By Ted Grussing
… this is a shot I took deep in Coal Mine Canyon last Friday and in looking at it after I finished the image I noticed that it looks like the right third of the image was tacked on to the left two thirds. In the full size image I blew it up as big as I could and it looks like a crack in the surface of the earth. The canyon covers a very large area and is beautiful, isolated and visited by very few people. I took this shot from about 1500’ above the ground and next trip up there I plan on being at about half that and get some good close ups of the formations and monuments.

In the upper left quadrant of the image you can see streaks of black coming down the rock formations (actually sandstone of the Entrada and Dakota layers) these are streaks of coal which have come down from the upper layers. The coal layer varies from a few inches to a few feet thick … it has been a long time since there was an active coal mining in this area as the quality of the coal was relatively poor.
A catch up day today, a walk around the ponds and no shots followed by a Walmart run; One was down to one can of food so it was a good idea to head down and stock up … I prefer the role of friend to that of food.
Have a beautiful day today … think about the beauty that is all around you … you really have to work at having a bad day to get through it without a warm feeling and sense of joy … and if you are reading this you are breathing and nothing beats that!
Cheers
Ted
So each one to his wish, and as for me,
I sit tonight and wait
To find the answers to my soul in me,
And in the beauty of the sky and sea.
— Max Ehrmann
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
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