Bryce Canyon – Utah

I have visited Bryce Canyon twice. Although it’s hard to get to, I recommend that if you’re in the general area, do not miss to visit it. If I could, I would go there every year… Such a miraculous place on earth! One feels overwhelmed by the beauty of the surrounding cliffs and canyons. Words always come short of describing the way I feel about this place.
Depending on the light and time of day, one can view the scenery, and it never looks the same. The hues and shades are just magnificent.

Elements used in this production:

Music: Ritual del fuego by Santiago Trigueros :: jamendo.com/en/track/487859

Photography – all @ Flickr.com:

• Noam Fein;
• James Martin Phelps;
• StephenConn;
• Leo Bar

Background and History

Bryce Canyon National Park  is located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon which, despite its name, is not actually a canyon  but a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by wind, water and ice erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular vistas.  The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m).

The Bryce area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874. The area around Bryce Canyon became a U.S. National Monument in 1923 and was designated as a national park in 1928. The park covers 56 square miles (145 km²) and receives relatively few visitors compared to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, largely due to its remote location.

(Source: wikipedia)

Andes – Salta Y Jujuy

When Silvia Marmori, a great Argentinian photographer offered to send photos of one of her trips to the very northwest corner of Argentina, near the Bolivian border, I got excited.
The images that she sent were great, ambitiously taken and so well conceived that it inspired me to make this production a special one. Took me quite a while, because I didn’t want to compose a regular video. It had to be special, with music that would enhance and heighten the experience rather than complement it. So… that was the starting point, from then on and after 12 edits, 2 uploads (due to encoding problems) it finally came to see the light.
I hope you enjoy watching it,
Leo

Andes Northwest – Argentina
Images taken in the Provinces of Salta & Jujuy

Photography
Silvia Marmori; Hans Koot
See more about these photographers :: http://www.LightVoyager-PhotoExpeditions.com

Music
Mosaica by Roger Subirana
Remix by Leo Bar

Locales where photos were captured (not in precise order) 

• Puna Catamarqueña, Laguna Blanca
• Tafi del Valle, El Mollar
• Quebrada de las Conchas, Cafayate
• Cachi, Quebrada de las Flechas
• Pucara, Tilcara
• Iruya, Salta
• Humahuaca
• Salinas Grandes, Jujuy
• Tolar Grande, Antofagasta de la Sierra

Lake Placid – 1932 Olympic Winter Games

It just felt right to evoque some simpler times, when people had fun, high hopes and experiencing the beginning of a recovery from the great depression.

Hope you enjoy watching it, Leo

Background and History:

The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1932 in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4th and closed on February 15th.

The Games were opened by New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States later the same year.

Irving Jaffee won the 5,000 m (3.1 mi.) and the 10,000 m (6.2 mi.) speedskating gold medals, beating previous champion and world record holder Ivar Ballangrud in the 10,000 m by 4.5 m (5 yards).

The USA won the medal tally with a total of 12 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze). This was the only time the U.S. had won the medal tally in a Winter Olympics event until Vancouver in 2010. Seventeen countries participated.

At the tender age of only 16, William “Billy” Fiske III (1911 – 1940) steered the five-man U.S. bobsledding team to gold at the 1928 St. Moritz Games, becoming the youngest gold medallist in the sport. Four years later at the 1932 Games, he led a four-man team, considered to be one of the most eccentric team ever assembled in Olympic history, to another golden triumph. Fiske was invited to the 1936 Winter Games to be held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, but declined due to his disagreement with German politics. However, Fiske’s heroism was not immortalized on the sporting field. In 1940, He became the first American pilot to die in World War II, when he fought for Britain’s Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain

Andes :: Cordillera Central

(central range)
San Juan province, Argentina

When I connected with Hector Tenaglia a while ago, and while looking at his impressive photographs of the Andes in the Province of San Juan, I got the feeling that this could be a great piece. The majestic Andes range, at this latitude, sports a variety of hues almost like painted out in layers.  Sometimes these colors can be seen variegated and sometimes as straight layers, due to the formation and compression of this massive uprising. Depending on how the sun hits it, you see these tones changing constantly during the day. What a spectacle!

Since I had been experimenting/exploring with light and the lack of it in my imagery, this work surfaced as a clear example of how light impacts us and changes our moods and perceptions…

Elements used in this production

Music: Dragons – Roger Subirana  :: www.jamendo.com/en/track/167882
Photography: Hector Ricardo Tenaglia :: www.Flickr.com/tata536
Aerial Photographs: Courtesy of NASA
HDR Art & Animation: Leo Bar
Background:
The province of San Juan is part of the continental semi-desert Cuyo region. The arid plains on the east, with a few low sierras (hills), swiftly turn into 6,000-meter-high (18,000 ft.) mountain peaks towards the west. Both areas are subject to the dry hot Zonda (a dry foehn wind descending the eastern slopes of the Andes in the central Argentine in winter, probably polar maritime air warmed by descent from the crest which is some 6,000 meters above sea level). Most of the precipitations take place during the summer, often as storms.

The hot wind has modeled the clay-rich red soil into Pampa del Leoncito (Reserva Natural Estricta El Leoncito) and Valle de la Luna (Parque Provincial Ischigualasto) where one can find 200 million year old geological formations.

The Jáchal and San Juan rivers, both part of Desaguadero River system, are the source of fertile valleys and central to the province’s economy. The San Juan River finishes in the Huanacache lagoons (sometimes called Guanacache), on the southeast.