Scarborough Renaissance Festival (2013)

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I’ve always liked dragons and all things medieval, yet I’ve let the annual Scarborough Renaissance Festival pass me by every year. Last week, though, I finally went.

It runs from April to May in Waxahachie, 30 miles south of Dallas, Texas. And even if you’re not a total geek, the festival is a good time.

Like the State Fair of Texas, the renaissance festival has a variety of foods and games, both for kids and adults. But unlike the Fair, I found it to be much more dynamic, with the renaissance festival hosting a variety of comedic performances.

And despite the crowds, I also found it to be much more relaxing than the Fair. Lines for food were shorter, and beer and wine were easily accessible. You can walk around and catch the performances or just hang out at one of many makeshift taverns located on the festival grounds.

Food and beverages are reasonably priced, making it easy to get tanked while at the festival. Handmade wares range from fair to relatively expensive.

But by far the best part is the costumes. Festival-goers dress up in elaborate garb, complete with giant swords and cleavage to match.

Take a camera and equip it with your best telephoto lens. That’ll give you the best opportunities to take candid photos of anyone in costume. It also makes it easier to photograph the jousting battles, which, of course, are fenced off.

I used a Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 for all of my shots.

Also worth mentioning is the “Tournament of Images” photo contest they have every year. You can submit entries to various categories, and there’s no limit to the number of entries allowed. Check out some of my entries below:

2013 Scarborough Renaissance Festival (NIKON D700, 185MM, 1/2500 SEC, F/7.1, ISO 1000)

2013 Scarborough Renaissance Festival (NIKON D700, 200MM, 1/1250 SEC, F/7.1, ISO 1000)

2013 Scarborough Renaissance Festival (NIKON D700, 200MM, 1/80 SEC, F/7.1, ISO 1000)

Road Trip to Antelope Canyon Part 4: Antelope Canyon (Page, Arizona)

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After reaching Page, we checked in with the company providing our tour, Roger Ekis’ Antelope Canyon Tours. Antelope Canyon is Navajo land, so touring without a guide is virtually impossible. Even if you wanted to go without a guide, the path to the canyon is mostly sand, so it’s not very accessible.

Roger Ekis’ offers two tours: the Sightseer’s, about one hour long, and the Photographer’s tour (the one we chose), about two hours long. The photographer’s tour is more expensive, but definitely worth the extra cost. Both tours take you to Upper Antelope Canyon.

Of the two tours, the Sightseer’s is definitely the most informative, as the guides recite facts about the canyon.

The 11:30 a.m. time slot is the most coveted. The guides call it “prime time” since the sunlight hits the top of the canyon around noon, creating beams of light that hit the floor below. Basically, that’s the best time to photograph the canyon, hands down.

At any given time, there can be a dozen tours inside the canyon, so getting a photograph that doesn’t include a tourist in your view takes a lot of patience and a speedy shutter. I shot most of my photographs at a high ISO with my NIKKOR 14-24mm.

The air inside the canyon is saturated with sand and dust particles, so switching lenses is a major no-no. Go with your widest lens, and if you want to use multiple lenses, take a second camera.

And two hours is simply not enough to appreciate the magnificence of this canyon. It’s actually difficult to describe in words how you feel while walking in between its walls, which are cold to the touch once you’re inside.

The floor, like the outside of the canyon, is mostly sand. Its whole interior, with all its bends, curves, and waves, carved by water over time, is like a living work of art.

We only reserved about half a day to spend in Page, Arizona, most of it spent on touring Antelope Canyon. But you can easily stay a whole day touring Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, and Horseshoe Bend (part of the Colorado river). We’ll definitely be seeing Page again soon.

(This is the fourth post of four about my road trip to Antelope Canyon. Here are the other posts: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)

Upper Antelope Canyon (NIKON D700, 14MM, 1/50 SEC, F/3.5, ISO 5000)

Upper Antelope Canyon (NIKON D700, 18MM, 1/60 SEC, F/5.6, ISO 3200)

Upper Antelope Canyon (NIKON D700, 24MM, 1/160 SEC, F/2.8, ISO 4000)

Road Trip to Antelope Canyon Part 3: Grand Canyon National Park

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After Santa Fe, we continued west toward Flagstaff, Arizona, and then north to Grand Canyon National Park.

Usually, the entrance fee into the park is $25 but we happened to go during National Park Week (April 20 to 28), so the entry was free. (We actually didn’t know there was such a thing as National Park Week until we got to the park.)

Due to its size, it’s extremely difficult to see the entire canyon in one day. The park is made up of two parts: the north rim and south rim. And technically, the park has four entry points: north, south, east, and west.

Because of our location (coming from southeast Arizona), we took the east entrance. Visitors who enter from this entrance can follow a paved road, Dessert View Drive, westward to the south entrance. Alternately, visitors can enter from the south entrance and then end their tour of the park at the east entrance.

Along Dessert View Drive, visitors can park at various outlooks to photograph the canyon from different angles. The canyon is massive, and no amount of postcard photographs can do it justice. A wide angle lens works well to capture the canyon, but almost any lens will work.

We stayed at the park for around six hours, planning our end at the south entrance around sunset. Of the two entrances we toured, the overlook at the south entrance is by far the most scenic. (Photo #2 below.)

To fully explore all of the entrances and everything in between, you should probably reserve three to four days.

From the Grand Canyon, we intended to drive north to Page, Arizona, our final destination; but a landslide destroyed highway 89, which leads to Page. The alternate route takes you northeast and then northwest to Page, adding an extra hour to the drive.

We really had no choice but to stop at Tuba City to stay the night. The only hotel worth visiting is the Moenkopi Legacy Inn & Suites. (It’s also the most expensive.)

The following morning, we headed to Page.

(This is the third post of four about my road trip to Antelope Canyon. Here are the other posts: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4.)

Dessert View Overlook at Grand Canyon National Park (NIKON D700, 14MM, 1/250 SEC, F/11, ISO 200)

Mather Point Overlook at Grand Canyon National Park (NIKON D700, 24MM, 1/320 SEC, F/9, ISO 800)

Dessert View Overlook Watchtower at Grand Canyon National Park (NIKON D700, 85MM, 1/320 SEC, F/10, ISO 200)

Moenkopi Legacy Inn & Suites (NIKON D700, 14MM, 1/125 SEC, F/10, ISO 4000)

Road Trip to Antelope Canyon Part 2: Santa Fe, New Mexico

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After leaving Amarillo, we headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico, just north of Albuquerque. Our original plan was to visit St. Francis Cathedral and then go north to Hyde Memorial state park, but we spent more time than expected exploring downtown Santa Fe.

The trip into the city is well worth it just to see St. Francis Cathedral, built in the late 1800s and formerly known as Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assis.

To capture its massive and ornate interior you’ll need a wide angle lens. If you do go with a wide angle, be aware of distortion along the edges of your images since there are a lot of hard lines inside the cathedral.

After visiting the cathedral, we toured downtown Santa Fe, which is heavily driven by tourism. Everything costs more and the city is extremely commercialized. There’s a Starbucks within walking distance.

In the downtown square, vendors from various Indian tribes set up small booths where you can buy handmade clothing, jewelry, pottery, sculptures, and other merchandise. (I bought two handmade guitar picks made from copper.)

For roving photographers, there’s a camera shop within walking distance of the square. They have all the essentials plus a collection of rare, antique cameras that belong to the shop’s owner. If you’re a camera buff, you’ll enjoy admiring the old hardware, most of which are actually for sale.

We spent the night at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Santa Fe. It houses a restaurant, heated pool, and several lounge areas (one with a fireplace) on the first floor where you hang around.

The following morning, we headed to Grand Canyon National Park.

(This is the second post of four about my road trip to Antelope Canyon. Here are the other posts: Part 1, Part 3, and Part 4.)

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (NIKON D700, 14MM, 1/50 SEC, F/8, ISO 5000)

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (NIKON D700, 14MM, 1/60 SEC, F/8, ISO 5000)

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (NIKON D700, 14MM, 1/50 SEC, F/8, ISO 5000)

Road Trip to Antelope Canyon Part 1: Amarillo, Texas

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Over the past week, we’ve driven 2,000 miles (from Plano, Texas) and consumed an ungodly amount of junk food. Our main objective was to reach Antelope Canyon, a famous slot canyon located on Navajo land in Page, Arizona.

Our first stop was in Amarillo, Texas, a place notorious for not having much to see or do, with the exception of Cadillac Ranch, a public art installation and sculpture of half-buried Cadillacs. The installation is located just west of Amarillo, right outside the city.

Created in the 70s, the installation encourages visitors to paint the Cadillacs. Countless cans of spray paint are strewn about the property surrounding the cars.

Chipped paint on some of the Cadillacs reveals hundreds of layers of color that’s been added over the years (looks a lot like the inside of a Gobstopper).

You can photograph the Cadillacs from various angles, and if you go earlier in the day you won’t have to contend with as many other visitors. Almost any focal length will work but I prefer a wide angle lens like the NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED.

From there, we headed west to New Mexico. Back on the road, and still in Texas, we spotted the Wildorado Wind Ranch (not easy to miss), the largest wind farm in the panhandle.

Wildorado’s wind turbines are located on private property partly accessible by dirt roads. Unless you can get really close, you’ll need at least a mid-range telephoto lens to get some decent photographs.

From the wind ranch, we drove west to Santa Fe.

(This is the first post of four about my road trip to Antelope Canyon. Here are the other posts: Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.)

Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas (NIKON D700, 14MM, 1/200 SEC, F/11, ISO 200)

Wildorado Wind Ranch (NIKON D700, 85MM, 1/500 SEC, F/10, ISO 200)

Vacationing in Evergreen, Colorado

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My latest vacation venture has taken me to Evergreen, Colorado, a small town located in the mountains just west of Denver. Settled in the mid-1800s, Evergreen was home to several sawmills that provided lumber to a sprawling Denver.

A century and a half later, Evergreen is still very much a small town, like something out of a movie. As of 2010, it has approximately 9,000 residents. Many of them undoubtedly know each other.

There’s a different mindset in Evergreen, and it’s very apparent if you’ve lived in a big city for most of your life. No one seems to be in a rush.

I’m staying with a longtime friend and his family, former residents of Dallas. They say life is far more enjoyable in Evergreen compared to Dallas, where every day feels like a rat race. “In Dallas, you’re always on the go,” they say.

Sadly, I agree with that last sentiment.

Unlike Dallas, there are no buses or cabs to catch in Evergreen, and often, people either walk, run, or cycle to their destinations. It’s a remarkably active community.

The town and its surrounding acreage are a hiker’s paradise. There are dozens of trails, some easy; some not. Many reward you with outlooks that offer grandiose views of the towns below.

And unlike the so-called trails you find in places like Plano (north of Dallas), the trails around Evergreen put you in the middle of a piney and sometimes challenging evergreen wilderness.

Many of the homes in Evergreen are relatively isolated, usually 30 minutes or more from the nearest major grocer. Still, it’s interesting to think about how people lived back then, on a mountain, without the convenience of a paved road or a shop just around the corner. There’s something oddly alluring about such a simplistic life away from cell phones, computers – and dare I say – roaring sports cars.

Even downtown Evergreen is nothing more than a simple road lined with small businesses. There’s the occasional franchise you’d recognize, but big business is a rarity in Evergreen.

The Evergreen Hotel, in downtown, is one of the only surviving commercial buildings from the late 1800s. It was restored in 1997 and changed ownership earlier this year. It now operates as The Muddy Buck, a cozy café and bar that hosts live local music, which I had the privilege to enjoy on a crowded Friday night.

The people are a stark contrast to the residents you’d encounter in a place like Dallas. They’re extremely friendly, and in general, seemingly happier. Evergreen is the kind of place where you’d rarely lock your doors. It really is the perfect escape from the industrial toxicity of a big city.

Homes in Evergreen, Colorado. (NIKON D700, 15MM, 1/500 SEC, F/11, ISO 800)

Evergreen and pine trees in Evergreen, Colorado. (NIKON D700, 14MM, 1/500 SEC, F/11, ISO 800)

The Muddy Buck, café and bar, in Evergreen, Colorado.