We got semi-lost. Couldn't find the right wash for climbing over a ridge that separated us from the canyon. After a few tries, we got there and then spent the rest of the day doing double-time to make it out before dark. Nailed it.
So I tried something different in terms of photography and shot everything with the lens wide open at f/2.8 for extreme shallow depth of field. A tough assignment because good focusing is necessary and I've probably gotten lazy lately with autofocus and stopping down for mistake-reducing depth of field. But this time I wanted a different look just for kicks. If nothing else, I realized I should only use the technique when shooting nearby action. Anything else benefits from stopping down my usual three stops. Next time.
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| Start of the trip down a wash in 20 Mule Team Canyon. |
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| Climbing up the wash with the 20 Mule Team hills behind us. |
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| Headed to the ridge we have to climb in order to get to the top of Scorpion Canyon. |
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| Trying to find how close we were to the beta's coordinates. I believe someone concluded we were "pretty close" and so we headed up the slope in front of us. |
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| Going up the wrong way . . . |
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| . . . coming back down. |
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| The scene inside the wash. We needed to get to the fluted hills in the distance. |
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| Looking down into Mule Team Canyon and the mountains of eastern Nevada. |
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| After finding our way, descending into Scorpion Canyon. Those are the Panamint Mountains way off in the distance. |
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| Jae and Kevin passing a particularly green rock formation. |
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| Jae and Kevin hiking down through the canyon. |
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| Jerri, Kevin and Jae getting near where the canyon narrows and fun begins. |
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| Canyon scene. |
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| A bush that has sprouted legs, or maybe it just blew there. |
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| Jerri negotiating one of the longest down-climbs in the canyon. |
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| Jerri on rappel. |
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| Jae tossing the rope bag at the top of one of the taller rappels. |
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| Jae on rappel while Kevin backs him up. |
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| Jerri on the last rappel. |
