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I just returned from another whirlwind (no sleep) boot camp photography mission. I connected with David, John and Zia with one goal, shoot as many locations as possible. On this particular day, David, Zia and I headed out to Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona.

Prior to a photo shoot, I like to do some research and look at photos of a scene I intend to visit. I do it to study the scene, visualize, and avoid a comp stomp if possible. After reviewing some of the shots, I knew I wanted more sky in my composition. Since it was a location I had not been to before, we wanted to get there early. We arrived and made our way down to the canyon and guess what, clear blue skies! As I neared the edge, I was overwhelmed by the height and beauty of the canyon. I stared at the stunning view in a desperate attempt to challenge my fear of heights. I had lots of emotions going on from "I'm scared as hell" to "all the way here from California and no clouds".

Approximately two hours before sunset, we started to notice some textures developing in the sky. I thought to myself if the sky develops, I'm definitely going to "live on the edge". As sunset approached, it was evident the sky was going to blow up. (Click here to see a video of this shot.) I laid myself on the edge of the 1500 foot canyon with my tripod literally inches from it. I composed the shot and set my filter. The sky blew up with some awesome color. The whole time, I pressed the wireless shutter and hoped for the best. Usually light like this induces a happy dance, but there was no way in hell I was going to dance along this edge. While I was doing all of this, I was able to capture a short video and send it to some of my buds. (Sorry, I could not post the video, as it documents my foul language due to the excitement.)

Be sure to check out Dave's and John's awesome images from here.

Thanks to Jean for sending us the light and well wishes; to all the guys who made this trip so much fun; and a special thanks to David for being such a stupendous host. This is what it's all about, hanging with good people, challenging your fears, having lots of fun, learning a thing or two and catching some nice light! In summary:

1. We traveled to 4 states in 3 days: Nevada, Utah, California and Arizona.
2. We drove close to 1,000 miles in 3 days.
3. We drove an estimated 15 hours on the road.
4. We visited the following spots: Zion National Park, Utah; Toadstooles Hoodoo, Utah; Horseshoe Bend, AZ; Lower Antelope Canyon, AZ and Death Valley National Park, CA.
5. We ate enough junk food to hold us over for another 6 months.

I hope you all have a great holiday weekend. Hope to see you all in the new year. Jave

Tags:   Horseshoe Bend Page Arizona AZ canyon Colorado river rocks lines textures patterns southwest sunset clouds sky color lake powell nature natural desert west national monument landscape water livingontheedge singhray reverse BRAVO CS5

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This image is from one of my Favorite trips this year. Dave, James and I met up in Death Valley with D. Breezy. I really liked the leading lines here, so I took a quick hand held shot. As we continued our hike we had a feeling the sunset was going to be nice. The sky did not disappoint click here to see the sunset shot that was taken minutes after this one.

Have a great weekend and may the light be with you. Thanks for your support and visits. Jave

Tags:   Death Valley National Park Neveda California NV CA desert sand sandunes mesquite dunes stovepipe wells sky clouds tectures patters lines groves ripples shapes curves landscape nature natural mountains peaks CS5

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This image is from one of my Favorite trips this year. Dave, James and I met up in Death Valley with the famous D. Breezy.

Some of you who know me know that I like to arrive HOURS early to visualize what's in store and be prepared. On this particular shoot we wanted to find some clean sand dunes without any footprints, so we walked 1 ½ miles into the dunes. The clouds were starting to form and I was feeling pretty good about the sunset. I looked around and was visualizing a few compositions just in case. Eventually the sky EXPLODED as I ran from comp to comp. This dune was behind us and was a much easier balancing the light as the sun was to the right.

Click here here to watch a video so you can observe how the body reacts when you get some nice light. hahaha Click here to see the corresponding image to the video.

As always I thank you for your constant support and visits. Hope you all are having a great week. Jave

A single raw image processed in ACR and CS5.

Tags:   Death Valley CA california Neveda NV desert sand dunes mesquite Stovepipe Wells sunset color sky clouds fire textures ripples lines shapes patterns curves landscape nature natural NO HDR CS5 State Park mountains

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PLEASE PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW TO WITNESS THE ADRENALINE THAT WAS STILL PUMPING AFTER THIS SHOOT:)

This is one of my favorite pictures from our last trip to to Death Valley. I don't think it's the best comp, but what makes it my favorite is because what it took to get it. This location was very challenging to get to. First of all we had to drive 3 hours to get here. Two of those hours were traveling 10 MPH through a rocky dirt road. I didn't mind it on the way there; it was coming back that hurt. We arrived with plenty of time to set up. The problem was we could not find any of the "moving rocks". We walked from one side of the track to the other side. I estimated to be a 3 mile distance from one end to the other.

As the sun was falling we were getting a bit anxious and worried that we would not find any rocks. So we decided to stretch out in a scrimmage line and walk in a southbound direction towards the south end. At one point the guys look like small ants in a HUGE field. We literally had to scream at each other to hear ourselves. During the walk we lost D. Breezy and Dave. James and I continued on, determined to find the rocks. As the light dropped I told James, "Dude give me your back pack and run as fast as you can". When you get there let me know if there are any rocks, if so I will run towards your direction. James and I had pre determined a signal which he would give me if he had found the rocks. The problem was I could no longer see him when he arrived.

Eventually I grabbed his back pack and mine and ran as fast as I could. I just had time to drop the bags and start hitting the shutter as the sky was on fire. Click here to see a great sand dunes sunset by James. Jave

Tags:   DeathValley Neveda State Park California sand storm sunset color sky orange fire clouds lines textures nature shapes patterns ripples RaceTrack SinghRay dessert chasing light rock dry

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I was looking through the archives the other day and I discovered this beauty. I guess everything is an archive, really, since It takes me forever to upload. :o) Last year Dave, James and I met up in Death Valley with David.

This is the Mesquite Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park. On this shoot James and I arrived about 2 hours early for sunset. We wanted to find some clean sand dunes without any footprints, so we walked 1 mile into the dunes.

Once in a while I exaggerate about the light blowing up for good story telling, but there is no exaggeration here. This is still to date the most amazing sunset I have ever witnessed. The sky erupted in flames in all directions. I had to slide the saturation slider to the left to remove some of the color because it was too much.

Thanks for taking a look and for your support and visits. May the light be with you whereever you are. Have a great week. Jave

Tags:   Mesquite sand dunes deathvalley death valley national park desert neveda stovepipe wells california NV CA ripples textures lines patters color sunset peaks mountians natural nature curves 5DMK2 1740L SINGLERAWIMAGE CS5 Singh Ray reverse filter

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