(Note: It’s been so long since I’ve done this, I can’t remember how to do the pictures… so if they don’t work… it’s not my fault. )

Last weekend, Friday May 20th, I took a trip down to my homeland… aka Arizona. I went with a couple friends from here in Utah. We drove down to Havasupai in the Grand Canyon to do the hike. I have been wanting to get down there for 3 years, ever since the major flood in 2008. I had hiked it in 2007, so I was able to see how it was “pre-flood”… but I really wanted to see how much of a change there was. And let me tell you… the change was pretty significant.

The hike down was nice and relaxing (for the most part). Gentle 10 mile hike down… but once you got to the Supai Village (8 miles in), you really didn’t want to hike the other 2 miles to the campsites. But, once you got to the campsites… it was a total relief.

First thing I noticed… is Navajo Falls… is basically non-existent, compared to what it was. It’s pushed back from the trail by about a 1/4 mile. The first falls you actually see is “Rock Falls”, which is a temporary name until they can find a more suitable name for it. It’s a beautiful set of falls. The front-most section falls down gracefully, with a bunch of smaller falls (in true Havasupai fashion) behind it leading to Navajo Falls. Lots of green vegetation and the beautiful red cliffs as the backdrop.

Once you finally get to Havasu Falls, you’ll notice that it’s flowing at about half of what it used to. And, most of the turquoise pools that you see in all of the pictures… gone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still amazingly beautiful, but… just isn’t like it used to be. I fully support the Havasu Tribe to “reconstruct” the old Havasu Falls. Haha.

Saturday we hiked down to Mooney Falls where it was pretty much the same “destruction” as Havasu Falls… still pretty, but just wasn’t the same. Then Beaver Falls, which I didn’t notice any difference… but I could have just forgotten what they looked like from before.

Sunday we left, but instead of hiking out, we took the helicopter out! It was fun. 15 minutes of flight time vs. 6 hours of hiking time. Haha.

After that, we stopped at the South Rim since the two that joined me had never seen the Grand Canyon. It was… Grand, as always.

Overall, it was a great trip. I’m glad I got to go down and see the changes and finally get to take some pictures.

Hope you enjoyed the “report” and pictures. Thanks for reading!

Jeremy | Sur-Real Photography

Havasupai Website

A few weeks ago I went out with a friend to the Great Salt Lake here in Utah. The whole reason I wanted to go out to get some shots, was because it was a full moon, and the sun would be setting at the same time the moon was rising. And me and my infinite wisdom, thought, “Oh sweet! I’ll be able to get a full moon shot with a beautiful sunset!!” I believed that, till I was out there and waiting for the moon to rise as the sun was setting… enjoying the wonderful stench that spews from the Great Salt Lake. After a while, it hit me… D’OH!! Oh well, at least I got ONE good shot out of it, right?

Thanks for reading/looking/browsing/parusing/etc…

Jeremy | Sur-Real Photography

After wading out in the smelly, retched, dirty, salt water to get to the optimal location… I set up “camp”. The wind was a bit strong, which made the water look great (specially for photos), but it also made it difficult to keep the camera/tripod perfectly still for some timed exposures. Thankfully the lake isn’t very deep, at all, so I was able to extend the tripod legs out and lower the center of gravity quite a bit to help reduce the overall shake from the waves/wind.

All of these shots were taken with stacked GND filters, a solid neutral density filter, and a polarizer filter. Then, I shot with the mirror locked up and a remote trigger with a 2 second delay. Unfortunately, with the wind and waves, I still wasn’t able to get a really sharp image. But, over all, I’m pleased with the results.

Here are two photos (the same one, obviously), just with different processing styles.

Thanks for looking,

Jeremy Davies | Sur-Real Photography

And here’s one I just edited.

And then here’s one shot, with a bit of a goofy processing to it. It wasn’t really raining… FYI.

]]> http://blog.sur-realphotography.com/blog/2010/05/great-salt-lake/feed/ 0 http://blog.sur-realphotography.com/blog/2009/10/water-wheel-fire-payson-arizona/ http://blog.sur-realphotography.com/blog/2009/10/water-wheel-fire-payson-arizona/#comments Sun, 04 Oct 2009 05:27:19 +0000 Jeremy http://blog.sur-realphotography.com/blog/?p=73 A month ago at the Water Wheel campground area, just North of Payson, Arizona, a wild fire started… forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people.

The cause: Humans.

During the popular time for camping in the Mogollon Rim area, thousands of people travel North from the valley to get away from the heat. Payson becomes a busy town with lots of traffic and lots of action. Camping spots along the Rim and Highway 260 quickly fill up. The smell of campfire smoke is in the air. The sound of laughter, and ATV’s zooming around, fill the air. It’s a wonderful time that almost everyone enjoys.

Sadly, for those who do enjoy camping, campers are no longer allowed to camp… or even visit the popular Water Wheel 15 miles North of Payson. Someone who started a campfire, didn’t follow the “Too hot to touch, too hot to leave” rule. They left without checking the fire to make sure it was properly out.

[To check to see if the fire is ok to leave, stick your hand in the ashes. If it's too hot to touch, it's too hot to leave.]

The fire broke lose, and away it went. It started so quickly, and so sudden, there were a couple vehicles left to burn… one of them being a brand new Toyota truck!

If that one person had properly checked that campfire, 773 acres of beautiful forest land… would still be able to be admired. People would still be able to enjoy the cool refreshing water at Water Wheel. But noooo… people don’t think about checking the fire. They always assume the fire is out because they poured a bottle of water on it. Well guess what. It’s not out!! You should always dump at least, 2 gallons of water on the fire before you leave.

Below is the aftermath of what happens when people don’t properly check the campfire before they leave. Whoever you are… I hope you’re happy.

All lit with only moon light.