D700 and Desert Southwest

Last week I took a whirlwind trip of the four corners area (New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona). Unfortunately the weather was not the best--the first few days were cloudless and harsh lighting, and the last couple of days were extrememly windy with blowing dust and sand reducing visibility to a few hundred meters. It seems that every time I go to the Southwest, I encounter cloudless skies. Anyone know the best time of year to get clouds?

In spite of the extremely dusty conditions, the gear worked flawlessly, though with more sensor spots than normal. The sensor cleaner worked reasonably well for the majority of the spots. I switched over from the D3 recently as most of my shooting includes a lot of hiking and the D3 is just too big / heavy for this type of use.

Here are a few shots with various lenses on the D700.

Grain storage, circa 1000 CE
24mm PC-E 1/6 sec at f/11, ISO 200



Stone "eggs"
14-24mm 1/100 sec at f/16, ISO 200



Monument Valley, "Totem Pole" at moonrise; Panorama--7 images stitched together
70-200 VRII @120mmm 1/100th sec f/11 ISO 200



Monumnet Valley, "Totem Pole" and Yei Bi Chei near sunset
24-70mm f/2.8 @24mm 1/80th sec @f/11 ISO 200



Native American petroglyph, Monument Valley
24-70 f/2.8 @ 70mm 1/6th sec at f/9 ISO 200



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A few photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvd5/

Nice job!

Roman
--

'To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk'

• Edward Weston

http://www.pbase.com/romansphotos/

I know what you mean about clouds, but sometimes a clear, deep blue sky has a beauty of its own. Here, cast against orange shapes, it is very powerful, whereas clouds might actually distract. In addition, the clear skies you captured might be more representative than puffy cloud visages.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's easy to argue about equipment and technique, but hard to argue with a good photograph -- and more difficult to capture one .



Gallery and blog: http://esfotoclix.com
Special selections: http://esfotoclix.com/store
Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22061657@N03

You are making me "homesick" (I lived in Santa Fe, NM for three years). Lovely captures of a magical area.
--
My Art, Your Pleasure

Great photos from great areas! Congrads!

The four-corners monsoon season starts aroung July 1-10 and goes on through all of August and sometimes the first part of September. Starting around noon great clouds start rolling in, afternoon thunderstorms, lightning, then clear the next morning.

Monsoon Clouds . . .









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Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
http://www.ghost-town-photography.com

Fantastic photos

I got some great cumulus clouds in July and August while living in Flagstaff. SW is a magnet, indeed.

Leswick

Well done! The "weather" didn't prevent you from getting some fine shots.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/22388579@N08/

very nice, i like them
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briand liong
http://www.PANDA-link.com
http://www.BriandLiong.com

DvD5 said:

Last week I took a whirlwind trip of the four corners area (New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona). Unfortunately the weather was not the best--the first few days were cloudless and harsh lighting, and the last couple of days were extrememly windy with blowing dust and sand reducing visibility to a few hundred meters. It seems that every time I go to the Southwest, I encounter cloudless skies. Anyone know the best time of year to get clouds?

Click to expand...

Winter. Also July when there are some thunder storms (but it will be hot).

Very nice work!

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Zane
http://www.pbase.com/devonshire
Nikon D2x
NAPP Member

'Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments it takes our breath away.” ~ Anonymous

I really liked the first one... the way the mountain blooms out at the top of image.

Beautiful captures. I love your House on Fire and the Bisti Egg Factory. Very nicely done.
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Regards,

Ovidiu

what beautiful photos!....well done!

Ian
http://ianbramham.com/
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/ (Photoblog)

A few more from the trip:

Square Tower House--Mesa Verde
70-200mm f/2.8 VRII; 1/320th sec @ f/8; ISO 200



Stone Wings at Bisti Wilderness
24mm PC-E; 1/100th sec @ f/9.5; ISO 200



Totem Pole and Yei Bi Chei Silhouette
70-200mm f/2.8 VRII; 1/20th sec @ f/4.5; -4/3 bias; ISO 200



Don
A few photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvd5/

Great shots, you make me want to visit there.

Don, very very nice. I have driven these areas so many times but many years ago. Many thanks to you (and Steve) for reminding me why I love the Grandeur of the American West so much.
Cheers,
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Tom
http://taja.smugmug.com/

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I'm a noob, so everything I say can be, and most likely is, wrong.

Excellent

I've found early April to have some great cloud formations in the Sedona area, which is a bit south of the 4 corners. The first shot is from my sister's back deck in Cottonwood, looking at Sedona. The second is 1/2 way up Schnebly Hill Road, looking down at Sedona.

nice pictures.....
the first one is like a house on fire....