Photo Adventures Archives - Beebower Productions

Hazel Mountain Morning

by Denise Beebower Sloan | Landscape Art, Outdoor Art, Photo Adventures, Photography Discussion

Hazel Mountain Overlook

Before the van rolled to a stop, I rocketed out the door, grabbed my gear and sprinted toward the rocks. I’d miscalculated our travel time to the overlook. There could be no greater sin for a landscape photographer. You just don’t miss sunrises.

The entire drive from our cabin to the park I’d fidgeted, mentally kicking myself as I watched the first faint bands of pink color the sky above the mountains. As we wound up the twisty, turning road to the park that morning, I realized we were so close yet so far. My barnburner sunrise might just happen without me.

My husband and I traveled to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia for a long weekend. The goal: capture as many sunrise shots as possible. Day One wasn’t going so well.

I usually get to a location before sunrise to capture the period just before the sun peaks over the horizon. It produces beautiful, colorful light. This day I definitely missed the Belt of Venus, as that light is known, but I had just enough time to set up my tripod before the sun actually rose.

Thankfully I’d scouted the Hazel Mountain Overlook the day before. I had composed a photo in my mind that I hoped to capture the next morning. I knew where the sun would shine its first rays of the morning. The mountains layered one upon the other from this vantage point. And the cool rock formations at the overlook perfectly framed those mountain peaks.

On this crisp winter morning, I was alone. That was good. No one but my husband and our dog saw my pell mell rush from the van that morning. The pair decided to keep warm in the van, occasionally checking to make sure I hadn’t fallen off the cliff in my photo quest.

I didn’t have to wait long for the show to start. That morning’s stress washed away as ribbons of color danced above the purple mountaintops. A little magenta here, a bit of orange there. The show just kept getting better and better. In fact, I didn’t even mind freezing as I bracketed the shot. (That’s a bold statement for me. I hate being cold.)

A few hearty birds joined me at the rocks. They sat facing the rising sun, twittering amongst themselves. Besides the birds, the only sound I heard was the wind gently blowing across the mountaintops. Perfect.

I continued shooting for about 40 minutes. The pictures looked pretty good plus this slice of nature helped me unwind. So maybe I redeemed myself. I didn’t miss that glorious sunrise after all.

Bonus: I now knew exactly how long it took to reach the mountaintop from our cabin in the valley.

Antelope Canyon

by Denise Beebower Sloan | Landscape Art, Outdoor Art, Photo Adventures, Photography Discussion

Antelope Canyon | Beebower Productions

Through the Rocks

The Navajo call it Tse’ bighanilini or “the place where water runs through the rocks”. Upper Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona draws thousands of visitors each year. The unusual sandstone rock formations allow shafts of light to stream in illuminating ripples and waves that look like an impressionistic painting.

Thousands of years of flash floods rushing through the canyon sculpted the amazing walls of sandstone. And thousands of people have toured the canyon since the Navajo Nation decided to open the land to the public in 1997. In fact, the only way to see Antelope Canyon, located near the border of Arizona and Utah, is to join a Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation approved tour.

Dad wasted no time getting on a tour truck. Packed like sardines, He, Mom and the other tourists were driven out to the desert. When the truck stopped the only clue they were in the right spot were groups of people who seemingly disappeared into the ground.

Capturing the Cathedral

The entrance to Upper Antelope Canyon is a narrow, winding slit only a few feet wide. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary dry wash in the desert. But once inside, the magical canyon comes to life.

The elder Navajos consider the canyon a cathedral where one should stop and prepare to be in touch spiritually. While Dad was in awe of the slot canyon’s grandeur, it was hard to be in sync with Mother Nature due to the sheer number of tourists running to and fro.

The mass of humanity stretched through the entire quarter mile canyon. Dad realized it was going to be mighty tricky to capture a descent photo without folks stepping into his picture.

One thing was right about this trip, though. Dad visited during summer when the shafts of light that sneak down into the canyon are best seen. Lighting is the key to creating a memorable photo. Other than the shafts of light, the canyon is rather dim. Plus the streaming light also enriches the color of the walls.

All Dad had to do was to navigate through the crowded tour to find a unique angle with a great shaft of light. Then he had keep people out of the photo long enough to get a good exposure and still keep up with his tour guide who was adamant that no one was lingering behind. He was, as Dad likes to say, sweating bullets to get this photo.

Just In Time

During the last 10 minutes of his tour Dad finally found the shot. He quickly turned his tripod into a monopod so no one would trip over it, braced himself against one canyon wall and waited for a break in the steady stream of people.

He managed to snap this one photo before the tour guide hustled everyone out of the canyon. A storm was coming and she was worried about flash floods. People have died in the canyon during flash floods, so it seemed like a reasonable thing to care about in the grand scheme of things.

Dad, however, breathed a sigh of relief. While under the gun, he managed to produce a really nice photo under really bad circumstances. One photo. Sometimes photography is like that. You’re lucky to get one great photo. Maybe he’ll get another one when he returns this fall to visit Lower Antelope Canyon. He’s just hoping to see fewer people and feel less like a sardine.

The Great Gallery

by Denise Beebower Sloan | Landscape Art, Outdoor Art, Photo Adventures, Photography Discussion, Tech and Gear

The Great Gallery | Beebower Productions

Problems and Plagues

Two minor problems plagued Dad on this photo quest: getting there and capturing the image. He ventured to Horseshoe Canyon, a remote location two and a half hours from Moab, Utah, where The Great Gallery tells the story of people who lived there thousands of years ago.

Ancient artists chose well on the location for their masterpiece. Few have the fortitude to travel to Horseshoe Canyon. To see The Great Gallery, visitors must first traverse 34 miles down a hazardous dirt road filled with roving sand dunes and equally wandering cattle.

Dad’s visit in May coincided with a 30-year epic windstorm that pushed whole sand dunes all over the road. Local ranchers rescued car after car full of unwitting tourists stuck in the roving dunes.

Dad came prepared. His 4-wheel drive vehicle and years of practice in Pennsylvania blizzards helped him safely navigate to the parking lot, otherwise known as a plot of desert sand, at the end of the road. No rescues needed.

Next problem on tap, the extreme heat. Even in the early morning, temperatures hovered near 100 degrees. In fact, the National Park Service closes the canyon during certain times of the year due to heat. On this day, it would only get hotter on the trail to the rock art.

Dad, his bags loaded with gear and plenty of water, along with Mom descended almost 750 feet down into the abyss, part of Canyonlands National Park, to view The Great Gallery. Going down was a piece of cake. Getting out would be challenging.

The 7-mile, round-trip trail led them through a dry, sandy creek bed. They quickly began seeing small pieces of rock art along the way. Their anticipation grew as they got closer to the Gallery.

The canyon that holds the Gallery is a steep, narrow space. As he descended into the deep a gargantuan 10-foot tall, evil demon-like figure stared down at Dad from the canyon wall. A closer look revealed an endless array of faces that popped off the stone for at least 200 feet.

Strange Findings

His first thought: This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. But it’s pretty darn cool.

Many of the figures looked like mummies. Others appeared to be animals like dogs or goats. All were painted in a red pigment.

After admiring the artwork, the photographer in Dad got busy creating a photo plan. The sheer size of the art posed a problem. Some of the figures in The Great Gallery are at least five to ten feet tall and the panel stretches over a long space. It’s a significant piece of history that wouldn’t fit into one camera shot.

The entire panel also was in the shade. It wasn’t necessarily a problem, but it was another factor to consider. After some contemplation Dad photographed the entire scene in chunks and then back in the office merged the panels in Photoshop to create a panoramic image with great detail. Mission accomplished. Now for the fun part.

Getting out of the canyon proved to be the real adventure. The sandy streambed became a hamster wheel for Mom and Dad. There was a lot of walking but little progress upward as the sand tried to suck them back down into the canyon. To make matters worse all of that water they’d packed seemed to have disappeared. By this time the temperature soared well over 106 degrees.

After a grueling workout, Mom and Dad finally made it to the “parking lot”. Dad felt great about the images he’d captured. Mom felt great that an air-conditioned hotel room would be waiting for them. And wouldn’t you know, the bottled water they’d craved on that long hike up had been hiding under some equipment in the camera bag all along.

If you enjoyed Dad’s photo from Horseshoe Canyon, you’ll like these photos too:

Antelope Canyon | Beebower Productions

Zion Moonrise | Beebower Productions

House on Fire | Beebower Productions

Bucket List Part 2

by Denise Beebower Sloan | Old West Art, Outdoor Art, Photo Adventures, Uncategorized, Wildlife Art

Artist Portrait | Beebower Productions

So last week we counted down five locations that have Dad drooling. Let’s finish off his photographic bucket list with the top five spots he’s dying to visit.

5. Churchill, Manitoba, Canada:

It’s the polar bear capitol of the world. During October and November, the polar bears move toward Hudson Bay to feed on ringed seals. You can catch a ride on a specially designed tundra vehicle that keeps hungry bears out and people inside. Of course, be sure to bring some heavy-duty winter clothing since you’ll have to roll down the window to shoot out of the vehicle.

Out in the bay you can see thousands of beluga whales that move back from their winter ground to the Churchill the area during July and August. Belugas are curious about humans and playful with their compadres, so great photographs are possible.

Birds also flock to Churchill since it’s part of a busy bird flyway and you can catch the best show of Northern Lights January through March. Churchill has a lot to offer photographers.

4. New Zealand:

Peter Jackson picked a location winner for his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “The Hobbit” movies. New Zealand, Jackson’s homeland, is packed with sweeping waterfalls, extraordinary glaciers, imposing mountain ranges, mysterious ice caves and even an active volcano.

Don’t let the Kiwi nation’s relatively small size and remote location (900 miles east of Australia) throw you. The long, narrow islands that make up New Zealand are packed with possibilities. The great news is that a small population makes it easy to escape crowds and photograph that unspoiled scenery. Neither Dad nor I would have trouble finding material for panoramic, stunning images.

In addition to the landscape, Dad’s itching to photograph some of the enormous rainbow and brown trout that call New Zealand home. Western author and fisherman Zane Grey called New Zealand an “angler’s El Dorado”. This gold mine of fish provides super-sized and, apparently very wily, trout. No problem. Dad will employ a bit of movie magic to take that memorable fishing shot.

3. Costa Rica:

Good thing come in small packages and Costa Rica packs a punch. The small country, about the size of West Virginia, is sandwiched between Nicaragua and Panama in Central South America. It boasts shores on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Best known for its coffee, Costa Rica also contains amazing wildlife and scenery that shouldn’t be missed.

To kick his trip off with a bang, Dad could choose between six active volcanoes to photograph. Maybe he could even do one of those nifty exposures that show the volcano and stars. Or he could photograph the rain forest that meshes seamlessly with the white sand beaches at Manuel Antonio National Park. Or maybe he could do waterfall photographs in the cloud forest near the Talamanca Mountains. Or he could photograph white-faced monkeys at Damas Island Mangrove Estuary. And then there’s the Osa Peninsula with breathtaking views and an equally breathtaking list of wildlife.

With 812 bird species and 45 types of hummingbirds plus howler monkeys, coatimundi, sloths and jaguars to name a few, Dad could spend months happily photographing in Costa Rica. And we didn’t even discuss the mindboggling array of lush and unusual plants that cover Costa Rica from top to bottom.

2. Ecuador:

Dad salivates over Ecuador because 132 types of hummingbirds, the glittering jewels of the garden, that make their home in this South American country on the Pacific Ocean. They come in all shapes and sizes including the sword-billed hummingbird whose beak is longer than its body and the rainbow colored long-tailed sylphs. Ecuador even has a hummingbird that survives at glacier level! Dad would give an arm and a leg to stay at the Guango or Tandayapa lodges or hike the Papallacta Pass trail just for the hummingbird action.

If, by some chance, he managed to photograph all 132 hummingbirds, Dad would still have plenty of photo opportunities. Between the 16,000 bird species and 300 or so mammals make their home in the country, he could spend years wandering through Ecuador capturing wildlife photos.

But the magic of Ecuador doesn’t stop with the animals. The Amazon River flows through the country creating dramatic scenes. On the eastern side of Ecuador Dad could photograph San Rafael Falls, the highest waterfall in the country. The Andes Mountains span seven countries in South America, including Ecuador, and provide dramatic peaks and valleys for landscape images.

Ecuador is well worth a top spot on your bucket list.

1. Iceland:

Greenland and Norway sandwich the small island of Iceland between them. The country, about the size of Ohio, is one of the most sparsely populated places in Europe. That makes photographers very happy because they have lots of room to capture the volcanoes and glaciers that dot the landscape.

For photographers, Iceland provides an abundance of a key picture ingredient—light. The sun shines 24 hours a day during the peak of summer, providing plenty of time to capture images. Mid-winter has short days of 4 to 5 hours of sunlight, but it makes up for the lack of light with the stunning Northern Lights displays.

Surprisingly for a country named Iceland, the island (on average) doesn’t get as cold as New York. However, visitors may find the daily mini earthquakes a bit unsettling. The Eurasian and North American plates meet here causing the frequent geologic activity.

If you can get beyond all of that, there’s no end to the photographic possibilities. The Snaefellsnes Peninsula holds many treasures including the highest mountain in the country complete with a glacier. Dad could also photograph the multi-cascading Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall, a real stunner, or wander over to the beaches for scenic ocean images. At the Floi Nature Reserve an ancient lava field hosts gobs of birds at the wetlands and ponds. And Latrabjarg’s cliffs house millions of birds, everything from atlantic puffins to northern gannets. The cliffs also make stunning landscape photos. And we can’t forget while in the country Dad also could photograph reindeer in eastern Iceland. When I was a kid, a photo of a reindeer would have gone a long way in convincing me Santa was real.

So there you have it. Dad’s list of ten amazing locations you shouldn’t miss. Now we just need a priceless artifact we can sell for a pile of money and Indy’s plane so we can fly off into the sunset. It would be a perfect movie ending.

Bucket List: 10 Places You Shouldn’t Miss

by Denise Beebower Sloan | Landscape Art, Old West Art, Outdoor Art, Photo Adventures, Wildlife Art

Artist Portrait | Beebower Productions

His list reads like an Indiana Jones adventure: mysterious ice caves in New Zealand, giant hungry grizzly bears in Alaska, colorful and glittering jewels in Ecuador, ghost towns baking in Wyoming and unpredictable, angry volcanoes in Iceland. We’ve all got a bucket list, places we’d love to visit if we had found a pile of gold at the end of the rainbow. My Dad is no exception. His bucket list, however, revolves around places with outstanding photographic possibilities.

He’s been to some of these spots, but it was usually for a commercial advertising shoot on a tight schedule. Dad would love to go back and explore on his own. (Incidentally I plan to stowaway in his camera cases for these adventures since I’m currently lacking a pot of gold.)

10. Wind River Valley and Mountains, Wyoming:

With a motto of “Where Real Cowboys Work and Play” how could you go wrong visiting the area around Dubois, Wyoming in the Wind River Valley? The valley, located in northwestern and central Wyoming, overflows with century old ranches, alpine meadows teaming with wildflowers, petroglyphs, ghost towns, rodeos, and wildlife. The valley lies below the impressive Wind River Mountain range that stretches 100 miles through Wyoming. The Continental Divide marches through the range too.

Dad could easily fill all three categories of our website (old West, landscapes and wildlife) with stellar new images. The wildlife alone would make him a happy camper. You can find pronghorn antelope, elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, moose, eagles, badgers and bears roaming the land.

He could also shoot his latest interest, gorgeous nighttime skies filled with a canopy of stars. And the landscapes! Oh my. Seven of the largest glaciers in the Rocky Mountains inch through the Wind River Mountains. The sculpted, giant spires and peaks in the Cirque of the Towers provide a spectacular backdrop for impressive landscape images. Massive rivers sculpt the land and crystal clear lakes dot the landscape.

No matter where you look both the Wind River Valley and the Wind River mountain ranges are a photographer’s dream.

9. Absaroka Mountains, Wyoming and Montana:

Next on the list, the Absaroka Mountains. Nope it’s not the fictional Absaroka County, WY of “Longmire” fame, but a mountain range near the eastern border of Yellowstone National Park.

The mountains cross the border of Wyoming and Montana and stretch for 160 miles. This bad boy of ranges contains multiple peaks that reach 10,000 feet or higher many of them whittled into unique shapes. The climbs can be treacherous due to the crumbling “kitty litter” of rocks.

The Absarokas are one of the most remote areas in the US brimming with wildlife, stunning landscapes, thick forests, active glaciers, tundra plateaus and mountain lakes. Again, Dad could easily fill our website with old West, landscape and wildlife photos. You can even go ice climbing on numerous frozen waterfalls at the south fork of the Shoshone River in the southern portion of the Absarokas. Now that would make an interesting picture!

Dad also could capture images of grizzlies, wolves, big horn sheep, mountain goats, marmots, elk, deer and black bears while exploring this area. In fact, many local guides lead popular hunting expeditions and packhorse trips into the mountains.

No matter where you look in the Absarokas, there’s a picture lurking.

8. Oregon and Washington State coasts:

Dad’s actually done many commercial shoots in both of these states, but he never had time to explore the coast. Simply driving along US 101, which closely follows the coastline, provides enough eye candy to keep any photographer happy. Sea stacks, beach caves, tide pools, sand dunes, lighthouses, shipwrecks and wildlife abound along this stretch of highway. With so many great photo subjects, the trouble maybe tearing yourself away from one photo op to drive to the next.

7. California:

The Golden State overflows with great scenic spots. Dad would love to explore in great detail Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Yosemite and Redwood National parks. He’d happily return to Mt. Shasta too. All of these locations have outstanding landscape possibilities as well as abundant wildlife opportunities. Dad will get to shoot at a few of these sites soon since I recently moved to the California. Plus he gets the bonus of free room and board at my house during his photo expeditions. Throw in the free location scouting and taxi cab service I provide and Dad’s got it pretty easy in California.

6. Alaska:

Without a doubt, Alaska is synonymous with landscape and wildlife photography. While Dad has been to Alaska several times, he’d gladly return. Living glaciers, forests, stunning mountains and beaches make taking landscape photos easy.

The wildlife is impressive too, but three areas hold Dad’s interest. Kachemak Bay near Homer teams with marine life in the protected Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. You can also find gobs of bald eagles. If you want to capture our national symbol in flight, Kachemak is the place.

Admiralty Island near Juneau also has eagles. In April and May it’s common to have over 800 bald eagle nests on the island. Admiralty, also known as the island of the bears, really does have a whole lot of bears, about 1,600. So if they don’t eat you for lunch, you have a pretty good chance of capturing them with your camera.

At Lake Clark National Park and Preserve west of Anchorage you can see bears as well as a plethora of volcanoes, glaciers, salmon, moose, seabirds and pristine lakes. What’s not to like?

For the truly adventurous, Saint Paul Island in the Bearing Sea between Alaska and Russia is the place to photograph breeding seabirds and northern fur seals. It’s also a major flyway for migratory birds. It’s not, however, for the faint of heart. Saint Paul is considered a polar climate because even during the summer temperatures it only reaches a high of 50 degrees. During the winter, temperatures dip into the negatives. And there’s only one city on the island, Saint Paul. We don’t know if you can see Russia from your backyard while on Saint Paul, but you sure can get some stellar shots of birds and seals.

No matter where you look in Alaska, there’s definitely something to shoot.

Join us next week when we reveal the remaining top 5 locations that have Dad drooling over polar bears, ice caves, volcanoes, jewels of the garden and reindeer.

Devils Garden

by Denise Beebower Sloan | Landscape Art, Outdoor Art, Photo Adventures

The Executives | Beebower Productions

Creativity. Dad’s never lacked that. But his imagination ran wild the first time he set foot in the Devils Garden at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. Soaring stone arches, curious hoodoos and mushroom rocks made him blink twice to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. After all it was pretty early in the morning.

“I’d seen pictures in magazines, but I’d never made it there even though I’d really wanted to, “ Dad said. “You’ve never seen anything like it, so you just stand there and stare. It’s about the size of three football fields and more stuff unfolds as you walk around. It’s amazing and very easy to explore.”

Multiple, well-worn footpaths wander through the slickrock and sandy surfaces in the garden luring hikers to the areas with the most visual interest. Dad spent a couple of hours rambling about photographing the surreal formations from pointy monoliths to hidden caves. He loved Metate Arch, which he thought looked a lot like rocks out for a stroll. He called his image “Walking Rocks”.

Walking Rocks | Beebower Productions

Over time wind and water created the strangely shaped rocks like Metate and the smaller Mano Arch. These unusual formations inspired President Bill Clinton to create the almost two million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996. For the first time in U.S. history, he put the Bureau of Land Management in charge of the massive park.

The rugged and remote parcel of land in south central Utah remains largely uncultivated. In fact, it was the last place in the United States to be mapped. But the Anazai and Freemont peoples, two ancient Native American peoples, not only knew the area; they called the land home from A.D. 950-1100. Their petroglyphs, ruins and artifacts remain scattered across the land.

Beyond the boundaries of the relatively small Devils Garden, the Monument includes cliffs, terraces, plateaus, raging rivers, natural bridges and vibrant cliffs. The land comprises five zones from parched deserts to coniferous forests. Photographers love the narrow slot canyons, rocks with swirling patterns and colorful buttes. However, reaching these treasures can be challenging, as most of the park remains undeveloped.

Because he wanted to explore more than just the Devils Garden, Dad hired a guide in Escalante to show him other promising spots in the area. His guide grew up here and he had 4-wheel drive, something Dad lacked on his van. They met in town at 5 a.m. that morning for a full day of exploration in a company Jeep.

“The first time you go someplace new, especially some place as remote as Escalante, you should be thinking about the possibilities of getting lost or stuck,” Dad said. “I viewed this as a scouting trip and hiring a local guide just made sense.”

The guide showed Dad about five or six spots he’d love to return to in the future. For this trip, though, he did make a second stop at the Devils Garden the next day for more photography.

He quickly discovered the light danced across the Entrada sandstone creating a visual feast for the eyes no matter the time of day. Naturally sunrise and sunset provided amazing light for photography here, but Dad also felt the allure of nighttime.

“The nifty part of the place is the number of cool images that are possible. You could easily spend a whole day here photographing,” he said. “It would be perfect for star photography too.”

This trip didn’t give Dad enough time to photograph everything, but he got lots of ideas for future shots. No doubt Dad will return to the fiendishly fun garden soon to capture all of those photos dancing in his imagination.

Devils Gardens | Beebower Productions

If You Go

Fill up the gas tank and bring plenty of food and water. There are no services in the immediate area.
To reach the Devils Garden, go south from the town Escalante on Highway 12 for about 5 miles. Turn right on to the dirt Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Go 12.3 miles until you see the sign “Devils Garden”. Take the road on the right for ¼ mile. Park at the trailhead lot.
A 4-wheel drive vehicle gives you options on the dirt roads within the Monument. The rough road to the Devils Garden may be impassible when wet.
Cell phone coverage is almost non-existent. Plan accordingly.
The BLM provided a few picnic tables, fire pits and pit toilets. Collection of wood is forbidden so bring your own wood or charcoal.
The BLM operates campgrounds at Calf Creek, Deer Creek and Whitehouse. You can also get a free overnight permit for backcountry camping at any of the four visitor centers: Escalante, Kanab, Big Water and Cannonville.
While there are no official trails, try to stay away from the fragile desert plants and don’t climb on the arches.
Mountain bikes are allowed on all roads but not the slickrock or cross-country.
Dogs are allowed, but they must be leashed at all times.
To avoid extreme weather (like flash floods or lightening), the best times to visit the area are April through June and September through October.