Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, White Pocket- High Atop White Pocket
Jul 21, 2019 09:42:20 #
I am truly grateful for everyone participating in my tour of White Pocket. Your comments are encouraging that I'm on the right track with my photography. I wish I could take more credit for the beauty, but Mother Nature has provided the scenery.
Jul 21, 2019 10:57:14 #
Jul 21, 2019 11:12:30 #
Jul 21, 2019 11:31:25 #
Jul 21, 2019 11:31:25 #
Jul 21, 2019 12:15:28 #
Jul 21, 2019 13:36:04 #
greymule wrote:
After the really good light had left, we continued... (show quote)
Excellent capture. I think I will bestow you with an Honorable Mention for the Darwin Award for Photography (Survivors Edition). Climbing into a precarious position with a tripod now exceeds my operating manual. However, I consider your image well worth the potential danger.
Jul 21, 2019 14:07:32 #
katu41 wrote:
Excellent capture. I think I will bestow you with an Honorable Mention for the Darwin Award for Photography (Survivors Edition). Climbing into a precarious position with a tripod now exceeds my operating manual. However, I consider your image well worth the potential danger.
Thanks for noticing that good judgement has never been one of my strong points. Make for good stories to tell, though (especially when downing a few). And thanks for the encouragement.
Jul 21, 2019 15:44:20 #
greymule wrote:
Thanks for noticing that good judgement has never been one of my strong points. Make for good stories to tell, though (especially when downing a few). And thanks for the encouragement.
About 10 days ago I posted a Darwin Award for Photographers with my own story of taking a risk. Below you will find a copy of my story. Let me know if you find it interesting. If so, perhaps we could go shooting together like during a tornado or earthquake.
The Darwin Award for Photography (Survivors Edition)
An "award" given to people who contribute the most to the evolution of humanity by removing their genes from the gene pool. Most of the recipients have ended up dead because of their stupidity.”
All of us have heard stories of people who have injured or killed themselves while being preoccupied taking a picture. I suspect that many of the serious UHH photographers have occasionally failed to exercise appropriate caution in their quest for getting one more shot from a new or unique perspective. Here is my story.
Several years ago, I was working on a project in my office that involved traveling the country to photograph high rise office buildings where our company had completed transactions. In Los Angeles, one of the properties I selected had been featured in the opening credit sequence of the “LA Law” tv show. The challenge was to find a location that would allow me to capture the entire 44 story building as well as the beautiful plaza in front of the building.
I decided that a rooftop shot from a nearby building could suit my needs. I contacted the landlord and made arrangements for my brief visit to the top of the building. Upon arriving, I was told a security guard would accompany me to the roof. However, as we got off the elevator two levels before the roof, the guard told me to go up alone as he had a call to make. I proceeded to the rooftop helipad and had the most magnificent view of downtown.
It was then that I discovered there was a problem. The helipad was the highest point of the building but it was located in the center of the building, away from the edge of the roof. As such, I was not able to access the angle I needed for my photo of the plaza and building. What to do?
I looked everywhere but could not see access to the roofs edge. I told myself there must be a creative solution to my little problem. Then I noticed that just a couple of feet below the edge of the helipad was the ventalatintg system for the building. This consisted of an area or approx. 20 ft. x40ft. Think of a 30 ft. deep concrete shoebox that contained 3 whirling fans with 18ft. blades. An impassible object, right. Except, suspended over the blades was a 18 in. wide beam running to the edge of the roof. In a moment of pure inspiration I said to myself “If I just walk the beam, over the whirring blades, I will be at the edge of the roof.
I did not immediately embrace this excellent idea. For a full 5 minutes I thought about the potential consequence of falling to my death. As I was 67 years old, I didn’t want to make a rash decision that I might soon regret. I could think of many reasons not to be a “dead man walking”. These included not having said goodby to my wife and kids and the probable pain of having my body sliced like a piece of sushi. I wasn’t worried about hitting the concrete floor as I would already be dead by the time gravity was finished with my little adventure.
Five minutes was up. Either I would man up and walk the beam or I would retreat and for the rest of my life I would tell the story about the one that got away. Finally, I decided that I could never be a real photographer if I couldn’t face some risk. I stood tall and “bullied” myself to believing that I would be capturing one of the great photo opportunities of all time.
Ah, but I would be cautious. Instead of holding my camera, I would put the strap around my neck so that I could use both arms for balance. (Well, the Wallendas do it.) With my new found confidence, I proceed to the beam. I was now committed and took my first step. I was thinking of how I would tell my friends of what I had done and how, with each telling, the beam would become longer and narrower.
Carefully, I took a second step, then a third and just as I was about to take the fourth step it happened. The beam deflected. For “Ch…t Sakes” it bent. It wasn’t a beam at all it was an air duct that had been painted the same color as the metal flashing around my metal crypt. At this point I was a shoo in for the 2009 Darwin Award.
To say that my life flashed before my eyes would be an understatement. My heart stopped but I knew what I had to do. I would turn around and tip toe back to safety. I am probably the first human to achieve total and complete weightlessness at sea level. I pirouetted like Nureyev and scampered onto the roof at which time my heart restarted and tried to leap from my chest. At that point I collapsed in gratitude that my family would not have to answer questions about my whereabouts for the rest of their lives.
After composing myself, I was surprised how quickly the profound shaking and sweating stopped, I walked back down the stairs to the security guard and he asked how it had gone. I responded I did not get the photo I came for because I couldn’t get to the edge of the building. With that he opened the door we were standing next to and took me on to a wider portion of a lower roof where my dreamed of vantage point awaited. Following is my picture, now titled “Death Trap”. It was shot with a Canon 5D II and a 24-107 L lens. I think I had my stabilizer off as the shaking had stopped.
Please feel free to comment or share one of your tales of near disaster. Personal attacks on myself, while justified, will be ignored.
Jul 21, 2019 16:32:11 #
Jul 21, 2019 17:46:16 #
ed3 wrote:
Thank you for this shot and the other two you listed today of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. Simply amazing formations.
Do you ever wonder how these formations were created? What geological event(s) caused this rock formation and subsequently what erosion produced the current state.
Do you ever wonder how these formations were created? What geological event(s) caused this rock formation and subsequently what erosion produced the current state.
Same questions ? Maybe I can google ❣️🇺🇸
Jul 21, 2019 18:22:09 #
Jul 21, 2019 20:45:53 #
Jul 21, 2019 22:45:18 #
greymule wrote:
After the really good light had left, we continued... (show quote)
wow...that was quite an adventure. good job on getting the shot...it's gorgeous.
Jul 22, 2019 00:01:22 #
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