Once upon a time, a far, far away time (300 million years), God created the land now boosting of the world's densities of natural arches. An ancient sea had flowed through here and eventually evaporated leaving behind the Navajo sandstones of which erosion painted these beautiful arches seen today.
When in the company of many landscape professional and amateur photogs alike, the conversation always turns to the Western United States, and the famous arches of Arches National Park and Canyonlands.
There are many articles on "how to photograph the arches" and searching Flickr there are thousands of photos on the arches. So, to set yourself apart from the maddening crowd, you are always thinking of new and unusual ways to be creative. And, that goes for anything, including arches. Me, I am just trying to play "catch up."
After freezing our asses off in Montana, we made a quick stopover in Moab, Utah, on our way to High Lonesome Ranch, near Grand Junction, Colorado. The weather had turned pleasantly warm but the nights and early morning hours were still quite chilly.
I came with three objectives . . . photograph Delicate Arch (the most popular arch, naturally - no creativity here) at sunset, framing the La Sal Mountain Range, star trails and night photography at Balancing Rock and a fiery sunrise at Windows arch.
Delicate Arch
The plan . . . hike up to Delicate Arch, setup, and, as the sun was setting in the West, shoot away, in hopes of capturing the glowing reds, oranges and pinks all combined from rocks to sky. However, reality set in when I started up the trail, and I mean UP the trail. Hiking to Delicate Arch was a daunting task, climbing up as you climb in elevation.
A week later my daughter was on field assignment in Grand Junction, CO. Of course, on her weekend off, she hiked Arches and just mosed right up to Delicate Arch and back . . . no problem.
But I digressed, the park brochure lists Delicate Arch as one of the more strenuous trails. There is a rock ledge trail just before reaching the arch, and if you have kept up with my travels, you are well aware of my serious height issues (See Porsche trip in Colorado, Aug, 2010).
I knew that but I wasn't going to let a little fear of heights stop me in my desire to photograph this iconic scene. Even with Jim's help carrying most of the load, I just couldn't make it. My little heart was beating so hard. When I reached the top of one hill, Jim said, "See those tiny people just below the ridge, that's where we have to go." All I could see was a helicopter whisking me away. I probably could have made it, my daughter always calls me a "drama queen," but I just got scared. Okay I said it, I was SCARED SH___less. So back down we went.
Needless to say, with only 30 minutes to spare, (OMG, I am sounding like Peter Lik), we traversed to Delicate Arch Viewpoint, and made the climb there. And, believe me, it wasn't much better . . . shorter maybe, but . . . walking on an 60 degree angle, okay maybe 30 degree. Do you think I could get a break, here?? Side note: For those of you unfamiliar with Peter Lik, he is an Australian photographer who is a bigger "drama queen" than me. If you don't believe me, watch his program on the Weather Channel. He does have some beautiful landscape images, though.
I was so proud of myself . . . I got to the top. It wasn't really where I wanted to be but the sunset was dynamic albeit from a different point of view, and the arch was far, prompting me to use the 70-200 telephoto lens instead of my wide angle and fisheye lens. One thing I did regret was not getting the mountains in the background. But with the help of my personal trainer and a good workout routine, I will make that climb to Delicate Arch next year!
As the sun begin its descent to the other side of the world, the rays bathed the arch with a fiery red color, and the sky turned into a maze of yellow and orange. And, after the sun had completely disappeared below the horizon. I slapped on my Singh-Ray Blue-n-Gold filter just to see what kind of effects would be produced.
At first, my idea was to do star trails perched on this granite ridge where just the slightest off balance could send your repelling down the side without a rope. It was getting dark, and I for one did not one to repel down the granite rock.
Star Trails at Balancing Rock
It was a perfect night sky, with little cloud coverage, and a beautiful foreground of the monolith called Balancing Rock towering over us. Oh yeah baby, it was going to be a STAR TRAIL NIGHT. Well except for two things . . . Balancing Rock wasn't facing North and there was this moon thing going on. Oh well, what the heck! It was dark, and we didn't have time to scout out another location.
I setup the camera and tripod, got my focus in order, check and rechecking while Jim, my engineer, got the cable release to fire off a photo every 3 minutes, 30 seconds, hoping to get at least two hours of shooting. Star trails are always better in a cool, crisp night sky because the camera battery last much longer. As my eyes adjusted to the night, I could see how beautiful the desert landscape glowed in the light of the moon. But with that knowledge, my imagination began to run rabid. What creature comes out at night? Too many horror movies over the years . . . vampires and werewolves of course. Had there been any sightings in this area? What about snakes? spiders? serial killers? Jim and I waited in the SUV, in the comfy seats, heater on, that's all, nothing more. WHAT WAS THAT THAT JUST FLEW BY? A BAT?
Sunrise at Windows/Turret Arch
Sunrise comes early when you stay out half the night doing star trails. So with a cup of Starbucks coffee, we proceeded to Windows Arch to capture the fiery hue of the red rocks as the morning glow peeks through the canyons far below.
The morning light is richer and the long shadows cast by a lower sun reflect details in the landscape not evident at midday.
Most of the famous photos taken of Turret Arch are "the frame within a frame" look shooting from North Window Arch. To get that photo, I needed to be on a small ledge with a shear drop off just on the other side of North Window Arch with my camera pointed towards Turret Arch. Even at 5 am, I didn't get there in time . . . three photogs had beaten me to the punch, and complaining that I needed to stay out of their photo!
With a 16mm fisheye lens, I shot through North Window Arch as the sun was inching its way towards the heavens.
In post processing, I decided to convert this same photo into black & white . . . not bad! What do you think?
Saying Farewell
Jim had a date with a rainbow trout, so reluctantly, I packed up my gear. Arches is truly one of the many wonders of the world. It was an experience I will never forget. As once said by a famous general . . . I will return.
Where is your new stuff? Quit doing other stuff.
Posted by: Kristi | October 10, 2011 at 08:52 AM
Kandace,
All your Arches shots were wonderful. I'm glad you included a star trail (very nice). Arches is one of those places I always intended to visit and your story renewed my determination to make it a destination for the near future.
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Larry Ditto | August 21, 2011 at 07:41 AM
Once again great photos!!! Thanks for taking me along on this wonderful trip.
Posted by: Jim Heimer | August 21, 2011 at 05:58 AM