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Posts tagged ‘Sedona’

Doe Mountain, Coconino National Forest

I’m in Arizona this week, starting off in Phoenix, then up to Flagstaff to visit my friends Crystal and Paul.  On a day trip from Flagstaff this past Friday, I went down to Sedona and hiked the Doe Mountain trail in Coconino National Forest.

Map of Doe Mountain

 

Here’s a photo from early in the hike.  I hiked up to the ridge shown in this photo.

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There were some nice wildflowers at the top, including this Claret Cup Cactus.  (Echinocereus triglochidiatus)

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Next up, Monument Valley and a trip to Hunt’s Mesa.

Devil’s Bridge, Sedona

While traveling last week, I consulted Volume 2 (Arizona) of Laurent Martrès’ book series, Photographing the Southwest.

As their name implies, the books describe a variety of locations for photography in the southwest, including directions and good times of day to photograph.  I’ve learned of places I probably never would have found on my own.

One place recommended by the book was Devil’s Bridge, a stone arch in the Coconino National Forest, near Sedona.  I drove a mile and a half down a rough 4WD road, and then hiked about one mile to get to the arch.  (I wasn’t going to let my injured leg dissuade me.)

When I arrived at the arch, it was still in morning shadow, but the rest of the valley was in full sun.  There was too much contrast to render the scene with a single image in my camera.  So, I tried my hand at some high-dynamic range (HDR) photography.  I’ve tried HDR in the past, without much success.  But I recently met Trey Ratcliff, an HDR expert and author of the blog http://www.stuckincustoms.com/.  I decided to try again.

So here’s a merged set of three different exposures of Devil’s Bridge.  (Click the image to enlarge.)

Devil's Bridge

I plan to post a couple more HDR photos in the next few days.

Sedona

Thursday, I was in Sedona, Arizona.  I went on a short two-mile hike (on an injured leg—bummer) to a large sandstone arch named Devil’s Bridge, in Coconino National Forest. Here’s a view along the way.  I hope to post some HDR images of the arch later.

sedona_devils_bridge_trail

I also visited the nearby town of Jerome.  Once a huge copper mining community, it is now known for its artists and art galleries.

Finally, I ended the day at the Sedona Airport Scenic Overlook for sunset.  Thin clouds have been coming in during the late afternoons, and the sunsets haven’t been that spectacular.  However, I do like the clouds in this infrared shot. sedona_infrared