Next Trip

One week to go before my next trip to Arches. Can't wail.

I have created a book containing the best of my travels around to country. It is available for purchase at blurb.com

Inspired by Na...

By Barry Cain

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Arizona

Arizona is a wonderful state with so much to see. Last week I visited Sedona, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Canyon DeChelley. This has been an unusually cool spring for the area so the weather was fantastic. I have been to the Grand Canyon before and was looking forward to Monument Valley. The big surprise was Canyon DeChelley. There are two roads you can take to view the Canyon from above. One on the north and the other on the south, with various lookout points along the way. For a more unique view from inside the canyon be sure to hire a Navajo guide and have him take you in his own 4-wheel drive vehicle. It is worth it to have him drive. The guide was very willing to stop anywhere I wanted in order to take some photos. The trip lasts about 3 hours but you can pay extra by the hour if you need it. There are still about 40 Navajo families living in the canyon.

Look who's been eating the Woodpecker suet

I have been replenishing the Woodpecker feeder daily and haven't seen one in about a month. This morning I finally found out who's been eating it.

Still at home

Having the bird feeder is at least keeping me shooting until my next trip. I saw a Baltimore Oriole for the first time in my life in Illinois.

Only have to wait until June before my trip to Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. But in the meantime I'll do what I can here.

in my own backyard

I recently set up a bird feeder in my backyard. We have a large variety of birds in the area but they never stay still long enough or in one area in order to get a shot. The bird feeder is the solution. I attached a number of branches to the feeder so my shots don't include the feeder itself. After only a day in the yard I have, goldfinches, house finch, cardinal, redwing blackbird, and a woodpecker. Didn't get a shot of the woodpecker though. He was here and gone in about 3 seconds.

Color Efex Pro

You just never know when you have to make a quick decision. We were driving south on the highway from Albuquerque when I saw this group of trees. It was only accessible from the highway. We pulled onto the shoulder and shot from the window of our car. We found out later that these trees had burned last year. I finished the photo using Color Efex Pro. A quick way to get a cool sepia look.

D300 70-200VR

Gotcha

Sometimes you just get lucky. We were out on an excursion on our Alaska cruise and caught this eagle snatching up his dinner. The eagle was actually swimming ashore with the fish before it got up to this rock to rest for a few minutes.

D300 70-200VR 1.7 TCE

Bosque del Apache

Here are a few shots from my trip to Bosque del Apache in November. It gets pretty cold at Dawn in New Mexico. It was the official Sandhill Crane week. We had the opportunity to listen in on a lecture about the Crane's behavior. They have a particular posture just before they are going to take to flight. This is very helpful information when setting up your shot.

D300 500VR