Posts Tagged ‘Cedar Mesa’

Archive Friday: Procession Panel

In this entry we’ll raid the archives again…  In fact I’m trying to challenge myself to review some older images with the purposes of 1) simple rescue; and 2) keep me on a tighter processing schedule.  Thus for the next few weeks at least, I’m trying to move a few things from the archives to the main view port.

Reviewing  archival images is important.  It helps provide an essential sense of momentum (or lack thereof) in our work.  Are we evolving/progressing?  Are we heading in the right direction for improving our capture *and* our processing?  Right now I’m focusing on capture issues, and I’ve become increasingly confident that my best images have been recorded during well-defined photographical missions.  Often we visit a particular location many times before I get the elements close enough to the target to be satisfied with the results.  Other times I have managed to get a few keepers on a wander or first visit to a place, but even then, most often my favorite images are those which I have imagined beforehand.

One of my favorite mission targets has been ancient rock art.  I find the kooky symmetry of using state-of-the-art digital format to capture ancient art challenging and intriguing.  I also find that locations at which the most outstanding rock art are found possess an oddly compelling atmosphere – read that spookiness.   There are many excellent examples of rock art on the Colorado Plateau, and among the most curious of these is found along the Comb Ridge in southeastern corner of Utah, at a site known simply as the Procession Panel.

The image above shows the entire Procession Panel.  It’s quite large, perhaps 40 ft from eastern to western edges.

The image above includes the characteristic feature of the panel, which is a grand procession of individual figures.  Remarkable.  One cannot help but speculate on the meaning of this glyph.

Images in this gallery were recorded on at around 16:00 MDT on May 26, 2006, using the NIKON D70s and the AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED lens at a variety of focal lengths.  Yeah, these images have been squirreled away for quite some time.  I rediscovered them recently while doing some retro keywording.  This was the first digital camera setup I owned, and I haven’t used it in years.  While it is certainly true that the technology has improved in the past 5 years, this system remains remarkably competent.

The image above includes one of the major features of the panel, which is a large rendering of two sheep.  At the hind end of the sheep there is a large snake, drawn in the characteristical form of the region – feel free to speculate about this placement, as it is anyone’s guess.  Note that the procession of figures continues all the way across the top of the other glyphs.

Finally, below, I include a glyph of the most intrepid HP.

I include my notes from the visit below:

May 26, 2006.  Visited Procession Panel and Sand Island Panel in San Juan County Utah.  Brilliant sun with high winds, e.g., enough breeze to blow the tripod over.  Cryptic route descriptions from Tassoni did not defeat the effort to locate these excellent panels.  Procession is as pristine a panel as I have thus far seen, owing without doubt to its location.  Sand Island is sadly much abused, but retains enough of its nearly unparalleled glory to remain a marvel.

Copyright 2011 Peter F. Flynn. No usage permitted without prior written consent. All rights reserved.

The Comb Ridge

Well, you could travel the world and visit what seemed like every nook and cranny and never – read NEVER – find another place like the Comb Ridge.  The HP and I have run back and forth across the ridge dozens of times and every time its just as amazing as the very first time.  Nuff chat, here’s the shot:

Comb Ridge

The Comb Ridge epitomizes the Utah canyonlands experience.  The region is beautiful almost beyond articulation.  Curiously, by my reckoning, at no point does the top of the ridge gain more than 1K ft in topographical relief, yet it will perplex you in unexpected ways that can get you killed.  Lost, as in disoriented in a sea of sandstone, is a persistent sensation.

This near infrared image (IR) was recorded on February 14, 2009 at about 5:10 pm using the Nikon D200 converted to IR* and the AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED at 18 mm   The shot position was just south of UT95 above the Comb Wash.  Exposure was f/16 at 1/15s, ISO at 100.

*More later on the details of the IR conversion.

Owachomo Natural Bridge

Owachomo Bridge

Owachomo Bridge is the southern most of the major bridges in Natural Bridges National Monument.  Owachomo is the Hopi word for ‘rock mound’, and the bridge takes its name from the sandstone feature that lies along the top strata near the center left.

The image above was recorded on 2/14/2009 at 14:30 MST (UTC-7)with the Nikon D700 and the AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED at 14mm.  Exposure was f/16 at 1/160s with an ISO of 200.  White balance was set at Daylight, but was subsequently corrected to a color temperature of 5000 and tint of -6.   The final image is a crop of the original 14mm, and  I would most probably reduce the height by another 10-20% for a final print version.

Of the three bridges in the Monument, Owachomo was the only one we could visit directly on this trip.  The path underneath the bridge was nearly free of snow and ice.  Incidentally, it would be possible to access Kachina and Sipapu Bridges by following the Loop Trail from here even when snow and ice block the more direct routes down to those bridges.  The distance along the Loop Trail from Owachomo Bridge to Sipapu Bridge and back is approximately 8.6 miles.  For more information on Sipapu and other natural bridges and arches, check out the web pages of the The Natural Arch and Bridge Society and UtahArches.com.