Arches National Park

[Snapper]

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[Snapper]

One of the nicest things I found about being in the national parks during winter was that they are very quiet. Arches was almost completely empty. It's quite a buzz having these places to yourself. Last time I was here the temperature was up over 100 degrees. It was quite strange hiking the same trails wearing layer after layer of fleeces and things.

As well as these photos I've also got quite a nice panorama shot of the Manta La Sal mountains. It's too big for me to upload but perhaps if I ask John nicely he might add it for me if I email it to him. It's about a 400k jpeg John but well worth it.

This is the last of the snow scenes I'm afraid. I'm now back in Florida, so more Orlando and Disney pics coming this way real soon ...

[E. Cosgrove]

Oh Steve you're doing it again....... taking me on my 2002 trip. The weather looks fantastic, your shot of windows ( i think its windows, 3rd shot and next to last) is very similar to one I have, except for the snow, the sky was equally blue but the temp was about 100. The lovely shots you have been sending make me long to see all these beautiful places in the winter.....one day, one day[msnsmile]

[Nostromo]

Superb photography, Steve. Did you use a circular polarising filter to get that sky colour? I like the very first picture best of all.

[brizzle]

Lovely, reminds a bit of Tenerife in the Teide National Park, although the only snow there is normally only at the top of Mt Teide...

Brizzle.

[Snapper]

I think the first one is my favourite too Nostromo. I had the tripod right in the middle of the road to get this one framed right, not something you could even think of doing when the park is busy. The answer to your question is yes, they all polarised with a circular polariser. As well as making the sky a deeper blue it also kills some of the glare from the snow and gives it more texture.

[DarrenShort]

I think the 3rd one is best, its a real contrast between the foreground of snow and the rock at the back. Some fantastic pictures again Steve, wish more of mine looked like this.

[SunLover]

Amazing shots yet again... thank you. Keep 'em coming ! :)

[Magical Dreams]

As usual you have exceeded our expectations yet again!!

Stunning photo's!!

[msncool][msncool]

[jolliffee]

I guess you must have answered this before; could you tell me what camera you are using, and lens please. I am seriously thinking of making the move from film based SLR to digital & the options are huge so maybe looking at what people are using with great success may be an approach.[msnsmile2] I have tested the water with a Fuji F700 & like the options of quickly manipulating the images on my PC so I'm hooked.

[Snapper]

No probs Dave. I'll try to split the lines up so that it reads OK too. John very kindly
posted me a panorama into the above set of photos (it was too large for me to upload) but
it's wide enough to make the thread go really wide.

They are all taken with a Nikon D70. The two lenses I've been using are a 17-55mm f/2.8 DX
(gorgeous lens) and a 24-120 f/3.5-5.6 VR. The other key piece of kit has been a Gitzo G2227
tripod with a 1276M offset ball head.

I'll give you a quick summary as this is the first trip I've used the D70, so these really are
first impressions.

First off. It's excellent. It's autofocus system feels as fast as Canon's. In reality Canon
probably still have the edge on autofocus speed but the difference is maybe down to
milliseconds. The metering is second to none. I've been trying to push the limits to see what
the camera is capable of with loads of night shots, snow, water, reflections. It's probably
the best TTL metering system I've ever used. There is also a really nice function on the D70,
that I'm sure also exists on other DSLRs, in that once you've taken the image it will preview
it on the LCD on the camera's back but will flash any over-exposed highlighted areas. You can
then tweak the exposure compensation to get an absolutely (within a 1/3 of a stop) correct
exposure. As you can see from the results, it really works! The other thing I should mention
about all the shots posted is that they are the raw images, straight off the flash card. They
haven't been colour balanced, light balanced, sharpened, cropped, adjusted or post-processed in
any way. When you take the (usually 6Mb originals) and re-balance and sharpen them they look quite amazing.

Most of the scenics were taken with the 17-55mm lens, which is pin-sharp, although quite
heavy. The shots of shows and close-ups were using the 24-120 VR lens. VR is Nikon's image
stabilisation system, the same principle as Canon's IS type lenses with the tiny internal
gyroscopes that adjust some of the lens elements to compensate for camera shake at low shutter
speeds. Nikon's claim is that it gives you about 3 extra stops worth of slower shutter speed
before you encounter camera shake. I would probably agree. Some of the Beauty and the Beast
shots at MGM were taken at the full 120mm with shutter speeds down as low as 1/20th without
an visible sign of camera shake.

The star of the show has been the Gitzo. Put simply, if you are looking for a new tripod and
have the funds don't hesitate. Get one. It's carbon fibre instead of aluminium so it's really
light. The best feature of it being carbon though is that when you are using it in
temperatures down around -10 degrees it doesn't weld itself to your bare skin like the
aluminium ones do. My kind of pet phrase is that the best tripod you can get is the one that
you have with you. I've been tempted to carry the Gitzo much more often, and I think the
photography has improved because of this.

[jolliffee]

Thanks Steve, that is a good overview and gives me some options to think about. I can see I'll need to read up a bit more to make sure I make the right choice.... If thats ever possible.[msnwink]

[LiesaAnna]

thanks for sharing these again steve, did you send your own home made christmas cards? i wouldve with scenery like that to show off!!

[Snapper]

I didn't have the time to do Christmas cards Liesa but I have thought about putting together a Florida calendar.

I'm a bit late for a 2005 calendar, so what I'm thinking of doing is working out which photos are 'calendar quality' and then fitting them around the seasons. I can then fill in any gaps when I'm back in Florida next year. So a 2006 Florida calendar might be feasible.

[LiesaAnna]

a very good idea! and then your travels stay with you all year! where are your plans for visiting during 2005???????