Red Rock Crossing looking at Cathedral Rock is the most photographed spot in Arizona.

This was our first time using a digital camera for most of the images we took during this trip, even though we still felt that film would yield better results.

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

Bison grazing at the National Bison Range, Montana

The American Bison once sustained the Plains tribes, but their numbers were dramatically reduced by a capaign of extermination. They have a few places where they are holding on, and many tribes have established small herds on their reservations. In Montana, the Federal Government has set aside land for several species of grazing animals, including the bison at the National Bison Range.

This bison is showing his summer fur, where the back half of the body is uncovered to stay cooler. As winter approaches, the entire body will be covered in fur in order to stay warmer. We drove through the National Bison Range in June of 1994 on our way between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. This image was taken while in the safe confines of our car. We also saw pronghorn and deer.

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

Coyote posing for the camera in Death Valley National Park

While driving the many miles of roads in Death Valley National Park during a visit in 1993, Rick pulled off the road to double-check the map for his next destination. Along came a coyote probably expecting a hand-out, but when none was forthcoming, it started looking around at the terrain to decide where it wanted to go next. For this photo, Rick didn't even have to get out of the car, it was taken while he was still sitting in the driver's seat through the passenger window.

It always amazes us how hardy animals and plants can be in such harsh enviroments as Death Valley. During the summer, this coyote would probably only come out at night, but this image was taken in April, so he was out during the middle of the day. Unfortunately, these animals seem to have gotten accustomed to the idea of a stopped car meaning free food, but ironically it's how Rick was able to get such an easy photo of this one, even though we never feed wild animals..

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

Yosemite's Grizzly Giant sequoia

The Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias is at the southern end of Yosemite National Park.  It's a popular tourist destination during the summer and the highlight for many visitors is the Grizzly Giant sequoia tree.  It's 210 feet tall, has a 92-foot basal circumference, and is estimated to be 1800 years old.  The diameter of its lowest branch is bigger, at 6 feet, than the trunks of any of the non-sequoia trees in the grove.

This photo was taken during the winter when visitors must make their way over snow with snowshoes or skis, or, if the snow is firm enough, by hiking.  We merged three images together to show the full height of this massive tree. We've skied out to the Mariposa Grove many times. We've even camped farther up in the grove during the winter, when the Park Service treats it as a wilderness area.

Rick skiing toward the Grizzly Giant, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite.

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

Lower Yosemite Falls showing a rainbow from the mist

On a camping trip to Yosemite in March of 2010, we were seeking rainbows in the waterfalls and the nearly full moon rising next to Half Dome. It turned out to be a very successful trip. The moon rising next to Half Dome you can see in an earlier post. The morning of that same day, we hiked out to Yosemite Falls from Camp 4 and arrived just in time to see this prominent rainbow, or mistbow, in Lower Yosemite Falls.

Fortunately, there was no wind this morning, so the mist from the falls went straight out from the wall and across the cliff face where the mistbow made its appearance. We were closer to the falls than the bridge and down a little toward Yosemite Creek, so that our view could be looking up enough to include the sky in the image. This image is the result of 2 images being merged together. The bottom image included the rainbow, the second one included the sky and didn't include the rainbow at all. We didn't want to try merging two images with separate parts of the rainbow because it could've presented a greater challenge in making them fit together seamlessly. This image has been cropped into a square shape.

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!

Half Dome and Clouds Rest in a winter alpenglow light from Washburn Point, Yosemite

We've traveled the Glacier Point Road during its winter closure more than 20 times on cross-country skis, sometimes even snow camping near a source of water along the way. The distance from Badger Pass ski area to Glacier Point is about 10.5 miles. We've done the whole 21 miles out and back several times, including the occasion when we got this shot of Half Dome as the sun was setting.

We spent some time in the valley before heading up to Badger Pass, so the skiing portion of our trip started a bit later than it should have. Bob doesn't get to Yosemite as often as Rick does, so on this trip, he insisted on skiing all the way to Glacier Point, even if it meant skiing out in the dark. During moonlit nights, the trip isn't that bad, since you're skiing along a road and the snow makes the moonlight much brighter. We reached Glacier Point while there was still daylight. On the way back, we were passing Washburn Point and were struck by the overarching pink glow of the sky by the low sun. During the summer, you can park at Washburn Point and get a view of Half Dome, Clouds Rest, Vernal and Nevada Falls, and part of Tenaya Canyon and Yosemite Valley. For this image, we used the trees to frame Half Dome and Clouds Rest.

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

Sunset over Southern Idaho volcanic butte

Sunset at one of southern Idaho's volcanic buttes, probably Middle Butte, as seen from Highways 20 and 26.  Southern Idaho's Snake River Plain is an area of fairly recent volcanic activity, including the Craters of the Moon National Monument, which we have visited many times.  The scene in this photo is east of the monument between the town of Arco and the city of Idaho Falls.

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

Castle Geyser and rainbow

Castle Geyser is in the same geyser basin as the world-famous Old Faithful Geyser, the Upper Geyser Basin, in Yellowstone National Park.  Its eruptions are among those that the Park Service can predict and they post those predictions at the Old Faithful Visitor Center and on an informational plaque in front of the geyser itself.

Castle Geyser typically erupts every 10-12 hours with a 20 minute hot water phase reaching up to 90 feet in height followed by a steam phase lasting from 30 to 40 minutes.  This photo was taken during the steam phase of Castle's eruption and a light wind was blowing water droplets from the steam column to the right where they formed this rainbow.

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