Lightning Near Arches National Park in Utah



Rain



412 miles



We drove back and forth to Arches National Park yesterday. The drive was very scenic, and we finished up The Lightning Thief audio book. (And we saw a lot of lightning!) And the children watched the movie again. I wrote more about this children's book in a recent post.



"Zeus has His Say"



I just learned from National Geographic photographer Peter Essick at a seminar how to shoot lightning. He said to use F8 and 1/30 of a second. He also said to set up your camera on continuous shooting on a tripod. To set up my Nikon D-90 press the button on the top of the camera that looks like a picture of multiple photographs stacked on top of each other; then, spin the rear dial to cycle through the options. H will shoot 4.5 frames per second as long as you hold down the shutter. Check your camera manual for other cameras.  I took about 400 photographs and ended up with three nice lightning images.



I recommend this park for exploring with children because it is a quick drive through the park. You can stop as often or as little as you want. I felt as though we all saw the park pretty thoroughly in a couple hours. We were lucky that it rained while we were at the Sand Dune Arch; this was our favorite part.



Sand Dune Arch -- "The Playground"



"Stoney End"





More to Big South Fork than the Trails

The park is host to hundreds of sandstone arches. Visit the National Park Service's page on  Big South Fork to learn more. On the left, I pulled this photograph out of my previous visit, published it and am adding to my Etsy shop. It is titled Path.

I like this pretty Fall image because it is about the path into the forest. Where are you going? I know exactly where I am heading with my art... I am just not sure how many turns I will make. This photograph is of one of the twin arches located in Big South Fork Recreation Area in Tennessee. I am preparing photographs to send to a store in the area.

I am also sending Sup, below, to the store, which was one of my very  first published images. It is available in my Etsy shop and as notecards too. I think I will travel back to the park this Fall for more photographs. These images are both for sale (along with several others) at The Hitching Post in Jamestown, Tennessee.

Big South Fork National Recreation Area All about Horses

Just back from Tennessee. We rode horses with Southeastern Pack Rides from Jamestown into the Big South Fork National Recreation Area. The park covers 125,000 acres in Kentucky and Tennessee and has 180 miles of horse trail. Our guide, Kristi, took us down the Cumberland Valley Look and to the Laurel Fork Overlook. Nearby we ate our picnic lunch and had a quick swim in the river.

It was fun, and one of the few times all three children enjoyed a difficult activity without complaint. It was a long hard ride, but we all loved trotting and galloping so much, that we put up with the bruises and heat. Below is our picnic site and to the left my horse, Captain. The kids rode  Romeo, Dickson and Rusty.  Other activities available in the park include: camping,  hiking, mountain biking, paddling, hunting and fishing.

P. S. I have tried to shoot photographs from a horse in the past, and it's too wiggly. I suggest you wait until your feet are back on the ground.