Yee Haw… It was time for the annual Christmas vacation. After last year’s trip to White Pocket, I could not wait to return.
I arrived at the White Pocket parking lot late Christmas morning and had not been there more than 15 minutes when a Jeep with three college kids from Illinois arrived. Within a few moments one of the kids ran to my truck and with a nervous tone in his voice explained that they had a flat tire and did not know how to install the spare.
After installing the spare we realized that due to leaving the headlights on, the battery had died. After jumpstarting the rented Jeep I advised them to keep the engine running until they made it back to town.
I politely reminded them that being prepared to spend an extra few days is important. One of the kids said that they had prepared, but I saw nothing in the empty Jeep that indicated so.
There were no other visitors Christmas Day. They would’ve spent a cold night or worse. The next day, approximately 6 parties came and left. The kids have since emailed to say thanks.
I spent five days enjoying the strange and wonderful geology, with clear blue skies on all but one day.
I tried to make the most of the one precious sunrise Mother Nature gifted me. Running to three separate compositions in a 100 yard radius must’ve looked funny. Boot laces became untied and snow pants began falling down as I hobbled from one spot to another with tripod in one hand and pack in the other. I’m glad nobody witnessed it…
After the sunrise it quickly became overcast. I thought I would try my luck at the Toroweap, but found that this time of the year the sun does not rise in the proper location for the classic shot. I was however pleasantly surprised by a wonderful sunset from a west facing overlook accessed from opposite side of the parking lot.
Climbing out onto the edge of the rock was both exhilarating and terrifying. I could not stop thinking about how winter is the time when expanding ice causes rocks to sheer from the face of the cliff.
White pocket, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Alabama Hills.
There are three photos with cut-and-paste skies, they are identified by pa in the title. Us working stiffs need to make the best of our one-week per year vacations…. Please enjoy the pix
Posted by Scott Fricke on January 23, 2014 at 10:39 PM
Great set Richard, my favorites were Image 8983 and the Grand Canyon Image. I also really liked the Alabama Hills image. Looks like you had a real productive week!
Thanks for looking Scott, 8983 is my favorite. It was the first composition of the morning.
I seem to be having trouble with blown red skies. Photo 89933 shows this clearly.
Even faster exposures seem to have this blown effect. Somebody told me this is common with the Canon 5D MK II.
Posted by Scott Fricke on January 23, 2014 at 11:24 PM
I have the 5DII also and I have had some luck with using the Saturation adjustment in PS and desaturation just the red channel a bit.
Scott, thanks for the pointer. It looks like it’s time to learn more processing skills.
I think the raw processor in CS-6 also has a tool that enables one to adjust both luminosity and saturation values of individual color channels.
Thanks again.
Posted by Bill Bean on January 24, 2014 at 11:04 AM
Really nice set Richard, thanks for sharing. Looks like I need to add White Pocket to my list of locations to visit. One of the clients I visit in Utah has locations all over the state and with any luck I should get assigned to the "southern swing" this year. When that happens I sense adding a couple vacation days to visit White Pocket. Hmmm, wonder if Hertz rents jeeps and how they'd feel about one being used for it's designated purpose....
Posted by Karl Buiter on January 24, 2014 at 7:28 PM
Really Nice Set!
Yep, 8983 feels a bit too red.. just a bit. Also, I might try cropping out more of the sky.
Love the Toroweap shot! I have been lining up that sun direction with TPE and wondered if it would work. Yep, you proved it can work. Not sure how I would feel about being out there. Thinking of buying a rope and rigging, tie it to the tow hooks of my 4x4, - just as confidence. Heh,, and I have often wondered about getting a large enough drone to fly my 5D off the edge :)
The most interesting shot for me is 10352. That ice is interesting. Wish more of it was in the shot.
Awesome job helping out hapless campers. I recall offroading with friends up to Tower Arch in the more back-country parts of Arches NP. It was late in the day and there we found a group of teens and one adult. They had come up the 1 mile hike trail and were curious how we got there so we told them about the offroad route. Eventually they took off and we stayed awhile longer to get some arch shots. On out way out at dusk - still along the sand dunes west of the wash we found half the hike group - without flashlights, water, or clothing - with 2 miles to go on what would be a new moon night. We loaded them up in the SUV's- and sure enough we found the other half of their group coming from the trailhead in search. They got loaded up too. By the time we found the bottom of the trailhead, it was extremely dark. I could not imagine how this group would have handled a dark night in backcountry arches with nothing but their day clothes - and hiking out was not an option given the drop-offs.
Bill, indeed I think White Pocket is a place most of us would like to photograph. I definitely recommend spending a few days there. Most photographers come and go during the harsh daylight hours.
Photographing the geology has its advantages. There is no need to wait for leaves to turn yellow or flowers to bloom. The rocks have been there for millions of years and will probably will remain there, waiting for us to arrive at our leisure.
There must be local companies renting jeeps. The college kids who experienced a flat tire were in a rental Jeep. They had a stick hanging out of the sidewall of the tire. Kind of makes me wonder what they were up to….
Folks I talked to say that the road from the South is not too difficult or damaging for vehicles. I’ve always chosen to take the northern route. This route is also easy on vehicles, just a few spots of deep sand to contend with. Both times I visited this place was in winter, the deep sand was no obstacle at all.
Karl, thanks for taking a look. Safety ropes and rigging certainly would’ve increased the comfort factor while out there on the rock.
Kudos to you too, for helping out the young nature rookies. It’s a good way to meet new pen-pals. Or is it called email pals these days…?
Posted by Doug Koepsel on January 26, 2014 at 11:10 AM
Richard, how the white snow contrasts with the reds & oranges and enhances the lines at WP is really nice. 8983 is my favorite of those.
Discussion
9 repliesI arrived at the White Pocket parking lot late Christmas morning and had not been there more than 15 minutes when a Jeep with three college kids from Illinois arrived. Within a few moments one of the kids ran to my truck and with a nervous tone in his voice explained that they had a flat tire and did not know how to install the spare.
After installing the spare we realized that due to leaving the headlights on, the battery had died. After jumpstarting the rented Jeep I advised them to keep the engine running until they made it back to town.
I politely reminded them that being prepared to spend an extra few days is important. One of the kids said that they had prepared, but I saw nothing in the empty Jeep that indicated so.
There were no other visitors Christmas Day. They would’ve spent a cold night or worse. The next day, approximately 6 parties came and left. The kids have since emailed to say thanks.
I spent five days enjoying the strange and wonderful geology, with clear blue skies on all but one day.
I tried to make the most of the one precious sunrise Mother Nature gifted me. Running to three separate compositions in a 100 yard radius must’ve looked funny. Boot laces became untied and snow pants began falling down as I hobbled from one spot to another with tripod in one hand and pack in the other. I’m glad nobody witnessed it…
After the sunrise it quickly became overcast. I thought I would try my luck at the Toroweap, but found that this time of the year the sun does not rise in the proper location for the classic shot. I was however pleasantly surprised by a wonderful sunset from a west facing overlook accessed from opposite side of the parking lot.
Climbing out onto the edge of the rock was both exhilarating and terrifying. I could not stop thinking about how winter is the time when expanding ice causes rocks to sheer from the face of the cliff.
White pocket, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Alabama Hills.
There are three photos with cut-and-paste skies, they are identified by pa in the title. Us working stiffs need to make the best of our one-week per year vacations….
Please enjoy the pix
Thanks for looking Scott, 8983 is my favorite. It was the first composition of the morning.
I seem to be having trouble with blown red skies. Photo 89933 shows this clearly.
Even faster exposures seem to have this blown effect. Somebody told me this is common with the Canon 5D MK II.
I think the raw processor in CS-6 also has a tool that enables one to adjust both luminosity and saturation values of individual color channels.
Thanks again.
Yep, 8983 feels a bit too red.. just a bit. Also, I might try cropping out more of the sky.
Love the Toroweap shot! I have been lining up that sun direction with TPE and wondered if it would work. Yep, you proved it can work. Not sure how I would feel about being out there. Thinking of buying a rope and rigging, tie it to the tow hooks of my 4x4, - just as confidence. Heh,, and I have often wondered about getting a large enough drone to fly my 5D off the edge :)
The most interesting shot for me is 10352. That ice is interesting. Wish more of it was in the shot.
Awesome job helping out hapless campers. I recall offroading with friends up to Tower Arch in the more back-country parts of Arches NP. It was late in the day and there we found a group of teens and one adult. They had come up the 1 mile hike trail and were curious how we got there so we told them about the offroad route. Eventually they took off and we stayed awhile longer to get some arch shots. On out way out at dusk - still along the sand dunes west of the wash we found half the hike group - without flashlights, water, or clothing - with 2 miles to go on what would be a new moon night. We loaded them up in the SUV's- and sure enough we found the other half of their group coming from the trailhead in search. They got loaded up too. By the time we found the bottom of the trailhead, it was extremely dark. I could not imagine how this group would have handled a dark night in backcountry arches with nothing but their day clothes - and hiking out was not an option given the drop-offs.
Photographing the geology has its advantages. There is no need to wait for leaves to turn yellow or flowers to bloom. The rocks have been there for millions of years and will probably will remain there, waiting for us to arrive at our leisure.
There must be local companies renting jeeps. The college kids who experienced a flat tire were in a rental Jeep. They had a stick hanging out of the sidewall of the tire. Kind of makes me wonder what they were up to….
Folks I talked to say that the road from the South is not too difficult or damaging for vehicles. I’ve always chosen to take the northern route. This route is also easy on vehicles, just a few spots of deep sand to contend with. Both times I visited this place was in winter, the deep sand was no obstacle at all.
Karl, thanks for taking a look. Safety ropes and rigging certainly would’ve increased the comfort factor while out there on the rock.
Kudos to you too, for helping out the young nature rookies. It’s a good way to meet new pen-pals. Or is it called email pals these days…?
Your site has some nice White Pocket work. It looks like we have a similar comp and summer provides some dramatic skies.