A year ago I posted a blog from the McDonald’s in Moab, Utah of the Three National Parks I had visited in the last week. This past week, I have been reviewing and editing photos from the trip and wanted to share three new photos.

Grand Canyon National Park. Here is another photo from the sunset I photographed from Yavapai Point along the South Rim trail.  The play of sunlight and shadows on the massive rock formations as the Sun got lower in the sky made the canyon even more breathtaking.

Sunset light in the Grand Canyon from Yavapai Point at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/320s, f/9, ISO 200, EV -0.6, 145mm focal length.

Arches National Park. Before I took the colorful sunset of Delicate Arch, I took a few High Dynamic Range sets of photos to process when I had time. This week, I installed the latest version of Photomatix’s Plugin for Aperture (3.0.1) and knew it was time to revisit the icon of the National Parks. I merged seven photos which covered -3EV to +3EV in 1 stop intervals and used the new Enhanced Photo 2 selection.  Finished off processing back in Aperture to get the finished image.

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. Processed using Photomatix Plugin for Aperture 3.0.1.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, f/16, ISO 200, 65mm focal length, tripod.

Canyonlands National Park. Visiting Mesa Arch was another highlight of the trip. I got in real close with the fisheye. I also got way back to put the arch in the context of the landscape surrounding it. Again, using an HDR set of photos and Photomatix (new software versions need a good shakedown, right?), I created the image below.

Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park near Moab, Utah. Processed using Photomatix Plugin for Aperture 3.0.1.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/16, ISO 200, 32mm focal length.

I still have many more photos to work through. Expect they will make an appearance here from time to time.

The photos we take are part of our history
and tell the story of our lives.