HDR (or High Dynamic Range) is an increasingly popular process of combining digital files to create an image that more closely resembles what the eye sees. It’s used primarily when the contrast in a scene exceeds the latitude of what the film or sensor is able to capture in a single shot.

Depending on the amount of contrast in the scene a series of up to 7 identical brackets one stop apart are combined, which represent all of the tonal value from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights. This image of False Kiva in Canyonlands National Park is very close to what I saw that evening, but the extreme contrast would have made it nothing more than a vision in my mind’s eye if not for HDR.

Photographic purists may balk at the use of such digital wizardry, but in fact it is not unlike the dodging and burning that Ansel Adams used countless times in the darkroom to achieve his magical prints. As he put it, “the negative is the score, and the print is the performance”. I concur, and feel that any photographic process which helps render a natural scene as it was witnessed is acceptable as long as it does not deceive the viewer or alter the truth.

One of the more curious natural phenomena is the occasional tendency for nature to mimic human form. Anthropomorphic images (meaning human characteristics in inanimate objects) can appear in rocks, plants and animals. Typically they appear only for a fleeting moment or from a unique perspective, but like finding an Easter egg they are a photographic treat.

This image of Lady in a Bathtub Butte in Valley of the Gods, Utah was taken late in the day to create a strong silhouette and emphasize the outline of the rock against the blue sky. The back-lit clouds added a nice balance to the whimsical scene.

Shooting water in all its endless variety is one of the creative pleasures of nature photography. From drops of dew reflecting a crisp autumn morning to the power of cascading falls frozen in time, the camera allows many unique perspectives of our most abundant resource that are seldom seen in a passing glance.

This image of Calf Creek Falls in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was made on an overcast day with a long exposure of 20 seconds. The cloudy sky diffused the harsh mid-day light and saturated the colors of the mossy rock, while the slow shutter speed gave the falls a silky look.

As a followup to my last post, The Wave is another gem of the southwest that’s a very popular destination with photographers, but also one of the most remote spots on the map. So remote in fact that on my first trip I failed to find it – even with a GPS! 

It’s a wonderful example of chaos theory applied to geology. Basically a petrified sand dune that’s been carved by the forces of wind and water over the ages, it’s easy to see how it got its name. I made this image a few years ago on my second trip to the area, which lies on the Arizona/Utah border southwest of Lake Powell. The image was taken with a 20mm wide angle lens to emphasize the dizzying curves and create a sense that the formation is much bigger than it really is.

I often say you could spend the rest of your life wandering around the remote corners southern Utah and still not see it all. The myriad of canyons and buttes are a feast for the eye (and lens) and are worthy of all the wilderness status we can give them. But invariably I do visit the more popular locations like Zion and Bryce where the challenge is to find those hidden gems amid the well-covered icons.

On a recent trip to Zion I made of point of getting a permit and hiking the better part of a day to a remote corner of the park along North Creek. After several miles of stream crossings and boulder hopping I arrived at The Subway – one of the jewels of the park. I spent several hours shooting this magical spot while the light continually changed as it played off the canyon walls and illuminated the stream and pools.