The View Hotel is located inside Monument Valley. The three floors of guest rooms are to the left. The lobby and restaurant are to the right.

The View Hotel offers large, clean and comfortable rooms. The bathrooms are quite spacious as well. But, you don’t come to Monument Valley to spend all your time inside.

As I opened the sliding door and stepped out into the private patio, I am greeted with an absolutely stunning view of the mittens. A wonderful hotel in a gorgeous location.

Once the sun sets, don’t hit the sack too early or you will miss the glorious night sky filled with stars. Absolutely breathtaking.

ISO 6400, 18mm, f/5.6, 30.0 seconds

If I knew anything about night photography, I probably could have come up with a better photo. Actually, if I had brought a battery charger, I would not have been afraid to take a truly long exposure shot.

I found it difficult to capture the full beauty of the Grand Canyon. In the morning, when the sun first hits the canyon walls, the colors begin to warm up.

ISO 100, 20 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 seconds

However, as the sun rises, the sunlight totally washes out the colors of the canyons. I didn’t find any midday photos that came out well straight from the camera. Sure, I could tweak the saturation and contrast in Photoshop, but what’s the fun in that?

ISO 100, 28 mm, f/4, 1/30 seconds

Towards sunset, the sky took on a surreal palette with a purple and pink ribbon running along the horizon. This image is straight from the camera. Outside of resizing the photo, I have not touched it otherwise. The tower at Desert View is in the background.

ISO 100, 32 mm, f/8, 20 seconds

30 minutes later, the pink ribbon had vanished from the horizon and it was definitely dark. The purple canyon walls evoke a calmer and cooler mood than the more typical red rocks seen during the day.

Earlier in the day, I had read that we should be able to view a lunar eclipse tonight. So, just over an hour ago, I decided to head outside to take a peek. Full moon. Thankfully, the great repository of knowledge told me to come back in a few minutes. Sure enough, the moon did its disappearing act.

I’ve been using the iPhone 3GS for a few months now. This past weekend was the first time that the quality of the iPhone camera has impressed me. So, what opened my eyes to the possibilities of this handy camera?

Well, I finally took a photo worth printing. Chase Jarvis is absolutely correct that The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You. And, while the Nikon D50 remains my primary camera, I only have it with me when I plan on taking photos. On the other hand, the iPhone is the camera that is always by my side. So, for my favorite photo, the kids were dressed and seated next to a small pumpkin on the front porch. The lighting was naturally and wonderfully diffuse with no hot spots. When I saw the kids naturally posed, I grabbed the closest camera available to capture the moment. If I ran inside the house to get the Nikon, the kids would have probably dispersed. Anyways, fortunately, the kids remained perfectly still. From looking at the 5×7 print, I would not guess that photo came from the iPhone. It’s that good.

Hope you all were able to enjoy the Moon Festival with your family members. I couldn’t figure out how to take a photo of the full moon, so I looked it up online. I set the Nikon D50 to manual, then set the ISO to 200, aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to 1/200. Worked like a charm.

To change the ISO, press the ISO button and turn the right-hand dial until it displays 200.

To change the aperture, press the +/- button and turn the right-hand dial until it displays F16.

To change the shutter speed, press the shutter release lightly, and turn the right-hand dial until it reads 200. So combined with the above settings, you should see 200 F16.