The Terra Galleria Blog – QT Luong

The Grand Canyon defines immensity. It is so vast that the Colorado River, which has carved it, is a distant sight from most overlooks. The only place in Grand Canyon National Park where you can look straight down to the Colorado River from the rim is Toroweap. You will stand at the edge of a shear cliff with a 3000 ft drop with no railings.

While during the summer the overlooks on the South Rim can get crowded well before sunrise, at Toroweap, there is a chance you’ll have the view for yourself, as Toroweap is within the Tuweep Wilderness, one of the most remote areas in the United States. From the North Rim, the driving time is almost four hours.

Toroweap is reached by driving CR 109, a 60+ mile graded, unpaved road that starts 9 miles west of Fredonia on hwy 389. Stay on the most heavily-traveled branch, and you’ll arrive to a ranger station. After 5 more easy miles, the road crosses solid slickrock for the last 2 miles. With careful driving, a normal car can pass that section (I drove a Subaru Legacy), but watch for sharp edges that can cause tire punctures. When you reach the edge of the canyon, the road loops in a circle. You’ll be only a hundred feet from the rim.

One of the most spectacular locations for a sunrise in the Park, the classic view looks northeast as the rising sun illuminates the vertiginous cliff below. For a change, I am displaying a photo of myself, taken with a programmable self-timer. Had my wife been with me, she wouldn’t have let me even think about doing that. Views in both directions are interesting and should also be tried at sunset. You would be camping at a nice, but primitive site just fifty feet from the rim. Do not wander in the dark !

Tired of seeing images of the US National Parks ? Ten of my images from India are on display in the lobby of the Balboa Theater, in the Richmond District of San Francisco, until early March.

It is clearly not possible to portray a multi-religious, multi-lingual, multi-ethic, and multi-cultural country of over one billion people with so few images, but I have tried to create a good mix with a few themes. Each of the images is from a different site in the country, visited during just 12 days of travel in 2007.

Over the course of the next month and half, I will continue posting new images of Western National Parks. Those are of course already well covered on this site, so each update will be rather small, covering either areas for which I had not published images before, or picturing areas with existing images in new light.

Today’s update is Death Valley National Park, with images taken during a family visit during which we drove down Titus Canyon, stopped at Scotty’s Castle, and then made it to the Racetrack.

Contrary to some reports of a rough road, we had no difficulty with our Toyoto Sienna minivan, taking only about one hour and fifteen minutes from Ubehebe Crater to the Racetrack. The vibrations from the washboard are worse if you drive slowly. I had been to the place four times before, but this was the first family visit to the Racetrack, where the infant strollers proved very convenient ! It was great getting others to see for themselves this unique phenomenon. With more people to spread out and explore, we found more complex networks of moving stone tracks than I had seen before. Since the family did not want to drive back by dark, the light of the Racetrack was not the best, but on the other hand, I was able to photograph Ubehebe Crater at dusk, which as often is the case with volcanic landscapes, turned out more interesting than the daytime images.

Lassen Volcanic National Park is a real-life dictionary of volcanic geology. The volcano had a series of eruptions less than a century ago, creating cinder cones and hardened lava fields, as well as active features such as hot springs, hissing, steaming fumaroles, boiling mudpots and pungent sulfur vents that are reminiscent of Yellowstone National Park, although at a much smaller scale.

What differs from Yellowstone is the visitation, which is one order of magnitude smaller. Among the best kept secrets of the many natural treasures in California is that even in the middle of summer, a visit to Lassen Volcanic will be uncrowded. This is especially true if you explore areas other than the scenic drive (highway 99), which is the main focus for most visitors.

A wonderfully quiet such out-of-the-way area is found around Butte Lake. The crown jewel there is the Cinder Cone. From its top, which can be reached through a hiking trail (unlike, for instance the Sunset Crater, off limits to hiking), there are impressive views of the volcanic landscape, over the Fantastic Lava Beds, Painted Dunes (that I find particularly unique), and Mt Lassen in the distance. The cone itself is also interesting, as you can hike two concentric crater rims circling a bowl-shaped crater. You can photograph wide panoramics, or concentrate on abstracts.

To get to Butte Lake from the main road through Lassen Volcanic Park (Highway 99), exit the north end of the park, drive Highway 44 to Old Station, head east towards Susanville, and then turn south on gravel road that ends near a pleasant campground.

The trail to the top of Cinder Cone is 4 miles round trip, 5 if you circle the cone by following the trail down on the South Side to get a close view of the Painted Dunes, which I recommend. It starts at the parking lot, and follows the edge of the massive lava flow called Fantastic Lava beds. The Cinder Cone is 800ft high. Being steep, and made of loose cinder (surprised ?), it is quite strenuous to hike up. Volcanic landscapes can be harsh looking at mid-day. If you want to get there for sunrise, you should depart the trailhead in the dark, no later than than one hour before sunrise.

View all images of Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Kings Canyon National Park features two easily accessible sites: a beautiful sequoia grove (Grant Grove) and the deepest canyon in the country (the Middle Fork of the Kings – about twice the depth of the Grand Canyon), however at least 95% of the park is backcountry with no road access. Since in the previous posts of the series, I’ve described locations relatively close to the road, for a change I will now describe a site that requires backpacking (although easy).

In my opinion, the most spectacular parts of the park are those near the Sierra crest. That’s where Ansel Adams took the images that convinced Franklin Roosevelt to approve Kings Canyon National Park – although FDR knew that he would never personally get to see those scenes himself. To this effect, Ansel sent a copy of his first book of landscapes, entitled “Sierra Nevada – The John Muir Trail” to secretary of the interior Harold Ickles. Ickles showed it to FDR, who promptly decided to keep it for himself. Kings Canyon National park was conceived by Ickles as a “wilderness park”, free from roads and large developments, and except for the two previously mentioned sites has remained largely that way.

Dusy basin is one of my favorites high Sierra locations. A number of alpine lakes of various sizes, nested in a huge cirque mostly above tree line, reflect The Palissades, one of the most dramatic mountains in the Sierra.

The location is one of most accessible in the high Sierra. In fact, it could be visited on a long hiking day. Nevertheless, it is best to camp there for one or two nights, as the light would be better and the basin has much to explore. The view towards the Palissades is best at sunset. Being the highest mountain range east of the Pacific Ocean, the Sierra crest can catch remarkable alpenglows if the conditions are right. The Palissades are backlit in the morning, but do not neglect other views at sunrise.

Dusy Basin is free of snow from July to the first fall snowfall, which rarely occurs before late October. The stable summer weather of the Sierra makes it an easy backpacking destination. During my first trip there, my wife and I took only one sleeping bag between the two of us, and we did not carry a tent, as my 5×7 camera kit was already plenty of weight. My second trip was quite a different experience, as I traveled with Dayton Duncan, his son Will, and the Florentine film crew of “The National Parks, America’s Best Idea” all supported by a mule train and two cooks who prepared fresh food. You can hire Rainbow Pack Outfitters (which were great) for yourself too if you want to travel in style and comfort into the backcountry.

Free wilderness permits can be obtained at the ranger station in Bishop, or can be reserved in advance for $5 per person per day. From there, it is a 22 miles drive to the South Lake trailhead (9,800’). The basin is reached through Bishop Pass (11,960’, about 5.5 miles). Less than a mile after the pass, you’ll see a nice bivy spot under a tree, next to the trail. Wander cross-country left (east) of the trail from there to find a nearby attractive campsite next to the closest lake. With time, more lakes with different views can be found by hiking cross-country, or by following the trail that continues down to Le Conte Canyon.

View all images of Dusy Basin

View all images of Kings Canyon National Park

Each year the North America Nature Photography Association organizes a conference called the Nature Photography Summit, or in short “Summit”. Diverse presentations, a trade show, multiple opportunities to share images, as well as optional portfolios reviews and workshops make it a great opportunity to be inspired, learn, and network with other nature photographers.

I first attended the 2004 Summit in Portland, Oregon. I had a great time, which inspired me to contribute more actively to the Summit.

The 2010 Summit will be held Feb 16-21 in Reno, Nevada. I will give a presentation on my project to photograph the 58 US National Parks on February 19 from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, including a discussion of the project background, a quick tour of the 58 parks, and a behind-the-scenes look.

More details about the summit are here. If you plan on attending any portfolio reviews, you should register as soon as possible, since the most popular reviewers are already sold out. Moreover, to get the early bird discount, you need to register before January 18. If you plan to attend specific talks (including mine), be sure also to enroll in the registration form, since seating is limited.

By the way, the cover image for the 2010 Summit is one of my Lake Tahoe Winter pictures.

Capitol Reef National Park offers more geological variety than any other park on the Colorado Plateau, which itself is possibly the most unique area in America for natural landscapes. You can find there multicolored cliffs and domes, slot canyons, arches, stone monoliths, and badlands.

Most visitors stay on UT 24 and the scenic drive, both of which cover only a tiny portion of the park. Venture on the dirt roads south or north of UT 24, and you’ll make fantastic discoveries. You will see only a few souls during a whole day if you come off-season. These opportunities for solitude, as well as the variety of landscapes make Capitol Reef one of my favorite national parks.

The main feature of Capitol Reef National Park is the Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile long wrinkle on the earth’s crust consisting of an uplift of sandstone cliffs with colored horizontal layers. After getting the official NPS map of the park, you will notice that they have used an aerial photograph as the cover image, whereas in general the cover images for those maps are landscapes photographed from the ground. This is because it takes a high viewpoint to reveal the structure of the Waterpocket fold, and none is readily available in the park, except for the Strike Valley Overlook, which comes closest.

The Strike Valley Overlook is a remote vista point, far from any facilities, so plan accordingly, which ideally means being ready to camp primitively in the desert under exceptionally clear skies. From the Burr Trail (accessed from Boulder or from the gravel but well maintained Notom Bullfrog Road), take the 3 mile long Upper Muley Twist Canyon road to the north, marked by a “Tour stop” sign. The junction is about a mile from the Burr Trail switchbacks that cannot be missed. The Upper Muley Twist Canyon road can be very rough, but with careful driving does not necessarily require the high-clearance of a 4WD. I have driven it with my Subaru Legacy (not Outback). In doubt, you could always walk. From the trailhead parking, you will see two trails. One heads north into Upper Muley Twist Canyon. The other heads east to the Strike Valley Overlook, first following a sandy wash, and then up a slickrock slope. It takes about half an hour to reach the rim of the Waterpocket fold.

You will be a thousand feet above the Strike Valley with great views. The light is best in the afternoon. Before sunset, the Strike Valley is in the shade, but at dusk, the light becomes even again. I suggest driving by night to Halls Creek overlook, which is nice at sunrise.

View all images of Capitol Reef National Park

I’ve posted a few new images of Crater Lake National Park from last summer.

I got up twice at 4am for the sunrise, but it didn’t work as planned. I went to an unmarked spot about 2.1 miles west from the Rim drive/Rim village junction. If you are not afraid of heights, from a large pullout, scramble up the slope on the left and then down to a natural promontory atop a narrow pinnacle. You will be on an incredible position with a 180 degree view of the lake.

The first day, a bar of low clouds on the eastern horizon totally suppressed the color at sunrise. I came to that same point the next day, but as a low cloud closed in, reducing the visibility to nothing, I quickly moved further south. This allowed me to capture the sunrise, but due to the lower position, there isn’t a good separation between Wizard Island and the rim in the back.

The third image shows more clouds, this time on Mt Scott, the highest point in the park. I abandoned my plans to hike up that mountain.

Another week, another arch. Mesa Arch in Canyonlands is almost as iconic as Delicate Arch, but it couldn’t be more different.

Mesa Arch is only about fifty feet wide and ten feet high, however it is remarkable for two reasons. First, because of its position, right at the edge of the mesa, next to a drop of almost a thousand feet straight down, it frames a vast expense of canyons. Second, for fifteen minutes, after sunrise, light reflects from the wall below onto the underside of the arch, making it glow with a unique intense red light that can be produced only by this particular configuration of terrain and time of the day.

Reflected light almost always enhances the subject, being soft and directional at the same time. This is why reflectors of various sizes are used in sophisticated lighting set-ups. One of the defining characteristics of the Colorado Plateau is that so many of the rock formations are made of red sandstone. Sandstone reflects a lot of light, which is why a polarizing filter is so effective on those rock landscapes. Moreover, the reflected light from such sandstone is much warmer than direct light. When it reaches another patch of sandstone, it will cause it to glow with surreal warm colors. Reflected light is the key to many of the great photos on the Colorado Plateau, not only in canyons such as Antelope Canyon or the Zion Narrows where the walls act as giant reflectors, but also at a spot such as Bryce Canyon (see this picture).

Naturally, you will want to come there for sunrise. The trailhead is about five miles south of the Island in the Sky visitor center, about one hour from Moab. From there, take the trail to the left and walk for about 15 minutes.

Despite the cramped location, there is room for a variety of compositions. In order to see the most of the canyons and the underside of the arch from the opening, it helps to position yourself close – beware of the drop off – therefore an extremely wide angle lens can be useful. For reference, the first photograph below was taken with a 110mm lens on 5×7, which is the equivalent of a 24mm lens on 35mm (or full-frame digital). As you can see, a much wider lens would be needed to capture the span. However, a long lens could also be used to put more emphasis on the canyons, reducing the arch to an bright glowing segment on the top of the photograph.

View all images of Canyonlands National Park

Last year, I licensed 12 images to a calendar company located in Europe for a 2010 National Parks calendar. As part of the deal, I received a limited number of copies (some are on sale here).

Upon opening the package, I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the production. The images are reproduced 23 inch wide on a very glossy paper. However the images didn’t look as I remember them.

At first, I assumed poor color management, but then a comparison with my digital files showed that the colors had been systematically altered, with color warming and saturation increases, in particular in the yellows and oranges. “Calendar art” came to mind.

Because this is a high-end calendar company (judging by the production values), publishing annually dozens of calendars, I had to assume that they knew what they were doing. Yet I was wondering why they had to make those changes to the files I provided to them.

From a photographer’s point of view, there is one reason for increasing drama: emotions influence our reactions and remembrances of a scene. We are sometimes disappointed when an image doesn’t match the excitement that we felt at the scene, or fails to create that excitement in the viewer of our photographs. Enhancing the colors in an image can be a means to remedy the discrepancy between our emotional response, and a literal interpretation. When our experience at the scene was particularly memorable, it is tempting to summon vivid colors to match vivid memories and create impact. There are also individual factors. For instance, if we were hiking, the exhilaration of effort can also bring us to a state where our perception is more sensitive, and therefore the colors look more vivid to us.

In the case of this calendar, the alterations were made by someone who was not present at the scene. Absent the artistic motivation previously described, the most likely reason for enhancing the colors is they thought the calendar would sell better.

It is well-known in the industry that more dramatic images edge others in the marketplace. The same can be observed on photo-sharing sites and contests. Velvia quickly displaced other films used in nature photography. In a world filled with more and more distractions, dramatic color catches your eye, particularly in small images, where there isn’t that much content to hold your attention. Since color photography has been arguably invented to serve commerce, it is not a surprise that “more” color will sell better. Selling is a matter of catching one’s attention fast.

The risk is that there is an increasing “arms race” towards more saturation – and further from reality. This has been in great part aided by the ease of use of just a slider in software. Vibrant images are now expected in nature photography, creating a standard that is somehow arbitrary. If everybody else is offering images with vivid color, and you do not do the same, your images may be perceived as too flat compared to the mainstream.

Since this blog does not let me format the images side by side, please see the comparison here.

Update: After the initial day, the first 100 votes favored the “enhanced” versions by a margin of 56 to 44. This puts me in the minority, but I stand by my original versions. I favor clarity and truthfulness over impact. I try to create images that endure a sustained viewing, rather than attract the eye. I’d like to believe that one of the reasons why the vivid images were favored by the majority is that both series were presented as small web images, whereas I prepare my images for prints. I have found that as the print size increases, and the image is given more consideration, the “wow” factor caused by dramatic color wear out.