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First trip "post"-pandemic was a trip to Utah w/ the photography instructor whose workshops I have attended in the past. it was a really good trip -- it took me nearly the entire week to 'decompress', but I finally did towards the end.

I started out on my own in Moab, then joined the workshop in Hanksville. The pic below is from an outlook near Factory Butte. You may ask, was it really blue? Why yes, yes it was blue in the same way that the hollers in the Blue Ridge Mountains are blue in the shadows. I have bumped up sharpness/clarity, etc. to get sort of a "Martian Landscape" and bumped the vibrance, but yes, it was blue.
Skyline Rim Overlook near Factory Butte Utah

Every trip deserves a selfie. There was a family of 7 (Mormon families are always at least 7, it seems) coming up from behind, so I was rushing to take the selfie, lol!
Selfie at Corona Arch near Moab, UT

This is Delicate Arch. There were ravens! What do I need to know that I keep seeing ravens? One very nearly landed on my head at Delicate Arch! The wind was blowing him off course, and he was looking for a landing spot among the people -- for a second, I was afraid he would land on me!

I have to say, on the ascent up to Delicate Arch, I stopped FOUR times to rest because my heart was beating out of my chest à la Looney Tunes! I am indeed out of shape, but I think I'm going to chalk this up to the thinner air.
Delicate Arch

There be a Milky Way! Of course, the camera sees more than the eye. To the eye, all you see is a faint milky river flowing across the sky. The camera sees much, much more.
Milky Way from Skyline Rim Overlook Near Factory Butte in Utah

Panorama at Goblin Valley --
Goblin Valley State Park

And last but not least, some star trails. These take a bit of time in Bridge/Photoshop, but the process is not really complicated. The hardest part is removing the big, honking airplane trails that slice across the screen. That is something that I didn't understand how to do the first time I took star trails.
Star Trails at Goblin Valley
karmicdragonfly: (Default)
The last day I was in Farmington, I had nothing planned. And there was a picture that I wanted to take, but it was 2.5 hours drive away, and I had to be there by 10ish AM. I was feeling so lazy that I did NOT want to get up early and do that drive!

But I did get up, and I think I got a decent photo for the trouble. This is "House on Fire", taken with my iPhone:
House on Fire in Mule Canyon near Blanding Utah

The effect of fire is caused by the sun reflecting off the rock in front of the pueblo. This happens as the sun comes up behind the pueblo, and shines over into the canyon. Once the sun gets too high in the sky and the sunlight gets too direct, the effect stops.

So I had been reading that the effect happens between 10AM and Noon .... but I could never tell what time of year that was (standard time or daylight savings...). It's a 20 minute walk (a mile or so) from the trailhead to the site, so I figured I needed to be there by about 9:30. I got to the trailhead and arrived at the site on schedule...and then I waited....and waited...and waited. I think I could have gotten there an hour later and been fine, lol!

Here's a pic from a different angle. You can see a little of the 'fire' to the right - but the fire effect really is dependent on the angle.
House on Fire in Mule Canyon near Blanding Utah

One thing to note is that there is a small fee for the park service when you go on this hike. But when I got to the trailhead, I didn't see a place to play. It turns out that the fee box is just after you turn off the highway onto the dirt road. I totally missed it. I ended up paying on the way out (I don't mind paying small fees to help the park service).

I think this might be a place that I visit again when I go back to Utah.

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karmicdragonfly

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"O seguro morreu de velho, mas o desconfiado ainda está vivo." -- "The safe one died of old age, but the suspicious one is still living."