Monument Valley is a much photographed place. There are many famous rock forms in the valley, and Ron and I made our share of beautiful shots of them. If you look carefully at this photo you can see about five of them out in the valley. It is hard to make new compositions with those rocks.  We actually did manage to create our share on unique pictures.  As the light grew more and more spectacular we worked a bit faster at each stop. When I saw what that light was doing to this beautifully textured rock, the rock itself became my subject. Then I looked into the valley and realized with a wide-angle lens I could stretch the rock and lead the viewers into the valley to those famous rock forms. Sometimes things just work out.

The same trip brought us to Valley of The Gods.  I have shared many a landscape from this location, with many of them dripping in color. The one thing missing from this desert state park was water. Then we crossed a nearly dry river when we were almost back to paved roads.  There was a small area where what little water the river held puddled up..…right in front of a beautiful rock. In fact the river itself was so dry that we walked up the middle of it on our way to this scene. Yes sometimes things just work out.

The clouds in this image almost look like a candy dish. You have the start of what I call “God Beams” except that they curve upward.  I honestly can’t swear to where this was made but I believe it is a digital copy of a film image.   If so it was made near Leadville, Colorado in 1986.  After a long day of traveling and shooting pictures I pulled into one of my favorite towns (it’s above 10,000 ft.) in America.   I just wanted some food and a room for sleep.  After I ate I did what I always do when I say that I only want sleep,  I headed out-of-town looking for pictures and finally found these great clouds above a small mountain lake.  An afternoon when things worked out. There will forever be one more picture to make.

I have shown many images of Colorado’s  iconic Maroon Bells in other posts.  The first time I saw the Maroon Bells they were on the cover of a calendar in 1977.  I decided I would go there and add them to my photographic files.  I decided I would do that the next day.  I lived in Colorado at the time, but I never made it to “the bells” until a return trip in 1986.  I stopped to visit again on this 2007 trip.  As the light appeared over the mountains I shot and shot, feeling fortunate to be at this beautiful spot.  I was joined by a small flock of Canada Geese and it immediately occurred to me that I had never seen wildlife in a bells photo.  As the geese enjoyed the edge of Maroon Lake I realized that things were working out. I shot until my friends moved deep into the grasses alongside the lake.

Just a side note about the above photo. Even though this is a single image with one exposure I used Photomatix to create an HDR photo from the one original. By the time I made this picture the contrast was getting to be too extreme to show detail in the shadows.  Most of the family of geese were residing in the shadows.  By making two copies of the original with software, one slightly underexposed from that original, and one greatly overexposed, and combining all three, I was able to create a finished product where those shadow areas were “opened up”.  This is a good example of using HDR to overcome real technical challenges, instead of just to create brighter more saturated colors.

I have been to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula many times.  Like everyone who has visited here I have stood upon this viewing platform the majority of those times.  I have also shot from the other side that peninsula, and from the Miner’s Castle rock forms. I only wanted a nice shot in crisp clean light this time around.  I began my morning in the rain photographing waterfalls.  The forecast of all day and all night rain helped me make the decision to forget Pictured Rocks. A feeling inside drove me back to PRs for one final afternoon view, and you guessed it the clouds opened up and I had my shot. I guess things just worked out

It won’t be long before you landscape enthusiasts will be searching out autumn color.  If you have the opportunity I would suggest to find yourself a remote location.  There is nothing like the country, or better yet the wilderness in the quiet of autumn. Wilderness fits both pictures below with the first image having been made in northern Wisconsin’s Chequamegon National Forest and the other coming from the Nicolet N.F. also in Wisconsin.  Neither of these spots were really on my mind when I started this trip.  The first picture was made right next to my camp site.  The morning I made the second one I headed out (in my car) from my camp into the darkness through the middle of Nicolet just hoping to find a spot at or around sunrise to make some pictures. I stopped as the sun began to rise and I saw some water showing through the trees. There sat a very pretty lake. Sometimes things just work out.

The one common denominator that is necessary for things to work out is that you have to first be out in the natural world.  Go out and see just how often things really do work out. 

God Bless