Tony Litschewski’s Mid-Day Photography Tour

I just returned from a 10 day tour of the Desert Southwest with Tony Litschewski, Paul Beiser and a couple other guys. Tony wanted to get me out of the mountains and show me the deserts. Until now, I haven’t had much interest in this sandy, rocky region full of snakes and scorpions but he convinced me to go. One of the biggest obstacles I had to overcome was learning to bring out my camera in the middle of the day, something that I wouldn’t think of doing up here in the mountains. Tony convinced me that reflected light was similar in its delicacy and color to the morning light I am used to shooting. Sure enough, he was right. It was an amazing trip. We covered a lot of territory, all of it new to me, and saw some incredible beauty. I’ve gained a new appreciation for this arid country, even though I do love my mountains. Have a look at my little Southwest Gallery. Make sure you click on the small thumbnails to see the full sized images. As always I’d love your input!

Would it kill you to post even one crappy photo?

Excellent work, Erik! See, we desert dwellers might just be on to something.

Great collection Erik. I especially dig "Staircase or Shelf," the cove texture series and the egg factory shots. Looks like it was a fun trip.

A pretty phenomenal body of work!

It's clear that you're completely out of your element in the desert and have no idea what you're doing. I'm mean, yes, you got a ton of great images, but I'm convinced it was all just blind luck.

All of the images you posted are nice.

That's one thing (of many) that I like about trips to the desert. I always come home with several solid images.

Nice collection.
A note on 'Dino Tracks':
Those are actually cattle tracks. That area is laced with cattle trails (like the one in your image) as the many water pockets (like the one in your image) were used by ranchers in that desolate arid region.

What Todd said!!! Don't worry, sooner or later you'll get the hang of this photo stuff.

What Todd said!!! Don't worry, sooner or later you'll get the hang of this photo stuff.

An excellent collection Erik. You did the region proud with those images. Nice to have some experts show ya around the first time out, no doubt.

Nice collection. Wish I could have joined you. Was planning on being there at that time with Rene but didnt work out. Instead work sent me to Oregon at that time and I am still working on the shots from that trip. Wish I could have joined you that week!

RichieV

Fantastic Gallery bud!

So, the moral of the story is that I apparently need to hire a guide to get good lighting and clouds in the deserts?

Excellent collection, Eric.

I have a great idea...Erik, why dont you move to the southwest and I'll take over RMNP? Seriously, that is some nice work. Having had the honor of Tony showing me around Dallas divide for a couple days I know you were blessed with having him in your group!

Jack

Pretty wild stuff Erik!!! Excellent! You sure know how to abuse a camera! Do I see a second gallery in the desert SW?
John

It was my pleasure to hang around Tony, Erik, and others to soak up their knowledge for 8+ days, that as well as their aromas after too many Mexican meals

Awesome photos, Erik. Makes me not want to open Lightroom on mine!

Nice work Erik. You certainly have "come up to speed" on the southwest pretty fast - i.e. that's a great collection that normally would take several trips to put together.

When I saw you ES&S post, I wondered if there was a part of RMNP that I didn't know about.

John

I think Erik is holding out on us since I didn't see some of his really good stuff. I'm sure we'll see it in the very near future. It was a great trip as usual with lots of photos and laughter. Already looking forward to the next one.

John, yes, those really are dinosaur tracks and they do last 190 million years out there. Here's an article that was recently published about the general area:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2008-10-21-dino-dance-floor_N.htm

Paul, remember that I don't eat Mexican so you have me in the wrong grouping

Those 'dinosaur tracks' you refer to are actually located in the Coyote Buttes North area, and have since been disputed:
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10934225

Here's a photo of another cattle trail in the same vicinity.

Erik's shot doesn't show the very unusual and extremely well defined pattern of tracks that we found. I'll look for a shot this evening from the other direction. I grew up in ranching country and cattle do not make the pattern of tracks we found as well as the large size. Also, the depth of the tracks would be impossible for cattle to make since ranching took place only in the past century out there. I may contact the scientists directly to see if they know about the tracks we found since they're in the general area of the article. I'll keep you posted if I hear back from them. Could be a new discovery that we stumbled on!

Unfortunately Tony I don't think you've "stumbled" upon anything. Thousands of photog's have been out there including myself half a dozen times. The concensus is that they are cattle tracks. It really wouldn't take long if hundreds of cattle a day were walking in the same tracks to erode them down. I'm certainly no dino-expert, but I have to agree with John.

Which is exactly why I've emailed the main scientists working out there (on both sides of the dispute). I'll let the experts decide what they are instead of a "concensus of photographers". Stay tuned.

What a great collection of shots for a first visit! The wave shot is awesome - never tire of those. And man - you had some great clouds to break up the blue skies out there!!

Update on the dino tracks - John, Adam, and the "concensus of thousands of photographers" were correct. Just got an email from the lead scientist out there and she "feels" that they are old cattle tracks. Maybe on our next trip we'll find something great

I've never seen cattle tracks cut that deep into the rock and in that particular pattern in the past 20 years I've been shooting that area.

Now back to the main topic of this thread - Erik's great shots!!!!

Yeah, didn't mean to side track the thread Erik. You got some wonderful shots from your inaugural trip to the desert. Many to be proud of.

Uh oh. Erik's broken out of the Park. Someone get him back there!
Seriously, this an awesome portfolio - especially for one trip.

This was one trip? Amazing! You had some wonderful light to play in and made the most of it. Loved the stuff from Bisti and the Wave, I guess I'll have to make another trip in that direction. Your Horseshoe Bend shot must look awesome when printed huge (30 exposures with a 17-40?). It must have taken all week for the software to put that together without crashing your computer.

Great shot! Love the color and simplicity!