Category Archives: Travel

Rainbow Canyon Earns its Name in the Afternoon Light

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Many of the aviation people reading this will immediately know what Rainbow Canyon is.  For the rest of you, it is a canyon in Death Valley.  It is part of a low flying route used for military training and it is a popular spot for photographers to get shots of low flying jets either at eye level or below you in the canyon.  Today it is not going to be pictures of the jets though.  The canyon earned its name because there are many layers of rock in the walls that are of different colors.

I was there in winter so the sun angles never got too high.  This avoided washing out the colors of the rocks quite effectively.  Even so, as the day wore on, the angle of the sun certainly improved from the point of view of getting the color out of the rocks.  There was plenty of time with nothing flying so I was able to enjoy the views around the canyon a lot.

One thing that you struggle to appreciate at a place like this is the scale.  I read about the Spanish first arriving at the Grand Canyon and totally failing to appreciate the scale because there was nothing to give them a reference.  Rainbow Canyon, while a lot smaller than the Grand Canyon (obviously), still is deceptive.  The distance across felt very small until a jet flew through and you realized how far away it still was and it was not even close to the other side.  A quick look on Google Maps with the scale showing makes you realize it is actually a long way across.

Thor’s Well

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The stretch of coastline in Oregon that we visited had plenty to do.  We had to scratch a few of the things we had thought about in order to do other things given the time available.  One of the things we didn’t get close to was Thor’s Well.  This is a hole in the rocks along the shore where the water can rush up from underneath.  You can get close to the hole but you have to be careful as this is the sort of thing that can overwhelm you if you are not careful.

We only got to watch this from the overlook along the highway.  The surf was running in quite strongly while we were there and the tides combined with it to provide a fair bit of action at the well.  Even so, from this distance, you didn’t get much of a sense of the power of the water.  If we go back, I will take the trail down there to get a closer look.

The Start of a New Stadium

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NFL fans in a couple of cities are still mourning the loss of their teams to Los Angeles.  With the Rams and the Chargers both now based in LA, a new stadium is being built to accommodate them.  Meanwhile, they are playing in existing stadiums.  The new stadium, when it is finished, will be one of the most extravagant designs and will be used for other tasks including the future Olympics.  Right now, construction work is underway.  I saw the work site from my plane as I came in to LAX but didn’t have the camera to hand.  However, when flying above LAX in the helicopter, I was able to get some shots at a bit of a distance of the work in progress.

Night Waves

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After dinner one night in Yachats, I decided to go out and see what I could make of the waves crashing on the shore at night.  A number of lights were trained on the shoreline from the local properties so it wasn’t too dark out there.  Even so, it certainly wasn’t very light.  Time to test the low light capabilities of the cameras.  The fact I was going to get slow shutter speeds didn’t bother me particularly as I was interested to see the effects that I could get showing the motion of the waves.

Light levels were indeed better than I had anticipated and I was able to get a lot of shots that came out okay.  There was a good element of luck involved too.  Waves are horribly unpredictable.  If you see something good, you can almost guarantee it won’t do it again and, even if it does, it will be ages before the next set of waves comes in and, even then, the big wave will break differently.  Also, some of the shapes they make turn out to look good in the shot and others are just indistinct messes.  Nothing to do but hang around for a long time and try and lot of different shots and see which ones work.  This randomness is a little frustrating as you feel you should be able to do something to improve but, in this case, it is a case of being there.

Yachats Harbor

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We spent a few days in Yachats, Oregon between Christmas and New Year.  It was a nice opportunity to have a break, see some pretty scenery and relax.  Yachats itself has a nice harbor and, as you drive around the south side of the harbor, you can pull off onto a smaller road that runs parallel to the shore in amongst the many houses that have been built there.  You are on the opposite side to the town itself and the view across the water and the sand flats looks nice with the low winter sung angles.

Bembridge

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The view from the top of Culver Down is usually good (provided you aren’t in cloud) so we took a trip up there while I was visiting mum.  While there was a lot of rain and cloud coming through as a result of the storm system, there was also a fair bit of sun illuminating parts of the countryside when a gap in the clouds showed up.  From that location, you could see where the sun was running to.  Whether looking down at the windmill, across to the harbor or spotting the Ledge (a nasty rocky outcrop just below the surface of the sea that has claimed many an unlucky sailor), the light was interesting.  The rainbow certainly didn’t hurt either.

Bridge at Hecata Head

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Highway 101 passes Hecata Head and crosses a river before entering a tunnel through the cliffs.  The bridge is a pretty elegant structure.  Unfortunately, winter is not a good time to try and photograph it.  It is tucked in amongst the hills and the sun will only be on it when in the west and probably only in the middle of summer when it gets a lot further north.  I had to work with what we had in the shade.  Playing around with exposures and working with some HDR processing did allow me to bring a bit more punch to the shots which I felt represented more of what I actually saw while I was there.

Hecata Head Lighthouse

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Head south along the coast from Yachats and you have a steady stream of gorgeous locations.  One of these is Hecata Head.  The treacherous nature of this part of the Oregon coastline means a string of lighthouses were built at intervals to ensure coverage and Hecata Head was one of those locations.  The lighthouse is still there and it a popular tourist attraction.

You approach the lighthouse from the beach below, as would the original residents in the days when Highway 101 didn’t exist and boat access was the main way there.  The houses for the keeper and assistant keeper were halfway between the beach and the lighthouse itself.  The keeper’s house is now gone but the assistant keeper’s house is still there and is fully maintained.  You can rent it out for events if you wish.

The location of the lighthouse itself provides a commanding view of the coastline and out to sea.  Whales migrate along the coastline here and there were people keeping watch for them while we were there.  If you head a bit further south on the highway, you get to an overlook which allows you to see back to the lighthouse and you see just how rugged the location is.  I imagine building everything there was no small feat and neither was living there year round.

Atlanta Marriott Marquis Architecture

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I was in Atlanta on work for a few days and the Marriott Marquis hotel was the center of a lot of the events I was involved with.  I had not been to this hotel before and I had no idea what it looked like. Externally, it looks a little different but not particularly interesting.  However, the interior is a very different story.  For a while when I was first in there, I didn’t realize just how dramatic it is.  Then I looked up!

The atrium runs the height of the hotel and the floors gradually taper in towards the top.  The curved patterns of the floors look like the ribs of an animal.  From the ground looking up, it is amazing.  There is an area in the lobby with a small roof so you can be under there and have no idea.  Then you step out and have a “wow” moment.  From the top floors, looking down is just as incredible.  If, like me, you are not partial to heights, it is rather scary.  I did have to look though.