Ballad of Gales by alexnoriega

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Golden evening light and wind on the dunes of Death Valley, California. No orton effects here, that’s just the glow of blowing back/side-lit sand.

I know, “another” dune shot. But this is the culmination of conditions I had always hoped for, and before this image, hadn’t seen, at the dunes. Wind was forecast for this particular evening, so I made sure to be there. The way blowing sand glows and catches light is pretty amazing, and I was fortunate enough to find this dynamic composition before the light was gone, along with the wind.

The wind certainly could have been better, so I won’t call it quits on shooting dunes just yet – but it did enough for this image to make it stand out among my own dune shots, at least. This is one of my two favorite dune images, the other being the quieter “Nocturne of Shadow” from November of 2014.

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Funnel Factory by alexnoriega

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Soft pre-dawn light on the walls of a large mesa in central Utah. You’re looking at approximately one thousand vertical feet of shale here.

This is a wider version of my previously posted image, Firewall. I normally don’t ever post two images of the same scene, as I like to show my strongest work from a given scene, and I think showing many slightly-different variants just dilutes the images, making none of them particularly memorable. However, this wider, more all-encompassing composition, and the softer light, better show off the form and abstract patterns of the wall – and the color (I thought) helped make it different enough to warrant another look. At the moment, this is my favorite of the two images. Plus, this view includes my little boulder-bro in the lower left!

One more of my favorite images from this trip will be posted before the Thanksgiving holiday (less abstract and more “epic”, for those wondering if I gave up on that style of photography)!

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Arbiter’s Grounds by alexnoriega

Evening light breaks through monsoonal storm clouds to illuminate the otherworldly sandstone formations of White Pocket, Arizona. A lone figure gives a clue as to the scale of these monoliths.

*WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT*

Consider joining Alex Mody and myself for three days and two nights of sunrise, sunset, nighttime photography, and fully-outfitted camping on this remote desert plateau, featuring the world’s most interesting, unique, and otherworldly sandstone formations in October 2016:

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Liquid Light by alexnoriega

Reflections of golden canyon walls and blue sky in the rushing water of Utah’s Fremont River at sunset.

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Firewall by alexnoriega

First light on the walls of a large mesa in southern Utah.

Felt good to ignore the blazing sunrise all around me while shooting this – I think I’ve only made two images so far with a sky in them. I’ve been focusing more on intimate imagery, as I was inspired to check out this place by Guy Tal’s incredible portfolio of the area. I normally don’t post from the road, but the processing on this image was simple enough to trust my laptop screen for it. More new images to come later this month!

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Serenade of Water by alexnoriega

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I’m about to leave for a two-week trip shooting the southwest, and I’m reminded of the images I made last November – some of my all-time favorites. This is one of those images, taken in the famous Virgin River narrows of Zion National Park, Utah.

It’s a slightly different composition than I posted last year, with updated processing – the original was a bit rough, having been done on a laptop from the road.

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Caldera Storm by alexnoriega

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A unique look at Wizard Island as a snowstorm rolls in over Crater Lake, Oregon. I reprocessed this old favorite of mine, which was in dire need of a tonal overhaul. Believe it or not, this was taken in late May a few years back. The snowpack was still so high that I was able to stand up above these trees and use them to frame the island – during the summer, they completely obscure your view of the lake! I can only hope the Pacific Northwest sees another winter like that one again.

I’d like to take this opportunity to announce one of two new upcoming workshops for next year, albeit unrelated to the image at hand: Alex Mody and I will be leading our Ultimate Northwest Tour in April 2016, covering the rugged coastlines, rainforests, waterfalls, and wildflower plateaus of Olympic National Park, Washington and the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon. More information can be found here.

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Bacterium by alexnoriega

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An intimate view of fall color on the slopes of the Eastern Sierra mountains of California.

I’ve got another (more dramatic) image coming later this week, along with two new workshop announcements!

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The Silver Surf by alexnoriega

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“The Silver Surf”

Here’s a brand new one from Death Valley, California – an intimate, almost abstract view of sand dunes in soft pre-sunrise light. I took some liberty with the color, as the image is not entirely literal anyway.

More new images, and a couple new workshop announcements, coming soon!

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Autumn Embrace by alexnoriega

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Fog and fall color in the forests surrounding Mount Rainier, Washington. Sorry for the lack of posts lately; I’ve been traveling and leading workshops! More images to come soon, along with a couple new workshop announcements.

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