The geology east of Capitol Reef National Park is an amazing conglomerate of features. One of the more interesting of these is an elongated valley sandwiched between the uplifts of the Henry Mountains and the Waterpocket Fold and running parallel to the rock layers of both. It is called simply what it is, Strike Valley. Strike Valley is filled with sediment and debris. Volcanic cinder blocks and ashen mud attest to the tumultuous nature of the land’s history here, below the great lithic blocks of the Waterpocket’s downturn.
The very appealing Notom-Bullfrog Road, a dirt track running through the valley, joins the quaint communities of Notom up in Capitol Reef Country and Bullfrog down on Lake Powell. At its populated maximum in the late-1890’s, Notom claimed 23 families as residents.
A focal length of 27mm, squarely in wide-angleland, gave me the angle-of-view I wanted with cinder blocks only inches away and the massive Waterpocket Fold in the background. An aperture of f/20 provided depth-of-field, and a shutter speed of 1/25 second at ISO 100 gave me an overall lighter-than-medium exposure.
The ground here is a crazy-quilt hodgepodge of privately-owned rangeland and BLM-administered public lands, and the southern end of Capitol Reef National Park; and it’s always a good idea to know which side of the line you are on, even though the likelihood of encountering humans who would be concerned is very small.
Wonderful shot and area.Hope to get back there when someone knows where I am….and not in a low slung rental!
Amy, it’s great to hear from you. I hope you are safe and well in all of our on-going confusion. Thank for for those kind words. Seems like the last time you were in touch, you were heading to Arizona(?) to photograph wild horses. You are absolutely right, low slung rentals have no place in the desert. We are really excited about returning in ’21. I wish we had a month like we did in 2011; but, alas, nine days is all we could stretch it. Take really good care and walk in Beauty.
Don, this is great. Your image just invites lots of questions about all those textures, and fortunately your text begins to answer some of them. I like the strong vertical orientation very much as it helps lead the eye. Beautiful sinuous lines flowing through the middle, though our minds tell us this is anything but a gentle landscape in real life. I am curious about your decision to go lighter than normal. You certainly opened up the detail in the shadows, but at the expense perhaps of some highlights? There is so much to appreciate in this image, including little surprises of color throughout. Thanks.
Hey Ray. It’s always good to hear from you. Thanks for those kind words. This little area is toward the lower part of the valley not far from where we usually turn onto the Burr Trail to go to Boulder. It is rich in shape, form and texture which make for wonderful foregrounds and the middle ground lines you reference are bits and pieces – some smaller, some larger – volcanic debris exposed by erosion over the centuries. So you’re quite right, it bespeaks anything but gentility. Actually, all I did was to add exposure value until the histogram indicated overall tonality on the plus side of “medium,” stopping just short of blowing out any highlights. Since the predominant tonalities of the scene are “lighter-than-medium” the scene in the image file merely expressed what my eyes actually saw. I could have blown out the light tones by continuing to add exposure value until the histogram was climbing the right side of the graphic scale, but that was not what I wanted to accomplish.
Have a great week wherever you travel.
Most interesting, and thought provoking image. Nicely done, and I’m sure challenging to compose. The rough texture gives voice to the very nature of the area. I could not help but think of how life often mimics nature in being caught in the wash between a rock and a hard place. But then the beautiful sky gives hope and determination. Thanks again for a great image.
Hi Chuck. It’s good to have you with us. I love the metaphors you have shared in your description.. I was thinking you had been with us in this area, but perhaps not. Texture is the word that keeps returning every time I think about being here. The wash is definitely here and there are some very hard places on either side. I want to be here one more time.
I felt so blessed to have had just some small textured clouds to give an added dimension to the blue. Hope and determination are ideas you know and live very well. I am honored to have you for a student and a friend. Take good care, be safe and well, Walk in Beauty.
I really like this image, Don. As a total illiterate in photography and nature, there’s no snow in there, is there? Is the very light part volcanic rock?
Hi Lynne. What a wonderful inquiry you have posed! The light areas are exposed volcanic ash and mud. The area receives about 6″ of precipitation annually, enough to generate some mud from the layers of ash that become exposed over time. The dark objects in the foreground are volcanic cinders that have a layer of mud on the outside. In the image you can barely see the vesicle holes in the cinders where the trapped gas bubbles burst in the air. Thanks for asking. Look forward to seeing you and John very soon.
Nature’s own construction site……..so amazing. Had to look hard to see what was there.
Hi Robin. Thanks for joining us. This part of the world does, indeed, feel like Nature’s construction site with on-going construction projects all around. ‘Tis true, it feels like everything is hiding in plain sight and you must really search carefully to see what is right in front of you; but then everything sort of explodes into view and you become amazed at the level of material staring you in the face. Walk in Beauty. Looking forward to our next rendezvous.
Another epic scene where the click of your camera captures thousands and thousands of years of history. The earth tones are beautiful and the sky is a very vivid contrast to the earth. The earth looks old and stagnant in the photo while the sky looks true blue and new.
I think the whale poking its nose, mouth, and one eye out at the top of the image has some stories to tell.
Thanks for sharing.
Hey Nancy T. It was really good talking with you earlier in the week. I glad we were able to successfully resolve the matter of the whale. It made me realize that there likely were whales swimming around in the inland sea that once covered the Four Corners Region. Your friend is just a holdover from that bygone time. In this case, a click is probably worth several million years, give or take. Your thoughts mirror Chuck Coburn’s description of hope and determination seen in the blue sky, but you know, I see in the earth another form of hope and determination in the rocks that continually renew themselves and become the soil from which living things sprout and grow. Between the earth and the sky all is as it should be. Look forward to talking with you soon. Stay safe and well.
Thanks Everyone for joining me for this lovely discussion and for all the thoughtful words we can bring to each other’s lives. I never cease to be in awe of the Beauty that surrounds us in so many forms and in so many places. It is Beauty that beckons us to act to preserve what we have been given, to appreciate what Nature has bestowed, to remember that it can never, even for a moment, be taken for granted or ignored. May we walk in Beauty each day.