Sabino Canyon, Part II, Landscapes . . 2 years late . . but let me explain . . . .

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I first posted on Sabino Canyon in December 2015, Part I on birds, with the promise of Part II on landscapes "to follow shortly."  Well, "shortly" became 2 years! Yup, I know, 2 years late.  But think of it this way. If I had posted 2 years ago, it would have been in January of 2016, after all the great fall colors had faded, and I would in essence have said,  "See what you missed!"  You would have been bummed!  So, by posting now, you can put a Sabino Canyon visit on your November/December calendar today and see the 2017 version of all these great scenes!   

The image above, and the two below were captured on the eastern side of Sabino Creek looking west, shortly after noon on November 23rd.  I bought a tram ticket, and got off on the first stop close to the creek, avoiding the long walk on the paved road that marks the beginning of the trek up the canyon.  Then, with the help of a backpack for the photo gear, and using my tripod as a walking stick, I forded the creek, avoiding slippery rocks. Note that if the water is high, you will get your feet wet. Walking poles are helpful.  All shots obtained using a tripod and shutter release cable.  Canon EOS 6D with EF 17-40 mm f/4L with polarizing filter. 

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The two images below were captured in the middle of the creek plain looking south, just before noon. I set up on a dry patch of sand. 

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On a another day I went birding (see Sabino Canyon, Part I) walking east of the parking lot, then north toward the dam. On the way back I discovered the view below facing south with the Santa Rita Mountains in the distance.  This panorama is created from 4 images, using the Photo Merge/Panorama feature in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.  

For the photo geeks: for a successful panorama keep the camera level from shot to shot, and calculate the exposure once, keeping it constant from shot to shot in manual mode. If left on automatic exposure mode, the camera will recalculate the exposure for each frame, trying to create the "perfect sky" for each picture. When you merge them, there will be a vertical line in the sky where the two images merge. 

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For more on Sabino Canyon see my posting from December 2015.

So, get out your walking shoes and poles, grab that camera or paintbrush, and head to the canyon! 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!