Tales of a Travel Photographer

Sunrise and Sunsets Spots for Photographers @ Tikal, Guatemala

The much touted sunrise spot is probably better at sunset for photographers. View from the top of Temple IV @ Tikal.

Sitting on top of Temple IV in Tikal National Park, I was cursing myself. I probably should have the “Mr. Green Jeans” chapter in Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure one more time. That particular chapter deals at length with handling compositions that are monopolized by the green color.  I could have used that advice. Did he say expose the greens at 2/3rd?  or was it –2/3? For the love of photography, I could not remember.

Southwest: Photography + Archeological Trip: Cedar Mesa, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon and Ute Mountain Tribal Park

Day 0: Seattle-Denver-Cortez

The Denver-Cortez flight set the tone of the trip; A tiny plane going to a tiny town for a backcountry vacation. I was expecting the plane to be small, but did not expect a twin-prop Beech 1900 with just two rows of seats along the windows - there is no bad seat in the house. After the pretty girl finished tucking us in and showing us the only emergency exit, she went to the flight deck, donned an aviator cap and sat besides the pilot, which is when I realized she was a pilot and not a air hostess. As we flew SWW, I craned through the starboard window to see large patches of charred ground where Colorado had burned a few days earlier.

Descending on Cortez, visible through the cockpit glass, was the landing strip, oscillating wildly. It was almost as if the tiny plane was being thrown around in the air. The pilot skillfully managed a touch down, the left wheel first, a good five seconds later the other wheel.

The Cortez airport is one room deep. I rented the last car at the terminal and point it towards Bluff, Utah

Hiking Anasazi Ruins of Southern Utah with Vaughn Hadenfeldt

Ceiling House Ruin aka Fallen Roof Ruin in Mule Canyon: The fallen roof is lying in front of the ruins

When Utah tugged at my heart once again, I reached out to Craig Childs, whose books about the southwest exploration are high up in my list of favorites and he pointed me to Vaughn Hadenfeldt. “He knows a whopping bunch about that country, especially the archaeology.” Childs added. I googled Vaughn and from what I read, I was convinced Vaughn is my man. I called him up and we chatted for 15 minutes. He heard my detailed specifications for the trip patiently and promised to put together something suitable. I prodded him to send me an itinerary, give me a few choices.

“I don’t do itineraries.” He said, “You come over, we will have a great time.” For somebody who obsesses about minute details, I surprised myself by letting him get away with it. But boy, did he keep his word!