Reflections of 2016

Looking at 2016

I just received an award at my day job yesterday for being an employee for 15 years. It is near the end of the calendar year. Both of these events have caused me to reflect on this last year of 2016.

My DJI Phantom 3 Advanced

I spent a lot of time this past year dealing with health issues. Nothing too terrible, just sinus infections including Allergic Fungal Sinusitis, a nasty little collection of issues that resulted in a lot of down time and 3 surgeries.

At the beginning of the year I added a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced to my photography kit. I wanted to like it but ended up being very disappointed with the still image quality to the point that I am selling it. The video capabilities might be fun for some but I am not looking to do video. The still images are barely useful for posting on social media in my opinion.

I also don't like flying the thing. I got it after it went on sale at the beginning of the year for about $800 for the basic drone but it's still too much money for me to want to lose by running it in to something. It's just not for me.

Arizona's Raptor Experience 

Luna the barn owl
Arizona's Raptor Experience

I didn't really get out to shoot photography until May when I visited the Arizona's Raptor Experience in Chino Valley, Arizona, with a fellow shipmate from my last Navy ship, the USS Paul F. Foster DD-964 where we served together for such fun deployments as the first gulf war.

We spent a few hours shooting various raptors as the owners placed them on various features such as stumps which they had staged around their grounds. It was pretty amazing! I got a few shots that I liked, but the ones of the Harris Hawk in flight made me realize I don't have much practice or skill at capturing birds in flight!

Snowy Egret at Gilbert Riparian Preserve
Gilbert, Arizona

I did get this image of a snowy egret at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve in Gilbert, Arizona, which is my best shot of a bird in flight to date.

My birding experiences made me realize that I really wanted a longer lens. After reviewing the Sigma, Tamron, and Nikon lenses, I chose the AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR. I didn't get out and try it much until later in the year...

In May I also dovetailed in a 1 night excursion  to the Chiricahua National Monument to shoot the Milky Way. I got a decent capture of it and enjoyed my overnight trip.

And, in May, I squeezed in a very short and unproductive visit to Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona. Unfortunately I was only there during mid-day and did not even bother taking any photographs.

After my birding excursions I had a couple of surgeries and during the recovery (as well as a lot of the entire year) I spent my down time reading John Muir books which generated a great desire to visit Yosemite National Park. I put in a request for vacation for the first week of September, following the Labor Day weekend (a holiday for most people in the United States).

California Here I Come

I stayed in 3 California parks: Joshua Tree for one night, Yosemite for 3 nights, and Sequoia for 1 night. I got some shots that I like a bit but I know I could do better so I'm planning to head back sometime. I really want to get back to Yosemite in the early spring in order to try to get some photographs of snow on the ground. And, when I was there in early September, there was very little water in the falls. Yosemite falls was non-existent.

Moon over Joshua Tree National Park, California

Half Dome and El Capitan
Yosemite National Park, California

Sequoia at Sunrise
Sequoia National Park, California

More Parks for Me!

After I got home from my California parks, I was still feeling good (must have been the steroids I was on!) so I decided to take a day trip with my wife and our dogs up to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Waputki National Monument, both near Flagstaff, Arizona. After she saw that, I talked her into spending a couple of nights at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Sunset in Ruins
Waputki National Monument
Arizona

We went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for another 3-day holiday weekend for Columbus Day. I got a couple of shots of the canyon that I like but I also got some shots of wild bison that captured a wonderful experience of sitting on the ground  a few feet in front of wild and un-caged bison!

Sunrise at Walhalla Overlook
North Rim Grand Canyon National Park
Arizona

Wild Bison
North Rim Grand Canyon National Park
Arizona

And finally, not wanting to be done for the year, I decided to visit Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park over the Veteran's Day 3-day weekend in November. This trip ended up with the transmission on my Ford Explorer giving out so my visit at the actual park was cut short but I got a shot or two that I like. 

Sunset at Sunset Point
Bryce Canyon National Park
Utah

Six National Parks in 2016

The year's not quite over but I'm not sure if I'll get to any more National Parks before the end of the year. I've got half a notion to try to get to the Petrified Forest National Park but we'll see if I make it. Regardless, I visited 5 National Parks and 3 National Monuments this year that I had never been to before (I visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2015). 

In every park I got to see something that was new and amazing. There were always photography opportunities that challenged my artistic eye and photographic abilities. Some places actually took my breath away when dealing with the view or the heights or the bison.

Besides the bison, I got to see some other wonderful animals in their natural habitats which is much better than a zoo. I had some medical issues to contend with but it ended up making me appreciate the times that I got out even that much more and makes my photographs more personal as well since they captured what I was able to see and do in 2016. I hope your year was good for you too!

Photography Notes from Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree
Nikon D610 + Nikkor 20mm
20mm / f/8.0 / 1/250s / ISO 100

I've gone through my shots from Joshua Tree National Park which I stayed at on September 3, 2016. I was there one night and took photographs with my DSLR from about 5:50 PM to  6:20 AM, a span of about 12 hours that included sunset and sunrise. I also got in some night shots for good measure. I was much more happy with my dusk and sunset shots than my morning shots for some reason.

I did find that it was helpful using my new Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G lens to get the trees in the frame. I like this image which was shot fairly close to the tree and because of the 20mm I was able to capture the entire tree.

I think this shot is nice and sharp and has good color. Yes, it was processed in Lightroom but what isn't?

My biggest complaint, and this was for the entire trip, was that there were about zero clouds in the sky the entire week. I think this shot works because I positioned the camera low, perhaps about 2 feet off of the ground, which caused the tree to fill up the sky area.

A shot of my lens hood

I did end up having a problem with the lens hood on a lot of shots. This lens uses a tulip type shade. When it's on properly it works fine but I knocked my shade so that  it was twisted enough to show up in the shots. What an irritant!

After I got home and saw it, I happened on a YouTube where the photographer (I don't remember who it was) was talking about composition and eliminating everything extraneous in a shot prior to taking it and one way he accomplished that was to make sure that he did a full view around the viewfinder by starting in the upper left and looking all the way around the viewfinder to ensure there was nothing he should get rid of before pressing the shutter release.

I am going to try to adopt that technique and it would have made me realize that my lens hood was in the way. Note that the lower left corner isn't as obvious as the upper right corner; if the entire shot had content like the lower left corner in this shot it might be harder to detect.

Labels for the 16-35mm and 20mm lenses

On the other hand, I wish the hoods had a more definite detent or lock when they were in place as well as when they were reversed for storage or carrying. I also wish they were easier to identify or else that the same hood could be used on multiple lenses. I found I'd swapped my Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E hood with the 20mm hood because they look almost identical. They don't lock down as well when interchanged though.

Update 9/18/2016: I decided to put a label on the hoods for the 16-35mm and 20mm lenses identifying which lens that they belong to. While doing that I found out that I just wasn't turning the hood with enough force to get it to attach to the lens properly. There's actually a very nice, positive detent that engages on the hoods if you turn it far enough. Cool!

Milky Way at Jumbo Rocks Campground
Nikon D610 + Nikkor 20mm f/1.8
20mm / f/1.8 / 2.5s / ISO 4000

Overall the worst time I had was, again, trying to focus my lens for night shooting. The Milky Way appeared over the top of some rock formations at the campground where there were campfires in the front of the rocks and I thought it'd be a cool shot.

I shot quite a few shots before I got the lens focused.

I was finally able to do live view on a star but it took a long time. The following night I had the foresight to focus the lens before it got dark but at Jumbo Rocks it became a crap shoot.

I really like my 50mm f/1.8D that has a stop at infinity focus and wish the 20mm did too.

In the past I'd been able to find something to focus on even if it meant shining a flashlight on my car which was some distance away but I couldn't do that where I was. There were no buildings with lights at a distance that I could use. Eventually I got a star to come up in live view.

In this shot there was a campfire lighting up the front of the rocks and the top was lit by car headlights turning into the campground. At first I wasn't sure how the headlights would turn out but I kind of like them.I did have a couple of shots where the headlights were too bright (it was surprisingly busy at the campground and I was right near the entrance).

Joshua Tree and a road

One other note I have for this park and in general, some of the cool trees I wanted to shoot that were right next to the road just didn't yield great shots. The subject was okay but I either couldn't get a shot I liked where the road was masked or couldn't get rid of footprints around the base of the tree.

This points out that to get good shots you need to get off the road farther than I did or had time to. Sometimes you can hide things by placing your camera so they don't show up in the final shot. I really liked this tree - it had a lot of branches and no decay or dead branches. Unfortunately it is right next to a road and I couldn't get rid of all traces of the road in the shot.

You really need to be able to walk a bit at this park to get the good trees away from the roads and footprints.

You can see more of my Joshua Tree National Park photographs on my site at http://RandallMorter.SmugMug.com site.

My visit to Joshua Tree National Park, September 3-4, 2016

Leaving the Quick Trip gas station in Phoenix

I finally got to take off for some vacation on Saturday, September 3, 2016. I left home around 10:30 AM for my first stop: Joshua Tree National Park in California. 

I'm going to post some iPhone pics initially and as I process the DSLR photographs I'll post more about them.

Joshua Tree National Park is named after the unusual trees that are native to the southern-central California area. The park is north of Interstate 10 which runs east and west from Los Angeles to Phoenix. I had seen the signs for the park many times but had never ventured into it. This trip I planned to not only visit the park but to spend the night there.

At the Cottonwood Visitor Center

I entered the park from Interstate 10, about 4 or 5 miles west of the Chiriaco Summit. I asked about camping when I was at the Cottonwood Visitor Center and decided to try my luck at the "Jumbo Rocks" campground.

Jumbo Rocks Site #124

I had a weird experience there - I paid for a site and, per their instructions, placed the paper tag on the post at the site. I didn't plan to set up a tent so I just left to drive around the park and see what I could see. I didn't leave anything at the site other than the tag on the post.

I drove around most of the park and even in to 29 Palms to visit the McDonald's and the 7-11 next to it (Adobe Road and Twentynine Palms Highway). There were a good number of military hair cuts walking around!

My Explorer Accommodations

I visited Keys View, the Barker Dam parking area, Skull Rock, etc. I shot a good number of photographs. When I got back to my campsite after dark there was a group of young men that had set up camp in my site. There was no cell phone reception there to call a ranger. I ended up asking an  oriental family across the road if they minded if I parked near their site overnight and they said it was okay. I had planned to sleep in the back of my explorer anyway so I didn't really care whether I had access to the table or fire pit anyway (I never did build a fire during my whole trip). 

It was just kind of an irritant to pay for a site and then have someone else take it too. They said the tag wasn't on the post when they got there but they sure did try to appease me - offering to share the site with me. The bottom line was that I didn't really care about the site facilities since I was going to sleep in my trusty Exploder anyway...

While out shooting I tried to find a number of the spots in my "Photographing California Volume 2" book. I got to try the text first hand and it was pretty accurate (the only issue I had on my trip was when trying to find "Round Meadow" in Sequoia National Park - the park had changed a bit since the book was written evidently - I believe the parking lot referred to in the book is now the handicapped only lot across from the museum).

I wanted to see Barker Dam and went to the parking area. However, it requires a hike and I wasn't ready for that. The sun was going down and I wanted to try to get some sunset shots and wasn't sure I'd make it to the lake before loosing the sun. So I drove around a bit more and ended up shooting some of the rocks and Joshua trees near the junction of Park Boulevard and Keys View Drive before going to Keys View viewpoint for the sunset.

Coachella Valley from Keys View

Keys View viewpoint is apparently pretty popular. There is a fairly small parking lot there (perhaps 30 spaces) which were all full when I got there. I drove around it a few times until someone else left, opening up a spot for me.

On the evening I was there the view of the Coachella Valley was pretty obscured due to smog and/or haze. The sunset wasn't terribly spectacular in those conditions and I couldn't really see any city lights or much detail at all. I'm sure there are times when it is a nice sight and might offer some interesting sunsets if the light on the Santa Rosa and Santa Jacinto mountains across the valley turns red or gold. 

I left Keys View and stopped on the way down from the viewpoint for a few shots of the valley before heading to Skull Rock.

Skull Rock

Skull Rock is a formation that has a couple of features resembling eye sockets but the top of the rock is shaped like the "bad" ghosts in the old Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons. The Photographing California book suggests it can be interesting if you place some light sources in the eye sockets and shoot the formation at night. I didn't have anything to use for that so ended up taking some long exposures there as well as of the moon.

I went across the road from Skull Rock to shoot the formation with my Nikon D610 and a different perspective than you get up close, and was up a short distance into the hills well after dark. I was also shooting the moon between some hills and Joshua Trees and became engrossed in the process.

It wasn't until I got finished and tried to leave that I realized I hadn't taken much of a flashlight with me. I could see where my white Explorer was parked but it was difficult navigating the brush with a small, single AAA battery flashlight that I had in my camera bag. 

A selfie while shooting near Skull Rock at Night

It was after that when I headed back to my campsite and discovered that someone had hijacked it. Once I made my other arrangements I took out the Nikon D610 to try some evening shots. 

I add already seen the Milky Way and wanted to try to take some shots with some of the rock formations in the foreground.

The entrance to the Jumbo Rocks campground worked out pretty well for that. There were a number of cars entering the campground which lit up the rocks in the foreground and provided a nice effect (photos to come...).

I crashed for the night in the back of my Explorer, and arose a bit before sunrise. Most national parks have a quiet time from 10PM to 6AM, and Joshua Tree National Park was no exception. I hate getting up and moving much before that, but I was up a bit before 5:00 AM, rearranged what I needed to in my Explorer in order to drive off, and left by about 5:20 AM (when it was 66 degrees Fahrenheit). I was trying not to wake up the family that let me sleep near their site.

Roadside shot of some Joshua Trees

I decided to drive out the entrance at the town of Joshua Tree, stopping along the way for some final sunrise shots in the park before making my way up to Yosemite National Park. 

I enjoyed my visit and plan to return since it's only about 4 hours from Phoenix (closer than the Chiricahua National Monument). There are more things to see and photograph that I didn't get to in my brief visit. I really want to see the Barker Dam area as well as do a bit more hiking to get away from the roads.

The Photographing California photography book mentions how the Joshua Trees are "Dr. Seuss"-like, and I have to agree. Their "bark" is very rough to the touch. But they make interesting photographs and I especially like them in the blue or golden hours. The bigger they are the more interesting they are, in my opinion. I don't think I captured the sense of a "forest" in any of my photographs, and there is a quite a concentration of these trees in some locations. I'd like to try to capture that better. 

And that is one of the main things that keeps me interested in landscape photography - trying to capture the essence of a place. 

My 2015 Vacation, Part 3 of 7

Gassed up and ready to go!

On Sunday, August 2nd, I headed out at about 9:30 AM. I stopped at the local Fry’s Grocery store to get some pre-made sub sandwiches, a couple of gallons of drinking water, and to fill up the Exploder’s belly with unleaded. I took a selfie and then I was off!

I had debated on the route to take to get to Oregon due to a bridge being washed out on Interstate 10 a bit west of the Arizona – California border. I contemplated going through Las Vegas, and even visiting Yosemite. But then I read about how busy it was during the summer months and got dissuaded.

In the end it still seemed like the shortest route would be on I-10 so that’s the direction I headed. I had decided that it made more sense for me to get to Oregon as soon as possible. I could drive to Yosemite on a 3 day weekend, or at least a 4 day trip. I couldn’t get to Oregon or Washington and back that fast.

 

Washed out east-bound bridge on Interstate 10

The washed out bridge turned out to be a non-issue. Traffic had to slow down a bit for a mile or so but in the scope of the entire distance between Phoenix to Los Angeles, it was nothing. It may have added 5 minutes to the trip. It was also my first attempt at taking iPhone pictures while driving - they didn't turn out very good. I didn't know how to force the phone to focus. I know that this practice is probably frowned upon and I shouldn’t do it but I was careful not to keep my eyes off of the road. That’s the last I’ll say about that – I don’t promote the idea of doing this and I’m a hypocrite.

As I got close to Los Angeles my GPS started directing my route as well as my adventures. I have been through Los Angeles many times; I lived in San Diego and Long Beach for about 4 years and drove to the Portland, Oregon area many times.

Normally when I drive between Phoenix and Oregon I take the Interstate 210 through Pasadena, saving a few miles and some time. My GPS, whom I refer to as “Jill” because that is the name of the voice that I use for the directions and notifications, had started me on I-210 but then directed me to I-215 and eventually highways 138 and 18 through Phelan, Littlerock, Palmdale, Lancaster, and eventually Gorman where I merged on to Interstate 5. I’m not saying it was unpleasant and that I didn’t appreciate her taking me on such a circuitous route, but it probably added an hour of driving time. I did NOT end up retracing the route on my return trip.

Rocks north west of Cajon Junction

That said, on that side route I did see some rock formations I liked and experience a Joshua Tree forest which I’d never seen. I’ve seen individual Joshua trees but not a large forest of them. It was interesting but apparently not to the extent that I stopped to take a picture because I didn’t get one picture of them.

I was more concerned about the route Jill had me on – to the point that I ended up buying a paper map of California so that I could see where she was leading me. I’ve always had good luck with the GPS in the past but this was different. I ended up sitting in a traffic jam for 45 minutes or so on I-215. I really didn’t have a deadline to meet but I wanted to spend all of my dilly dallying in Oregon and Washington, not southern California which I could get to from Phoenix in a reasonable number of hours.



Highway 138 near Antelope Acres

Once I got through with the straight stretches of highway 138 and headed north on Interstate 5 from Gorman, I settled in to the boring part of the trip which I-5 is. The traffic was awful, too. The speed limit is 70 MPH along that stretch of I-5. I was lucky to get up to 70 for most of the drive. It was mainly about 65 MPH with cars almost bumper to bumper, weaving in and out. I had hoped to make it to a truck stop near Redding, California but around 10 PM I ended up pulling off at Williams, about 100 miles short.

I was getting drowsy and decided I didn’t want to get another cup of coffee and stay awake until 2 AM or something. That would have likely ruined the following day by causing me to sleep late. So I found a closed up Denny’s restaurant next to a Chevron station and pulled in the parking lot and parked.



My Explorer Bedroom

I got out and set up my sleeping quarters in the back of the exploder. As I was filling up my air mattress I saw a couple of cop cars across the street and the officers were likely watching me. They sat there a bit then drove off. I got my sleeping situation set and then closed the Exploder up and walked around the parking lot. I was looking to see if there was anything worth taking a picture of. I wasn’t far off the interstate and was hoping I might be able to shoot a long exposure of tail lights but it wasn’t a good place.
I turned around to go back to the Exploder and the cops had returned and this time one of the cars drove into the Denny’s parking lot. A female officer got out and approached me. She asked if I was okay. I told her I’d just driven from Phoenix and was stretching my legs and thinking about getting some sleep. I asked her if it would be okay to sleep there and she said that it would be fine. She also said that she had the night shift and that she’d drive by and check on me! What a nice outcome that was!

After she left I went over to the Chevron, got a banana and bottle of water in order to justify using their bathroom, and then headed back to the Exploder where I slept like a baby knowing the police were watching over me. My first day was in the books!

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