I do not often eat out at restaurants, as I think it is the least value for money in nearly all of modern society. However, after a very long day of photography and drone video at 40+ rural land properties the day before in the middle of nowhere west of Taos, I thought Jessica and the dogs (well, they at least got free water!) deserved a treat. In our previous trips to Taos, we never got to stop at Overland Ranch, which is really just a very mountain-town looking style shopping plaza. This time we did and in it we found the Farmhouse Cafe with its wonderful outdoor setting.
I have been to many places around the world, some considered wonders of the world, like Angkor Wat in Cambodia, some hard to reach, like the jungles in Borneo, as well as famous wonders in the U.S. like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Monument Valley in Utah ranks up there with the most wondrous places I have seen. I bookended my time at Monument Valley first with a sunset visit, then the next morning at 6am with a sunrise explore. The photos you see here are all from that very early even-pre-sunset time in Monument Valley. So early, no one was at the gate to even pay to enter! No one else had yet driven into the valley that morning. I had the view of the two Mittens and Merrick Butte all to myself for awhile.
Ever since I first drove into Albuquerque, New Mexico in January 2017 and saw the Sandia Mountains, I knew I had to summit them at one point. Over 14 months later I finally had the opportunity to hike to the summit, my first summit since having ACL knee surgery 3 years ago. Hiking to the almost 3000 meter summit was a physical and mental test, not just for me, but also for Jessica who came with me and our dogs Kiki and Artie.
In my life a lot of rather big things happen rather suddenly. For example, two weeks before I landed in Seoul, South Korea, I had never been abroad before, I was about to attend Claremont Graduate University's PhD program in California, and it had never crossed my mind to work overseas. Not quite as dramatic as that, but in a similar fashion, getting a SUV to better match my work and personal lifestyle here in Albuquerque, New Mexico as a professional photographer and certified drone pilot, had only fluttered across my mind a few times. I was not even sure if it would be possible as I still had payments left on my 2013 Mazda3 sedan, which I totally loved and had zero problems with in owning it for 42,000 miles.
A waterfall in Japan I photographed a decade ago, long before my skills were competent....this was a 0.8 sec shutter speedA photography student recently asked me about photographing waterfalls and specifically about getting that soft cotton look to the water. Well, to do that, it is rather easy, if you have the right gear and conditions, otherwise it is rather tricky.
The ideal gear to have would be:
tripod
neutral density filter
cable release
Obviously of course you need a DSLR too with an appropriate lens to frame the waterfall. So if you can mount your camera on a tripod, attach a neutral density filter to the lens, then use the cable release to eliminate camera shake, all is good. What if you do not have all of that?
The same waterfall with 0.6 sec shutter speedThese photographs were made when I did not really know what I was doing back in November of 2004. I had a pretty good digital camera that had manual exposure abilities, but I did not understand aperture properly as these shots were all like at f/3.5! Should have been f/11. At least I had a tripod. If you do not have a tripod, then there is no chance as no one can hold a camera for 0.6 seconds steady. So you at least need a tripod. If no cable release, then you can use the self-timer to have your hands off the camera as the shutter opens.
The problem with shooting long exposures during the day is that it is very easy to overexpose the shot. Very easy. So the waterfall shots here do not look as good as they could because I could only get away with a 0.8 sec shutter speed. Of course if I had used f/11, then I could have used a much slower shutter speed. Either way, if I had a neutral density filter, essentially a very strong pair of sunglasses for your lens, then I could have left the shutter open for nearly as long as I wanted to get the ideal look to the waterfall without overexposing the rest of the shot at all. So if you find that you like making these kinds of waterfall shots, and long exposures in general, do yourself a favor and get a good tripod, a cable release, and a good neutral density filter.
Yours truly circa November 2004...whoops, missed the focus due to using too large of an aperture, something I would never do now.I took the time to even make a self-portrait. I initially thought I back focused and because of using such a large aperture, I was out of focus, but I now realize it might have just been because I moved some during the 2 seconds the shutter was open!! If you can believe it, I still wear that same hat everytime I go hiking and now trekking here in Florida. I actually wore that shirt just last week too! The photo was from November 2004 in a forested mountainside in Japan.
Kiki and I in front of Silver Lake in Brooksville Florida after a 90 minute trek through scenic green woods - self-portraitVenturing far inland, Kiki and I went to Silver Lake Recreation Area in Brooksville, Florida seeking new trails and a deeper forest experience. There were positives and negatives about this area of the Withlacoochee State Forest, but enough of the former so that I can recommend trekking there along the Low Water and High Water trails.
Silver Lake Brooksville Florida panorama - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/60th 3-shot panoramaUpon arriving at the area and paying the $2 entrance fee, the road funnels you right to Silver Lake. There were almost no people around. Dogs are allowed in all the day use areas, leashed of course, and even far out on the trail I kept Kiki leashed as well as sometimes an actual road would appear right in the middle of the forest with cars flying by.
Amazing cypress tree grown into a natural arch in Withlacoochee State Forest on the Low Water Trail near Silver Lake - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/60thThe best find during our 90-minute 3.55 mile trek was this cypress tree. It was enormous and its based formed a natural arch. We stopped at the foot of this towering tree for water and a snack.
The view from the other side of the cypress tree looks other worldly - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/80thThe view from the back of the cypress tree offers an otherwordly look into the forest itself. I did not dare pass through the arch for fear of coming out into another dimension. Kiki showed no desire to pass through it either.
Cypress knees floating on greens in Withlacoochee State Forest Brooksville Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/60thSoft green grass grew throughout the forest floor providing an ethereal feel. The beginning of the High Water trail is too close to I-75 with far too much noise pollution to help one lose thoughts of the human created world, however, once out on the Low Water trail, one could feel the age of the Withlacoochee Forest.
Kiki is a very good outdoors-dog at home on the trails and in the forests - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/60thFinding out about these trails and how to get to them took some doing. There is no good website to point you too (this one was a starting point at least), just basically search for Silver Lake Road in Brooksville Florida and Google Maps points you almost exactly at the park entrance. From I-75 take exit #301, then make for Silver Lake Road.
Me and Kiki Holiday Portrait November 2013 at photography student Stacy's house in Treasure Island, FloridaThere are not many chances to get a portrait made with me and Kiki. When I try self-portraits, Kiki looks like she is being tortured. Otherwise, I have to resort to composite photo gimmicks. So I was glad that photo student Stacy was able to make one of Kiki and I using the same lighting setup I had just used to photograph her daughters in her house for their Christmas Card photo. Kiki still looks a bit tortured, but at least she is looking at the camera this time!
