Shooting Sedona
Here's a set of photos from lovely Sedona, AZ taken on 2 different trips...
Have you been to Sedona, AZ? It's really an interesting place.
We first visited Sedona a couple of years ago, after hearing so much about it from many people. It's a beautiful little spot that feels like you are millions of miles away from everything else. There is a sense of calm there and though I tend to prefer the look of mountain ranges, I can't deny there is a subtle beauty about the area too.
On my road trip this past summer, I passed through there once again, just to check it out and take a few photos of course. While the weather wasn't really agreeable for good shots, I sure enjoyed hiking around there and soaking up some of the beauty of nature. Today's picks are from both trips - 2015 and 2017. I had them sitting around and it just seems like they belong on the same blog entry. Enjoy!
Slide Rock
The stream running through the woods at Slide Rock State Park in Sedona, AZ...
I'm finally home from a gargantuan trip, and lots of catching up to do!
Our summer trip was pretty epic, so I will reserve a future post to detail it. I did however get a chance to edit this photo from Slide Rock State Park in Sedona, AZ. I went there to check it out and spent some time hiking in the woods upstream from the "slide rock" portion. It was quiet, peaceful and beautiful. I balanced myself on a large rock in the middle of the stream to get this shot.
Sunset at the Grand Canyon
An incredible display of light over the Grand Canyon...
This was a stunner of a sunset!
The thing about traveling is that you can't just easily go back and shoot something if the light isn't great. Sure, when you are home you can revisit and revisit until you get what you want, but when you are on the road you are at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Luckily, she delivered for me BIG TIME on my recent visit to the Grand Canyon!
I was staying in Flagstaff and wanted to go shoot here, but since it is still summer I assumed the standard South Rim areas would be crowded, so I opted instead to come in via the East Entry (which I had never heard of). Luckily, it was really easy to get to (about 1.5 hours from Flagstaff) and the crowds were thin.
I spent several hours visiting multiple lookout points there, and at sunset found myself in this spot with a clear view of the canyon and the setting sun. The clouds were just a bonus!
This is a 3 exposure HDR built in Aurora HDR with multiple layers of edits and corrections then applied in Luminar. Thanks and let me know if you have any questions!
Hackberry General Store
Along Route 66 in Arizona I came across the Hackberry General Store. Well worth a stop!
Some Route 66 goodness today!
I have wanted to drive and shoot parts of Route 66 for a long time. Although I have been on snippets of it in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, my real desire has been to hit what I consider the prime cut of it: the section that crosses New Mexico and Arizona.
I'm finally getting my chance!
Back on Tuesday this week I left southern California and headed off to start my Route 66 journey. Day one on the Mother Road consisted of me visiting several little towns: Oatman, Kingman and Seligman. I fired a lot of shots in all 3, but one of my favorite stops that day was somewhere in between them: the Hackberry General Store.
It's literally in the middle of nowhere and it stands like an oasis for weary travelers. It's covered in all the Americana you can imagine: old gas pumps, oil company signage, and rusting old cars. It's pretty awesome.
So while I continue on this journey, I did want to take the time to get one shot published. It's a small bit of the Hackberry General Store but I found it quite interesting. Enjoy!
This is a 3 exposure HDR built in Aurora HDR 2017. If you are interested in the new Aurora HDR 2018 that was just announced, you can click on the ad below to get on the list for updates!
The mountains of Sedona
A trio of shots overlooking the mountains outside of Sedona, Arizona...so beautiful there!
Sedona, Arizona is a really beautiful place.
I know that may not be a real newsflash for many of you, but when we visited Sedona a couple of years ago, I was really impressed with just how beautiful the place really is. I had heard that for years, but I didn't know what to expect. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to have these beautiful mountains and of course some moody clouds hanging around helped too. :-)
Chasing a storm in Sedona
While a storm was rolling into Sedona, I was standing in the road with my camera, grabbing frame after frame...
Is anyone good at shooting lightning storms?
When we were in Sedona, Arizona (which is almost 2 years ago now), we did some hiking and shooting one day at Castle Rock. It's a beautiful area and I captured a lot of shots that I like. When it got late and a storm was coming, we packed it up and headed back, but had to stop for these lovely colors.
I stood here and shot quite a few images, and basically missed the lightning every time. I've never been a stormchaser and still haven't spent any time on it. But, I still loved the colors of this image, taken shortly after sunset as blue hour was coming on strong. Good times.
Golden hour at Cathedral Rock
Despite the exorbitant heat of summer, Sedona really does seduce the senses. There are some incredible landscapes nearby that offer great photographic possibilities. Today I show you Cathedral Rock.
Sedona really has some amazing sights!
I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about visiting Sedona. I knew it would be hot, and coming from Texas, that was about all I could think about. I had seen photos of the landscapes around the area and knew it was pretty, but since we were there in the summer, the heat was about all that I thought about.
Until I got there.
The town really did surprise me. Although a bit touristy, it does offer a wealth of outdoor activities (which can be challenging in the heat) and of course also offers a healthy dose of what I wanted to do: photograph the landscapes.
One of the first places we went was over to Cathedral Rock. It's a short drive from town and after hiking around the park and taking it all in, I set up here in this field to capture the golden light of the setting sun fall on Cathedral Rock. It's pretty fabulous to witness!
Grand Canyon afternoons
Today I share a pair of images from the Grand Canyon in Arizona - it's quite a sight to behold!
Still making my way through last summers' pics!
I have to admit that I never held the Grand Canyon high on my list of stuff that I just had to go see. Technically, it's just a big ditch, right? I had seen countless gorgeous photos of the place, but for some reason never felt compelled to make a trip there.
But while we were heading to Oregon last summer, we stopped for a few days in lovely Sedona, and being SO CLOSE to the Grand Canyon meant we just had to satisfy our curiosity. While I didn't want to make a separate trip to go see it, you pretty much have to visit when it's just a short detour, right?
I'm really glad that we did visit, and now better understand the draw this place has for people. As you can see from the photos, it was mid-afternoon and the sun was high overhead and very bright - not exactly ideal photography conditions. But, we did have some great clouds so I did my best to make the most of it.
While I contemplated sticking around for sunset, that would have meant waiting for something like 5 hours or so, which I wasn't really interested in doing. We hadn't even made it to our hotel yet and checked in - we were literally still on the road when we detoured over here.
So we spent a while here and I fired away, generally in awe of the sheer size of the Grand Canyon. We all inherently know it is large, but WOW when you see it in person it really does impress. Maybe someday I will be able to get back there and shoot it properly under the right light and all that. It's an impressive landscape and sight to behold, that's for sure.
Stormy skies over Cathedral Rock
Here's a group of shots I captured late one afternoon in Sedona, AZ. After a (thankfully) short hike in the stifling heat, I found this view of the beautiful Cathedral Rock, and fired away. Luckily there were some nice clouds that day!
Have you been to Sedona, AZ? It's a beautiful place, even in the stifling heat.
Last summer, we packed up the car and headed out on an epic 2 month road trip across the western United States. You can read about that here. We passed through 10 states during the trip, giving us the opportunity to really see some of the most gorgeous scenery this country has to offer (and we also saw Las Vegas, LOL).
One of the first places we made it to was Sedona, AZ. I had always heard that Sedona is a beautiful town, but I'm not much of a "Southwest" kind of person - I tend to prefer the rocky, mountainous landscapes, forests and beaches of the Northwest. Add in the heat that I knew would be present there in Arizona and I didn't expect to like it too much.
Wrong! I have to say that I really did find Sedona to be quite beautiful!
Yes, it was incredibly hot there - there's no getting around that. Luckily, as you have likely heard before, it is a "dry heat", so the low humidity made it more bearable. Here in Texas where I live, we get really high humidity and high temps, so it's a double whammy (though our temps are not as high as those in AZ). You definitely need a lot of water when you are out hiking, or taking photos.
Anyways, the first place we visited when in Sedona was Cathedral Rock. I had seen photos of it online and knew that I wanted to shoot here - I just didn't know exactly how to get the best view. Thanks to some tips from locals, we made it to this park, and the ranger pointed me in the right direction - and I was off!
Lucky for me, there were storms a-brewin' that day, which let me capture these dramatic clouds in the sky. I love having dramatic clouds - I just find that it adds a lot more interest to a photo. We shot here until sunset and while driving home, we got caught in a crazy rain and wind storm. It was beautiful, with lightning firing everywhere. It was a great start to a few days in Sedona.
And one more thing - that top photo is the subject of my latest YouTube video in my "Making the photograph" series. It's a series where I take a photo and process it during the video, showing the various steps I take to create the shot. It's quite fun for me, and feedback has been good, so you will see more of this. Here's the video if you are interested:
The big ditch
Summer clouds over the Grand Canyon in Arizona - taken last summer on our epic family road trip. I didn't have time to stick around for sunset, but at least I got some decent clouds out of the deal. Clouds are good, right?
Last summer, while we were headed to Oregon on our epic summer family adventure, we made a pretty quick stop at the Grand Canyon. It was a bit longer than the stop the Griswold family made, but not by much. :-)
We arrived mid-afternoon, and it was pretty sunny and bright - not what I would call ideal photography conditions. But, we wanted to see it and since we were so close, it just made sense. Technically, we were headed to Sedona, but took this detour just so we could get a glimpse of what I came to call The Big Ditch. No one in the family really liked me calling it that, but that's kind of what it is. It's a big ass ditch. It's huge, majestic, and amazing though.
We debated sticking around for sunset, but knew that would put us arriving into Sedona quite a bit later that evening, and we had been on the road since early that morning. So, I decided it would be some other time in life that I would return and capture this amazing scene under proper lighting conditions. What can you do? It's not always about the photo-taking, right?
Nonetheless, at least I got some decent clouds out of the deal, and did my best to illustrate the pretty amazing views you can have here. I'll just have to find a time to return and really take care of business then. Until that day comes, I am satisfied with these images and will remain so - until I get another shot at it. ;-)