gottatakemorepix

Monochrome Madness: MM4-30

abstract, patterns, desert, aerial photography, Steve Bruno

I’ve had plenty of time in airplanes recently, and this is the view of the desert just east of here in the Arizona desert. I have crossed this location several times, but never with this beautiful early morning light.

This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. Next week there will be a theme of Up In The Air. My photo next week will not be another aerial view….this is just a teaser. To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions on how to join in, visit Leanne’s website.

November 29, 2017 4

Monochrome Madness: MM4-28

Ice fog, Cowlitz River, Washington, Steve Bruno

Last week I was back in the Pacific Northwest, although I did not see any conditions like this again. This was from a couple years ago, when there was fog in very cold conditions. Ice coated all the vegetation, but not the roads – conditions I could photograph in all the time if it happened that way!

This was my entry in Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness last week. Running a little late with a lot of travel taking place.

November 20, 2017 6

WPC: Rounded

Texas Canyon, boulders, abstract, southern Arizona, gottatakemorepix

This week’s Daily Post Challenge of Rounded made me think of a river bottom full of smooth rocks. Perhaps that’s because many river bottoms in the desert don’t have rivers in them. Water’s erosive power works on larger boulders, too, and that’s where I searched through my files. These rounded boulders are in southwestern Arizona, in a place called Texas Canyon.

October 28, 2017 6

WPC: Glow

zion national park, sunrise, reflections, virgin river

When I saw the title for this week’s photo challenge, I immediately thought of some of the canyons I’ve visited. The canyons of the southwestern US are great places to hike because there is often shade. Because of the shade, light reaching the bottom is often reflected off higher sunlit walls, resulting in a warm glow. In those canyons where water is present, the effect is magnified.

My photo comes from Zion National Park, Utah. As sunrise lit up the high cliffs on a morning with clear blue skies, the North Fork of the Virgin River glowed from the light being cast onto it.

October 23, 2017 12

Monochrome Madness: MM4-24

waterfalls, yosemite, national park, california, merced river

Last winter/spring was one of the wettest that California has ever seen, and was declared a drought-buster by several accounts. Now, about a half year later, we have seen the most devastating fires to ever hit that state. What happened to all that water? Did the drought really go away?

Intense, out-of-control fires have occurred in places that you would not normally expect these to take place. Oregon, Montana, western Canada, and now Portugal have all been in the news for their fires this year. A reasonable person would have to look at this situation and wonder if there is something we can do for long-term fire prevention. The White House says global warming and climate change is a hoax. More FAKE NEWS!

My photo is from several years ago, and is one of my favorites from a springtime trip in what used to be a normal weather year. I know fires have threatened Yosemite National Park in recent years, and I can’t help but wonder if the next one is the one that leaves the park in ashes.

This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions to join in, please visit her website.

October 21, 2017 6

WPC: Scale

hawaii, volcano, eruption, big island, kalapana

On my first trip to the big island of Hawaii, we had lucky timing with the volcanic activity. The day before I took this photo, a lava tube broke, and all the lava was now running over the hillside instead of underneath it. I wanted badly to get closer to this spectacle, but the viewing area was roped off, and there was a security patrol to make sure nobody went where they weren’t supposed to go. Or so I thought. The viewing area closed at 10 pm, and at 9:55, three men came walking from the other side of the rope and in plain sight of the guards. None were wearing ranger uniforms, or showing anything indicating authority. I remember thinking “Who are they, and how the hell were they allowed out there?” I couldn’t make it back on this trip, so my thoughts of trying to figure out how to get past the rope were not going to make a difference anyway.

What you are looking at is not the source of the eruption. There was so much lava coming down, that this was where it met the ocean, causing it to shoot up in the air 300-400 feet. It was really hard to fathom the size of this event, and it wasn’t until I looked at the images blown up on the computer screen, that I saw that those men were in a couple of the frames providing a sense of scale.

October 17, 2017 6

Monochrome Madness: MM4-23

autumn, inner basin, san francisco peaks, snow, flagstaff, steve bruno, gottatakemorepix

I love this time of year when the air gets cooler and the leaves change color. Occasionally, cold fronts come through with a little moisture, and hopefully, not much wind. That was the case for this photo from the San Francisco Peaks, near Flagstaff, Arizona taken a couple years ago.

This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions to join in, please visit her website.

October 11, 2017 1

Monochrome Madness: MM4-19

Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada, Steve Bruno, gottatakemorepix

After having spent most of July in Oregon and Hawaii, I have to admit I’ve been a bit uninspired to head out into the desert. Last week we had a beautiful day that started out with clouds and rain, and I made a relatively unplanned tour through the desert. One of my stops was at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge along the Great Basin Highway. I probably would have seen more wildlife if this hadn’t been towards the middle of the afternoon, but tall shade-providing trees, roads lined with sunflowers and small lakes were enough to soothe the senses. The breezes would occasionally find a lull, and the clouds were just enough to provide a little contrast for my photo here.

You can see this photo on Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions to join in, please visit her website.

August 31, 2017 2

WPC: Elemental

lava, rainbow, hawaii, national park, steve bruno, gottatakemorepix

My recent trip to Hawaii provided me with the perfect shot for this weeks Daily Post Challenge of Elemental. Earth, air, fire, and water are all there, but you can’t tell that the air is not exactly the best for you from this shot. I probably could have gotten a little closer if this hadn’t been the downwind side. I was fortunate to grab a couple shots before retreating to cooler non-toxic air. In full size images enlarged on my screen, I can see the distortion from the heat.

August 9, 2017 23

Monochrome Madness: MM4-11

Bryce Canyon, National Park, Utah, hoodoos, Steve Bruno, gottatakemorepix

For this week’s Monochrome Madness, the theme is wild. I have been to several places so remote, not even the governing agencies could answer my inquiries as to trail conditions or water reliability. And although these remote places are seldom seen by people, images captured there may not necessarily reflect the feelings of isolation.

Bryce Canyon, the location of my photo, has spots that you can hike to that will give you a feeling of being in a wilderness, but most of the trails will have you hiking side-by-side with a bunch of strangers. Despite that, it is still the wildest looking place I have ever been to. This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions to join in, visit her website.

July 7, 2017 4

WPC: Reflecting

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, reflection, hiking, Steve Bruno, gottatakemorepix

A couple months ago, I returned to a favorite hike in Red Rock Canyon. This particular canyon has water year-round, and I spent a fair amount of time around where a small channel of water was flowing ever so slowly across the boulders.

This is my image for this week’s Monochrome Madness on Leanne Cole’s website. Since The Daily Post made the theme reflecting this week, I guess I’ll kill two birds with one stone.

May 10, 2017 25

While in Texas recently, I had a chance to get away for a day to see if that state had anything to offer this nature photographer. I have been to the Guadalupe Mountains in the far western portion of the state, but much of what I’ve seen has been flat and unphotogenic. My previous most favorable impression of Texas has been the best night sky viewing I’ve seen anywhere.

I had heard about the hill country near Austin and San Antonio, so that’s where I was determined to explore. A cold front blew through the day before, with tornadic activity in the northern part of the state, but I was left with blue skies for the day. Although I prefer clouds and softer light for my photos, I wasn’t going to complain with temperatures that barely hit 70, and almost no humidity.

I tried to research places to check out, but really didn’t see any photos that made stop and say, “Wow, I have to visit there”! I was really disappointed that many of these places didn’t open until 8am. With a sunrise at 6:30, that meant I was going to miss the best light of the morning. My first stop was Guadalupe River State Park. It really wasn’t a planned stop, but the sign said 3 miles, so it seemed a waste not to visit. The river is wider than I expected in this mostly arid environment, with a beautiful green hue to the water. Mostly I was charmed with the older trees along the banks and their beautiful exposed root system. The tiniest of clouds passed briefly in front of the sun, showing me a glimpse of how this place would photograph under softer conditions. That was just a tease, and I did manage a couple photos before realizing it was time to move on.

My next stop was Cave Without A Name. This was a planned stop. There are other caves in the region, but the remoteness made me think I would have a little quieter visit. There were just 5 of us in our little tour, and the staff was very friendly. I expected the usual stalagmites and stalactites that are common to caves, but there were features called “bacon strips” that seemed pretty unusual, and my favorite “the alien”.

I spent more time there than I had anticipated, but given the fact that above ground was midday lighting conditions, that didn’t seem to matter. I was definitely glad with this choice for a visit. Upon my drive out I saw a sign for a local county park. Kreutzberg Canyon Natural Area is on the Guadalupe River, and seemed like a nice place for a picnic, but given the fact that I had stopped previously along this river, and the sun was now too high, I kept my visit brief. I was planning to stop next at Enchanted Rock, but the people at the cave told me it was a popular area and might be closed due to crowd size already. The fact that they didn’t stay open until sunset just reinforced my feeling that this would have to wait for another trip.

After a late lunch stop, I was headed off to my last scouted location, Pedernales Falls State Park. Although none of the photos I had seen had a wow factor, the staff at Cave Without A Name said I would enjoy this place. They were absolutely correct. As I was driving through hill country, I realized I was at the tail end of the spring flower season, but there were still a few left, including these within the park.

My biggest surprise was the overall size of the place and volume of water. These are not tremendous falls, but a series of cascades all distinct from each other.

As I said, the volume of water was not what I expected after the photos I had seen online, and this river has perhaps the best infinity pools I have ever seen. This is the moment I was really wishing for clouds.

There were still a few people around at this point, but not too many. I think this allowed the wildlife to feel at ease returning to the water. The park’s website lists heron and vultures as part of the permanent inhabitants. Even with the telephoto lens, the vultures I saw were too far away to really recognize, but this heron put itself in the most perfect spot to be photographed. The bird was aware of my presence, so I kept my distance until I had many shots that I liked. When I took a couple steps closer, I was able to capture its takeoff.