Sedona Visit

Earlier this week, we made a brief trip to Sedona, Arizona about 1-1/2 hour north of Scottsdale. Known as Red Rock Country, it’s a popular destination for tourists to enjoy the beautiful scenery, to venture out into the desert in jeeps and yes, to take pictures. My goal was to get some night shots in the area of Bell Rock and a sunrise view of Cathedral Rock.

I struggled with the light the entire time. I was unable to get my night shots on Tuesday evening, too overcast.  I arose very early, 3:00 am to find that the skies had cleared but the full moon had risen and was very bright. Visibility of the stars was compromised by the bright light of the moon; but, on the positive side the landscape was nicely illuminated and good to photograph.

My first shot, shown here was taken at the trailhead for the Little Horse Trail, just off AZ Route 179 in the Village of Oak Creek. It’s a view east with the night sky showing lots of stars but nothing noteworthy. I actually reduced the exposure in post-processing to mitigate the effect of the full moon, behind me. It is supposed to be a night scene!

I then moved further south where I got a number of shots of Bell Rock (left) and Courthouse Butte. Again, the foreground is quite visible, illuminated by the moon to my left.

As the morning progressed and dawn approached, I moved into position for my next series of shots. This first picture features Cathedral Rock, a Sedona landmark. I found the light challenging since the location I had chosen on Oak Creek put me almost in line with the rising sun. You can see that the light is coming from just to the left of the direction I was shooting. It was worth capturing the highlights on the rocks and the treetops.

Turning my camera to the left, I took this next shot directly into the sun. The intervening forest was a good filter, moderating the brightness of the direct sunlight.

Turning a little further to my left put the camera at right angles to the sun.  A little easier to manage. I like the scene including the creek, some gnarly old trees and the grassy meadow in the background.

I took a few more shots in various locations before returning to the hotel around 8:00 am. It was a nice morning to be out. Calm and peaceful and lots to photograph.