by Zapped

Prologue

In early January 2004 I briefly considered dragging my family on a photo-tour of some of the National Parks of the Southwest USA. I quickly realized that there was only one family member who had the slightest interest in rising well before dawn, shooting pictures for a few hours, driving frantically to the next photo op, shooting pictures again around sunset, passing out around 8pm, then doing it all again the next day. That family member was not our dog, nor my wife, nor either of our kiddos. Yes, I confess, that person is me.

So I soon began planning a solo trip to the Southwest, flying into Las Vegas from my home in Austin, Texas in mid-April, a time of year I consider second only to October as the ideal time to visit the American Southwest. What began in my mind as just a long weekend drive from Las Vegas to Zion and Bryce soon turned into a six-day marathon taking in not just Zion and Bryce, but the Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon, Antelope Canyon, "The Wave" area (Coyote Buttes), and the Grand Canyon. Oh yeah, a pit stop at Hoover Dam too - why not?

A solo trip means one can cover territory more quickly than on a group trip, but it also means taking a conservative approach to hiking. No back-country hikes far from medical aid or even other hikers; just two-to-three hour quickies at heavily travelled locales, with plenty of water waiting in the car.

This trip report is broken down into the following sections:

1. Valley of Fire | Zion
   
2. Bryce
3. Coyote Buttes Area
   
4. Horseshoe Bend |  Antelope Canyon
5. Grand Canyon South Rim | Hoover Dam
6. Las Vegas | Red Rock Canyon
7. Epilogue - links, reference, gps coordinates
   

Bored already? I've got an images-only version here. Enjoy!

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1 - Valley of Fire | Zion

1a - Valley of Fire

The Valley of Fire State Park is just a short drive northeast of Las Vegas on the way up to Zion National Park.

Just after landing in Las Vegas to embark on the first day of my photo-tour, I arrived at the Hertz rental lot at McCarran Airport to be greeted by a brand-spankin' new, um, Kia Sephia. Visions of Strandedness danced in my head. "Could I please have something else" I inquired. "Sure, we've got a Toyota Camry for only $15/day more sir!" came the reply. Sold!

Pointing my Camster northward, I arrived at Valley of Fire State Park in less than an hour, to be greeted by my first taste of red sandstone accented by spring wildflowers in abundance.

The loop road entering the west side of the park is perhaps less than a 20 mile drive, but the return trip to get back on the highway bound for Zion was also another 20-plus miles. On the way out, I made a pit stop in Overton (36.53834°N W114.44252°W WGS84) to grab some staples - deli meat, cheese, pb, wheat bread, granola bars, crunchy salty happy snacks, water, and a picnic cooler. Oh yeah, and some tasty chicken fingers from the deli counter. It saddens me, though, to think of those poor chickens running around without fingers...

The Valley of Fire was certainly a pleasant start to what would prove to be great trip. Additional images here.

1b - Zion

A drive of another hundred miles or so delivered me to the southern entrance of  Zion National Park, a park that struck me simultaneously as both jaw-droppingly impressive yet intimate. Unlike the Grand Canyon, where you stand at the rim and gape at the Big Hole in the Ground, at Zion you arrive at the bottom of the canyon where you're nestled by the massive mountains around you. In the spring especially, it's very green and positively dripping with moisture - not what a newcomer to the area would expect to find in a desert setting.

After April 1st and continuing thru the busy tourist season, the only transportation allowed in the central valley is the shuttle system. Your ride is in a propane-powered bus (actually a medium-sized bus with another bus-trailer attached) that runs very frequently throughout the day. Despite having to tie the Camster to a hitching post at the Zion Museum parking lot, my plan for Zion was to...

• shuttle up to the north end of the canyon to stroll around theTemple of Sinawava (where the Narrows of the Virgin River start) in the late afternoon until about sunset,
• depart to my hotel located about 20 miles east of the park after sunset,
• return to the museum (old visitor's center) to shoot the Towers of the Virgin at sunrise,
• day-hike in the morning by the lower, middle, and upper Emerald Pools,
• then apply pedal to the metal shortly after lunch, directing the Camster toward Bryce
  

And that's exactly what I did. The evening light that first night wasn't so great - overcast highlights contrasting dark canyon walls - but the morning light show more than made up for it. As I began the westward pre-dawn drive from my hotel in Mt.Carmel to the Zion entrance, I was moved by the alpenglow of the the east-Zion hillsides peering out below the dark western sky. The closer I got to Zion the prettier the show became. It was perhaps 5 minutes before sunrise when I arrived at the museum parking lot, so I grabbed my gear and set up at the edge of the field on the back side of the museum, facing the Towers of the Virgin. Shortly after sunrise, here is what I saw:

So captivating was the movement of light & shadow across the mountain faces, I stayed for at least 1-1/2 hours capturing well over one hundred images of the beauty that surrounded me. A shuttle bus then took me up to the Zion Lodge stop, about mid-way into the canyon, to the start of the Emerald Pools trail. It was on a bridge over the Virgin River where I caught a few frames of a lone kayaker making his (or her) way downstream.

Another of the many Very Cool Things to do at Zion is to ride through the 1.1 mile long Mt.Carmel Tunnel (by car, shuttle not needed in this area), which is cut through a mountain just east of the southern entrance to Zion. The tunnel is approached from the west by six switchbacks that climb steeply out of the canyon, all surrounded by gasp-inducing scenery. Continuing east after the main tunnel (and a shorter one just beyond it) the higher plateau area is also chock-full of scenic overlooks and must-see geology (Checkerboard Mesa for example).

I could've spent a week exploring not only the central Zion canyon but also the outskirts to the east and west. But the road was calling and I had to answer the call. Out of Eden, onward to Bryce.

Additional images here.

Sunrise loc.: [travel]  |  Mid-day loc.: Valley of Fire  |  Sunset loc.: Zion  |  Drive: 235 miles  |  Hotel: BW Mt.Carmel, UT

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2 - Bryce

Bryce National Park, home of the hoodoos. I knew in advance that a visit to Bryce was going to be a memorable experience, and memorable it was. I understand there is a least one other park in southern Utah with a small "amphitheater" containing a number of the sandstone pillars known as hoodoos, but Bryce is the pinnacle of That Which Is Hoodoo. It was a treat just to gaze over the rim and listen to other first-timers approach, gasping or blurting out an excessively loud "Oh my God!" as the panorama revealed itself.

After freshening up at the Best Western Ruby's Inn located just outside the park entrance, I quickly headed to Sunset Point to take the short hike down into the bowl on the Navajo Trail. Despite the 8000-ft elevation of the park, it was a warm early-spring afternoon, perhaps around 70F and sunny. The trail proceeds through switchbacks down into a wall of rock appropriately named "Wall Street", passing by tall, slender pines reaching upwards to the sky and all sorts of crazy rock formations in every shade of orange and coral imaginable. I captured some pleasing images during the late afternoon walk but skipped sunset itself since I was exhausted and starving.

When I returned to the hotel I learned that there was a chance of snow overnight. I woke up around 3am and saw that the sky was completely overcast with a light snow falling, so I turned off my morning alarm and returned to slumberland. At 6:30am, about 1/2 hour before sunrise in this time zone, I awoke spontaneously and saw the snow had ceased, leaving a mixture of menacing clounds and blue sky overhead. Oh lordy, I thought, I almost slept through what promised to be a sunrise to remember!

And so it was, a sunrise to remember. Really the nicest one I've ever had the privilege of witnessing. Wisps of vapor covering part of the amphitheater in a translucent veil. Great pillows of clouds in the distance, with blue skies just above them, and yet another layer of black, angry storm clouds atop it all. Sunlight streaming onto the hoodoos, then disappearing from minute to minute. At Sunset Point (curiously, a good place to observe sunrise) the only humans witnessing the spectacle from 7am until about 9am were myself and two large-format photographers from Los Angeles. We were quite cold, and truly awestruck.

Additional images here.

Sunrise loc.: Zion  |  Mid-day loc.: [driving]  |  Sunset loc.: Bryce  |  Drive2: 121mi.  |  Hotel: BW Ruby's Inn

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3 - Coyote Buttes Area

Hidden in the back-country south of Rt.89 between Kanab, UT and Page, AZ is one of the most beautiful sandstone formations you'll ever see - "The Wave", located in the BLM's Coyote Buttes region. Well, you'll see it only if you can reserve one of the ten permits per day offered six months in advance over the Internet, or can score one of another ten permits given out each day at 9am for the following day. Failing that, you'll have to accept your fate, as I did, and simply hike outside the restricted area, where you'll be treated to some truly fantastic scenery in utter and complete solitude.

Once again while hiking this area I was struck by my good fortune with both the weather and the cooperative bloom of wildflowers. To the left and right are typical examples of the floral beauty I experienced in this area. I can strongly recommend mid-April for a visit to this area if you enjoy wildflowers and relatively cool mid-day temps. Mornings were quite cool, but mid-day highs were only in the 70's (F) while I was there.

Getting to the Coyote Buttes area takes a bit of planning. A good way to orient yourself is to visit the Paria Contact Station (37.10500°N W111.90005°W WGS84) in southern central Utah, located near MM25 off Rt.89 west of Page, AZ. There are plenty of topo maps available to review, and the ranger has a binder showing the exact locations of a good many photo-ops in the area. My pre-determined destination was about 30 miles west of Page off of Rt.89, where there's an unmarked, graded dirt road known as House Rock Road (37.12658°N 111.97669°W WGS84). About 8 miles down this road you come to a parking lot for the Wire Pass Trailhead  (37.0199°N 112.0238°W WGS84), the gateway to both the restricted and open Coyote Buttes area.

With the initial temperature at about 50F, accompanied by threatening clouds and a bracing wind, I began my hike towards Buckskin Gulch dressed warmly. I hiked to Buckskin Gulch and into its shallow slot canyon for only a short distance, but by then the afternoon temperature had risen, rendering me uncomfortably warm even after shedding some outer layers. So I hiked back to my car to change into much lighter clothes (shorts & tee with an anorak backup), to start a new hike to the north & east of the restricted area.

The landscape in this backcountry had no marked trails, but I had some waypoints marked in my GPS, with a traditional compass for backup. My backup plan, in the event of GPS/battery failure, was simply to use the compass to head north until I hit the Buckskin wash that runs nearly due east-west from the Wire Pass Trailhead. In the backcountry area at the top of the sandstone hillocks it was fairly easy to orient oneself with the aid of distant mountains, but most of the time I was in shallow valleys, a lost wanderer in a sandstone wonderland.

It's worth saying here that I'm not a church-goer, but as I wandered in quiet solitiude through this astounding landscape, I knew that there were greater powers at work on this planet than The Hand of Man. I only hope that some of the images I captured during this four-hour walkabout capture that Spirit.

Additional images here.

Sunrise loc.: Bryce  |  Mid-day loc.: Coyote Buttes  | Sunset loc.: House Rock Road   |  Drive: 182 mi.  |  Hotel: BW Page, AZ

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4 - Horseshoe Bend | Antelope Canyon

4a - Horseshoe Bend

You may have noticed at this point that I've stayed in three different Best Western hotels so far. If I returned to the area, I'd definitely consider camping as both an economical alternative to hotels as well as a way to stay more in touch with nature. However, I have no regrets about my choice of hotels on this trip. Each of the BW hotels I stayed in was immaculate, well-appointed, and staffed with friendly folks. Nice to treat yourself to a hot bath after a day of  hiking & driving, too!

Day Four dawned early. Despite my exhaustion from the grueling schedule, I felt such eagerness to get up and experience the new day's scenic vistas that I had no trouble at all answering my morning alarm. Continental Breakfast at the BW in Page wasn't just doughnuts & coffee, but a decent spread of cereals, toast, bagels, muffins, apples, O.J. as well.  After eating my fill while scrolling through some of the previous day's images in my Capture One RAW converter software, I was off for Horseshoe Bend (H.B.).

There is a marked pulloff (approximately here) for H.B. off Rt.89 just south of Page, and then it's a short hike up a sandy hill and perhaps another 1/4-mile down the hill westward towards the cliff overlook from which you can photograph H.B. I'd read in Lauent Martres' Photographing the Southwest Vol.1 that about an hour after sunrise was about the best time to shoot H.B., so that was about the time I got there for my shoot.

You'll either want a wide-angle lens to take in the view here, or stitch a panorama from multiple images as I did. I found a 5-image panorama taken with my 28mm prime in portrait mode(remember the 1.6x crop factor with an APS-sized sensor like on my Canon 300D/DRebel) worked pretty well -

 
My only regret is that I wasn't brave enough to stand directly on the edge of the cliff to capture the entire river at my feet, but that several-hundred-foot drop was a strong deterrent to me!

My Horseshoe Bay images are here.

4b - Antelope Canyon

Just east of Page, Arizona you'll found one of the most photogenic slot canyons in the world - Antelope Canyon. Lower Antelope, located on the north side of Rt.98, was a prime destination for me personally, motivated by the stunning images I'd been drooling over while planning this trip.

Unlike Upper Antelope, which requires a short cross-country ride on a tourist jitney bus to reach, to get to Lower Antelope you simply drive into the Lower Antelope parking lot, pay the Navajo attendant the US$18.50 fee, and walk with the attendant a few yards to the opening to Lower Antelope. Upper is more popular because it's easier to walk through on a sandy bottom surface, whereas Lower requires a bit more crawling and descending on short fixed ladders. Don't sweat it, though - I wasn't sure how difficult it would be but I can assure you that if you're not excessively "large" a person in girth and are reasonably fit, it's pretty easy and not claustrophic-feeling at all.

The slot canyon is really something to experience. I was surprised how bright it was in the canyon at mid-day considering the dire warnings I'd heard about 15-30s exposures being necessary. At ISO100, the longest exposure I took was about 1s as I recall. You can see exposure data on each individual image in my gallery if you're interested in the gory details.

In Lower Antelope I tried to stay away from any direct illumination, to avoid blown-out highlights. I left my camera in Manual mode at an aperture of f/8-f/14 (roughly the "sweet spot" of my primes) and dialed the shutter until the meter said exposure was hunky-dory. I reviewed the histogram immediately and if the resulting image had any blown highlights I'd try about a stop lower, and if the image was too dark I'd add a stop, with the end result being an image properly Exposed To The Right.

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5 - Grand Canyon South Rim | Hoover Dam

5a - Grand Canyon

Famished after my mid-day shoot at Lower Antelope Canyon, I pulled into a Taco Bell in nearby Page for a quick carbo-load. That was the last fast food joint I'd see for many a mile on the long, long Day 4 drive to Grand Canyon National Park. The scenery along the R.89 south was varied - one moment on a long, flat open stretch of deserted road, another moment screaming thru the twisties nestled closely by high cliffs, then in an open area again but this time surrounded by high rocky hillsides. If only my upper back wasn't in such a state of discomfort, I would've been quite content with the drive. I think back on Day 1 in Zion I'd packed too much equipment into my backpack, added a heavy tripod outside that, then added insult to injury by leaving too much load on the shoulder straps, too little on the waist belt. By Day 3 I was on 'round-the-clock ibuprofen, and by Day 4 the ibuprofen was having little effect. Live & learn!

I made what can only be described as a pit-stop at "Navajo Bridge", about a 12-mile side-trip off of Rt.89 in the direction of the north rim of the Grand Canyon. After a few shutter-snaps and a cursory glance at the stalls full of Navajo trinkets, I was back on the road headed for the south rim.

Despite my backache, I was happy to reach the east side of the Grand Canyon's south rim, in particular the Desert View Watchtower designed back in the depression era by noted architect Mary Colter. You might regard it as somewhat strange that my first description of the south rim is a reference to a man-made (or woman-made) structure, but I have to say honestly that after experiencing the stunning landscapes of Zion, Bryce, Coyote Buttes, and Antelope Canyon, the Grand Canyon did not have the impact that everyone told me it would have. Yes, it's a might big hole the ground. Yes, mere images cannot do it justice. Yes, it is worth the journey to witness it in person. But if I had to choose one major canyon to pass up on a short trip to the area, I would pass up Grand Canyon in favor of the other canyons I visited. An extra day in Zion or Bryce, or the addition of Arches National Park or Monument Valley, would've been a rewarding alternative to the venerable South Rim.

I arrived just after sunset at the Bright Angel Lodge in Grand Canyon's south rim village, and by pure dumb luck found out I'd reserved a small but adequate room in the oldest surviving structure in the park - Bucky O'Neil's 1890 tourist cabin. With its simple, rustic furnishings and a private full bath, I was Roughin' It In Style. Unfortunately, as in most of the more crowded National Parks, it's tough to get into the local restaurant between 7-9pm in the evening at peak times. I had no time to wait around for a table since I was planning on hitting the hay before 9pm to be ready for a sunrise shoot the next morning, so supper for me was a peanut butter sandwich, some crackers, accompanied by a quick review of the day's images.

I was feeling a little restless after my peanut butter extravaganza, so I decided to stretch my legs a bit with camera & tripod in tow. I took a few interior/exterior shots of the Bright Angel Lodge, as well as a starlit image of Mary Colters "Lookout Studio", which is nowadays merely another in an endless series of knick-knack shops. I took the shot from this location aimed roughly northwest.

After a good night's sleep in a comfortable lodge, I awoke just before 5am for my sunrise shoot. Given how difficult it was to find parking near the Bright Angel Lodge, I considered taking the shuttle out to Yaki Point (36.0586°N, 112.0838°W WGS84)for my sunrise shoot rather than giving up my precious parking spot. But I wasn't certain when or where I'd need to catch this shuttle so I loaded my gear into the Camster and headed eastward. After a short drive, maybe five miles, I was pleased to see only one empty car parked on the main road at the bus-entrance to the Yaki Point area. It was still pretty dark, about a half-hour before sunrise, when I began the 0.75mi, flat hike to Yaki.

The eastern sky had a dull orange/coral glow when I arrived at Yaki Point. It was around 35deg.F, but completely still, no breeze at all. I was completely alone initially, but after a few minutes, with the sun still not over the horizon, I heard the shuttle bus roll up to the point and then a young couple joined me to take snapshots & watch the sunrise.

It was a fairly uneventful sunrise - pretty, just a little hazy, but nothing spectacular. Again I'll say that the view is Quite Grand, but somehow not as inspiring to me personally as sunrise at Zion or Bryce.

More Grand Canyon images can be found here.

5b - Hoover Dam

The long drive from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas is broken up by a pit-stop at Hoover Dam. It's a breathtaking view descending from the high canyon south-east of the dam, but unfortunately my after-5pm arrival prevented me from taking a tour of the facilities. Oh well, I'll have to content myself with the endless Discovery Channel and History Channel documentaries on the dam construction.

A couple of additional images of Hoover Dam are located here.

Sunrise loc.: G.C. Yaki Point  |  Mid-day loc.: [driving]  | Sunset loc.: Hoover  |  Drive: 311 mi.  |  Hotel  Courtyard Marriot

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6 - Las Vegas | Red Rock Canyon

6a - Las Vegas

After a long day of driving, I arrived at my hotel in Las Vegas at around 7pm.  My primary goal for my last day of landscape photography was a sunrise shoot at Red Rock Canyon, just west of the city. I was pretty exhausted from the previous five days of shooting and after a hot bath I pretty much passed out in my room, stone cold sober, by around 9pm.

I woke up with a start around 4am and realized it was probably the ideal time for a little low-light photography on The Strip. Once I dressed, grabbed my gear, then drove downtown, I realized I'd only have about an hour to take some snapshots before racing to Red Rock Canyon for my sunrise session. I took a few obligatory shots from the street, and also managed to park at the New York / New York and Paris casinos as a base for a few more photographs.

The rest of my night-shots from The Strip can be found here.

6b - Red Rock Canyon, NV

The last location on my itinerary was a small Nevada State Park located just a few miles west of downtown Las Vegas, Red Rock Canyon. I sped thru the pre-dawn streets of Las Vegas and arrived at the gates of the park about five minutes before it opened at 6am. After paying my entry fee, I realized I was only moments away from sunup, so I pulled off the circular park drive no more than 1/4-mile inside the gates (36.1417°N, 115.4279°W WGS84), and began shooting.


More images from the canyon are here. It was a glorious sunrise, and with the wildflowers in full blooom, a beautiful finish to a great trip.

Sunrise loc.: Red Rock Canon |  Drive: 60 mi.  |  Mid-day loc.: [return flight home]

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7 - Epilogue

Inspirational Images

There is so much inspirational photography available both at bookstores and on the 'net, it's hard to single out just a few links. With apologies to the 99.9% of photographers I fail to mention, allow me to list a few links to some truly awe-inspiring images of the Southwest USA.

• Rick Decker's Sigma SD9/SD10 samples on Pbase

  What can I say? One morning many moons ago I followed a link from a photo-forum, expecting to see some dull images showing off the Sigma Foveon sensor. Instead what I found are some of the most gorgeous Utah/Arizona canyon imagery I've seen anywhere on the web, with full-sized originals available for the viewing. Just stunning. Thanks so much for sharing these, Rick!

• Mahesh Thapa's Starving Photographer gallery

  Mahesh posts over on fredmiranda.com as thapamd - don't miss a single one of his posts in FM's Landscape forum.

• Brian Klimowski's pBase/brianowski gallery

  Brian gets the most stunning results with his Canon Powershot G2. Don't miss this gallery.
  

Additional Links

• Ellen Isaac's  Utah Travel Journal
• Ron Schiffellers' Trip Report (Las Vegas -Yellowstone - UT/AZ Canyons)
  
• Christian Diechert's  Utah/Arizona Landscapes
• Jim Boones's Hiking near Las Vegas
  
• James Kay Landscapes
• James Phelps'  Guide to Valley of Fire NV
• Shooting tips for Zion, Bryce, GC - great advice from dpreview.com
• Chris Brennan's Southwest Hikes & his guide to Coyote Buttes & The Wave
  
• Natural Born Hikers's Directions to "The Wave"
• A Four Corners Itinerary with driving directions
• American Southwest guides:
  
• A.S. Guide to Buckskin Gulch
• A.S. Guide to the Wire Pass Trailhead
• A.S. Guide to Red Rock Canyon
• Coyote Buttes/The Wave:
  
  • BLM Guide: Paria Canyon / Vermillion Cliffs
  • Canyon Quest: Coyote Buttes
  • PhototripUSA's Photography of The Wave
• Antelope Canyon:
• DesertUSA's "A Photographer's View of Antelope Canyon"
• American West Travelogue - Antelope Canyon, Arizona
• Abby & Nile visit Antelope Canyon
• Dan Heller's Photos of Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend
• GORP: Antelope Canyon
• Photodude.Com: Red Rock road trip: Antelope Canyon
• American Southwest's Guide to Slot Canyons: Antelope Canyon
• Government sites:
  
• Scenic Utah
• Bryce National Park (National Park Service)
• Zion National Park (National Park Service)
• Valley of Fire State Park (Nevada State Parks)
  
• Grand Canyon (National Park Service)
• Hoover Dam (US Bureau of Reclamation)
• Alain Briot's Essays on Photography

Recommended Reading

• Martres, Laurent - Photographing the Southwest Vol.1  & Vol.2

Exceptionally good descriptions of scenic areas on the Colorado Plateau. Recommends the optimal time of day and which lens to use for each location. Invaluable.

• Kelsey, Michael - Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau
  

So many hikes, so little time. Since my trip was so brief, I used this extensive guide simply to find very short but scenic day hikes near the areas through which I planned to travel. Someday I hope to use this great book for longer hikes in Canyon Country.


• Sierra Club Guide to Utah/Arizona Parks
  

This text may be hard-to-find, possibly out of print. It's a great guide if you happen to stumble over it at a used-book store.

Equipment & Nerd-Stuff

My humble photographic equipment

• Canon Digital Rebel (300D) with EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-4.5 "kit" lens
• Additional lenses:
  
• Canon 50mm f/1.8 MkII
• Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX
• Canon 75-300 f/4.5-5.6 III USM (non-IS)
• Filters:
  
• Tiffen 58mm & 77mm Circular Polarizers
  
• Hoya SMC 58mm ND+4 neutral density filter
• Hoya 58mm closeup lens set (+1,+2,+4)
  
• Canon Angle Finder "B" for low work & up-angle work
  
• Support:
• Bogen 3021BPRO tripod, Bogen 3030 head
• Bogen 3006 monopod, Bogen 3232 tilt-head
• Storage: Two 1GB CompactFlash cards
• Bag:
  
• Internal frame no-name for trail use
• LowePro EX 180 for near-the-car use

Backup & data management

• Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop (Celeron 2.3GHz, 256MB, 40GB HD, DVD/CD-RW)
• Daily dumps of RAW images to laptop hard-drive, made two backups to CD-R
  
• Mailed one backup home every two days, kept separate copy with me but away from other valuable equipment.

Workflow

• Shoot in RAW, usually ISO100
  
• Upload 1GB CF cards to laptop with a PCMCIA adapter
• Burn to CD with ahead Nero v6.0
  
• Develop in CaptureOne/Rebel v1.3 with generic 300D profile
• Note: C1/Rebel has been discontinued. I've upgraded to C1/LE
  
• Browse with ACDSee5.0
• Tweak in Photoshop CS w/Wacom Graphire3 tablet
• Stitch panoramas with PTAssembler
• Resize for web & batch-tweak with PhotoCleaner
  

Location References

The author pre-planned this trip extensively using Microsoft MapPoint 2002  for drive-times, Delorme TopoUSA 4.0 for detailed topographic and trail analysis, and Garmin MapSource (MetroGuide and Topo) for GPS waypoint & map management. The author navigates with a handheld Garmin Legend GPS and a modicum of cursing.

About The Author

I reside & design microprocessors in Austin, TX, USA. I'm married, with two great kiddos, two dogs, two cats, and several piles of fire-ants in the yard. In my free time I swim, run a little, and bike occasionally. The pseudonym "zapped" arises from online gaming (Descent3, Unreal Tournament 2003).

Email the author for GPS coordinates in EasyGPS format, or a full set of routes & waypoints in Garmin MapSource format.

Text and Images ©2004 Zapped. All Rights Reserved.