Ruby Beach (Washington)
Ruby Beach is one of the few places, maybe the only place, where the road gets close enough to the Washington coastline that I can manage to carry my heavy and bulky camera equipment where I want to take a photograph without the ominous fear of suffering a heart attack or feeling that both my arms will surely fall off along the way.
The beach itself was too low to get a good view of the water. I made use of a huge 2-1/2-foot-diameter driftwood tree trunk cantilevered between other equally huge logs on which to perch precariously near its end about four feet above the sand.
I cautiously set up the tripod about a half hour after sunset with a Toyo 8" x 10" camera, Pentax 6x7 camera body on the back and Nikon 450mm lens on the front. The only other person left on the beach was a woman heading back to the parking lot after taking some pictures at sunset with the camera and zoom lens she carried around her neck.
She was curious, asked me if I got anything worthwhile, and seemed startled when
I replied that I hadnt really started photographing yet. She glanced at the darkening horizon, probably thinking I had not planned my travels very well, poor fellow, arrived much too late and missed the nice but not spectacular sunset. Trying hard not to be rude, she asked if I expected something to happen. I told her that I can never be sure of getting anything at all but I would be much more disappointed if something worthwhile did happen and I wasnt prepared for it.
She went back to her car, drove off and missed this scene by a mere 15 minutes.
Castle Gardens (Wyoming)
I climbed up a small hill to be able to see these multi-colored rocks in the foreground (although you can hardly see the colors in a picture this small). One of the big advantages of a camera system which allows you to tilt the lens forward is that you can focus on objects on the ground nearby while simultaneously focusing on hillsides and trees off in the distance.
Sand on Sandstone (Devils Garden, Utah)
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