“Sandstone Towers” — Red rock sandstone towers, Arches National Park.
Remembering the October day when I made this photograph, I recall that there were some thunderstorms around the area and that we had mixed light. These were those wonderful conditions where it might rain one moment and the next there might be brilliant sunshine, always with the possibility of a dramatic sky. It appears that I made this exposure during one of those sunny breaks. (Looking at other original exposures in the sequence, not all of them had this light.)
“Autumn Tree, Sculpted Sandstone” — A cottonwood trree with autumn foliage grows next to a sculpted sandstone cliff.
A group of us ventured down into a narrow Utah canyon, lined with red rock walls and dotted with autumn trees. A creek flowed along its length, and the soft sound of its moving water was never far away. With the fall colors and the colorful rock faces there were photographs everywhere. Not surprisingly, our progress was slow… but very productive.
“Alfama, Tagus River View” — Buildings of Alfama overlook the broad Tagus River, Lisbon
Lisbon, Portugal is a city of hills. (It is sometimes called the “City of Seven Hills.”) Deepening upon which direction you go, even short walks can involve some significant climbs. There’s a reason for the Elevador de Santa Justa, the famous elevator structure, and for cable cars or funiculars. A positive result of all of this climbing is that there are some spectacular views.
“Stained Sandstone, Lichen” — Lichen grows along a water stain on a Utah sandstone cliff face.
I recall the first time that I became truly aware of the variety of patterns and texture found in the Sandstone faces of The Southwest. I was photographing deep in a canyon in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument with friends when I got the idea to keep my eyes open for petroglyphs, something I had not previously thought much about. Before long, I started imagining petroglyphs everywhere. Eventually, realizing that was impossible, I figured out that the rocks and erosion processes themselves produce remarkable patterns.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.