So I just figured out this High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging stuff. Basically it allows for a greater range of lights and darks in a photo. Usually when taking a picture of a scene that has areas that are really bright and really dark, you're screwed. Expose for the light areas and the darks are too dark, expose for the darks and the lights are blown out. HDR helps to solve that.

Taking photos in canyons, for instance, is difficult for that reason. The areas in the frame that are in sunlight and those in the shade are normally too far apart for the camera to handle -- even though to human eyes we can see both. For HDR you bracket your shots by about 2 stops (take three photos, one normally exposed, another 2 f-stops underexposed, and one 2 over) and shoot in RAW (not jpg). Shooting with a tripod would probably give you the best results, but I handheld the shot the above -- so it'll do. You apply Photoshop magic and you get the photo that you saw, not the one your camera did.

Oh, and that from Coyote Gulch from our trip to Utah last year. Continue reading »

You know when there's sandstone on the blog that I've been out to Utah. We've recently returned from a trip out west, mainly hanging around Boulder, UT. I'll yap about the hikes and post photos over the next week or so. Continue reading »

When we go out west, it's usually in addition to any other vacation we have scheduled for the year. So to justify the expense, we usually try to go on the cheap. So the places I've reviewed here are not meant to be the best of the best. And although I'm not shy about throwing coin at restaurant or a hotel, it's all about the value. So lets see how things stacked up on this trip.

Moab, UT
Food: Moab Brewery Continue reading »

Just got back from a quick trip to Utah (and Colorado). Did some more scouting for places to move to once Zoe (daughter, high school freshman) goes to college.

Verdicts?

• Moab, UT - not bad. A definite possibility if we want to stay near large numbers of people we don't know.
• Durango, CO - out. You can tell it used to be a cute mountain town, but then the money & people rolled in.
• Escalante, UT - slipped in the ratings on this visit. Seems to be at that awkward stage between small community (where everyone knows everyone else) and a town (where they might not).
• Boulder, UT - way up. We walked around the town area and saw a number of good things. Beautiful vistas, good vibe. Just a matter of how we would deal with the remoteness and the altitude (6000').

So good trip from the learning perspective. Crappy weather, though -- clouds, rain, sleet, snow. And even worse light. So the photos we took aren't what I would call great. But hope you enjoy 'em. Continue reading »

Here's the album of our recent trip to Utah.

I have to be honest with you (unusual, I know). Gas is pretty much the same all throughout Utah -- credit card slidey pump, 3 octanes, a bit cheaper than the DC metro area. So no reviews of gas. As for the food & lodging, see below.

One thing that surprized me on this trip was the availability of wireless Internet. I took my iBook along to store my photos, and I was able to find a hotspot in every town except Boulder (and I didn't spent too much time looking either). Continue reading »

On this trip we spent the night in 4 towns, all in Utah:

• Springdale
• Escalante
• Torrey
• Boulder

If these places are a mystery for you, I hope the handy Google Map below both functions and is helpful:
<?php
setZoom(11); //zoom in as far as we can 0-17

addAddress("310 West Main St., Escalante UT","Escalante UT");
addAddress("995 Zion Park Boulevard, Springdale, UT 84767","Springdale UT");
addAddress("12 West Main Street Torrey, Utah 84775","Torrey/ Teasdale UT"); Continue reading »

This is the third time we've been out to Utah. And much like all the Europeans arriving in new territory before us, we've been following the same process.

The first time, Discovery. In the autumn of '02 we did the Grand Tour of Utah Nat'l Parks: Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, & Zion. Although not mentioned much in the guide books, we fell in love with the area around Escalante & Boulder -- the Grand Staircase - Escalante Nat'l Monument (GSENM). Continue reading »