On The Road
"Lightpainting the Southwest"

MONUMENT VALLEY, Utah

 Image #1       The Totem Pole ... Sense the trip earlier this spring, Monument Valley had been on my mind as the best place to begin this Lightpainting adventure. It would be the most difficult and I wanted Dan and myself to be full of energy and well rested to tackle these colossal monuments of nature. If the Totem Pole rock formation looks familiar that could be because it was the opening scene in the Clint Eastwood film, The Eiger Sanction. Totem Pole and Yei Bi Chei rocks of Monument Valley are magnificent. With our Native American guide leading the way we conducted a day time site survey that revealed a perfect location around the south side of the monuments. The area had reasonable access by 4 wheel drive and landscape that we could maneuver on foot in the dark while Lightpainting. We were working against thick cloud cover (no stars visible) and 30 mile per hour winds. The blowing desert sands cut down greatly on our ability to focus our lenses on the rock formations, and also hampered the illumination intensity from the Brinkmann Q Beams. It was like lighting with a 2X neutral density filter over the Q Beam. As I stated earlier, I learned a great deal on this trip and was surprised to discover that the blowing sand storm was not even noticeable in the images, and the cloud cover became quite beautiful as it was illuminated by the moonrise. The 10 minute exposure time gave the overcast time to move across the night sky and look similar to a watercolor painting. Dan and would alternate making our own individual Lightpainted images and compare notes after each image was made. Nikon D3, ISO400, 10 minute exposure at f8, Nikon 24-70mm Lens, WB 4000K, Picture control VIVID, Two Brinkmann Q Beam Spot Lights (2 million candle battery powered/rechargeable spotlights), Nikon MC-20 electronic cable release, Bogen Tripod and Gitzo Ball Head with Kirk "L" Bracket, Lexar 8G Flash Card.

ANTELOPE CANYON, Page, Arizona

ZION NATIONAL PARK, Utah

Image #4       Zion Life ... Heading Northwest out of Page we set our sites on a quick stop in Zion before pushing on to Bryce Canyon. Zion National Park was intended to be a site survey for future Lightpainting locations, but I managed to find a narrow crack in a rock wall far up the canyon route. The crack was very dark and devoid of sunlight. It had a tiny green plant growing inside of it. The plant was maybe 4 inches tall. Even though it is 3:00 in the afternoon I decided to use my Inova LED Flashlight and illuminate (Lightpaint) the tiny plant. At a shutter speed of 1/500 and an ISO of 400 I hand held my D3 with a Nikon 105 Micro lens with Canon Close-Up filter and projected some light on the leaves with the Inova flashlight while taking a single frame. Imagine that, Lightpainting in the middle of the day. Nikon D3, ISO400, 1/500 at f10, Nikon 105 Micro Lens with a Canon Close-Up Filter attached, WB 7140K, Picture Control VIVID, Inova XO3 LED Flashlight, Lexar 8G Flash Card.

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Utah

Image #5       Thor's Hammer ... Bryce Canyon is a fantastic location for Lightpainting. Despite the adverse weather of freezing temperatures and 4 inches of wet spring snow that fell during our day time site survey of Bryce Canyon, Dan and I were well rested, and had renewed energy for the night shift that lay ahead. Thor's Hammer is the most iconic rock formation in the park. With cloud cover spoiling our hopes for star trails we scouted out several vantage points above the canyon and its time sculpted hoodoo icon. The canyon rim walk provided us with perfect access and locations for both cameras and Q Beams. The field of view was vast with many formations that would require several lighting locations along the rim of the canyon so as to eliminate shadows cast from foreground hoodoos on background walls. To successfully light Thor's Hammer and the surrounding canyon of hoodoos I would need a long exposure time of 15 minutes of which 3 minutes was for Lightpainting and 12 minutes was time spent hiking along the canyon rim to get to the multiple lighting locations. This was new to me and took some thought and calculating, not to mention counting the minutes so as to make all my lighting locations and still have enough time to Lightpaint. The freezing temperatures seemed to melt away as I hoofed my way along my Lightpainting route to make this picture. Nikon D3, ISO400, 15 minute exposure at f6.3, Nikon 24-70mm Lens, WB 5000K, Picture Control NEUTRAL, Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod and Gitzo Ball Head with Kirk "L" Bracket, Two Brinkmann Q Beam Spot Lights, Lexar 8G Flash Card.

CANYON LANDS, Utah

WORKSHOPS and PRESENTATION Schedule

April 14-22, 2009 ... Photo Quest Adventures, The Netherlands. www.photoquestadventures.com