Yosemite National Park

Headed to Yosemite, my usual destination. I don't think anyone needs words to explain this location. The week before heading to Yosemite, I sat around watching videos and reading techniques on Ansel Adams, one of my heroes :], watching his capture process and post processing. I usually do a look before on ways to capture a place or helpful tips as to what you can expect, and also the sunset times (like most photogs now). Ive been to this place way too many times and have everything memorized. But this time I wanted to capture just like Ansel! The only thing added at post processing was a yellow tinted photo filter to get that old effect. If you know how to get that in camera do let me know but this was the only way I could get it.

Moon and Half Dome

Moon and Half Dome

Cathedral Spires and Rocks


Please do comment and tell me what you think. And just fyi here is one of many youtube videos that gave info on Ansel's process:

Wanted to end with this cute quote: “Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.” :P

Arches National Park

Delicate Arch
Focal length: 58mm
Shutter speed: 1/1
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/8

Just a few shots from my quick trip to Arches National Park. It was taken on my drive to Chicago this summer. Was an awesome exercise to walk up to this arch, called the Delicate Arch, since the climb was challenging. But it was definitely well worth making it right before sunset. Next time hopefully I get to spend more time than just few hours. :)

Focal length: 32mm
Shutter speed: 1/25
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/13

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/40
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/16

Focal length: 55mm

Shutter speed: 1/50
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/7.1

Moon Walk on White Dunes

Movement of the Dunes
Focal length: 47mm
Shutter speed: 1/50
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

The title says it all. It was a beautiful day at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. White sands with distant blue mountains and beautiful puffy clouds on a blue sky, rainbows, lightning storm and an almost full moon rising..it really made me feel like i was on another planet or on the moon.
On our way to Texas from San Diego we decided to stay at Las Cruces, NM and spend a day at White Sands. It was beautiful day...hot (b/c its still in the desert)...but beautiful. The park was small so not many trails but it was out of this world kind of experience. I say this because it feels like you might be walking on the Moon. And to put more funk...NASA have their missile test range close by. Definitely a must visit place...i hope i get to go again! Enjoy the pictures!

Standing Still
Focal length: 58mm
Shutter speed: 1/1250
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/7.1

Driftwood
Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/250
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/22

Blue Mountain Majesty
Focal length: 105mm
Shutter speed: 0.8
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/22

Moon Rise over the Dunes
Focal length: 105mm
Shutter speed: 1/2
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/22

Bleached Earless Lizard
Focal length: 105mm
Shutter speed: 1/320
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/7.1

A Clear Reflection
Focal length: 40mm
Shutter speed: 1/160
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

This Holiday

This holiday- Winter 09-10, my fam, the dogs and I headed to the famous national park: Yosemite! We love this place because its close by to our town and the views are spectacular. Its definitely a winter wonderland with all the snow on the beautiful mountains. Being in SoCal we don't get snowed in like the east coast. Instead we have to head for highlands like Yosemite Mountains to get the snow action. This place is also dog-friendly, which is rare to find among the national parks. So our dogs, Lotus(Maltese) and Amigo(Beagle), go on all hikes with us and love to jump in the snow. Its definitely a fun family trip for us.
So enuf said...here are some pictures from this trip. There was definitely less snow than last year (less rain this year) and so you can see lot of difference in my pictures from last December and I def did not own a Canon classic 5D back then :P - Yosemite Winter 08-09.

Focal length: 100mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20.0

Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20.0

Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20.0

Focal length: 70mm
Shutter speed: 1/20
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/19.9

Focal length: 100mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/19.9

Focal length: 40mm
Shutter speed: 1.3secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/19.9

Focal length: 65mm
Shutter speed: 6secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/22.6

Focal length: 105mm
Shutter speed: 0.4secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/22.6

Focal length: 32mm
Shutter speed: 1/20
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/8.0

Focal length: 50mm
Shutter speed: 0.8secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/12.9

Sequoia National Park in Fall

Moro Rock View Point
Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/20
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5.0

Nothing much have to be said about this place other than the title: Sequoia National Park, which tells you that this place is full of Sequoia Groves. We basically went to see fall colors and just to walk some trails. Ive been to this park early last year during spring, so you can check back on that post to see the difference in colors: Sequoia National Park (spring). Here are some pictures of the place this fall:

A View of Burnt Trees
Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/50
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5.0

A Vacation Spot
Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/640
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4.5

Sunset from Moro Rock
Focal length: 105mm
Shutter speed: 1/60
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5.0

Purple Mountains
Focal length: 58mm
Shutter speed: 1/25
ISO: 400
Aperture: f/5.0

Forming a Column
Focal length: 58mm
Shutter speed: 1/4
ISO: 320
Aperture: f/4.0

Colors in Sequoia National Park this Fall 09!

Grand Canyon North Rim

After visiting the Vermilion Cliffs-Cliff dwellers for a few hours, we headed towards the Grand Canyon North Rim. The North Rim is 100 feet higher than the South Rim. It was a breath taking view, especially since there were some passing thunderclouds that gave the place some beautiful colors. Personally, I am not a big fan of the Grand Canyon since we had seen the South Rim a few too many times. But I definitely enjoyed visiting the North Rim because of the wonderful Forest we go through to get to Grand Canyon, called the Kaibab National Forest. Because of this Forest and the fog surrounding the lush green trees, the place got a beautiful spring/summer look. Even the road looked beautiful with the different varieties of greens on either side. There were Deer roaming and Birds tweeting away at peace. The place looked like a Disney princess's Forest -just perfect. So here are some of the scenery's i was able to capture:

Kaibab National Forest

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 0.5secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

The grazing land

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/400
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/20

Road to Grand Canyon

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/160
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/9

Deer lookout

Focal length: 210mm
Shutter speed: 1/100
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/20

Deer grazing

Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/100
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/20

North Rim Close-up

Focal length: 65mm
Shutter speed: 1/200
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/7.1

Grand Canyon storm

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/1600
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/20

Enjoy! :)

Cliff Dwellers

Cliff Dwellers

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/200
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/20

Located at Navajo Tribal land is a White settlement based on the barren land. These structures provided a cool shelter with the help of unique shaped boulders at the foot of the Vermillion Cliffs. According to the Arizona travel website, these unique White settlers used such rocks to adjust to the harsh weather and barren land. Here are some pictures of the quick stop i made at this location:

Native at the house

Focal length: 24
Shutter speed: 1/200
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/20

Boulder Balance

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/1000
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/20

Unusual Rock

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/1000
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/20

Cliff side

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/1000
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/20

Monument Valley

Monument Valley

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 0.5secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

A scene seen in many Wild West movies, Monument valley lies in the Navajo Indian reservation on the Utah and Arizona border. We visited Monument Valley around four o'clock, after seeing Antelope Valley. Its about a 3 hour drive and goes through flat desert where all u have is the road in front of you and nothing else on either side. And then when you get to the Monument Valley you see these huge rock formations on either side. These buttes each have different formations and during sunset plays with light and shadow. This place is a definite must see and best for sunrise or sunset. Monument Valley pics:

Hand in Hand

Focal length: 45mm
Shutter speed: 1/3
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

After Sunset

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 0.8secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

Dusk at the Valley

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 30.0secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

Antelope Canyon at Navajo Nation

Upper Antelope Canyon Colors

Focal length: 47mm
Shutter speed: 3.2secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

The narrow canyon slots in Antelope Canyon, near Page Arizona, offers to the travelers and photographers the unique opportunity to enter the Navajo Land and experience an incredible view of the colorful sand formations with its swirls and waves. Antelope Canyon is a breathtaking place to see in summer when the beams of light pierces the darkness of the canyon slots at noon. This canyon, I have noticed recently, is crowded with tourists and photographers all trying to capture scenes of the canyon. Maybe its the digital world and the use of Internet that these remote locations have become famous for people to travel to. With digital cameras to share pictures with family and friends and Internet photo sharing websites like Flickr or Picasa, these destinations have become popular for tourists to travel too and share the same vision as the initial discoverers. Due to the timing on the sun, there is only a short amount of time in which there is light into the canyons and this is the time when you find the most crowd in these areas. This is my second visit to this canyon but first time with my Canon 5D. Its great to visit over and over because the canyon never has the same lighting or the shapes due to weather conditions being different from the day before or past. I traveled to Antelope Canyon for the Memorial day weekend 2009, having enough time to cover Zion National Park, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Monument Park, Vermilion Cliffs- Cliff Dwellers, and North Rim Grand Canyon. It was a big trip for a three day weekend but since some where time based we prepared ourselves for the next right away. I definitely recommend all these places to be visited if you ever travel to Antelope Canyon. Everything is close by so its best to set aside couple of days for it. So here are some shots from Antelope and I will post the rest according to each post.

Canyon Welcome beam

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 1/4
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4

Canyon Main

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 2.0secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4

Subtle Colors

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 0.5secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4

George Washington in the Canyon

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 4.0secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4

Monument Sunset on the Sandstone

Focal length: 50mm
Shutter speed: 1/3
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4

Sunlight beam

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 3.2secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4

Sun spotlight

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 4.0secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4

Looking up in the Canyon

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 2.5secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/4

HDR trial of the Canyons

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 3 different for HDR
ISO: 100
Aperture: 3 different for HDR

Pockets in the Canyon

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 6.0secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

Candle light Pathway

Focal length: 24mm
Shutter speed: 4.0secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20

Enjoy! and PEACE not WAR!