Mesa Verde

Nikon D3000, 10.5mm, 1/250, f/6.3, ISO 100

While in New Mexico I took a side trip up to Colorado. I have fond memories of a childhood visit to Mesa Verde, so I thought I’d drive up for the day. If nothing else, I figured I’d find some good photo opportunities.

Which I did. The best part of the trip was the hike to Petroglyph Point. Just a little way up the trail the crowd thinned out considerably, and by the time I reached the carvings I was virtually alone. What fun it was to use one of the world’s newest communication methods to record one of the oldest.

The trail started and ended at the Spruce Tree House cliff dwellings. The crowd was much thicker there, but from the right angles it was possible to get shots without too many tourists in them.

Nikon D3000, 10.5mm, 1/100, f/5.0, ISO 100

I even managed to shoot a short panorama.

Nikon D7000, 35mm (18-55), 1/160, f/6.3, ISO 100, panorama

VLA

Nikon D3000, 10.5mm, 1/400, f/10, ISO 100, cropped and adjusted

Earlier this month my wife and I took a trip to New Mexico. Amy was there to work, which left me with some time on my hands. Figuring I might not make it back to this part of the country again anytime soon, I picked a couple of destinations I’d been meaning to visit.

The first was the Very Large Array radio observatory, 50 miles west of Soccoro, New Mexico. I’ve loved astronomy ever since I was a kid, and though I don’t have the math skills to pursue it seriously, I still like to visit museums, observatories and the like. If you’re into this sort of thing, the VLA is definitely worth a trip. It’s refreshing to see a government operation that’s actually open and accessible to the public. The tour was excellent; the guide even sounded like Carl Sagan. Just don’t trust Apple Maps to tell you where the turn is.

I lucked out in the timing department. The dishes were in their A configuration, which meant that they were as close together as they got. If they had been in the D configuration, they would have been more than 20 miles apart and not such an awesome photo op.

Even so, photographing them was a challenge. To convey a sense of the scene, the photo had to do two things: show all the dishes (or at least as many of them as possible) and convey just how big they were. Accomplishing one of the two tasks was easy. I used a wide angle lens to take the picture at the top of this post. It caught the whole array. But the scale is hard to read. Without something familiar for a scale reference, these could be no bigger than the dish currently serving as a weed arbor in my neighbor’s yard.

Getting in closer and adding some people to the composition helps establish the scale. But now you can’t see the array.

Nikon D7000, 32mm (18-55), 1/1000, f/16, ISO 800

Of course I could always piece a pan shot together. This does the job if you can view it at full resolution. But shrunk down to a web-friendly size, it isn’t much better than the first picture.

Nikon D7000, 50mm (18-55), 1/800, f/14, ISO 800, pan

Here’s about as close as I could come to a good compromise:

Nikon D7000, 36mm (18-55), 1/1000, f/16, ISO 800

Kansas pans

I went a little pan-happy during a recent trip to Hays. Kansas landscapes – from the Flint Hills to open pastures – invite extra wide compositions. I managed to get some good results even without a tripod. As usual with pans, you’ll get a better sense of the full effect from the larger view you get by clicking.

The first one is unusual. Most pans are created by panning (so it isn’t just a clever name) from a single point, typically the head of a tripod. But for this image I shot several photos while walking past a series of headstones in a graveyard. The result required considerable adjustment (Catherine Mary’s stone is still a bit more distorted than I’d like). But it’s still awesome how a set of five crudely carved rocks can tell such a poignant tale of a family’s tragic losses.

Here’s something more traditional (and less depressing). This pan covers 180 degrees along the side of the road near a large wind farm. I liked the contrast between the solitary, traditional windmill and the acres of giant wind chargers. This one’s more fun at full resolution than it is on the Blogger screen (though you can get a slightly better look at it by clicking on the image).

This is Fort Riley viewed from atop Atomic Annie Hill. The view extends beyond 180 degrees. Shooting down into the valley also caused the series to arc rather than line up straight, which cost a lot of picture at the top and bottom. Thus the narrow image.

The Kaw

Nikon D7000, 44mm (18-55), 1/60, f/6.3, ISO 100, adjusted and cropped

More evidence that it’s never the shot you think it’s going to be. Around 300 times a year I drive the  road that follows the Kansas River for a brief stretch. And in all that time I’ve meant to stop, get out of my car, climb the nearby hills and shoot a panorama of the valley.

Yesterday’s snow storm (and consequent school cancellation) provided me with a great opportunity. Out I went and up I went. If nothing else, it was a good chance to field test my new camera sling and lightweight tripod (both of which performed admirably, especially the sling).

However, I’ve gotta say that I was somewhat underwhelmed by the pan:

Nikon D7000, 44mm (18-55), 1/60, f/5.3, ISO 100, adjusted and edited (panorama)

It’s not terrible. But the trees blocked more of the view than I’d anticipated. I could also have done without the light pole.

On the other hand, while I was there I noticed an illegal trash dump just down the hill from where I parked. The most striking visual was the field of discarded tires (above). But an abandoned chair also caught my eye.

Nikon D7000, 36mm (18-55), 1/60, f/8, ISO 100, adjusted

As did a splash of color painted onto a trio of trees.

Nikon D7000, 18mm (18-55), 1/60, f/10, ISO 100, adjusted

Finally, this entry wouldn’t be complete without a quick note of thanks to my Jeep, which allowed me to venture fearlessly out into Snowpocalypse 2014.

Nikon D7000, 44mm (18-55), 1/60, f/6.3, ISO 100, adjusted and cropped

Wells Overlook

Nikon D3000, 50mm fixed, 1/1000, f/18, ISO 1600, edited

Another photo expedition, this time to Wells Overlook just south of Lawrence. The landscape naturally suggested a panoramic photo, so I shot a series of 30 or so pictures and combined them in Photoshop. I didn’t have a tripod with me, and the uneven frames shot by hand cost me a bit on the top and bottom. But with the jagged edges cropped away, the pan looks fine. As usual with extra wide photos, it will look better if you click on the image to enlarge it.

Rain fell for most of the morning, and it had let up less than an hour earlier. The haze was still fairly thick, which you can clearly see in the photo. Compare the vivid greens of the trees in the foreground with the faded greys that almost blend into the sky along the horizon. Normally I’m not a big fan of haze, but here it gives the image a pleasant sense of depth.

Of course I could have eliminated some of the murk by adjusting the input levels, as I’ve done with this photo:

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/320, f/9, ISO 100, cropped and adjusted

You can see KU in the background and a hawk of the non-jay variety riding the drafts toward the top.

For the record, this is what the overlook tower looks like:

Nikon D7000, 20mm (18-55), 1/250, f/8, ISO 125

And by coincidence, I shot exactly 61 photos with both cameras. Weird.

Westheight panorama

Nikon D7000, 29mm (18-55), various shutter speeds and f-stops, ISO 200

Here’s one you really need to click on for the full effect. I’ve been playing around with Photoshop’s ability to stitch a series of photos together into a panorama. Though this result isn’t perfect (you can see some exposure inconsistencies here and there), it’s still a fun effect.