Cliff Dwellings (IMG)

English Bob said:

Mesa Verde National Park is the site of two large mesas which are
cut by canyons. Weather and wind patterns cut alcoves out of the
sides of the canyons and the Mesas themselves and by 1190 A.D. the
indigenous Indians were building stone buildings in the alcoves,
some of which were accessible only by ladder. This offered
protection from both the weather and enemies. Open spaces in the
canyon floor and the mesa tops were farmed. Droughts started in
about 1270 and the population began to fall when farming would no
longer support it. By about 1300 A.D. the area was deserted. Left
behind were the graves, pottery and all the daily living artifacts
of the former inhabitants, including their stone homes. These ruins
are called Square Tower House. The tower re-mains are 26 feet tall
and part of an extensive, multistoried unit of residences with
about 80 rooms. Most of the other high rooms collapsed after
abandonment. There are many such ruins in this area, often much
larger and more famous such as the Cliff Palace ruins and the
Spruce Tree House ruins. I particularly like this one because of
its location and the square tower. This picture was taken from the
canyon rim and shows the ruins in the afternoon sunlight which was
the only time of day that the residents were actually exposed to
the direct sun. This image was taken at 16:45 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 54mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second.
Aperture: f3.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



This ruin, called Cliff Palace, and some of the others as well, had
springs that arose inside the living complex providing a ready
water source for the population, but not nearly enough water to
provide for irrigation. You can get some sense of scale of the
ruins by looking at the group of twenty or so tourists viewing the
ruins under the supervision of a Mesa Verde Park Ranger. These
ruins could hold several hundred people. This is the second largest
ruin in the area. This picture was taken at 10:06 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 23mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/100 second.
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



--
Good Shooting,
English Bob

Click to expand...

English Bob said:

Mesa Verde National Park is the site of two large mesas which are
cut by canyons. Weather and wind patterns cut alcoves out of the
sides of the canyons and the Mesas themselves and by 1190 A.D. the
indigenous Indians were building stone buildings in the alcoves,
some of which were accessible only by ladder. This offered
protection from both the weather and enemies. Open spaces in the
canyon floor and the mesa tops were farmed. Droughts started in
about 1270 and the population began to fall when farming would no
longer support it. By about 1300 A.D. the area was deserted. Left
behind were the graves, pottery and all the daily living artifacts
of the former inhabitants, including their stone homes. These ruins
are called Square Tower House. The tower re-mains are 26 feet tall
and part of an extensive, multistoried unit of residences with
about 80 rooms. Most of the other high rooms collapsed after
abandonment. There are many such ruins in this area, often much
larger and more famous such as the Cliff Palace ruins and the
Spruce Tree House ruins. I particularly like this one because of
its location and the square tower. This picture was taken from the
canyon rim and shows the ruins in the afternoon sunlight which was
the only time of day that the residents were actually exposed to
the direct sun. This image was taken at 16:45 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 54mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second.
Aperture: f3.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



This ruin, called Cliff Palace, and some of the others as well, had
springs that arose inside the living complex providing a ready
water source for the population, but not nearly enough water to
provide for irrigation. You can get some sense of scale of the
ruins by looking at the group of twenty or so tourists viewing the
ruins under the supervision of a Mesa Verde Park Ranger. These
ruins could hold several hundred people. This is the second largest
ruin in the area. This picture was taken at 10:06 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 23mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/100 second.
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



--
Good Shooting,
English Bob

Click to expand...

Dave Knadler said:

English Bob said:

Mesa Verde National Park is the site of two large mesas which are
cut by canyons. Weather and wind patterns cut alcoves out of the
sides of the canyons and the Mesas themselves and by 1190 A.D. the
indigenous Indians were building stone buildings in the alcoves,
some of which were accessible only by ladder. This offered
protection from both the weather and enemies. Open spaces in the
canyon floor and the mesa tops were farmed. Droughts started in
about 1270 and the population began to fall when farming would no
longer support it. By about 1300 A.D. the area was deserted. Left
behind were the graves, pottery and all the daily living artifacts
of the former inhabitants, including their stone homes. These ruins
are called Square Tower House. The tower re-mains are 26 feet tall
and part of an extensive, multistoried unit of residences with
about 80 rooms. Most of the other high rooms collapsed after
abandonment. There are many such ruins in this area, often much
larger and more famous such as the Cliff Palace ruins and the
Spruce Tree House ruins. I particularly like this one because of
its location and the square tower. This picture was taken from the
canyon rim and shows the ruins in the afternoon sunlight which was
the only time of day that the residents were actually exposed to
the direct sun. This image was taken at 16:45 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 54mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second.
Aperture: f3.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



This ruin, called Cliff Palace, and some of the others as well, had
springs that arose inside the living complex providing a ready
water source for the population, but not nearly enough water to
provide for irrigation. You can get some sense of scale of the
ruins by looking at the group of twenty or so tourists viewing the
ruins under the supervision of a Mesa Verde Park Ranger. These
ruins could hold several hundred people. This is the second largest
ruin in the area. This picture was taken at 10:06 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 23mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/100 second.
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



--
Good Shooting,
English Bob

Click to expand...

--



http://www.pbase.com/davek/

Click to expand...

English Bob said:

Mesa Verde National Park is the site of two large mesas which are
cut by canyons. Weather and wind patterns cut alcoves out of the
sides of the canyons and the Mesas themselves and by 1190 A.D. the
indigenous Indians were building stone buildings in the alcoves,
some of which were accessible only by ladder. This offered
protection from both the weather and enemies. Open spaces in the
canyon floor and the mesa tops were farmed. Droughts started in
about 1270 and the population began to fall when farming would no
longer support it. By about 1300 A.D. the area was deserted. Left
behind were the graves, pottery and all the daily living artifacts
of the former inhabitants, including their stone homes. These ruins
are called Square Tower House. The tower re-mains are 26 feet tall
and part of an extensive, multistoried unit of residences with
about 80 rooms. Most of the other high rooms collapsed after
abandonment. There are many such ruins in this area, often much
larger and more famous such as the Cliff Palace ruins and the
Spruce Tree House ruins. I particularly like this one because of
its location and the square tower. This picture was taken from the
canyon rim and shows the ruins in the afternoon sunlight which was
the only time of day that the residents were actually exposed to
the direct sun. This image was taken at 16:45 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 54mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second.
Aperture: f3.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



This ruin, called Cliff Palace, and some of the others as well, had
springs that arose inside the living complex providing a ready
water source for the population, but not nearly enough water to
provide for irrigation. You can get some sense of scale of the
ruins by looking at the group of twenty or so tourists viewing the
ruins under the supervision of a Mesa Verde Park Ranger. These
ruins could hold several hundred people. This is the second largest
ruin in the area. This picture was taken at 10:06 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 23mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/100 second.
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



--
Good Shooting,
English Bob

Click to expand...

charley5 said:

Beautiful images. I love the texture. Your images are one reason I
am leaning toward the E1 now. How do you get such a natural look?
Do you do a lot of post-processing? Is there a photo-base in which
I can admire more of your shots?

-Charles

Click to expand...

Pugwash1 said:

Excellent yet again,
Many Thanks
Martin.

English Bob said:

Mesa Verde National Park is the site of two large mesas which are
cut by canyons. Weather and wind patterns cut alcoves out of the
sides of the canyons and the Mesas themselves and by 1190 A.D. the
indigenous Indians were building stone buildings in the alcoves,
some of which were accessible only by ladder. This offered
protection from both the weather and enemies. Open spaces in the
canyon floor and the mesa tops were farmed. Droughts started in
about 1270 and the population began to fall when farming would no
longer support it. By about 1300 A.D. the area was deserted. Left
behind were the graves, pottery and all the daily living artifacts
of the former inhabitants, including their stone homes. These ruins
are called Square Tower House. The tower re-mains are 26 feet tall
and part of an extensive, multistoried unit of residences with
about 80 rooms. Most of the other high rooms collapsed after
abandonment. There are many such ruins in this area, often much
larger and more famous such as the Cliff Palace ruins and the
Spruce Tree House ruins. I particularly like this one because of
its location and the square tower. This picture was taken from the
canyon rim and shows the ruins in the afternoon sunlight which was
the only time of day that the residents were actually exposed to
the direct sun. This image was taken at 16:45 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 54mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second.
Aperture: f3.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



This ruin, called Cliff Palace, and some of the others as well, had
springs that arose inside the living complex providing a ready
water source for the population, but not nearly enough water to
provide for irrigation. You can get some sense of scale of the
ruins by looking at the group of twenty or so tourists viewing the
ruins under the supervision of a Mesa Verde Park Ranger. These
ruins could hold several hundred people. This is the second largest
ruin in the area. This picture was taken at 10:06 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 23mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/100 second.
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



--
Good Shooting,
English Bob

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

draydur said:

What a treat Bob...
Beautiful images.
I hear there is a strange "vibe" there...
Did you see any skin walkers?
--
Draydur
(Mike Lowery) - SF bay area, CA, USA
http://www.pbase.com/draydur
Pbase supporter, DP review supporter
--All things considered, the final image is all that matters.

Click to expand...

Mmikky said:

....the E-1 is an instrument utilized to it's fullest potential.
All your pics are excellent examples of what a real photographer
can do with this camera. Oly should be proud.....Kudos.

Mike

Click to expand...

English Bob said:

charley5 said:

Beautiful images. I love the texture. Your images are one reason I
am leaning toward the E1 now. How do you get such a natural look?
Do you do a lot of post-processing? Is there a photo-base in which
I can admire more of your shots?

-Charles

Click to expand...

Thank you, I appreciate the complement. I can't really take much
credit for the quality of the images, that's pretty much built into
the camera. Image quality is one of the intangibles that can't be
quantified and put in reviews and is the reason that I was drawn to
Olympus cameras in the first place. If you're actively searching
for a new camera system, by all means read reviews written by folks
that you consider competent and knowledgeable, but then spend a lot
more time looking at images that the camera produces. IF for some
intangible reason the images just don't look quite right, stay away
from that camera. If you have a gut feeling they're good, go for
it. As to post processing, I do almost none of it. Most of my
images are shot in RAW (all of them are now) and developed in
Olympus Studio. If the picture needs it I will adjust levels and I
always sharpen, once and only once, as the final step in the image
processing. I do own Adobe PS but I don't think I've used it once
in the last six months.

Oh, if you hear some technically minded folks say that the E-1 is
limited in the types of photography it's capable of because it
doesn't have as large a sensor or doesn't have image stabalization
or doesn't have something else, just start looking at E-1 pictures
and believe your eyes, not your ears.

--
Good Shooting,
English Bob

Click to expand...

mikeHug said:

another excellent post Kind of like National Geographic lite

Click to expand...

Bill Wallace said:

EB,

Excellent work and always a pleasure to see your images, and the
accompanying narritives are so informative. These are simply
stunning...I visited dwellings like this when my sister lived in
Santa Fe, they are a sight to behold....

Thanks for sharing,

Bill

--
Bill Wallace
dpreview & pbase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/papa51

Click to expand...

English Bob said:

Mesa Verde National Park is the site of two large mesas which are
cut by canyons. Weather and wind patterns cut alcoves out of the
sides of the canyons and the Mesas themselves and by 1190 A.D. the
indigenous Indians were building stone buildings in the alcoves,
some of which were accessible only by ladder. This offered
protection from both the weather and enemies. Open spaces in the
canyon floor and the mesa tops were farmed. Droughts started in
about 1270 and the population began to fall when farming would no
longer support it. By about 1300 A.D. the area was deserted. Left
behind were the graves, pottery and all the daily living artifacts
of the former inhabitants, including their stone homes. These ruins
are called Square Tower House. The tower re-mains are 26 feet tall
and part of an extensive, multistoried unit of residences with
about 80 rooms. Most of the other high rooms collapsed after
abandonment. There are many such ruins in this area, often much
larger and more famous such as the Cliff Palace ruins and the
Spruce Tree House ruins. I particularly like this one because of
its location and the square tower. This picture was taken from the
canyon rim and shows the ruins in the afternoon sunlight which was
the only time of day that the residents were actually exposed to
the direct sun. This image was taken at 16:45 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 54mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second.
Aperture: f3.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



This ruin, called Cliff Palace, and some of the others as well, had
springs that arose inside the living complex providing a ready
water source for the population, but not nearly enough water to
provide for irrigation. You can get some sense of scale of the
ruins by looking at the group of twenty or so tourists viewing the
ruins under the supervision of a Mesa Verde Park Ranger. These
ruins could hold several hundred people. This is the second largest
ruin in the area. This picture was taken at 10:06 hours local time.

Camera: E-1
Lens: Olympus 14-54mm zoom at 23mm.
Shutter Speed: 1/100 second.
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Metering: ESP



--
Good Shooting,
English Bob

Click to expand...

searun said:

The many ruins that run through this area are spectacular. Never
made it to Mesa Verde, so thanks for the visit. The round
structures (they are called kivas, and were used for religious
ceremonies) are so impressive, and your exposure really brings this
place to life.

Click to expand...

English Bob said:

Mesa Verde National Park is the site of two large mesas which are

Click to expand...