Calico Basin from Turtle Head

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada 

May 3, 2014

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 30 mm: ISO 400: 1/160 sec.: f/9: CPL

On the opposite side of Turtle Head from Red Rock Canyon, there is an impressive little outcrop of red rocks.  When I saw this tree, I knew I had to stop even though we had just started our descent less than 2 minutes before.

Blooming Cactus

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

May 3, 2014

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 110 mm: ISO 100: 1/100 sec.: f/8: CPL

This image comes from my hike up Turtle Head.  That day it appeared most plants were just getting ready to bloom as they all had unopened buds on them.  During the hike down the mountain, I was lucky to spot this blooming cactus not more than a few hundred yards from our car.  I wanted to capture a good portion of the cactus in with the flower.

View from Turtle Head #2

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

May 3, 2014

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 100: 1/60 sec.: f/11: CPL

Another view from the top of Turtle Head.  I love the view of the valley.  The funny thing being up this high is those white and red rocks at the bottom of this shot are actually quite high from ground level.

View from Turtle Head

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

May 3, 2014

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 30 mm: ISO 100: 1/25 sec.: f/14: CPL

The last little part of the hike up Turtle Head is pretty brutal.  We hit the ridge line thinking we were about done.  Then, it got pretty steep again and just kept going up until we finally hit the top all of a sudden and were treated to this view.  The hike was well worth it and I plan on doing it again.

River Walk

San Antonio, Texas

February 28, 2014

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 100: .8 sec.: f/4.00

The famous River Walk was a lot of fun.  We had about 20 minutes to kill waiting for a dinner table so I found a bridge to shoot from.  I didn't have a tripod for the longer exposure necessary so I did the best I could balancing the camera on the bridge to keep the image as sharp as I could.  San Antonio was a lot of fun.  We spent the next day at Sea World and then just relaxed most of Sunday.  If you \are looking for an easy town to visit for a weekend or extended layover, the proximity of everything downtown makes San Antonio easy.

Tower Life Building

San Antonio, Texas

February 28, 214

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 50 mm: ISO 800: 1/6 sec.: f/4.5

This was taken from the street just above the river walk.  The Tower Life building, formally called the Smith-Young Tower, was built in 1927.  It is 30 stories high and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.  It stands prominently over the river walk at night.

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

May 3, 2014

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 32 mm.: ISO 400: 1/125 sec.: f/9

This shot was done about 1/2 way up the hike to turtle head.  I liked the dead tree hanging out over the cliff and wanted to use it as the foreground.

The Alamo Cenatoph

San Antonio, Texas

February 28, 2014

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 280: 1/500 sec.: f/11

This statue is right outside the Alamo.

Turtle Head Hike

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

May 3, 2014

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 27 mm: ISO 100: 1/6 sec: f/22: CPL

This shot was done early in the hike up to Turtle Head.  We started at 7:00 a.m. and got back to the bottom just after 10:00.  It is a 6 mi. round-trip hike that starts out easy then gets fairly difficult toward the top.  It offers a beautiful view of the valley below for the whole hike.

San Antonio Post Office and Courthouse

San Antonio, Texas

February 28, 2014

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 250: 1/500 sec.: f/11

Right across the street from the Alamo is the old Post Office and Courthouse.  Downtown San Antonio was nice because everything was close and within walking distance.