Jake Peterson’s Blog

In remembrance for all those that made a difference for this country, and continue to make a difference day in and day out. Happy Memorial Day

Ah it’s so nice to be back home but alas laziness is already starting to kick in. It’s just that feeling that everything is good. Of course the weather is not helping at all. Apparently that Montana Spring has followed me down and the snow won’t stop. This is just outside from the porch, the storm just keeps on coming in.

Another killer area just a few miles north of Monument Valley is the Valley of the Gods. This is another great loop with great clouds to go with the formations. I just loved it. The whole area was a lot quieter than 17 mile loop which made it rather eerie. The formations were much more narrow and taller which also fascinated me since it was only a few miles away there were no formations followed Monument Valley.

Shooting in the valley was pretty simple, drive get out with the D3 and 24-70AF-S, -.5 exposure compensation and have fun. Something exciting about having that camera on the lap driving down the road. Almost like you’re chasing the image down, it’s a race to the finish. With the clouds moving as fast as they were, it was a fast race.

Images captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S, on Lexar UDMA Film

It was hard going to sleep Thursday after the show i saw and the excitement i had for the next morning; o wait what am i saying, no it wasn’t, i was tired! I was excited the next day to to start looking around and exploring the area and what better place then the 17 mile loop right there at the valley. The loop takes you through all the formations except for a few places that you need a guide for, and its a lot of fun. One of the best parts is that clouds stuck the whole time.

Just can’t get much better than wispy clouds and a slight breeze with strong light and blue skies when it comes to these formations. It was fun seeing all these rocks after all the movies i’ve watched, after a while i started pointing them out, saying “o yea!” The bumpy dirt road was fun too, nothing like losing your spleen on a road trip.

Images captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S, 70-300 AF-S VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

It seems so long ago now that Moab ended probably because os much has happened. After the workshop ended, it was recommended to me that i travel a little further south to Monument Valley. When i say recommended i mean heavily persuaded, but it was worth the extra days as i found out later. I actually spent three days and another two driving afterward to get home this past Monday. It was a good trip.

This was the sunset i rolled into Thursday night when i got to Monument Valley. I could see instantly why Dad, Mom and Steph were so impressed by the place. The openness and the magnitude of the area were just amazing. I couldn’t wait to explore more of the valley.

Images captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Everytime i come to DLWS the week goes by faster and faster. The people get nicer, the staff are funnier and the shooting gets better. The week started with great and ended the same way. We raced down the through the canyons and found a storm rolling in bouncing light between it and the clouds. O it was great. The clouds made so many options possible. Changing the exposure comp. between 0 to -1 made such a dramatic difference for bringing out the clouds versus the rocks as far as contrast. We were having fun playing.

When we got to Fisher Rock which was the actual point to stop we had the rain almost on top of us and it along with the road was producing great stuff. It was amazing to see all the drama in the skies. The wonders here in the desert storms can be magical. Onward to the next spot!

Images captured with D3, 70-300 AF-S VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Tuesday’s afternoon shoot was another great one. It seems like they just keep getting better and better. It started with Grand view Overlook and as you can see it really was a grand view. It stretched further then the eye could see, it just went and went, if only the light had stuck for as long as the view was. No worries. Just turn around and walk to the other side of the rim.

This was the view from the other side of the rim. O what a view it was. The light was going down fast and we were looking directly into it. Had to work carefully not to get blinkies. Rain was coming down in spots and combined with the sun backlit it was pretty darn awesome. I actually go there a little late i was taking the long way around the rim. Boy was it worth it though. I shoot the remaining light and called it a good day.

Images captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S, on lexar UDMA Digital Film

After that great two great beginning shoots on Monday couldn’t wait to see what Tuesday would have in store. We went out to Canyonlands National Park and the great Mesa Arch that over and underlooks the valley below. Well the archway is just spectacular, it’s this little rock formation that has a shear dropoff below it and the light hits it and makes the whole thing glow. Well after about a half hour a van full of people showed up and the place was jumping. It was actually quite amusing. The archway was packed with people and was more enjoyable to watch the mayhem going on then to be shooting. Towards the end i was looking out and did capture a few images. Knowing that this image would be better in a HDR to capture the range of light in the foreground to the intense sun in the background, i instead wanted to try another approach and went black and white not sure what would happen. Not bad but could still use some more work.

Image captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Ah the junkyard, what a magical place filled the past memories of a lost age. It’s just a cove of images waiting to be picked through with a little time and patience. The great thing about junkyards is that every state not only has one, but each one seems to have it’s own unique type or some special variant. We went to Cisco which when we got there and looked around was apparently by the side of a road in the middle of nowhere. It was an appropriate, o let the fun begin!

It was a blue sky day with clouds on the horizon, plenty of time to skitter around. It was a unique town, funny thing was people live there still. There were these two objects that caught my attention more than most. The top is the back of an truck or tanker car i think. Well it had this needle and gauge on it that i found just interesting. The combination of it with the texture was like it was pointing at the years of degrading material as it went by. The bottom was an old soda machine that with a message in the bottom that was pointed out to me later. It showed more character than the Seven up machine, both were intriguing. Never can tell what you’ll find.

Images captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S

Hooooorrrraaaayyyy!!!!!. School is over for the semester! I am truly glad to say those words and to be on summer break now. What better way to kick off this break, well i can’t think of one then too drive down to Moab and join up with the DLWS crew for some fun this week. O it was a good start too, rolled into town Sunday at 3:30 in the morning, yea I’m good to go the next day! O and what a day!

We went over to Arches National Park where the Northern arch has shown up in, well a few places. We get there and and the grey skies are thick, ominous and rolling in. Usually not a good sign. Did that stop us heck no there’s always something else. Clouds are Clouds can never complain. After about 30 minutes the skies broke and a little light popped through. Not through Northern Arch like everyone was waiting for so it was time to move. Then it seemed like it came out of nowhere everyone was excited, because the light had just erupted and the clouds just lit up! This perspective was from Southern Arch, the light came and lasted for a little while and then as light does it disappeared… Then came back. It was a unique little experience considering we’re in a desert. Next stop, pancakes!

Images captured with D3, 24-70AF-S, 12-24AF-S, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film