myXJ.net Archive

Here's a photo I quickly processed this morning from the Annular Solar Eclipse that happened yesterday evening. The sun was almost completely blocked by our moon except for a small outer ring. It was very cool to watch, and I'm glad we had stayed down near Shiprock, New Mexico to

It's been a while since I visited the arches in Rattlesnake Canyon and I've wanted to return to get some better photos. So after work on Tuesday I headed up there for a nice sunset hike. I made this photo of East Rim Arch, which is also known as Akiti

Here's another photo from my upcoming trip report to Valley of Fire State Park. Hoping to get the report done early this week! This very colorful section was at the end of a dark and narrow slot canyon. I like the way the gray rocks contrast with the colorful sandstone.

The other night I headed up to the Colorado National Monument again hoping for a colorful sunset after the clearing storms. The colors I hoped for never appeared, but there was this cool-looking storm cloud over the Grand Valley.

You'll be seeing this photo in my upcoming trip report from Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, but I thought I would share it a little early on it's own. I hiked over to the Fire Wave for sunset and took this photo just as the last light was

The other night it was looking like there might be a good sunset so I grabbed my camera gear and headed out towards the base of the Book Cliffs. Unfortunately, the sunset never panned out, but while driving out there the sun did shine through a few holes in the

I just spent the weekend on Cedar Mesa in search of the specific ruin featured in the photo above, and as you might have guessed, I did manage to find it! This well-preserved ruin is nestled in the back of a deep alcove which has helped protect it from the

I've tried to get a photo of the full moon rising over Mount Garfield a few times over the last year without much luck. All day it was cloudy and overcast so I thought today would be the same, but an hour before the moon was set to rise the

Last week I drove out to East Orchard Mesa to try and find a spot to take some photos of a sunset from. I never did find a good spot, but the sunset ended up being very nice, so I just pulled over and took a few quick photos. This

As I was driving home from Moab on Saturday it was getting close to sunset so I decided to stop and take yet another photo of the Fisher Towers.

I headed back up to the Monument again this morning to catch the sunrise. Here's a few photos I took. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7054/6806415752_0dba4b685c_z.jpg Fruita Beyond Independence Monument by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7047/6954314741_19c6b68dd4_z.jpg Sunlit Window Rock by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7037/6952711085_927fedb8d1_z.jpg Saddlehorn View by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Here's a photo of the Second Wave that I took a few weeks ago when I visited Coyote Buttes North. This photo made Flickr Explore yesterday, so I thought I would post it up here since the full trip report won't be done for at least a few more days.

I'm working on the photos I took on my trip to Coyote Buttes North and South a few weeks ago so that I can put together a trip report from the weekend. Here's a photo of Melody Arch that I liked from that trip. If you look closely you can

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7061/6933161411_c75fed2e88_z.jpg Morning Light by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr I went up to the Colorado National Monument this morning to catch another sunrise. The conditions weren't the best, but here's a photo I took after the sun came up over the Grand Mesa.

I turned 32 on Saturday, February 11th and was planning on spending a long weekend in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument since I had permits to Coyote Buttes North and South. However, last Friday morning my mom had a heart attack when she arrived at work and was rushed to

I've wanted to photograph Monument Canyon in the fog for a while, and this morning I finally got the chance. As I left for work, I just couldn't resist and headed up to the Colorado National Monument instead. I arrived up above the fog just in time to watch the

Here's a photo I took way back in August at the Colorado National Monument that I rescued from my hard drive last night and processed for the first time.

As I was leaving the Colorado National Monument yesterday in the evening, I noticed that the moon lined up nicely between Balance Rock and the cliff next to it. I created two different versions of this photo; one with the rock in silhouette and another version with some detail visible

I went up on the Uncompahgre Plateau with Jackson yesterday to photograph the sunset. While we were up there I took this panoramic photo of the light on the Little Book Cliffs. This image is made up of five stitched images. It's been a while since I stitched images for

Part of my birthday present to myself this year arrived yesterday. I was originally going to wait a few more months to buy an inflatable kayak, but I came across a great deal on the boat I wanted that I couldn't pass up. Now I just need to wait for

Here's an image from the archives. I was going through some photos I took last January and came across this one that I seem to have neglected...so I figured I would process it and see how it turned out. I like it 🙂

Late afternoon light peeks through openings in between the clouds to light up the mesas in Castle Valley.

Late afternoon light filters through the cloudy sky and falls upon Adobe Mesa and the La Sal Mountains.

I witnessed this amazing sunrise over the Fisher Towers as I drove to Moab in search of rock art a few weeks ago. It was a great way to start the day!

I headed back up into the Colorado National Monument this evening to get a few photos of Independence Monument since I realized I didn't have any good ones.

After my successful sunrise at Marlboro Point, I decided to head back to the Colorado National Monument for sunset to see if I could get lucky again. It wasn't as spectacular as the sunrise, but there was a little color in the passing storm clouds just as the sun went

I was up at 4am this morning so that I could make it to Marlboro Point before sunrise. With storms moving through the area today I was hoping for a colorful sunrise. I wasn't let down. As I drove out to the point, the eastern sky started to turn a

After our last night camping at Standing Rock in The Maze District of Canyonlands this past spring, we were treated to another excellent sunrise over the distant La Sal Mountains. The 'Reprocess' series features photos that I have gone back to and spent some more time processing. Since I take

One of my favorite drives in Utah is the dirt road south of I-70 along the San Rafael Reef. This morning I was on my way to Three Fingers Canyon when I was treated to this view of the Reef lit up by the early morning sunlight. The 'Reprocess' series

We have finally reached December, which is the last month for my 2011-Twelve Photo Project. It was another great month and I had a hard time choosing my favorite photo, but in the end I had to go with this one of Turret Arch. Turret Arch & Mountains As we

Jared takes a photo under the fast-moving dark clouds as we explored The White Pocket for the first time. The wind was blowing and the clouds in the sky and lighting conditions were constantly moving and changing throughout the afternoon. It was a great day to be there. The 'Reprocess'

After all of the clouds and storms passing through the area today, I knew there was a great chance for a colorful sunset. I viewed the maps of the area and settled on a large reservoir at the base of the Grand Mesa that I had not been to before,

As I was driving to Moab this morning, I saw there was going to be a nice sunrise. I quickly looked for an interesting setting to take a photo from, but came up with nothing. So I found a dirt road, pulled off the highway and put my Jeep in

Back in November Jackson and I left work and went out to try and photograph the full moon rising over Mount Garfield and the Little Book Cliffs. Unfortunately, the sky was pretty hazy and we couldn't even see the moon until it had come up a ways over the top

Taken this morning as the sun came up over the Grand Mesa and struck the red rock cliffs of the Colorado National Monument. It was about 12 degrees out.

In case you haven't seen this post on my Rock Art Blog, be sure to check it out! I have chosen my top ten favorite photos of rock art taken in 2011 and posted a little story about each. My Ten Favorite Rock Art Photos of 2011

I went on many awesome adventures in 2011 and posted many trip reports and photos from them here and over on ADVENTR.CO. Here are my top five favorite trip reports from the last year. The Wave Weekend http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6391864145_4ca9ab32d7_z.jpg Dinosaur Bones & Petroglyphs http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6044/6321201916_392f49f461_z.jpg Straddling the Border to Toroweap http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6108/6251258797_4c0e1eb362_z.jpg Half

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6632721999_13f45060f3_z.jpg Fisher Towers Sunset by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr I seem to drive by this location almost weekly. Usually I just speed right by, but occasionally I do stop for a photo...

I visited many cool places this year and also took many photos along the way. It was tough for me to pick just ten of my favorite photos this year, but I did manage to finally narrow it down. So here are my ten favorite photos of 2011. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6562171661_c5976d8a2f_z.jpg The

When I left work it looked like there might be a nice sunset this evening, so I stopped home and grabbed my camera and headed up into the Colorado National Monument. I took some photos from Cold Shivers Point, and the sunset didn't disappoint. I even caught a sliver of