At full size, this is a (free) iPad wallpaper — but thought I’d put it up here too, just for show:
If you’d like this on your iPad, just click on the image to get to its Flickr page — you can downlink the 1024×1024 wallpaper image from there. FWIW, this is a slightly-stylized version of last night’s sundown, shot with my iPhone.
Coming to you from Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, it’s Fajada Butte:
Fajada Butte is the site of an ancient “Sun Dagger” solar clock that marks the occurrence of the solstices and equinoxes. It’s too delicate for visitors to see in person any more (it was damaged by tourism-induced erosion, and closed to the public in 1989), but still inspiring to look at from a distance.
Two women start their descent of Structure I (as seen from Structure II) at the ancient Maya (no, not Mayan) ruins of Calakmul, México:
Structure I (a.k.a. Pyramid I) is the highest at Calakmul (by virtue of its being built on a small hill), but not the tallest. Its neighbor Structure II (a.k.a. Pyramid II) is the tallest at the site, and the largest (in bulk) too — standing about 50 meters / 160 feet tall (these numbers vary depending on the source you’re looking at). Structure I is just a few meters shorter than Structure II, meanwhile Structure II’s base is some 120 meters (390 feet) square.
Translation: they’re both really big…
Should you ever manage to visit Antelope Canyon in Arizona, don’t forget (from time to time) to look up:
By the way, this is a 3-image HDR composite, with the original images being shot 1 stop apart. Even then, the sky is nearly blown out.
It’s a tricky place to work, that’s for sure.
Another shot from last summer’s road trip to the Canadian Rockies:
This is a shot across Moraine Lake, just at sundown. We scrambled to get there while the light was still up — we were too late to do any hiking around the lake, but at least I was able to get this shot. Or to be precise, three shots combined as an HDR image.
Taken from a bend in the highway on our Canadian rockies road trip last summer:
Living near the Rockies in Colorado, I never ceased to be amazed how much bigger they look in Canada — thanks to the glaciers, the valleys just got ground down that much deeper. For a true sense of scale, look for the cars and trucks on the highway here…
From the caldera’s edge in Hawaii Volcanoes National park:
Another in my series of crystal ball shots…
A 2-frame panorama I took on a quick helicopter ride over Glacier National Park, Montana:
Pity it was such a hazy day…
The vista at sunrise through Mesa Arch:
This is a somewhat low-key shot from a series in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Love the rays, though…
Make sure to check out the earlier post for tips to see this yourself!
Another fun night shot from the Denver Botanic Gardens:
You have to work a bit to see it, but there’s a narrow stream running through the middle of this shot — it’s really only visible from the reflected lights on the bushes. I was more than a little surprised after taking this picture to see just how saturated it looks. The technicolor look wasn’t evident in person, but definitely came out with a long exposure!
