As readers of this blog know, I try to make an annual trip to Joshua Tree National Park, often with my co-worker and friend Doug Morganthaler. With our California office still closed, we resolved to backpack anyway, meeting somewhere in the middle. We decided on Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park. We backpacked the length of two canyons- Upper and Lower Muley Twist. It was named that because it was narrow enough to “twist a mule.” The upper canyon had short narrow sections, while the curves of the lower canyon were filled with enormous sandstone amphitheaters. On our second day we came across one of the largest, and this became my favorite image of the week.
Sandstone Amphitheater in Lower Muley Twist Canyon
Fujifilm X-T2, Fujinon XF 18-55 f/2.8-4 R LM OIS at 18mm, f/7.1 at 1/50, 1/200, and 1/800, ISO 1600
If you are viewing this on a small screen, you may not be aware that Doug is in the photograph, helpfully providing some scale.
May Week 2? Yes, I shot so many images this week that it took until recently before I edited all of them…
Digital Darkroom. A careful reading of the technical details above hints that this was a high-dynamic range (HDR) image. After combining the three images with Photomatix Pro, I continued to edit the image in Lightroom. I added contrast and clarity, raised the shadows and lowered the highlights. Using a small brush, I raised the exposure and increased shadows on my “model”. I finished with some general sharpening (I shot the HDR image without a tripod, which caused some softness).
WIRR stands for Weekly Image Rich Ruh. This regular feature on Das Has von Ruh will show and describe my favorite photo created during this weekly period. My weeks start on Mondays, as does the WIRR. I’m hoping to include commentary on the story, the setting, the specs, or the sentiments, depending on the circumstances.
Das Haus von Ruh 