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 Library of Congress, Washington, DC, ISO 800, 1/60 sec at f/2.8. Canon EF 15mm fisheye lens with Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera I saw an ad in Rangefinder Magazine yesterday for the Steadepod, a sort of monopod/tripod replacement. It’s basically a retractable stainless steel cable – you put the base of the cable under your foot, pull it to whatever height you want, trigger the locking mechanism, and it’s supposed to somehow give you a steady platform for shooting. Since it’s simply a retractable cable, it’s very small – it looks like it could fit in your pocket. If it works, it would be very useful in setting where monopods/tripods aren’t allowed. A few months ago, I did some shooting at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, and tripods aren’t allowed there. It was OK, but I had to boost my ISO to 800 or 1600, which made my shots a bit noisy. (I usually like to keep my ISO at max 400, and preferably below.) For the shot shown here, I was using a Canon 15mm fisheye at f/2.8. Had I been using a slower lens or wanted to zoom in, ISO 1600 wouldn’t have cut it. The Steadpod would have been useful there. It only costs $24.99-29.95 – you can see a video on the manufacturer’s website at http:/www.steadepod.com. If you’ve heard of it or used it, I’d like to hear your thoughts, and what shutter speeds you used it at!!!
Alas, this is our last morning in Utah before heading home to Washington, DC, so we definitely had to get up for the sunrise. Of all the places we’ve seen around Moab, I must say that Turret Arch by the North and South Windows is my hands down favorite. It’s where we started on Day 1, and where we shall finish on Day 13. Plus, I was still trying to figure out how other photographers managed to get that classic shot of Turret Arch through the North Window. On all our other visits to this arch, I’d traipsed up to the windows and around the back, but couldn’t figure it out. The rock ledge that the window stands on does not extend very far back, and there’s no way to get the entire window into the photo, even with a wide angle lens. Plus, with a wide angle, Turret Arch appears too small in the photo. How did they manage to do it?
Today, as we drove into the park, we were shrouded in low-hanging mist and wondered if we were to see any sunrise at all. But as we continued deeper into the park, the mist cleared up. We parked at the Turret Arch / North and South Windows parking lot and walked up to the windows. And there was the answer to the mystery of the classic shot. Another photographer had climbed high up the steep rocks some meters BEHIND the Windows. We hadn’t seen a path in the past because of the snow – and because no other photographer had gone back there to make tracks. But it does take some climbing skill and NO fear of heights (which I do not have, if you’ve read about my time at Delicate Arch on Day 11). In fact, the photographer who climbed and crawled onto that perfect ledge was unable to climb out on his own! After 15 minutes of trying, my husband had to go help him out! My husband also helped me climb part way there, and I did get some nice shots of Turret Arch through the Window, but my favorite photos are of the mist as I stood inside the North Window and looked east.
As on Day 5 at the Natural Bridge at Bryce Canyon, I stopped down my aperture to f/22 in order to turn the bright sun into a star. I took a series of four exposures at ISO 50 and shutter speeds of 1/320, 1/80, 1/40, and 1/10 seconds to capture the full range of the scene from light to dark. Later on the computer, I used Photomatix to combine the four images to create the final HDR image. (If you don’t know what high dynamic range – HDR – is, check out my blog post on HDR.) I then cleaned up the lens flare fom shooting into the sun in Adobe Photoshop CS4 (Photo 1 below). Yesterday, I continued playing around with the image in Photoshop using OnOne Plug-In Suite 5, coming up with Photos 2 and 3. I also added layer masks which I painted out so that the various OnOne filters impacted only certain parts of the images. I’m pleased with the results… I’m naming Photo 3, “Blue Dawn.” Any suggestions for a name for Photo 2?
 Photo 1: The sun rises over the rocks of Arches National Park in Utah on a misty morning.  Photo 2: The sun rises over the rocks of Arches National Park in Utah on a misty morning.  Photo 3: The sun rises over the rocks of Arches National Park in Utah on a misty morning. If you read my Day 1 post, you’ll know that somehow, it took us 4 days to get from Washington, DC to Utah. So it’s only fitting that we would also have trouble getting back. In fact, our Great Lakes Aviation flight out was cancelled due to…no flight crew… They had to bus us 2 hours to Colorado and another airport! If it hadn’t been for the timing, I wouldn’t have minded staying another day (on their dime!). I even know what we would have done on the extra day – one more try to find the mystical Tukuhnikivats Arch. Unfortunately, though, I had to get home for another engagement. But we left satisfied in our trip and convinced in the worthiness of visiting Southern Utah again for another photo tour in another season.
In the coming weeks, I’ll continue sorting through and processing the hundreds – no thousands – of images from this trip, and sharing them with…YOU!
I was playing around with OnOne Plug-In Suite 5 on my Utah Parks Road Trip Day 12 photo of Landscape Arch in Arches National Park, Utah. Check out this look. It’s called “Day for Night.” I like it…
 Landscape Arch, Arches National Park, Utah
We’re exshausted, having spent the afternoon on a wild goose – or should I say wild arch – chase through the Moab wilderness. We were searching for that most mystical of arches, Tukuhnikivats, the unpronouncable. No one we asked had ever heard of it, not the park rangers at Arches National Park nor the woman who walks her dog each afternoon on the dirt road to Pritchett Arch. Yet, we were certain it existed. In fact, the framed photograph of this pretty, uniquely shaped arch hanging on the wall of our Best Western hotel room was living proof. And we even had detailed directions on how to find it in my handy-dandy guide, Photographing the Southwest,Volume 1–A Guide to the natural landmarks of Southern Utah. In fact, we followed its instructions to a tee, risking our 4-wheel drive rental SUV on the rocky dirt road off of US 191. (Good thing my husband is pretty expert at off-road driving. I couldn’t have done it myself – thanks, honey!).
From the McDonalds in Moab, follow US 191 south for a little over 12 miles, and turn off on the unmarked dirt road with the small sign indicating Pritchett Arch. After 0.4 miles, take the right fork and continue for 1.2 miles. Park here and follow the rough track heading north for 1.1 miles. Looking northwest, spot the small opening of Tukuhnikivats Arch high on your left. We headed off on foot, ready for the next mile of hiking up and down the long, steep hills of Behind-the-Rocks. But alas, it was not to be. Tired as we were, far as we went, we never did find sweet Tukuhnikivats. However, as we finally turned and hiked back to our car, we were greeted once again by the orange glow on Behind-the-Rocks that accompanies each sunset and sunrise and that makes this place so special.
But as I look back on my many photos of this day, Day 12, Day of the Fruitless Search for Mystical Tukuhnikivats, I decide to show you a panorama made from three images of Landscape Arch in Arches National Park, which we visited at sunrise.
 Landscape Arch, Arches National Park, Utah
Transitions Abroad has published another one of my photo stories, this one of my late 2008 trip par hasard through Dakar, Senegal, which ended up being my best trip in 10 years! I felt like I was back in Peace Corps again. The story goes like this:
During recent travels to Guinea, I experienced some trouble getting out of Africa.
Originally booked on a Friday Air France flight from the Guinean capital of Conakry to Paris, strikes in Paris forced the cancellation of my flight. I rebook onto Air Mali through Dakar, Senegal, yet, that too is canceled due to technical problems. I finally board an Air Senegal flight two days later to Dakar. While I finally manage to get out of Conakry, I am met in Dakar by strikes at the airport, so cannot get off the plane! This is when I discover that I am sitting next to the cousin and manager of the internationally acclaimed Senegalese singer, Baaba Mal, and discover that Baaba Mal’s entire orchestra is on the plane with me! Read more at TransitionsAbroad.com: 24 Hours in Dakar.
And by the way, Traveller Magazine also published 11 of my photos from that 24 hours to illustrate Portrait of a City: Dakar.
OK, perhaps I’m being a little dramatic. But still, this is the day that I’ll never forget. The day my Yaktrax fell into the abyss. The day I was stuck way out in the funnel. The day I was too paralyzed to move forward, too petrified to move back.
Like always, it all started out in an innocent way. We got out of bed early to catch the sunrise at Double Arch. First hidden by the Manti-La Sal Mountains in the distance, then behind clouds, the sun came out to play late, but we were still delighted to watch as the dull brown of Entrada sandstone suddenly began to glow orange in the sun’s early light. The bright orange contrasted beautifully with the white blanket of snow and deep blue sky, spotted by feathery tufts of cloud. Yes, it all started out innocently…a day like all the others. Suddenly, a wild rabbit appears, staring me in the eyes, very close. It wants to travel the footprint path, as do I, and I’m in its way. After a moment, I mercifully step off the path and the rabbit darts past me. Looking down, I notice how the snowflakes don’t look like snowflakes at home. They’re dry, crystalline, shimmery, flecks of glitter that blink and dance like Christmas tree lights. The sun’s up, time for breakfast. We head back to town – we’ve discovered a new favorite in Zax Pizza and Watering Hole – not for the pizza, but the truly awesome chili burgers.
After a satisfying meal, we head back into the park towards Delicate Arch. This is the most famous arch in all of Utah – the arch on the state license plates. There’s three ways to view Delicate Arch – from the lower viewpoint, the upper viewpoint, or up close and personal – the long hike. I would accept nothing less than being able to stand directly under the arch. It’s a 1 1/2-mile one-way hike up the mountain, rated by the park service as strenous and icy. But our newly purchased Yaktrax (you know – those metal spiral things that you put on the bottom of your boots that help you walk on packed snow and ice) keep us upright. After an hour or so of hiking, we travel a narrow path, winding around the curve of the mountain, and we’re here! Wasn’t that bad at all – easy really! Can’t believe that was “strenous!”
The path ends on a relatively wide, flat ledge. It’s about 3 pm. Lots of photographers on the ledge, tripods set up, they stake their claim to their little area of ledge. I trudge around, scope out what’s left, pick my spot. I realize we’re still pretty far from the arch. I’m disappointed. I thought this trail was supposed to take us right up to stand under the arch??? I look around and realize that standing before us is a giant funnel. We’re on one edge of the funnel, and the arch is standing on the opposite edge. And to get to the arch, you can’t walk around on the flat edge of the funnel, but you must ENTER the funnel and walk inside it as you cling to vertical cliff face. And in the middle of the funnel is the hole…the abyss. I see a man and woman out in the funnel. They’re about 1/3 of the way around, leaning against the vertical rock face, trying to find handholds that don’t exist. After a few minutes, they come back in. I ask the guy if it’s hard. Yeah, he says, even though it doesn’t look like there’s much snow/ice, it’s slippery. I settle in with my tripod to my staked claim of land; it’ll be a while before the sun sets. After another 30 minutes or so, two more guys appear. They head out into the funnel, make their way around. Five or 10 minutes later, one of the guys is done, he’s made it! He’s standing under the arch, peering over the edge of the cliff! It looks easy! He didn’t have any trouble at all!
I’m gonna do it! My husband helps me put on my Kata 3N1-20 camera backpack; I leave all my gear with him except one camera body and wide angle lens. I climb off the ledge into the funnel and begin to make my way around. My feet slip and slide a bit, but it’s not that hard. I lean towards the outside of the funnel, towards the cliff wall. I get about 1/3 of the way around and come to a jutting rock. I can’t lean out anymore – I actually have to walk down INTO the funnel in order to get around the rock. My heart starts to beat a bit faster – I’m kind of afraid of heights. One of the guys is there. He helps me into a more comfortable position, but by now my heart is racing. I’m clinging to rock, and it’s not so easy anymore. I realize that my metal Yaktraks aren’t helping me on bare rock. I take them off and stick them into my pants pocket, not wanting to get my jacket pockets dirty. The guy who helped me leaves; the second guy is still there. He stands there in silence as I, petrified, cling to the rock, sniffling from the cold and blowing my nose with kleenex stored in my pocket. After 10 minutes, I feel like I’m losing my grip. I can’t hold any longer. I ask the guy for help. He scrambles down and helps me up onto a little ledge on the other side of the jutting rock, then leaves. Now I’m stuck on the other side. I’m still too scared to go forward, too scared to go back. My camera backpack is in my way, stopping me from pushing back and sitting squarely in the ledge. And did I already mention that I’m afraid of heights?
As I shift around in discomfort, one of my Yaktrax falls out of my pocket and slides down the funnel towards the abyss. I should have just put it in my jacket pocket after all. My husband yells at me from the distance. I think he’s asking if I want him to come out, but I don’t. I don’t want him to risk falling. So I sit there. I take out my camera and shoot a few shots, then put my camera back. I wonder when someone else is going to come out. After a while, a young Indian couple decides to try it. They make their way up to me, and I mention to the girl that she’s braver than me. They go around me, casually walk the rest of the way, and then they’re under the arch, taking pictures of each other, smiling, laughing. Now I’m desperate. OK, I yell back to my husband, you should come help me! I see him pick up my tripod and swing the heavy backpack with the rest of my camera gear onto his shoulders. Leave it all behind! I yell in desperation! Leave it! I don’t want it to throw him off balance and make him fall. I yell at him to take off his Yaktraks, but he refuses, stubbornly believing that they’ll help him on the rock. Now I’m scared that he’ll slip and slide, he’ll fall into the funnel because of me. It seems like he’s taking forever. My legs are beginning to tremble. Hurry up! I can’t stand here forever!!! Finally, he makes his way towards me. I nervously watch his feet slip and slide. The Indian couple are on their way back; the woman passes under me, but the guy stays behind, sensing that something’s wrong. Now my husband’s here, crouched under me. He pulls at my leg. Come down, come down! Now, if you’re afraid of heights, you might know that you need to be comfortable in order to come down, and getting tugged at isn’t comforting! Stop touching me! I say. But you’re not going to fall!!! And if you’re afraid of heights, you’ll also know that talking about falling is not the way to calm someone down! Stop touching me! But you’re not going to fall! I start to hyperventilate. Hu uh Hu uh Hu uh Hu uh. Tears begin to fall. Someone has the idea of taking my backpack. That’s a good idea. But I don’t want my husband to take it – he has Yaktrax on, and he might slip and fall. The Indian guy offers to take the pack, and that calms me a bit. I don’t remember what happens after that, but finally, I do come down, my husband holding my leg, and guiding it down to the bit of rock below. Once I’m down and on the other side of the jutting rock, it’s easy. I follow them back around the funnel, finally climbing out onto the flat ledge of safety.
How embarassing. How many photographers got photos of the girl who went out into the funnel and was too scared to go forward or come back? I didn’t even get the photo I had envisioned in my mind, because I never did make it to the arch. This arch has a bittersweet taste for me. But I did get this photo of the arch on the other side of the funnel. And I did gain a strong resolve – call it a New Year’s resolution – to take a few rockclimbing/bouldering classes to help me lose my fear of heights.
And that, my friends, is the story of the day I almost died.
 Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah, glows a fiery orange at sunset.
Last Tuesday, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the country of Haiti. The country’s worst earthquake in 200 years, as many as 200,000 people may have been killed, with survivors still buried beneath the rubble.
I am involved in the Haiti relief effort through the American non-profit organization, Population Services International, which has an office of 100 staff in Haiti. It’s been heartbreaking to receive inquiries from relatives of PSI’s Haitian employees abroad, as they seek news of their loved ones, and as PSI slowly accounts for its missing employees. Those with whom PSI has been in contact desperately need food and water in a rapidly deteriorating security situation. Many have lost absolutely everything and are living in the streets. Please help PSI find its missing staff in Haiti by reviewing the missing PSI Haiti staff list or forwarding to your friends who might be able to help. If you are aware of their whereabouts, please contact PSI at info@psi.org.
Please also consider donating to PSI. Donations will help PSI and its partners provide life-saving products to clean and sanitize local water supplies along with general humanitarian relief for earthquake victims as they transition from basic survival to recovery.
In addition, I will donate a minimum of 30% of the sales price of any of my fine art photography that is purchased directly through me over the next two months to PSI Haiti assistance efforts.
Today was a hell of a day – we hit two national parks and two state parks. First, we got up for the sunrise at Capitol Reef National Park. We were told that Notom Road, which runs north-south on the other side of the rocks of Capitol Reef, is a good place to catch the sunrise. I guess the person who told us this isn’t a photographer – we got up super early to drive all the way over there, but found that the cliffs were too far away. So then we rushed back into the park and discovered that, really, the best place for a sunrise is on the main road through the park (Rt. 24), from Panorama Point to the Castle across from the Visitor’s Center (aka 5 minutes from the hotel)! Well, we still got there in time, but it sure would help if we knew all these places we’re visiting better than we do. We seem to spend a lot of time wandering around and rushing from place to place. I guess that means that now that we know where to go, we’ll have to come back sometime!
 Photo of Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah Anyway, after sunrise, we headed back east towards Moab, which is where we started out. But along the way, we stopped by Goblin Valley State Park. this little park is worth the one-hour stopover to see the legions of funny little rock formations in all shapes and sizes that look like…goblins! It’s like a whole city of them! Getting close to Moab, we took a little detour to visit Dead Horse State Park and Canyonlands National Park. These canyons are DEEP! They were full of mist; for a long time we couldn’t see anything. It was like we were above the clouds. But slowly, slowly, the mist would move, letting us peek into their depths. It never did TOTALLY clear up though, but mist does add to the photography, though it would have been better had it been a bit less dense. In Canyonlands, we took a short hike up to Mesa Arch, which is right on the edge of the canyon, and I got a nice shot of the ground and rocks and cliffs below, with just a hint of mist. And that’s today’s photo-a-day! ISO 200, f/8.0, and 1/640 seconds with my Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at 24 mm. In hindsight, I should have brought my ISO down to 100, which would have given me a shutter speed of 1/320 seconds, or even ISO 50 and shutter speed 1/160 seconds, which would have been completely sufficient, but improved the photo quality with the lower ISO. ISO 200 is still good, it’s just that in the processing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, I added quite a bit of fill light to the underside of the arch, so a lower ISO would have been beneficial. (That’s because digital noise hides in dark places, and when you try to brighten it, out comes the noise. Lower ISOs mean less noise.) But it’s still fine. I also did selective saturation increases in Lightroom to the oranges and reds to make them pop. I’m pleased with the results…
 Photo of a tree at the top of Capitol Gorge, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah So, if you were wondering why I dropped off the face of my blog in the middle of my Utah Parks Road Trip, to tell you the truth, I didn’t realize how tired I would be at the end of each day after all that hiking and shooting, and how much time it would take to import, backup, process, sort through, select, and post my photo-a-day. I decided that I better take advantage of my time in Utah and concentrate on the photography and not the processing and blogging! Now I’m back home, and I’ll gradually be getting my photos-a-day up for the rest of my trip!
On Day 9, we spent the day in Capitol Reef National Park. Capitol Reef is the smallest park we’d visit this trip. Surprisingly, no park fee required, and it was very quiet. We barely saw any visitors all day. In fact, Torrey (the town) usually shuts down between Christmas and New Years – we were lucky even to get a hotel room as the trusty Best Western was only open for a school field trip, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to spend the night at all. And there was only one restaurant to even eat at – The Rim Rock Patio Spaghetti Western Cafe – so it was a good thing that the food was awesome! Really nice, small, friendly joint with the best Baked Spaghetti with Meatballs I’ve ever tasted! I was hooked from the first night, so I didn’t try the pizzas, though they looked terrific too. And help us wash it all down, a refrigerator full of our favorite Naked 100% juices!
But let me get on to the photography. I wanted to show something a little different from my previous posts, and I liked the way this little curved tree poked out of the top of the rock inside Capitol Gorge. I like the multifaceted rock faces and the lines that are going every which way, but with order brought to the jumble by the neighboring rockface in the lower left, which slants down to the right, perpendicular from the tree.
Nothing particularly special about my camera settings – ISO 400, f/11, and 1/160 second shutter speed with my Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. After bringing the RAW file into Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, though, I used one of the creative presets to give it an “aged photo” look.
Transitions Abroad has just published my photo story from my summer trip to Tunisia. This is the second story of mine that they’ve published.
Tunisia. Before the five days I spent wandering this North African country, I envisioned Tunisia as a land of sun, sea, and sand. But after actually experiencing the hectic, bustling Medinas, ancient fortresses, and Roman ruins that dot this North African country, I grew to realize that more than an easy bargain holiday, more than a week at a beachside spa… Read “Epiphanis in Tunisia: A Travel Diary in Words and Images” at Tranisitions Abroad.com.
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