The Fiery Furnace

                                                  And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach,
                                                  Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

                                                                                 -- The Book of Daniel, Chapter 3, Verse 20 




In Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah, there's an area called the Fiery Furnace.  It's a natural labyrinth of boulders, 

towering sandstone outcroppings . . .

 


























and fins, which are narrow residual rock walls left where adjacent rock has been eroded away.  (Click here for more information and illustrations).  

Here's an aerial view of the Fiery Furnace area:

As described on the National Park Service website, in the Fiery Furnace "there are no trails, signs, or cairns.  GPS units do not work well due to the towering sandstone walls.  Navigating its complex passages requires physical agility and careful observation."  Accordingly, exploring the area requires a permit and/or a ranger-guided tour.

On April 3, I went with a group of 24 other photographers into the Fiery Furnace, accompanied by an off-duty senior Park Service ranger who generously volunteered his time and shared his personal insights.  True to its description, the Fiery Furnace was a very challenging hike. 

There were lots of sharply descending and ascending grades:

Narrow passages . . .

 




























Crevices . . .

 



























 Catwalks . . .

And a traverse along a crevice that began by standing and leaning against the wall on the other side . . .

 


















then required a tricky transition to a seated sideways crab move to the left . . .

After our ranger demonstrated (above), it was our turn . . .

Finally down safely at the other end . . .

Lest we forget, the purpose of all this difficult hiking was photography in an unique area.  And, indeed, the Fiery Furnace was full of interesting formations:

There were arches large and small -- after all, we're in Arches National Park:

including Kissing Turtles next to a gigantic big toe:

and, near the end of the hike, in a cul-de-sac accessible only by a narrow catwalk, the aptly named Surprise Arch:

Although the scenery was awesome, my epiphany for the hike was realizing why the area is called the Fiery Furnace.  My assumption was because it was an unusually hot area, especially in the summer when temperatures in Arches go over 100 degrees.

But I began to understand when I started noticing the canyon walls glowing orange from light reflected off the opposite wall:

Through a narrow space between walls, the glow beckoned . . .

And then, rounding a bend, the flames became obvious . . .

If you would like to see these images and more in a larger format, please visit my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Behind the Scenes . . . from Gorka . . . to Rossini

As many of you already know, I really enjoy photographing live performance events.  In the space of a week, I was able to shoot two -- or one and a half, depending on how you count.

First up was John Gorka, an American troubadour, who came to our local "Music in Corrales" series March 19.  The venue for the concert series is an historic decommissioned 1868-vintage mission church in our village . . .

 















Gorka graciously allowed me to shoot while he and the audio engineer worked on the levels . . .

. . . during rehearsal . . .

. . . and while he performed in concert.  During the show I had to shoot from the back of the church to avoid disturbing the audience or the artist.  But I still got some good shots:

You can see these and many more images of John Gorka in a gallery at my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here.

 - / - / - / - / - / - / -

A few days later, I had the opportunity to do a publicity photo shoot for Opera Southwest, our local opera company.  The shoot is always arranged for an Albuquerque Journal photographer to get some images for their article about each new production, so it's not my shoot and I'm not in control.  I was literally shooting over the shoulder of the Journal photographer . . . 

But he is always very gracious and gives me the opportunity to shoot unobstructed and give a bit of direction to the singers if I feel like it. 

The shoot took place against a stucco wall outside the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, where Opera Southwest stages their productions.  No off-camera flash, no reflectors, just ambient light and some help from Lightroom:

The image above is Angela Martellaro as Fiorilla, the coquettish wife who is smitten with Selim, il Turco, played by Michael Sumuel.  Her foppish husband, Don Geronio, is played by Matthew Burns:

A masked ball, mistaken identities, chaos and comedy -- classic opera buffa!

From first push of the shutter button to the last, I shot 150 images in 10 minutes, but thanks to singers who know how to emote on cue, we all got some good pictures . . .

                                                     . . . and everyone had a good time!




If you would like to see these images and more, visit my photography website by clicking here.

Enjoy!