CLOUDY DAY IN UTAH - APRIL 6

There was some high clouds this morning, but it did not deter us from going for sunrise light at Mesa Arch. En route we stopped at Shafer Canyon overlook for the actual sunrise. It was muted due to a cloud bank along the horizon. It turns out that it is not necessary to be at Mesa Arch for the actual sunrise, as what you are going for is the golden glow on the underside of the arch which is dependent on the sun reflecting off the rock wall below the arch, not on the actual sunrise. The glow continues well into the morning, and we had fun playing the angles for about two hours after the bus load of Japanese photographers had left.

We enjoyed our time there and had our group photograph taken before we left with Mesa Arch in the background. We drove back into town after a stop at the Visitor Center for the Island District of Canyonlands. Breakfast was at the Eclectic Cafe in town. It was the best breakfast to date. We dined outside on the patio.

In the afternoon we regrouped at 1530 to decide our plan of attack for the afternoon. It was a fairly thick layer of clouds so the hike to Delicate Arch was postponed for another day. It was decided to drive to the Needles District of Canyonlands to see the formations there including Elephant Rock, and the formations that gave the district it's Name. It was about an hour and a half drive. Once at the end of the road, we were also able to see some serious four wheelers driving down the Elephant Trail. This road is gnarly to say the least. We had some time to photograph some of the geology in the area as well before heading back to Moab.

Dinner tonight was the special dinner of the week at the Sunset Grill. The restaurant was the original home of John Steen who was the "King of Uranium" after he discovered and established the largest uranium mine in the U.S.A,  just outside of Moab. He became a multimillionaire as a result. Times changed and he ended up a pauper,  The house, now restaurant, sits up on a hill overlooking the town of Moab with a lovely sunset view. The dinner was excellent on all counts, from appetizers to dessert. Lin and I shared a prime rib cut of beef which was juicy, delicious, and very tender.

The plan for tomorrow of course depends on the clouds and sky. We are hoping to return to the Windows and Turret Arch area so that the other half of the group is able to shoot there with good light. A second choice is in Arches as well, and is the Wall Street area I believe. Anyway, again it will be a 0545 departure time from the houses.

Overall it was a good day today though again there was a lot of driving. The weather as usual is a factor in photography and most of the time works well as we can generally seize upon an opportunity. Here the weather has been iffy, and not provided lighting conditions in our favor for a trek out to Delicate Arch. All we can do now, is wait for the best that is provided to us.

Sunrise at Shafer Canyon Overlook - two versions:

 

Looking Down The Wall

Mesa Arch:

Mighty Stick

Budding Cottonwood Tree

TO MONUMENT VALLEY - April 5

ON THE ROAD IN EASTERN UTAH - April 5

Off as usual at 0545 for a sunrise shoot. Regrettably it was too overcast for a shoot so we returned to town for a fairly early breakfast at the Moab Diner. Then we had a couple of hours off to rest or in my case do some computer work - downloading pictures, checking e-mail, and working on the blog.

We were off about 1000 for points South. Our first stop was right off the highway at Wilson Arch. It was a bit of a climb to get to he base of it, but we all made it. It was fun to be there right under it. Took lots of pictures, many of which had people in them. There were lots of others who climbed the slope to reach the arch. We all were a bit concerned with a family that had small children running
around at the top, including what we think was a four year old. Oh well.

The second stop was to Newspaper Rock, a great pictograph site. There are lots of figures to try to interpret, but there also has been some vandalism of the site.  The site is very easy to get to and there is only a metal fence between it and the general public. It can easily be scaled to get to the wall.

Our ultimate destination today was Monument Valley. Before we reached there we stopped in Bluff and spent a good hour or hour and a half photographing old cars, and older wagons, etc. Shortly after that we stopped in Mexican Hat for an early dinner at the Old Bridge Cafe located right next to the old bridge used to cross the San Juan River. The restaurant was operated by some local Navajo, and we all enjoyed a Navajo taco. It was good, but did not compare with ones I have had at the Cameron Trading Post, or at Mule Days in Bishop, California. It served the purpose of being an early dinner, and filling.

Back on the road, we headed for Monument Valley. This is a very iconic area. It was used in many movies of the old west. Movie director, John Ford, filmed a large number of his films here. It is known for the Mittens formations, and other large eroded sandstone structures. Regrettably the clouds had thickened so we did not have a great sunset shoot, but we had some cloud filtered sunlight.

As sunset these days is about 1950 we did not get back to Moab until after 2200. That is why there has been a break in the blog entries. Pictures will have to wait for another day. :-)

Canyon Wall

Working the Arch:

 

On The Road to Monument Valley

Woodsy Raven Maven cleaning up foreground of trash

CANYONLANDS & DEAD HORSE POINT - April 4

A bit of a cloudy day today. It started out favorably with a nice sunrise at Dead Horse Point State Park. We shot from a less visited overlook area and had some nice objects for a foreground, and then a kind of tunnel effect with a large rock overhang. Breakfast afterwards was back in town at the Pancake Haus, which was very good. Lin and I split their iconic banana and walnut pancakes. Back at the house, we enjoyed time to do some computer work, but also the opportunity to take a good nap. I think I slept close to two hours.

By the afternoon it had clouded up more. Once again we had an early dinner, about 1700. This time we ate at Bucks Grill House. It was very good. They had the usual bbq choices as well as various steaks, and wild meats to choose from. I enjoyed bbq'd ribs and sweet potato fries. We headed off to Shafer Trail Overlook on the edge of the Dead Horse Canyon area. We spent a short time there but could have spent more as we needed to get to the area we wanted for sunset if it occurred. Then we were off to the Green River Overlook. There was a gray overcast with with a couple of faint "sucker holes" to give some added light. It was windy in the evening, so foregrounds had to be rocks or protected small juniper trees. There was about a half mile hike to the Overlook from the parking area. It was a grey evening for shooting.

There was no night shooting tonight so we enjoyed a somewhat relaxed evening. We were home by 2130 and nibbled on some cheese and fruit, and a bottle of Poligamy Porter. Later I had a dessert of a Dove Dark Chocolate ice cream. I added to the blog and then was off to a shower, and bed.

Big Dipper and Balanced Rock

Light Painting on Balanced Rock

Sunrise at Dead Horse Point

Sunrise at Dead Horse Point 2

Dead Horse Point Morning

Dead Horse Point Morning

Shafer Canyon, Canyonlands

 Shafer Canyon Overlook

Green River Overlook 1

Green River Overlook 2

Green River Overlook, Evening Light

Green River Overlook, Another View

      

A FULL DAY IN ARCHES - April 3

A FULL DAY IN ARCHES: April 3

We were off this morning to photograph Turret Arch with morning light. I got to photograph it through North Window. There was a short hike to the small ledge area where 4 of us could set up tripods for the shoot. We all agreed that we would not have tried to get to the area on our own. Mark has been there many times, and helped all of us in the short scramble to get into position. I did not have a problem with it, though I did have my camera bag and a tripod. We passed those on up the line as we went over the difficult area.

The effort was well worth it. We got some good photos with clear skies for lighting. Occasionally we had to wait for a shot as other people would come to North Window and look around. It did provide perspective for the photographs occasionally. We were shooting on the East side of North window looking West with Turret Arch about a quarter mile from North Window. Once back on the West side of North Window we continued to photograph Turret Arch. Here I made a few mistakes with my photography using Graduated Neutral Density filters, but will probably salvage a few of them.

Back in town we had breakfast at the Moab Diner before a mid-day rest as we were planning on night photography as the skies were clear. Early dinner was at the Fiesta Mexicana before heading back to Arches. We made a quick stop at Fiery Furnace before getting to Skyline Arch for sunset light. Skyline Arch was doubled in size in the early 1940's when a very large boulder fell out of it!!  We had a good shoot there.

The evening was taken up with driving back to Park Avenue for our first shots of the night sky. This took a while as people had to set their cameras up for the right WB, ISO, etc. for capturing the sky with as little noise as possible, and no star trailing. We shot Orion in this area, as well as Casseiopiea. We also did some light painting of the rocks. Sometimes we had to wait for cars to pass on the road so we did not have their car lights lighting up the red rocks. About 2230 we moved back to Balance Rock for some more photography. We had hoped to get some of the Milky Way, but we were too early for it. We were able to get the Big Dipper in our photographs though. Finally about 0015 we
called it quits.

Back at the house, it was time for a quick shower, and then off to bed. Three and a half hours later we were getting up for sunrise pictures. Grabbed a cup of coffee, and a yogurt, and we were off once again.

Pictures will follow soon so please check back.

Earth Shadow through No. Window

Turret Arch before Sunrise

Sunrise Light on No. Window and Turret Arch

Turret Arch through No. Window at Sunrise

Add caption

Turret Arch and Crescent Moon

Skyline Arch after Sunset

Orion Over Park Avenue

OFF TO ARCHES - APRIL 2

OFF TO ARCHES - April 2, 2013

It was up at 0300 this morning for a light breakfast and then to the airport for a 0615 flight to Grand Junction via Salt Lake City. After boarding and closing the doors there was reported a minor mechanical problem. This delayed our departure by about a half hour. This did not effect us as we had about a three hour layover in Salt Lake City. There was some scrambling by some of the passengers as they had only about 30 minutes to make a connecting flight. It seemed as though Delta was going to accommodate them and give them time to make their connections.

Our time at the airport was spent reading and then looking at the website of Laurent M------ who has written three extensive guides to photographing the
Southwest. It gave me a good feel of what is ahead with a number of pictures from Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.

We were met by most of the group at the airport in Grand Junction. Vehicles were loaded and we were off for Moab. As we drove South there was rain activity to both the East and West. Eventually it all caught up with us as we approached Moab. We found our connected duplexes and the rest of the group and then went about settling in. We had about 45 minutes to unpack and organize camera gear before heading out for an early dinner at Zax's a family style pizza restaurant. It was good to get some nourishment.

Then we were off to Arches N. P. to shoot Balanced Rock at sunset. The weather had cleared a bit so all went well. It was frustrating at times to try to set up photos without people or cars but it all seemed to work out. This evening I did most of my photography from afar with the road between me and the Rock. As soon as the sunset behind the low clouds we rushed back to the base of Balanced Rock to get sunset sky behind the silhouette  of Balanced Rock. The
sky did not color up much but it was a good exercise. We will probably return here once more during the week.

I got a few wrinkles out - turning off image stabilization when on a tripod!! I know better but had not done it for one of the lenses. All went ok until the long exposures at the end of the day.

BALANCED ROCK B/W

 

 

SUNSET LIGHT, BALANCED ROCK

EVENING LIGHT

Due to technical issues with the internet and connecting to it, the blog entries may be delayed at times.  Thank you for your patience.

EASTERN UTAH IN APRIL

APRIL 1 -

This is not an April Fools prank. I truly am off once again on a photo adventure for eight days to Eastern Utah and environs. This is a result of a very generous pay back offer from LightChase Photography for issues on the Northern Lights Trip this past month.

I am really looking forward to this as we will be going to areas that I have wanted to photograph but have not (Arches N.P., Canyon Lands N.P., Deadhorse Point S.P., and Monument Valley Navajo Park. When I am close to the area in the summer while volunteering at the North Rim, Grand Canyon, it is too hot for my liking to venture to these areas. To be able to do this with guidance for where and when to be at certain locations is a great bonus. The logistics can be very time consuming in planning a photo trip. It is part of the fun of going, but sometimes we can have options where the planning is done for us. This time it has all been done for me. :-)

Welcome along.