Across the Southwest » Landscapes

A Cold Morning at the Gorge in Taos

Adam Schallau — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:21:43 +0000

Holy smokes was it cold this past Friday! I got up at sunrise to photograph the Rio Grande Gorge in early morning light with a fresh snow covering the rocks. As I drove out of town I noticed that bank sign was reading 12 degrees Fahrenheit, and the coldest part of the morning was yet to come. What a lot of people don’t realize is that Taos can get cold…very cold. To put it bluntly, we got down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind started to blow. Ugh! Enough whining from me, here the photo:

~Tech details~
Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens
Exposure: 20 seconds, f/11 and ISO 100 ( for the canyon, see notes below)
Filters: Hoya HD Circular Polarizer
Notes: I manually blended two exposures, one for the gorge and another for the sky to handle the dynamic range in this image. It was simply too cold to try to hand-hold my Singh-Ray graduated neutral density filter in front of the lens.

Ute Mountain surrounded by fog

Adam Schallau — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:03:07 +0000

Ute Mountain surrounded by fog

On a recent trip to Colorado to photograph fall color I got stuck in New Mexico. It wasn’t because of car trouble or work obligations, it was because we had some of the most amazing fog I’ve ever seen in the desert. It’s important to understand that fog is not exactly a common occurrence in the high, dry desert of northern New Mexico. So when my wife and I finally broke into the clear and could see Ute Mountain apparently floating on a blanket of fog, I had to stop and shoot and shoot and shoot…until I had over 100 photos of this rare scene in front of us.

~Tech details~
Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens
Exposure: 1/125 seconds, f/11 and ISO 100
Filters: Hoya HD Circular Polarizer

Colorado Wildflowers ~ Lupines on Kebler Pass

Adam Schallau — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:51:37 +0000

Another beautiful day on Kebler Pass near Crested Butte, Colorado. Is there anything more relaxing than wildflowers and aspens in summer? Yes… wildflowers and aspens with the warm sun on your face.

This image is a blend of two exposures, but instead of the normal blend to manage dynamic range, this time two images were used to extend my depth of field from the wildflower in the foreground to the aspen trees in the background.

~Tech details~
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF16-35mm f/2.8L Mark II USM lens
Exposure: 1/15 second, f/13 and ISO 320
Filters: none

Sunrise on Mount Hayden – Grand Canyon National Park

Adam Schallau — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:02:19 +0000

Sunrise on Mt. Hayden from Point Imperial ~ North Rim of the Grand Canyon

This image of first light striking Mount Hayden as viewed from Point Imperial on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and others like it are available for purchase at my website AdamSchallau.com.

~Tech details~

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF16-35mm f/2.8L Mark II USM lens

Exposure: 0.6 seconds, f/11 and ISO 320

Filters: Singh-Ray, Daryl Benson Reverse Graduated Neutral Density 3-stop, 4″x6″ – hand-held

Notes: This is one of the first images I have developed in Adobe Lightroom. I kept the processing simple using the “Direct Positive” and “Punch” presets.

Sunset from Horseshoe Bend

Adam Schallau — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:15:49 +0000

Sunset from Horseshoe Bend ~ Page, Arizona.

An incredibly beautiful spot above the Colorado River just a couple of miles from Page, Arizona. Horseshoe Bend is often photographed at or before sunrise, but I like it in the evening. I actually started my day here for sunrise, shot Lower Antelope Canyon from early morning until just after noon, visited Glen Canyon Dam (the damn dam!) in the afternoon, and then saw the clouds building in the west and decided I needed another sunset shot of the bend.

This image of Horseshoe Bend is available for purchase at my website AdamSchallau.com.

~Tech details~

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF16-35mm f/2.8L Mark II USM lens

Exposure: 10 seconds, f/16 and ISO 320 (for the canyon)

Filters: none

Notes: This image is a manual blend of four exposuers to capture the extreme dynamic range between the sky and the canyon. The exposure data given above is for the lower 2/3rds of the image including the river and canyon.

Monsoon thunderstorm over Shiprock

Adam Schallau — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:40:10 +0000

Monsoon Thunderstorm ~ Shiprock, New Mexico

The summer “monsoon” took a bit of a break this month but was in full-force again this past weekend. I always seem to miss good, dynamic weather when attempting to photograph Shiprock Peak in northwestern New Mexico. But this past Monday on the drive home from the Grand Canyon the sky was full of great clouds.

This image of a thunderstorm over Shiprock Peak and another like it but in color, are available for purchase at my website AdamSchallau.com.

~Tech details~

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens

Exposure: 0.5 seconds, f/22 and ISO 50

Filters: Hoya HD Circular Polarizer

North Clear Creek Falls

Adam Schallau — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:11:08 +0000

If you happen to be driving between the Colorado mountain towns of Creede and Lake City, I highly suggest stopping to take in the beauty of North Clear Creek Falls. This waterfall is is easily accessible being just a short side trip off of Highway 149. Here is a link to Google Maps marking the location of North Clear Creek Falls.

I originally photographed this waterfall in July 2004 and a vertical composition from that shoot was included in Photographing the Southwest – Volume 3, a guide to the natural landmarks of Colorado & New Mexico. I created this photo over the Fourth of July weekend while driving to Crested Butte to photograph wildflowers.

North Clear Creek Falls

.This image of North Clear Creek Falls along with others of western rivers are available for purchase at my website AdamSchallau.com.

~Tech details~

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens

Exposure: f/16, 1/10 & 1/5 second and ISO 50

Filters: 82mm Hoya HD circular polarizer & Singh-Ray 3-stop Darryl Benson reverse neutral density graduated filter.

Notes: You may have noticed that under exposure I recorded that this image was captured at both 1/10 & 1/5 of a second. Two frames were captured, one at 1/10 which was the “correct” exposure for the scene and another at 1/5 to give a little more blur to the waterfall. I combined the two exposures in Photoshop to create the image represented here.

Rio Grande Vision

Adam Schallau — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:20:06 +0000

Often, we photographers have blinders on, and as a result, we miss out on other opportunities due to a narrow field of vision. I’m someone that believes that there is always a photo, it may not be the subject or scene that you were hoping for, but it’s important to keep an open mind (and an open eye) to other possibilities.

This photo is a perfect example. I created this image yesterday while sitting on the bank of the Rio Grande waiting for clouds that never materialized. It was a beautiful late-afternoon, so I spent sometime wandering along the river until I came across this wonderfully textured boulder with the river rushing past.

~Tech details~

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

Exposure: f/11, 0.8 seconds and ISO 400

Filters: Hoya HD circular polarizer

Notes: I was using a Gitzo 3540 tripod, but the rushing water was still beating against the tripod and I needed to have a long enough shutter speed to blur the water. After a little experimentation I decided on just under 1 second for the exposure which was enough to blur the water and still keep the boulder sharp.

Rio Grande Gorge with the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Adam Schallau — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:25:29 +0000

When it comes to getting new toys, there’s nothing better than getting a new lens. Sure, a new camera body can be great but it doesn’t necessarily change the way you see the world like a new lens does.

I recently purchased a Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II ultra-wide angle zoom lens to replace my EF 17-40mm f/4L lens. You might ask yourself, what’s the difference? Let me start by saying that the 17-40/4L is a great lens and is definitely the better deal of the two in terms of the cost-to-performance ratio. The 17-40/4L is half the price, takes a slightly smaller filter, and is both lighter and shorter than the 16-35/2.8L II. Wait, now I’m having second thoughts about selling my 17-40/4L and getting the 16-35/2.8L II. Should I have done it?

After one day out shooting with the 16-35/2.8L, I can say “yes”, it was the right move for me. The advantages of the 16-35/.8L II are a brighter viewfinder thanks to the f/2.8 maximum aperture which helps with manual focusing in low light and allows for faster shutter speeds when trying to stop motion. This lens is also capable of producing stunning sunstars which I hope to have sample to share soon.

On to the photo. One of the first places I usually visit to test a new lens is the Rio Grande gorge just west of Taos, New Mexico. For the shot shown above, I shot from the bridge with camera on a tripod and the lens set to its widest setting to include as much of the gorge as possible while not cutting-off the top of the clouds. One of the biggest problems with shooting from the bridge is the vibrations that rattle across it everytime a vehicle crosses the bridge. You have to hope that there will be very little traffic and you have to time your shot between the vehicles. I got lucky and was able to capture a few frames when there was absolutely no vibration from passing cars.

Featured Picture at FrameDestination.com

Adam Schallau — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:39:51 +0000

The Frame Destination (FrameDestination.com) is featuring one of my photos created during my time as Artist-in-Residence at Grand Canyon National Park. This image was captured after backpacking to the bottom of the canyon. It represents the confluence of Bright Angel Creek and the Colorado River near Phantom Ranch. If you look closely you can see the “Silver Bridge” over the Colorado River.

I have been using FrameDestination.com for the past two years for my framing and presentation needs including clear bags, mount board, mats and frames. My work that is currently on display at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve was assembled using materials from Frame Destination. I would like to thank Mark and the rest of the team at Frame Destination for their excellent service, great products, and for selecting my image as the Featured Picture. Thank you!