Hoodoo you Do?

 Here are a few more shots of the toadstool hoodoos to follow on from my last post. 

These hoodoos fall within (or rather stand within) the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I had made an assumption that this land was a part of the Navajo Nation (Diné), )which was a reasonable assumption because I had stayed at Shash Diné campsite the previous night) however the toadstool hoodoos have greater significance in Paiute tradition. The Paiute people's land encompass much of Southern Utah and in their traditions these hoodoos and those at Bryce canyon are the "legend people" who were turned to stone by the Coyote God Sinawava for past bad deeds. Apparently stories like this are part of the Paiute's oral traditions which are traditionally only told during the winter season.

Looking back at the pictures I shared yesterday and the very clear rock face it is easy to see why traditions like this have developed.

How do you Hoodoo?

 When I was planning my US road trip in May/June of this year I think the part I was most looking forward to was the couple of days  I would be camping in the desert in Arizona. Of course the trip as a whole was amazing and each day had something special but I was so excited to camp out, see the unpolluted night sky and experience the desert scenery that I remembered from the Saturday morning westerns I had watched as a kid. I was definitely not disappointed especially by the night sky (see previous post "Natural Wonder" from 26th June) or by the views of the Grand Canyon.

On researching the route from Page AZ to Bryce Canyon UT I noticed a marker on the map for the Toadstool Hoodoo Trailhead just off Highway 89 outside Kanab, Utah. I was intrigued and thought it would be a good spot to break up the journey and explore. Even though it was only late May it was blisteringly hot and walking along the dry river bed there was no shade so I was glad that the walk from the highway to the hoodoos wasn't actually too far.

I have picked a few shots for today's post, the first shows part of the trail and you can see how flash floods have carved a path through the sandstone creating an ever changing landscape.

In the other shots we can see a couple of my favourite hoodoos, remarkable structures caused by millions of years of erosion. These are quite different to the more conical structures in Bryce Canyon since they have the harder capstones that look a bit like hats. I think there is a very definite face in one of them too, I could almost imagine it speaking in a deep voice to tell tales of the many things that must have happened in its "lifetime". They certainly give a literal meaning to the term "rock face".

I was definitely pleased to have stopped here, it left a great impression .

Iconic Views

 I wasn't able to do what I had originally planned to do today so I took a little time to have a look at some of the photos I took during my US road trip earlier in the year. There are lots of good memories associated with the pictures I took but most of the images won't get shared on here. I thought however that a few images of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco were worth sharing. 

Growing up and watching movies such as Dirty Harry and Bullitt, and TV shows like the Streets of San Francisco I often saw shots of the bridge and the steep hills and streetcars so being in the city for the first time and seeing these iconic sights invoked a mixture of feelings. I didn't have enough time in the city to get some of the shots I would have liked to get but I was keen to get some nice views of the bridge. It felt a little unreal driving across it the first time and I was excited to drive up to the various viewing areas to get a good view of the bridge and the city in the distance.

Of course being such a well known sight there are millions of images widely available and so I was hesitant to add mine since they won't really add anything new. However I think that they are good images and I have tried to make the best of them. Some were taken from Hawk Hill and others from Battery Spencer. It was about 7pm when they were taken and the low sun in the west gave a nice light to the structure and the high rise buildings in the city. It was incredibly windy but at least there was no fog, although a little mist might have added a different atmosphere to the images. 

There is a lot of haziness in the far distance which may have been caused by wild fires, although I cannot be sure. When I drove back to San Francisco a few weeks later, driving down from Lake Tahoe and across the Oakland Bay Bridge I drove through an area where fires were burning on the hills along the freeway.

Guiding Light

My last outing with my camera had been to a local woodland where I photographed fungi, which was very relaxing. A week later I found myself on the beach at New Brighton photographing the lighthouse and sea defences, which was also fun and relaxing. I didn't have a lot of time but fortunately despite a couple of light showers the weather and the light was very kind to me so I was able to get some nice shots.

I have photographed this lighthouse a few times in stormy weather and it really looks magnificent with waves crashing around it. However, this was the first time I had been down to see it with the tide at its lowest and on such a nice day. Whatever the weather I think it must be a welcome beacon to the shipping that comes into the River Mersey.

I experimented a little with a variable ND filter and longer exposures for some of these shots to  get the most out of the reflections and the sky. I have also mixed up some colour and black and white images for contrast.

Walking on the beach was pretty safe, but I often like to make things difficult for myself; (in the past I have waded into the middle of streams to get a better angle on a waterfall, or set up close to the edge of a cliff for a particular view), so why should this outing be any different. I wanted to get some shots of the sea defences which involved a bit of scrambling over some slippery rocks and it was a bit fiddly setting up my tripod and finding a safe foothold at the same time. I think the effort paid off. I have shot these in black and white because I think it creates a better image. In colour images the green seaweed coating on the concrete groynes is a bit too much and doesn't give as much definition or depth. I think the shot of the groynes which includes the lighthouse (the penultimate image) would have been better using my 17 - 40mm lens instead of the 24-105mm because 24mm just wasn't wide enough to get it all in as I had wanted. However, swapping lenses at that point was a risk too far. There is always next time...

Enjoy, and feel free to comment.

Fun Times with Fungi

 This is going to be another one of those times when I post a load of photos from one day's shooting because if I don't who knows when I will get round to it. 

When I was last at Martin Mere I noticed quite a few different fungi but I didn't have a tripod or macro lens with me so I didn't try to photograph any of them. However this is the perfect time of year to get out into your nearest woodland and look for  some of our fabulous fungi. So taking advantage of a few free hours and some dry weather I headed off to Thurstaston Common to see what I could see.

I hadn't gone very far before I spotted something and from then on I found loads of different species and I only stopped searching because I needed to go back home for some lunch. I should have known that I would get absorbed and taken some snacks along with me.

Anyway below is a selection of images from todays wanderings. I won't pretend to know what most of these fungi are called, I know there are a couple of shots of some small Jelly Ear Fungus and a couple of Fly Agaric, but not in the vibrant red you might expect. Many of the others were very small and hidden away. When I say small I mean the heads were   a lot smaller than my small fingernail and the stems no thicker than a blade of grass. Such small and fragile plants that do such an important job in our woodlands and heaths. Some of these may be edible, but as I told the various dog walkers who stopped to ask, I have no idea which ones so unless you know its safer to get your mushrooms from your preferred retailer.

Our natural world is full of wonder and beauty, so scroll down and take a look.