What good is a trip to the desert without images of grand vistas? I easily could have spent my entire weekend shooting the small, abandoned town of Cisco. However, there is so much more to see n’ do in Moab. Thankfully, it is only a 5-8 hour drive depending on if you visit the wineries in Palisade to pick up some fresh honey and mead for your friends back home. If you are ever visiting Moab, and driving in from the east, make sure to take the scenic byway along the CO river. Some argue it is longer, but I think it is nearly equal in distance and will provide you with some incredible images. Just make sure you add a bit of stoppage time to your plan. You will need it!

This image was made while we did a short hike down from the Canyon Lands plateau to the valley floor. I believe the trail was called Murphy’s Overlook. Don’t quote me on that, but if you are interested feel free to email me and I will confirm it. It felt so incredible to be standing in such a magnificent spot, surrounded by friends, and shooting with my favorite lens of all time, the Nikkor 17-35 AFS. Heaven on earth for a photographer.

When I get a second, I will put together a Moab resource page and add it to the Travel Guides section of the site. Let me know if there is anything specifically you would like me to include.

Songs For Post Processing – The May Playlist is published. I announced it a day late on Twitter, but it has finally made it to a post. I hope you like it. There is quite a bit of variety this month, but all of it is good. (Just click the image below, it will fire up your iTunes, and you can take a listen.)

Capture Notes:

Nikon D300
Nikkor 17-35 AFS
Nikon CPL II (circular polarizer)
Gitzo Traveler

Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Processing Notes:

Capture – 9 images @ 1EV
Photomatix – HDR/Tonemapping
Nik Color Efex Pro – ProContrast
Nik Define 2.0 – Automatic noise profile
Sized for web
Nik Sharpener – Display output defaults

Tip: Lately, I have have been shooting all my images and applying the in camera VIVID picture control. That way, when they pop up on my LCD, they are rich with contrast and color. It really peaks your interest and stirs the creative muse. Later, if you don’t like it, you can just change it during the RAW conversion. Just make sure that you are shooting in RAW, and not JPG. Otherwise you won’t be able to change it in post.