Outback Photo

Part One of my Following the Light article on Glacier National Park is now available on Outback Photo. It's been up there for a few days, now, but we were in Wyoming, so I didn't have a chance to post about it.
We arrived home this morning around 4am and fell into bed. Now, we're headed to the gym for a quick workout before lunch. I need a good run - vacation food makes me feel terrible. :) I did get a few nice landscape photographs from this trip. I'll be working as much as I can this week, and I hope to have some posted before long.

Meanwhile, I hope you'll check out my article on Outback Photo.

Minty Fresh Bison

We're in a hotel in Wyoming tonight. The kids are all sleeping, and we finally have an internet connection again! :) I've checked my emails, and made some quick responses, but I don't have much time to write tonight. We have to be up tomorrow to get to the airport - and then we'll be flying home. The kids have had an excellent time - they loved the geysers and hot springs. It's all been fascinating for us.

My youngest son - age 5 - said to me... "Mama, do Bison smell like mint?" Hmm. Mint? Now, where'd he get that idea? Ah well - sure, why not. Minty-fresh Bison.

Now, I know this will be hard to believe, but Jay and I didn't do much shooting on this trip. I never though I'd be happy to find myself under boring skies while traveling, but the fact is, we weren't going to be doing much shooting anyway. Too many kids in tow. It's just not realistic. In fact, we only shot one sunset (and no sunrises) during the entire trip. Last night, the sky was absolutely stunning. So we stopped by the side of the road, and let the kids listen to music while we shot. Storm lighting, gorgeous colors, rainbows... beautiful. One evening. That's all. Still, the trip has been great.

I'll be home late tomorrow, and I'll try to get some photos processed next week.

Grand Tetons

We're in Grand Tetons National Park, right now. Taking a break from hiking to give the kids a rest. I would have liked to take a few minutes to write sooner, but the kids keep us pretty darn busy. :) On our first day here, we took the kids on a 4 mile hike. They had a good time - but we had to turn back before we reached the lake we were headed for, since it was getting late. The following day, we hiked out to Jenny lake and then to Inspiration Point. About six miles. Our five year old was pretty tired after that - but he made it all the way. I was pretty dang proud of him. That's no small hike for such a little guy! Actually, I'm proud of all of them. They got some very delicious ice cream after their long hike - and then the little one took a nap in the car. :)

Today, they did a third hike. Another five miles or so. They got to take off their shoes and play for a good long time in an icy cold lake - so everyone was happy.

Tomorrow, we'll be headed for Yellowstone. I think the kids are ready for a few hours in the car. :)

Good night.

It's late. Very late. I wanted to write something here, but I'm too dang tired. I'm going to bed. I'll try again tomorrow! Sorry!

Would you like to vote?

Did I say one last post? Well - one MORE last post before we go, then. :)

Today, I entered an online photographic competition that relies on votes and ratings from the public as well as a panel of judges. If you’d like to vote for my images, you can take a look at the link below:

www.artistwanted.org/VarinaPatel

Please don’t feel that you have to vote – I don’t want to impose. But if you feel so inclined, I could win as much as $2008… which would be a nice supplement to my “paycheck.” :) You’ll see four images in my online gallery – plus a link to my website.

If you have time – I hope you’ll take a minute to look at my work. Thanks for your time – whether you vote for my photographs or not. I really appreciate it!

One last post before we go...

Zebra Canyon is in Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument in Utah. It is absolutely gorgeous. The hike was only a couple of miles along Harris Wash, though the trail is not marked, and I've heard that some have problems finding the canyon. We had no trouble at all. The canyon is often wet - but we visited on a very dry day. We had sand in our hair and in our pockets after being there for a few hours. Dry sand rained from the top of the canyon during our entire visit... and blew through the slot with every gust of wind. Tumbleweeds had collected in the pockets of the canyon, and we moved many of them out of the way in order to get our shots.

The canyon is extremely narrow. In places, we had to turn sideways to fit through - and our packs had to be dragged along behind - or passed back and forth between Jay and me. These photos were taken from a ledge at the back of the canyon - perhaps seven feet high. It was extremely difficult to access, but well worth the effort. There are no hand-holds in this smooth sandstone, and the walls in this spot were just a bit too wide to give me good purchase... perhaps if my legs were just a few inches longer. Jay stood below when I climbed up and down to catch me if I fell. I didn't, but there were a few sketchy moments. :)

There were other photographers and hikers in the canyon as well - and passing each other was difficult. The photographers we met were very nice, and we all took turns shooting and staying out of each others shots.

I'm happy with the shots I got of this beautiful, pink and white striped slot canyon. I'm looking forward to another trip. I'd like to get more shots of the entrance and the central sections.

En route to Yellowstone tomorrow - bright and early!

Sleeping Rainbows

The Indians call this area The Land of the Sleeping Rainbows. It's in Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument in Utah. We've been here a few times, now, but this is the first time we were able to capture such spectacular skies. The land is equally impressive, though. The mountains are striped with unbelievable shades of green, gold, white, and red - and lines that reach as far as the eye can see. As one of our students from our last Utah workshop so aptly put it... "Fan-freakin'-tastic." :)

I won't be getting much work done this week. My kids are home from school and we're spending as much time as possible out of doors. Three of them have swim team every weekday morning, and we spent a few hours in the pool this afternoon too. They spent the rest of the day playing in the woods - and we'll go catch some frogs and crawdads after dinner.

We'll be heading for Yellowstone National Park next Wednesday. We're taking all six kids, so I can't promise any blog posts. But I'll try for a few. This trip won't be about photography, either... it's about the kids. So, although we may get a few shots here and there, we'll spend most of our time exploring the park. The kids are very excited. They are used to long trips, so we aren't too worried about the plane trips or the long drive from Denver to the park. We're more concerned about losing someone. Ah well - if they get lost, they can join a bison herd... and that's one less mouth the feed. :)

Happy Downloading!

Well - it looks like people are enjoying our new downloads page. I'm glad to see that. We're getting an enormous number of hits there each day - certainly more than we expected. I hope everyone is enjoying their new computer backgrounds. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to email me - or just leave a comment here on my blog. We're always looking for ideas.

Yesterday evening we spent a few hours at a Cleveland Photographic Society meeting. It was good to see all our friends, there. We don't get to go as often as we like, but we always have a good time when we go.

Today, we're planning to do a shoot for an article we're working on. It will take a couple of hours, and then we'll get to work on processing the images. I'll write the article next week - if I find time.

Heat Wave

It's hot. 88F (31C) in the shade - and climbing. The house is just as hot. We're expecting higher temperatures this weekend - so we got our long run in yesterday evening. We ran later than usual, and chose a trail along the river to make the most of the "breeze" - not that there was much of one, but heck, it was worth a try. We ran a little over 6.5 miles (10.5K). You know, it's not the heat that gets me... it's the humidity. It was hovering around 84% yesterday, and I would have done better with gills. Still - the day before was even worse, and we ran 4 miles in that. Which was torture. So, who's complaining? :)

Why do I do it? I don't love running. I run because I want to be able to get to places like this...
Or this...

Long trails, high altitudes, extreme weather conditions... I have to be able to handle it. Otherwise, I'd better quit my day job. :) That's what landscape photography is all about. If I can't run 6 miles in a bit of humidity at 600ft, how am I going to get to some of these places?

Right now, though - I wouldn't mind a little bit of this...



Not too much, mind you... this is Cleveland after all. You have to be careful what you wish for.

Free Downloads

Jay and I are now offering free downloads of our images for use as computer backgrounds. This took some time to implement, but it's finally up and ready to go. If you'd like to have one of our photos on your computer, just choose the appropriate screen size and download the image you like best.

I've also added a link on the main page of my website - right at the top. It's ugly, but it will have to do for now. I'm in the process of redesigning, so please bear with me. Meanwhile, I wanted the link to be available.

Yesterday and this morning, I finished uploading a series of stock images for review. I submit stock images to 9 different websites (sometimes more), so it takes a couple of days to keyword, upload, and categorize. I'm glad to have this set done - I did the shoot several months ago, and finally got through them. Thank goodness.

I also completed my next article for Outback Photo. Part One should be online sometime next week. At that point, I'll also publish it on my website. I really enjoyed writing this one. It's about Glacier National Park in Montana.

Website Upgrade

It's time for me to make some changes to my website. I built this one about a year ago, and I'm outgrowing it already. :) That's a good thing - but building a new one will be pretty time-consuming. There's a bit of a learning curve that will need to be addressed. The current site is primarily HTML - with a downloaded flash component that runs my slideshows. The new one will need to be a bit more advanced. I've done a bit of research, so I know what I need to learn, but it's going to take trial and error. This kind of thing never goes off without a hitch. :)

At this point - I'm open to suggestions from anyone who thinks my website could be improved. If you have anything you'd like to see on a new site, please let me know. I'll be adding links to my latest workshops on the main pages, but most of the major changes will be on the back end - administration changes that will make updating and maintaining the site less of a chore. All suggestions and advice are more than welcome. Thanks!

Sanctuary

Antelope Canyon was a lot of fun to shoot - although there were entirely too many people stuffed into the narrow canyon. The guides shouted to one another over the heads of the tourists, and it was nearly impossible to get a sense of how this location would feel if you stood in it alone. It wasn't until I began processing my photographs that I started to feel what I'd missed in the canyon. I may never visit this canyon alone - and hear perfect silence within these stone walls. But the photographs let me feel what I couldn't while I was standing there - the sanctity of such a place.