Weekly Update – 4/23/23

~ Ben Messick

As of today, we are officially farther north than Fort Wayne and out of the desert. Lots of grass in the valleys and snow on the mountains.

Outside of exploring St. George, I spent the week working on job applications and had a couple interviews. I am excited about the possibilities for the fall, but trying not to get too excited.

Photos from Week #11 of Ben Messick Photography.

Weekly Update – 4/17/23

~ Ben Messick

Week #10 of Ben Messick Photography shown above. Two travel days in one week make for a tired family. But we are now settled in at a nice campground in southern Utah. The weather is perfect and I can see the mountains as I type.

We have now spent over 250 nights in the camper. I think I am getting used to it. Looking ahead, I have made campground reservations near Glacier National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Mt. Rushmore and Johnny Appleseed Park.

We have a ways to go, but it feels like we are near the end.

Weekly Update – 4/9/2023

~ Ben Messick ~ Leave a comment

Happy Easter! Only THREE more days of Arizona! We are getting up early tomorrow to beat the lines and see the sunrise over the Grand Canyon. We will start the sprint north on Thursday and then back to end the trip in Indiana at the end of June. We will spend Thursday and Friday in the Lake Mead/Las Vegas area. On Saturday we will arrive in St. George, Utah for a week followed by a week in Salt Lake City.

In other news, I am applying for a couple Computer Science teaching jobs in Indiana. It’s time to start figuring out what I am going to after this “trip.”

Summary of Week #9 of the Ben Messick Photography posts above. If you don’t follow me there, you should!

Castle Rock

~ Ben Messick

I struggle with taking pictures of iconic areas. The views are amazing, but then the photographs of them are even more amazing. Walk in one of the many galleries in Sedona and you will find mesmerizing photos of the well known landmarks. The images will be in the perfect light from the perfect angle with a unicorn rearing in the background. Why even bother?

I bother for several reasons. The landscape is aways changing and a photo from the past isn’t the same as today. I also enjoy the process. Even if all the photos from an outing never get shared, I will still have enjoyed my time in nature making images. And sometimes, I get a picture like today’s that I really like and haven’t seen in the gallery. My perspective.

I took this photograph last week at the Crescent Moon Picnic Site in Sedona, Arizona. I used a Nikon Z5 camera using a NIKKOR Z 24-70mm ƒ/3.2 S lens (1/125 sec at ƒ/3.5, ISO 100, 67mm). I edited the image in Adobe Lightroom.

Crescent Moon Picnic Site

~ Ben Messick

#MonochromeMonday – The Crescent Moon Picnic Site offers visitors an amazing look at Cathedral Rock. This sandstone butte is one of the most-photographed landmarks in Arizona. For being a cold evening, there were still several other people with me at the park after hours to see the sunset. There was a barefoot woman who hiked to the creek and was sitting beside it beating a homemade drum. There was woman with hands up to the rock who appeared to be praying. Another woman kept dunking her head in creek for as long as she could hold her breath. An interesting place with a beautiful view.

I took this photograph last week at the Crescent Moon Picnic Site in Sedona, Arizona. I used a Nikon Z5 camera using a NIKKOR Z 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 S lens (1/50 sec at ƒ/3.5, ISO 100, 43mm). I edited the image in Adobe Lightroom.

Arizona Sunset

~ Ben Messick

Sunrise and sunsets are different in the mountains. I suppose that is obvious, but for someone accustomed to "Indiana Flatness," it takes some adjustment. This morning, there was some beautiful pinks and purples after first light. This only lasted a couple minutes. Twenty minutes later, the clouds in the east were on fire with reds and oranges. We had five minutes of this show. The difference then is that you don’t actually see the sun for another twenty minutes until it rises over the mountains. By this time, the the color was gone. Still beautiful, just different. Spend some time watching a sunrise or sunset and have a great weekend!

I took this photograph on a pull-off on Highway 260 east of Camp Verde, Arizona. I used a Nikon Z5 camera using a NIKKOR Z 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 S lens (1/640 sec at ƒ/13, ISO 100, 51mm). I edited the image in Adobe Lightroom.

Montezuma Well

~ Ben Messick

Another section of the Montezuma Castle National Monument is the well. It is not attached to main Monument and requires a 15 minute drive. The "well" is actually limestone sinkhole fed by an underground spring. The spring produces 1,500,000 gallons of water per day. Unlike many springs, the water contains high levels of arsenic and is unsafe to drink. If you look at the top left of the picture, you can see a small dwelling in the side of the cliff.

I took this photograph last week at Montezuma Castle National Monument near Rimrock, Arizona. I used a Nikon Z5 camera using a NIKKOR Z 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 S lens (1/125 sec at ƒ/14, ISO 100, 24mm). I edited the image in Adobe Lightroom.

Sunny Days

~ Ben Messick

#ThrowbackThursday – We have always liked to escape to somewhere warm during the winter. And until this year, it has always been to Florida. A few winters ago, we took the camper down and spent two weeks at Wekiwa Springs State Park. The pool in this picture is the base of the spring and releases 42 million gallons of water per day. The clear water is a constant 72° year around and makes for excellent swimming and kayaking.

This was taken in December of 2020 at Wekiwa Springs State Park near Orlando, Florida. I used a Canon EOS M6 Mark II camera using a EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens (1/320 sec at ƒ/6.3, ISO 100). I edited the image in Adobe Lightroom.