Even from 25 miles away Shiprock stands like a sentinel in the desert. The monadnock is located in New Mexico and I’m shooting from Colorado. It is one of the iconic images in my mind when I think of the Four Corners country. I find it strange that one geologic formation can have an effect on a person’s psyche. I often find my thoughts on Shiprock for no reason. On our next trip I definitely want to spend more time with Tsé Bitʼaʼí (Navajo for “rock with wings” or “winged rock”).

Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2 for the monochrome conversion.

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Cliff Palace is one of the more popular attractions at Mesa Verde National Park.

Built by ancient puebloans, it is fairly easily accessible and is open to the public. Cliff Palace is located in the largest cave in the center of the Great Mesa. It was south and southwest facing, providing greater warmth from the sun in the winter. The site had 200 rooms, including storage rooms, open courts, walkways, and 23 kivas. Dating back more than 700 years, the dwelling is constructed of sandstone, wooden beams, and mortar. Many of the rooms were brightly painted.

I liked the composition of the original image and had thought to convert it to monochrome because the colors seemed flatter than I remembered. After opening the image in Photoshop CS6, I wanted to open up the shadow areas in the ceiling of the cave. I ran the file through Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro 2 and it brought out details and color that I liked. So I left the image in color and finished off the image with Color Efex Pro 4’s Tonal Contrast, Brilliance and Warmth, and Darken/Lighten Center.

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Spider Rock is in the middle of Canyon de Chelly National Monument near Chinle, Arizona in the Navajo Nation. The spire stands 750 feet above the floor of the canyon. According to native lore, it is the home of Spider Woman one of the most honoured deities of the Dine (Navajo People).

The day that we were there, a sand storm was blowing through. We were told that it was the remnants of a hurricane that had moved up from Mexico but lost all of it’s moisture on the way. The winds gusted up to 50 miles per hour, making camera stabilization a priority. I braced my tripod against the guard rail for maximum rigidity.

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It’s been a few years since our trip to the Four Corners area of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.

With a few new tools in my arsenal, I’m revisiting the images taken then. Here are two that I’ve reprocessed using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2. Nik’s SEP2 is my favorite monochrome image conversion tool.

The above image is from Coyote Canyon, New Mexico, part of the Navajo Nation. Taken just off of a main road, the rock formation is one edge of a wide wash that deepens to the south.

Erosion leaves the surface of the earth deeply lined and undulating in the desert of Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook, Arizona.

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I actually found out that my friends Darwin Wiggett & Samantha Chrysanthou had released two new eBooks on oopoomoo.com back in March, I’m finally getting around to reviewing both of them. Although, ostensibly the books are aimed at a beginner audience, Composition Basics and Learning to See are valuable for more experienced photographers as well.

Composition Basics gets into detail on tone and color, under the heading of Primary Elements. Secondary Elements covers Line, Shape, Texture, Pattern and Perspective. They also cover Weight and Tension, both concepts that I need to work with more. Visual mapping is something new to me as well. I haven’t gotten as far as actually marking up copies of my images, but that might be next. In workshops that I’ve taken with Sam and Darwin, I’ve been lectured on Pokies, Blobs and Mergies (you’ll find out). Examples is something of a study in exploration. How you could get past viewing an icon and find more.

Learning to See is more of a companion book to Composition Basics. I see it as “get over yourself, shut up and shoot”. It’s full of Self-Assignments; which I will get around to eventually. Learning to See is a much harder book to describe. You’ll want to read it with a notebook nearby to jot down ideas from Self-Assignments to complete in the field. If you’ve ever thought about “your own style” this is a book you should study thoroughly

Composition Basics is for sale at $15 and Learning to See is $10. The best deal is to buy both eBooks at the same time for $20 and save yourself $5. They are a must have in the library of anyone learning photography. A dynamic duo of photographic education from a dynamic duo of authors.

In the best light…

Instead of going for the usual grand landscape with the mountain and the sky, I concentrated on the reflection in Vermillion Lakes in Banff National Park. I liked the way that the cloud hung in the sky and was mirrored in the still water. The bit of color from the sunrise accents the triangles formed by the upside down peaks.

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I haven’t been able to get out and shoot lately, so I’ve been reprocessing old files.

I found this one that had possibilities, but didn’t look so good. With the new tools that I now have available, I thought that it could be fixed.

The clouds and the snow appeared blown out with no detail in the meadow. I remember that the wild flowers were brilliant and the original image did them no justice.

I started out in Adobe Lightroom and went to Photoshop CS6 where I opened the image as a single tone map in HDR Efex Pro to bring back the washed out details, then off to Color Efex Pro 4 to make the colors pop.

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Slack Slough is a large wetland area on the south end of Red Deer, Alberta. It’s an interesting spot to view birds. We were there one day, mostly to see some ducks and wading birds. I wasn’t able to get very close and I had only brought my 18-135mm lens with me that day. On looking up I spied a Franklin’s Gull circling over head. I managed to grab a few quick frames as it passed by. Luckily, at 135mm it was just the right focal length to catch all of the detail in the bird’s feathers. I’m told by my cousin Ken Richardson, that the pink hue on the gull’s underside is caused by winter feeding on crustaceans in Argentina. The same ones that have a strong effect on Flamingos causing their pinkness. A quick trip through Photoshop CS6 and Nik Color Efex Pro 4 has the image tuned up the way I wanted.

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This week, instead of featuring new images, I’m bringing back older images. Some of them have not been seen before and some will be reprocessed. I’m still learning Adobe Photoshop CS6 and there are a few things I’m trying to improve the older images.

This scene is from Herbert Lake north of Lake Louise in Banff National Park.

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A little fog and rain and snow never hurt anyone, and it can improve your photography.

Bad weather can help to create mood in your pictures. Above, the rain and fog are between me and Mount MacDonald but the clouds are thinner near the peak. This creates a brighter area nearer the summit with enhanced contrast in the crevasses.

A curtain of snow is falling between me and the Selkirk Range in the Columbia River Valley. The evening sun is lighting the under sides of the clouds and framing the peaks across the river. The precipitation is having a softening effect on the image. Does bad weather keep you inside or are you out braving the storms?

In the best light…