Across the Southwest / Adam Schallau

What a difference two years makes.

I’ve driven Mokee Dugway on Highway 261 countless times and I remember always seeing a few stickers on the sign at the top of the switcbacks, but I wasn’t prepared for what i found this past May on my drive to the top. As you can see in the above photo, the sign is nearly completely covered with stickers from passing tourists. I wonder how long it will be before the Utah Department of Transportation replaces the sign and the process starts all over.

Panoramic Dawn ~ Monument Valley

It’s time to start posting some new images again. Today I offer a panoramic of dawn over Monument Valley. I had actually captured this same scene 4 years ago with my old 6 megapixel Canon Rebel and cropped it down to create a panoramic crop. I loved that image but it was impossible to make a large print since I was only working with 3 megapixels after the crop.

For the past 4 years I’ve been wanting to recapture this scene, but this time with a better camera and with multiple images stitched together. I’ve tried many times but ran into many problems including clear skies, and high wind. Clear skies aren’t such a bad thing, other than they are quite boring for most landscape photography, but the wind would keep me from getting a sharp photo and would make it difficult to stitch together multiple images.

This past May I made another attempt. I was pleasantly surprised to awake to pleasant temperatures, soft clouds, and a calm breeze. I setup my camera and tripod in the dark (4:30am to be exact) and waited for first light. I knew from past attempts that I didn’t want any direct light on the landscape because the red rock in the foreground cliffs is very brilliant when the sunlight strikes it, distracting from the rest of the scene. I managed to capture the three exposures I needed just before the light started to illuminate the cliffs.

After stitching the three images together, the resulting image is 28.3 megapixels. At full resolution you can clearly see the West Mitten, Three Sisters, the “Hub”, and even Agathla Peak which is over 30 miles away (as the raven flies) near the town of Kayenta, Arizona.

This image is available in a limited edition of 50 prints. Please contact me for pricing and availability.

This was one of my last images from my recent trip to Grand Canyon National Park. I came across this agave while hiking back up to the rim from my morning shoot.

Details: Canon 5D, 24-70mm f/2.8L at 48mm.

It has been 8-years since my last visit to the Grand Canyon and on my first day there Mother Nature treated us to a wonderful rainbow. Unfortunately the storm was a sign of things to come. During our 5-days, 4-nights (camping) we experienced everything from sunshine to snow, with more bad weather than good. The storm system that parked itself over the Four Corners provided excellent conditions for dramatic photography of Grand Canyon and I can’t wait to share more images with you.

I had to dig into my archives for this one, all the way back to my days of shooting Fuji Velvia slide film. I’ve shot countless photos in the Taos area over the years, but this is still one of my favorites.

For my first two years living hear I rented a small place in Ranchos de Taos, one block from the historic Saint Francis de Asis church which is easily one of the most photographed buildings in North America. When the light was good I’d make my way to the church with camera in hand. On this particular evening I was being shadowed by a dog (probably looking for a handout) as I explored the light on the church. I kept tripping over him as I’d back up to reposition my tripod, or he would wonder into the shot often getting right in front of the camera. The dog was frustrating the heck out of me.

Then it came to me. I’ve got plenty of photos of the church, why couldn’t the dog be the subject? I couldn’t believe it when I patted the top of the adobe wall that surrounds the church’s plaza and the dog obediently jumped up onto it. He sat there very patiently as I took several photos of him basked in the late afternoon light with the church in the background. What a great dog and another great moment in Taos.

I know it’s spring in Taos when my tulips blossom. And to think that just 1-week ago we had fresh snow on the ground.

Photographed with the Canon G9, raw, macro mode, and manual focus.

It might be spring according to the calendar, but yesterday in Taos it was still winter. We awoke to a few inches of fresh snow on the ground and a very impressive storm assaulting Pueblo Peak. I’d like to say that this image took a lot of effort requiring miles of hiking in blizzard conditions, but in reality I put on my slippers and walked out my front door to get this shot. It was cold and very windy.

This image was shot hand-held with a Canon 5D, 70-200mm lens and 1.4x tele-converter.

…actually we’re back home again after our second trip to Texas in two weeks. This time we made a trip down to Big Bend National Park to start my project on Santa Elena Canyon that is funded through the Luminous Landscape Endowment.

The weather was excellent with highs in the low 80s, the wind was calm, and mother nature provided some nice clouds. On the morning we left Terlingua for the return trip to New Mexico we ran into storms with high-winds and very threatening skies, but as we approached the town of Alpine, Texas the storms began to clear and we were treated to this beautiful rainbow.

The View
Canon 5D, 24-70/2.8L, Singh-Ray graduated ND filter

I’m often asked why I moved to New Mexico, and more specifically Taos. My answer is the same every time, the view.

Canon 5D, 70-200mm f/4L IS

I spent some time last weekend exploring Taos Pueblo for the first time. The pueblo is an amazing place and I can’t wait to revisit again later in the year.