The Alabama Hills: Lone Pine, CA
A few more days and I'll be back home in the mountains! It's been three illuminating weeks of travel to the Great Smoky Mountains and beyond, to Florida and now to the Bay Area.

In the meantime, remembering this day in the Alabama Hills outside Lone Pine made me smile. It was just one of "those" moments, when I was who I was with no apologies.

I mean, I always Am who I am. It was just more "all that" that day.
This is a handheld pano taken with my Fujifilm X-Pro2 and 50-140mm f/2.8, stitched together in Auto Pano Giga. In case you wondered.

"Alabama Cactus*: Alabama Hills, CA

It may still be a wintery mix at home and up in those mountains, but down in the Alabama Hills of Lone Pine and nearby towns, spring is in the air! It's so much fun to experience the dual seasons.

Down here amongst the big mountains, wide spaces, dramatic changes and gorgeous light I've been able to reeeeally take a breath. Listen. And HEAR! It's been glorious.

This cactus said hi, BTW.

Flying with +Jessica Ambats  is pretty much a legendary experience. (you know what I mean, +Lisa Bettany!  For me, it was made all more so by one of the most amazing experiences of Death Valley I've ever had; including flying up the length of Badwater Basin.  We'd just begun that here. 

The colors, the shadows of the clouds, the formations... I was honestly speechless most of the time! She kept asking me if I was alright, I was so quiet. That is SUCH a rarity! ;)

Drones are great, but there's NOTHING like being there yourself! It's a completely different experience and set of emotions that go along with physically being in a plane, looking down at the world from an unusual altitude. Of course, when you're flying with the fabulous +Jessica Ambats, one of those emotions is the comfort of knowing that you're in incredibly good hands. She took this newbie and made a believer out of me!

We took a flying adventure a couple of years ago, starting from the L.A. area, then out to the Mojave and Eastern Sierras. This image was taken as we left civilization and headed for the mighty desert. I was definitely gawking, not talking. Jessica asked if I was OK a couple of time I was so quiet! haha.

Here's the thing. I was shooting with my Canon 6D at the time. Processing some of these photos made me wish that Lady Fuji had been with me. But it was before her time. I thought that was interesting, wishing I'd had a different camera. So I'm thinking about writing a blog post about where I'm at with Fujifilm now. (You may remember I switched over from Canon to Fujifilm cold turkey a little less than a year ago.)

QUESTION FOR YOU: Canon vs. Fujfilm, what do you want to know? I can only speak from personal experience and preferences about it, but I'm happy to answer any questions you've got for me.  

Ask away!! I'll gather your questions and go to town. :D

#fujifilm   #fujifilmx_us  +FUJIFILM Australia +FUJIFILM X Series 

It Takes Heart... Antelope Canyon, AZ
One of the more amazing things I've seen is the oft-photographed Antelope Canyon in Arizona. It's truly a wonder. 

If you're lucky, you have the opportunity to go with a guide who is adept at helping you be in the right place at the right time - especially when it's crowded with people. Which is most often is!

We were mighty lucky to have just such a one with us. His name was Rob Mendez... and I thank him to this day!

I gots a spanking' new photo... it's story... and the 5DayDeal starts TODAY!! 

I 'splain it all on my hot bliggity-blog today: http://karenhutton.com/heat.

#fujifilm   #valleyoffire   #nevada  

Morning Desert... Monument Valley
Majesty, ever after. 

#landscapephotography   #monumentvalley  

The Stars at Night... somewhere on Hwy. 190 in California.

I'd never call myself an astro or night photography by any stretch of the imagination... I'll leave that to thems that do it well. But, on our drive out of Death Valley the other night, we got a wild hair to stop at a pull off. We were following a nervous driver on a windy roads (translation: they drove reeeeeally sloooooowwwwly. Like, they could've walked faster)... pulling over just felt better.

Then we looked up. There was the Milky Way. Holy crap. It was bright, front and center.

I'll be honest. If I thought I'd be doing this, I'd have brought my Canon 6D and 14mm f/2.8 lens. As it was, I had my Fuji X-T1 and 16-55 f/2.8, which I've never tried this with.

Focusing was definitely a challenge... but the low noise level sure made me smile!

with +Barry Blanchard , +Mikele Iannello  and +Traci Furtado

Fuji X-T1, 16-55 f/2.8 lens.
ISO 3200, 25 seconds.

There are times when your heart and that of the greater forces beat as one.

Valley of Fire, Nevada
5 image pano
Fuji X-t1, 16-55mm
Lucroit Filter holder
Format Hitech Firecrest 1.2 GND filter

With +Barry Blanchard, +Traci Furtado, +Mikele Iannello and +Alan Shapiro.

#fujifilmus #valleyoffire

Soul On Fire... Valley of Fire, Nevada 

On this trip to Las Vegas, I finally feel like I get what keeps my friend, the awesome +Barry Blanchard coming back here again and again. Yesterday... HUGE monsoon thunder and lightning storm! Flash floods, the works. By the time we got to VOF, it had cleared off... but the skies... the smells... the colors... siiiiiiiiiigh.

This image: Handheld, Fuji X-T1 with the 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 telephoto lens.

I held my breath. Got still. Pressed the shutter.

With +Barry Blanchard +Traci Furtado , +Alan Shapiro and +Mikele Iannello . 

#fujifilmus   #valleyoffire   #nevada