Slickrock and Shadow

Sidewinder curves in the depths of Crack Canyon Crack Canyon in Utah's San Rafael region is another of Utah's less-known gems.  Down a dirt road in Central Utah, this trailhead is not even listed on maps.  The canyon makes for a pleasant stroll on a clear or cloudy day.  A short slot section resembles the "Subway" of Zion but I liked the impressive rust-colored walls and Swiss-cheese holes in the sandstone.  This place has more holes in rocks than any other location I've seen.  It's quite "holy".  Here are a few pics from this wonderful little location. Cave-like Crack Canyon with light at the end of the tunnel A glimpse of the amazing holes, cavities and caves in this canyon -- and the namesake "Crack".

Jailhouse Rock stands hundreds of feet high on a stormy day. Lower South Desert Overlook in Capitol Reef is a gorgeous remote treasure.  As part of the Cathedral Valley loop drive, this should be on everybody's to-do list.   Park your car and walk 1/2 mile to the amazing views of Jailhouse Rock and the vast empty South Desert.   White rocks of all shapes and sizes surprised me here.  I thoroughly enjoyed walking around these white goblins and hoodoos looking for a photogenic angle.  I highly recommend this locale as a place to get in touch with the vastness of natural desert landscape.  Enjoy! Goblins of South Desert Overlook Jailhouse Rock and White Badlands Temple Rock:  300mm lens captures this distant pinnacle

Cathedral Valley Spires catch morning light for an instant! Photographers coined the phrase "chasing the light."  "Catching the light," is another variation of this idea.  The flip side of this is "when the light's not right, shoot black and white."  There was no light to "chase" during a recent trip to Capitol Reef.  I was 60 miles of dirt road to the nearest pavement but that would not make a difference as rainclouds blanketed the entire southwest region thanks to a hurricane near Baja California.  I hoped for a few rays of light at sunrise.  Some times sunlight will appear under the clouds at sunrise or sunset and then hide behind the clouds the rest of the day.  Sunrise did not shine through at all.  Heavy clouds blocked the eastern skies even though I could see some blue sky above.  I went to work, shooting compositions that I found with plants and rocks as foreground subjects.  A balanced rock directly east of the Temple o...

Bridge in Fruita, Utah Cottonwood trees surrounding a green grassy park on a quiet evening in October.  The skies grow colorful and the trees take on a wonderful glow here in autumn.  Not only are the trees great photography subjects, but there are orchards, barns, buildings and bridges.  Wandering from the campground to the Fremont River and back is a wonderful stroll full of beautiful views. I wandered through the cottonwoods just before sunset.  Sunrise is a great time for visiting the Fruita barn, which is adjacent to the campground.  While at the barn, you may as well visit the Gifford house to eat a delicious pie for breakfast. Fruita Cottonwood Trees Sunrise by Fruita Barn

Narrow Rapids Above Fremont Falls The Fremont River is more powerful than the Virgin River.  I'd grown used to seeing the small and pleasant Virgin flow through Zion year after year.  The Fremont surprised me with how deep, wide and fast it is.  On the east side of Capitol Reef national park, the Fremont goes through a quick series of waterfalls.  Right above the big drop, the water speeds up into a narrow chute.  Here I stretched my tripod legs over the water to capture this photo. Possessing very dynamic motion, the rushing water shows up more in black and white.  I tried processing a color version, but the color detracts from the power of the water.  

Desert Textures:  Dead Tree and Badlands In Capitol Reef there are many trails to choose from.  The chimney rock trail is popular on the west side of the park.  There is a pull out with adequate parking.  After a short level lock, the trail ascends switchbacks high above the chimney rock.  In fact you are on the top of the mesa.  There are several wonderful views of chimney rock as you climb up.  You will need to stop anyways to catch your breath.  The total ascent takes about half an hour.  Several children were going up the trail on the day I went.  It is not too difficult. Most people turn around after they see chimney rock.  However you can continue along the edge of the mesa for more than a mile and then reached the beginning of Spring Canyon.  Traveling along the mesa, the view to the south includes distant Fruita and much closer gray and red badlands.  These are pictured in my feature photograph along with a ph...

Stretching to the Sun I have never been on a photography workshop.  In my travels, I occasionally will see a large group of people doing the same things.  They often have different types of equipment, from beginning smaller cameras to much larger and capable tools.  In Capitol Reef, I saw one such group setting up for pictures of sunset.  The next morning as I was hiking up Sulfur Creek, I saw lots of footprints.  As I reached the small waterfall, I discovered about 20 people.  Everyone had a tripod and a camera.  They had placed a twisted piece of wood in front of the waterfall.  One by one, the instructor would have person approach the twisted piece of wood and compose a photograph.  I said hello to them and found out that they were from Provo, Utah.  They were part of a photography workshop, as I had suspected.  While they were all taking the same photograph over and over again, I looked for something that could be a differe...

Notom Sunrise in autumn Capitol Reef National Park as the water pocket folder which runs from north to south the length of the park.  The most frequent visited locations are on the west side of the water pocket fold.  They do not get the early morning light from sunrise.  On the east side, the sunrise directly lights up the landscape. I was hoping to find a good autumn location for sunrise and drove out here in the early dawn.  The town of Notom is more of a location on a dirt road than any type of established community.  There is a very old cemetery on a hill.  The gravestones indicate some of the residents died in the 1800s.  This hill overlooks Pleasant Creek and the surrounding cottonwood trees.  It was on this hill that I set up my tripod and compose the photograph.  I was delighted with the lovely autumn leaves.