Uploads from Joshua Cripps, tagged canyon

Talk to Strangers - Zebra Canyon (Front Page Explore; Explore #1 - Thanks!)

nobody@flickr.com (Joshua Cripps) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:42:06 -0700

(This one needs to be viewed large!)

I'm not sure why "Don't Talk to Strangers" is such a pervasive maxim in our society. As if every stranger is hell bent on our personal destruction and by talking to them we're unleashing all of their fury and ire. I find this to be slightly ridiculous. In my opinion "Talk to Strangers" is a much more interesting and enjoyable maxim to live one's life by.

As I was backpacking through the wondrous Coyote Gulch in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, I struck up a conversation with four backpackers who were also overnighting in the canyon. Being from Utah, this group had a wealth of knowledge about the area and clued me in to a number of excellent places to visit, including this one, Zebra Canyon. I probably would have missed this otherwise, so thank goodness I like to talk to strangers.

Check out the vid below!

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Tech notes on this photo
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Nikon D7000
Tokina 12-24 f/4 at 12mm on a crop sensor
ISO100 for smoothest exposure
f/16 for lots of DOF
4 seconds

Post-Processing
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In Raw Converter (Nikon Capture NX2)
- Processed single raw file once
- Global contrast for added pop
- Slightly cooled white balance and added a dash of magenta tint

In Photoshop:
- Duplicated image and sharpened, set opacity of this layer fairly low to help bring out detail without looking over-sharpened
- Curves adjustment to add global contrast
- Curves adjustment to brighten center of image to create visual flow from dark to light
- Color balance to remove some of the magenta cast added in the raw conversion

Thanks for your visits!

~Josh

My Portfolio and Photography Services

Capitol Reef: The Coolest National Park You've Never Heard Of (Explore #1, June 6th :)

nobody@flickr.com (Joshua Cripps) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:42:58 -0700

Joshua Cripps posted a photo:

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Just back from a 10-day trip through central Utah. Had some amazing light, saw some spectacular scenery, and got covered with so much orange dust it's not even funny.

Here's a shot of Temple of the Sun in Capitol Reef National Park in Central Utah. An absolute undiscovered gem of a park, Captiol Reef houses some of the most breathtaking and unique scenery of the Waterpocket Fold, a massive wrinkle in the Earth's surface. Towering cathedrals, slot canyons, never-ending vistas, volcanic remnants: this park has enough to keep a photographer busy for ages.

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Tech notes on this photo
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Nikon D7000
Tokina 12-24 f/4 at 12mm on a crop sensor
ISO250 to help shorten shutter speed as it was pretty dang windy out
f/8
1/50 sec
Lee 2-stop soft GND filter

Post-Processing
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In Raw Converter (Nikon Capture NX2)
- Processed single raw file twice: once for Temple and once for foreground
- Global contrast for added pop
- Slight exposure and contrast increase to foreground

In Photoshop:
- Noise reduction via Neat Image
- Selective sharpening of foreground and Temple
- Minor curves adjustment to add local contrast to sagebrush

Thanks for your visits!

~Josh

Curving Toward the Light

nobody@flickr.com (Joshua Cripps) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:13:52 -0800

Joshua Cripps posted a photo:

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Arrived in Page on January 26th just as the clouds were beginning to roll in. I had little idea of what to do in town so I just found a cheap motel in which to spend the night. While checking in I perused the ubiquitous motel-bookstand-full-of-fliers-of-what-to-do-around-here and discovered to my delight that Antelope Canyon was right in town on the Navajo Reservation. "Well holy jeez," I thought to myself, "I shall have to pay a visit."

Next morning I roll out of bed at 9:25 and poke my head outside. It's completely overcast, with little snow flurries here and there. Shoot. I guess my "grand vista" type photography is kaput for the day. But I figure the clouds will give some nice even lighting to Antelope Canyon so I grab the flier for one of the tour companies taking people out to the canyon. I give them a ring and ask if they have any extended tours going out today. "We sure do," says the guy. "We have one going out at 9:30." I look at my watch: it's 9:29. Crap.

Then the guy says, "but our driver isn't here yet so you still have a little time to get here."

"Ok, gimme 10 minutes," I say, then hang up, throw on some warm clothes, pile all my camera gear into my bag, grab a granola bar from my cache, put the do not disturb sign on the door, run outside and down the steps and into the motel lobby, tell them I want to stay another night, run back outside, jump into my car, peel out of the parking to go searching for the tour company, and find it literally across the street from my motel. Excellent.

I climb out of my car, my hastily-grabbed possessions falling out onto the sidewalk in complete disarray. I quickly sort things out and walk into the office, where there is only one other tourist waiting. Luckily for me, this guy wanted to go to Antelope Canyon so badly that he booked two spots (the tour minimum) just to make sure it went out. Even so, it was a last-minute type deal, which is why the driver was late.

Anyway, a few minutes later the driver shows up, obviously having just been called in (she told us this was normally her day off and was home with her kids) and takes us out to the canyon. But since the tour was last minute and she had rushed to get out of the house, our guide was only wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, despite the fact that it was around 35 degrees out. So after about 10 minutes in the canyon she headed back to the truck to get warm and just let me and the other guy wander around the canyon for the next two hours by ourselves.

And since it was wintertime, we literally had the place entirely to ourselves for those two magical hours. Because of the time of year as well as the clouds, we didn't see any of those iconic lightbeams, but we did have something much more special: a chance to appreciate this amazing place without anyone else around to spoil the quiet magic of it.

~Josh

My website: www.joshuacripps.com

My blog: www.joshuacripps.com/blog

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I Bent My Wookie (EXPLORED :)

nobody@flickr.com (Joshua Cripps) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:53:59 -0800

Joshua Cripps posted a photo:

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Please view large.

Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River - one of THE classic southwest photo locations. And in my ignorance, I didn't even know I was there until I practically tripped over the sign.

I was heading into Page, AZ with no grander plans than to just spend the night and head out for Utah the next day. But as I neared the city limits, a sign came into view: Horseshoe Bend, Next Left. "That's here?!" I exclaimed, "Oh man, can't wait to go check it out."

Since night had already fallen by the time I arrived in Page, I decided to stay around in town for a day, see what was what, and then head out to the bend the next night at sunset. Upon checking into a cheap motel and discovering that Antelope Canyon was also in town, I decided to extend my stay further, but that is another story.

Let me then jump ahead to the next evening and my attempt to see the bend. I say attempt because at about three in the afternoon, the clouds dropped to a ceiling of 100 feet, and began releasing a squadron of snowflakes. I ventured out to the bend anyway, all the while wishfully thinking that the clouds might miraculously open as the sun was setting. Yeah right.

If anything they only sat down harder as I tried with futility to make them disappear through the power of my mind. In fact the clouds were so thick I could barely even see to the bottom of the canyon. Disappointed but not discouraged, I returned to the car as darkness fell and vowed to return again in the morning.

Fast forward to the next morning and I am up at 0'dark-thirty and watching the clouds sprinkle still more snow down over Page. According the the local weather report on the teevee, the ceiling was even lower than the night before. So with a great harrumph I went back to bed.

Upon waking the second time, I noticed the clouds were beginning to break up a bit, so even though I was headed for Bryce Canyon that day, I figured I could still check out the bend before I left town. I thought it would still be cold and the ground snow-covered when I got there, so I put on my full boots, fleece, pants, and over-trousers snow ensemble and I headed out.

But by the time I got to the bend, the sun had come out and the snow was melting quickly. Nevertheless, there was still a nice dusting on the peaks in the distance, and a neat sprinkling of low clouds out there as well. Not wanting to create yet another photo of the classic Horseshoe Bend view, I headed off around the northern side of the canyon to see what I could find.

Ultimately I was stopped near the far edge of the bend by a massive side canyon. I took a number of photos along the way, but this one ended up being my favorite, for the symmetry of the water, how it isn't the archetypal Horseshoe Bend shot but it still shows off the great curve in the right, and how you can see deep into the canyon on the southern end of the bend.

With this photo I actually uploaded a large version because the small size just doesn't do the place justice. In fact, I'm pretty sure any size photo doesn't really do the place justice, but I think I'm going to try anyway with a 30"x45" print.

Short video below, as well as a shot from the snowy night before.

~Josh