Courthouse Rock Sunset

This image is of Courthouse Rock. This butte formation is found south of Sedona, AZ on Highway 179. The light, clouds and formation came together to produce one of my favorite images of our trip.

Bell Rock (one of the famous vortex and photographic sites of Sedona) is about 45 degrees to the left of where this photo was taken. But by this time only the tip of the rock was left exposed to the setting sun.

Shot with a Nikon D90 and Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. PP in Capture NX2 and Photoshop CS4

Photo Adventure - Falls on White Alloe Creek

It's so easy to go to Arizona or Colorado and be inspired to take photographs. I've been searching for locations here around Kansas City that inspire and give me an opportunity to practice new skills. This week I found a place that provided the photographic challenge and met the 'inspire' factor as well.

I've been using the web to browse the state parks and conservation areas in the region. I came across one last week that the maps indicated waterfalls (even if the text didn't). Debbie and I went down there last weekend, and found these waterfalls. White Alloe Creek has been dammed to provide flood control and a water supply to one of the local towns. But the overflow from the dam's spillway cascades down the valleyside on it's way back to the bottom of the valley.

Upper Falls - White Alloe Creek

Lower Falls - White Alloe Creek

We first visited around sundown. The valley is narrow and the falls are on the western slope, so when we arrived the falls were in deep shadow. We returned Saturday at sunrise and took these photos. The depth of the valley and the height of the surrounding hills delays direct sun for about 45 minutes after the official sunrise time. We've been in a drier weather cycle, so the amount of water yesterday was about half of what was flowing when we visited a week earlier.

Shot with Nikon D90. PP in Capture NX2 and Photoshop CS4

Photo Adventure - The City Market

The City Market has existed in one form or another in Kansas City since 1857. It is located on 3rd St just above the Missouri River. The original river landing is just below the market plaza. These days there is a weekend farmers market year-round along with a number of full time vendors.

We went down this morning early to take advantage of the early morning light and to take part in a program taking place first thing. A wonderful bakery with fresh cherry and walnut danish was an excellent incentive as well!



All images were shot with Nikon D90 with 35-70mm f/2.8. Post-processed in CaptureNX2, with "Bounty" processed from three images using Photomatix Pro

Cathedral Rock at Sunset

One of our outings while in Sedona was a hike to Cathedral Rock. The westerly view of this formation is probably one of the most iconic views for Sedona. I'm still deciding which image from that view I will post ;-))

As we were driving back towards Oak Creek clouds moved in and started masking the sunlight, making wonderful bands of brightness and shadows on the rock formations.

This is Cathedral Rock from the south. We waited for what seemed a long time and finally got this image with the foreground and the top of the rock in the bright sunshine and the base of the rock in shadow.

Shot with D90/18-105mm VR. Post processed in Capture NX2 and PS4