Landscape 2014

[Greg Beetham]

Nice placid scene with the sailboats Sury, is that the same lens as before? I notice that sometimes the photos get a bit hazy or maybe its flare, I was blaming the lens, but that last one seems better.
I like the B&W as well caporip but the size limit here doesn’t really do it justice.
Greg

[sury]

Greg,
Thank you. I believe it is the same 70-400 lens.

Sury

[bakubo]

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona last week with the Olympus E-M5.

[Birma]

Great shots Henry. Love all those petrified bits of tree trunk; amazing

[Greg Beetham]

Those trees might be difficult to age by counting the rings Henry. I bet the beetles and the woodpeckers stay clear of those. It’s very odd somehow to see wooden trees turned into stone, nice shots H.
Greg
Ps I actually ran across some petrified wood with a machete once, it was dark and I was rounding up a bit of wood by torchlight for a campfire and took a swipe at a half buried ‘branch’ just to see how tough it would be to chop, it was very tough it took a gap out of the machete, the dang thing was rock but looked just like an old fallen grey branch, not crumbled or broken but smooth and complete with wood grain, it even had a knot hole, very convincing disguise it was. Thinking back, I should have tried to break off some of it and take it back mixed in with the other wood to see if anyone would twig to what it was before tossing it on the fire.
Btw you still missed with the other petrified post, it ended up in the ‘anything that floats’ thread, not that I mind mind you, it was wood once and wood can float so maybe it wasn’t a total miss after all.

[bakubo]

Those trees might be difficult to age by counting the rings Henry. I bet the beetles and the woodpeckers stay clear of those. It’s very odd somehow to see wooden trees turned into stone, nice shots H.

The info I have is that the trees are from the Late Triassic period, about 225 million years ago. Even if you could count the rings I wouldn't have the patience.

Ps I actually ran across some petrified wood with a machete once, it was dark and I was rounding up a bit of wood by torchlight for a campfire and took a swipe at a half buried ‘branch’ just to see how tough it would be to chop, it was very tough it took a gap out of the machete, the dang thing was rock but looked just like an old fallen grey branch, not crumbled or broken but smooth and complete with wood grain, it even had a knot hole, very convincing disguise it was. Thinking back, I should have tried to break off some of it and take it back mixed in with the other wood to see if anyone would twig to what it was before tossing it on the fire.

Yeah, I can imagine how a machete would lose going up against some petrified wood. A jackhammer would probably work better.

Btw you still missed with the other petrified post, it ended up in the ‘anything that floats’ thread, not that I mind mind you, it was wood once and wood can float so maybe it wasn’t a total miss after all.

Actually, the title of that other thread is Anything that floats or it did once so it was okay to post there.

[Greg Beetham]

Actually, the title of that other thread is Anything that floats or it did once so it was okay to post there.

Yep, I got it I just wasn’t totally sure how serious you were about the gag, I should have known better.
Greg

[bakubo]

We were at Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona in 2009 and I got some good photos, but somehow missed seeing the famous Spider Rock. A couple of weeks ago we were in the Four Corners area of the U.S. so I wanted to go again. Here is the 2009 thread with a few photos:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =17&t=2473

Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona. In the photo one of the little streams in the shadow of the big rocks is still frozen.

[Birma]

Wow - such a fabulous looking place, Henry. Love the details in those shots. A landscape that can only be described as epic. Reminds so much of all of those John Ford 'Western' movies.

[bakubo]

Wow - such a fabulous looking place, Henry. Love the details in those shots. A landscape that can only be described as epic. Reminds so much of all of those John Ford 'Western' movies.

The American Southwest really is awesome. If you ever have the chance to come here then try to spend some time in Utah and northern Arizona, especially. Many wonderful, almost surreal, landscapes. John Ford really liked Monument Valley which is in northeast Arizona near Utah.

[Greg Beetham]

Awesome sandstone cliff Henry, it’s huge. All definitely worth seeing and photographing. I’d say at a guess the best time would be anytime but summer, like out west here.
Greg
Ps I saw an account once of people (elderly) fizzling on even a short walk (quite rugged though and about 5Km out and 5 back I think it was) out in the desert in summer time.

[bakubo]

Awesome sandstone cliff Henry, it’s huge. All definitely worth seeing and photographing. I’d say at a guess the best time would be anytime but summer, like out west here.
Greg
Ps I saw an account once of people (elderly) fizzling on even a short walk (quite rugged though and about 5Km out and 5 back I think it was) out in the desert in summer time.

Yes, it can be rather hot in the summer. Fall, winter, and spring are good. In the winter, of course, you have to watch the weather reports and be prepared in case of bad weather. I was at Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park during the winter a couple of times. Snow, but road was clear. Very cool seeing those big red and orange rocks with white snow on them. Even in the summer though it is okay. There is so much that you can easily see very close to where you park the car that the summer is okay too. Remember that many of these places are at rather high elevations so even in the summer it isn't always so hot. Long hikes in the summer wouldn't be so good though.

Painted Desert, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

[Greg Beetham]

Amazing geological variety Henry every photo seem to have different types of stuff with cool contrasting layers, even the erosion is fascinating in how it sculptures things selectively.
Greg
Ps with that other incident I was trying to remember, I think it was something that a lot of people want to visit (some remote historical event location perhaps?) and there is a waiting list apparently, not a lot of people are allowed to be on the trail at the same time to keep it pristine, it’s regulated from a state parks checkpoint but they don’t check if people get into trouble or anything, they assume that everyone is fully aware of the physical demands of the thing beforehand. That’s about as much as I can remember about it.

[Birma]

Love all of the colours, Henry. It is an amazing looking place.

[bakubo]

Love all of the colours, Henry. It is an amazing looking place.

Here are some from Red Rock Canyon in the Mojave Desert, Nevada a few days ago.