Over the July 4th weekend, I drove north in Arizona to Sedona and Flagstaff to get out of the heat and do some hiking and photography.

Using the book "Photographing the Southwest v2", I picked out several areas in the general vicinity of Flagstaff, AZ, give or take 3-4 hours, and spent as much time as I wanted in each spot. It was really nice not having any set schedule and being free to linger or leave, as the situation unfolded.

I tried to avoid the really touristy spots in and around Flagstaff and Sedona, since I am not a fan of big drunk crowds, and they are not hard to find in Slide Rock State Park, so I avoided that spot like the plague.

I made my TSX do things that would make a service adviser weep, and made some significant discoveries regarding the limitations of photography backpacks when 6-7 hours of hiking are involved, but I will save the gear and how I had to "rig" it for a different post.

Two of the five sets have finished uploading to Flickr, so I will post a few from each set.

***I would LOVE to get some critiques, as I really want to get better at landscapes and PPing them.***

I am not a morning person, so any soft light pics in the sets are late afternoon or Lightroom, not sunrise.



SET #1

Devil's Bridge Trail, Sedona (click a pic to access the set on Flickr)


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3729250850/" title="IMG_7669 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/3729250850_c889b58106_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_7669 -jpeg" /></a>


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3728457277/" title="IMG_7704 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2531/3728457277_8bb82b6418_b.jpg" width="683" height="1024" alt="IMG_7704 -jpeg" /></a>




SET #2

Little Painted Desert, North of Winslow (click a pic to access the set on Flickr)


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3729275148/" title="IMG_8004 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/3729275148_4fc6ffd794_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_8004 -jpeg" /></a>


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3728477483/" title="IMG_8010 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3497/3728477483_5425279b36_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_8010 -jpeg" /></a>



OK, gotta go to sleep. Three more sets to come, tomorrow.

 

beautiful pics Jefford....trips like that are the best. I did something similar 2 years ago, my only true destination was that I was going to spend some time with my Grandfather on the gulf coast of Florida, but I had no timeline as to when I got there. I took the most round about scenic route possible

 

nice set..i love the colors...
did you do any pano's?

 

These look really super great, stogie! I'll head to flickr to look at the rest.

 

Nice stuff Stogie and sounds like a great way to both get outside and do some shooting. It paid off nicely. Looking forward to seeing more and hearing about the rig.

My wife is somewhat patient when I am shooting, but not hours per spot patient.

 

Nice shots stogie.

 

Stogie, glad my got you up the street, nicely done. I love the Painted Desert one's. Not sure what the layout was there, but if seen images further back that show a lot more of what they have to offer.

 

Niceeeee

 

Got the rest up...



SET #3

Wupatki Pueblo Ruins (click a pic to access the set on Flickr)


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3731530948/" title="IMG_7918 by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2639/3731530948_dd848a8f56_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_7918" /></a>



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3731526280/" title="IMG_7872 by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2359/3731526280_66a614ae55_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_7872" /></a>



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3730743179/" title="IMG_7987 by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2442/3730743179_cbe81e848e_b.jpg" width="1024" height="682" alt="IMG_7987" /></a>




SET #4

Sunset Crater (click a pic to access the set on Flickr)


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3731421056/" title="IMG_7776 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2457/3731421056_fce00bf71e_b.jpg" width="1024" height="596" alt="IMG_7776 -jpeg" /></a>



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3731423968/" title="IMG_7780 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2450/3731423968_6540e2ac20_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_7780 -jpeg" /></a>



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3730629539/" title="IMG_7808 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3730629539_8f7d5fb99a_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_7808 -jpeg" /></a>



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3731431824/" title="IMG_7825 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3447/3731431824_21738be92d_b.jpg" width="775" height="1024" alt="IMG_7825 -jpeg" /></a>




SET #5

Boynton Canyon, Sedona (click a pic to access the set on Flickr)


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3731594808/" title="IMG_8045 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2535/3731594808_cb21efb4fb_b.jpg" width="682" height="1024" alt="IMG_8045 -jpeg" /></a>



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3731602874/" title="IMG_8155 -jpeg by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3460/3731602874_6b826b8d11_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_8155 -jpeg" /></a>



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3730822339/" title="IMG_8222 by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2650/3730822339_6ed2021657_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_8222" /></a>



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/3731620802/" title="IMG_8223 by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3426/3731620802_522f8515f2_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_8223" /></a>

 

Nice pictures. Always wanted to check out that area.

 

That sky in set #3 , had me blow my lo@d, nice pic for the b&w

 

stunning! these are great stogie...
this place looks like a photographers heaven...i'd love to visit someday

 

Thanks guys! My only regret was the time of day I was at some of the place, with the sun being too high for my preference...

Other than that, all of northern AZ is really amazing to see. Thanks Jup for the kick in the ass to get up there!

One of my employees is a Navajo from the Shiprock, NM area, but he has close family who were the ones that started the guide business in Canyon De Chelley and around Navajo Mountain/Page, so those spots are probably next on my list...

 

The wide open skies shots in the that set (non ruins shots) were actually taken on the road south from Tuba City/First Mesa.

 

Absolutely amazing shots buddy! That's beautiful country there....

 

I took some handheld spreads, but don't know what I am doing when it comes to combining them...

It was a great trip and you were the impetus!

The painted desert shots are actually a bit of a fraud. That is the "Little Painted Desert" on the Navajo reservation 20 minutes north of Winslow, AZ, and is only a few square miles of similar geology as the actual Painted Desert, which is about 1.5 hours away.

Thanks! I had always wanted to, just never seemed to make it up there...

Thanks, I am itching to go back!

 

More good stuff, Stogie. Especially like the ruins shots.

 

Thanks... One will be in the current contest shortly.

 

You could have picked another word, this is one to close to a state of body that I want nothing to do with.

I'll read up on the difference, I need to get out that way and shoot.

 

im⋅pe⋅tus
  /ˈɪmpɪtəs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [im-pi-tuhs] Show IPA
Use impetus in a Sentence
–noun, plural -tus⋅es.
1. a moving force; impulse; stimulus: The grant for building the opera house gave impetus to the city's cultural life.
2. (broadly) the momentum of a moving body, esp. with reference to the cause of motion.

 

Jup - lots of info in this thread about your goodies - something you need to share?


:P

 

let me know if you need help

 

:lol: nope works just fine; one would say pretty damn good