Photophys.com: The Science of Photography

The trip: After hearing nature photographers rave about the beauty of southern Utah for years, we finally got around to visiting in April. Fortunately, I got a copy of Laurent Martrès’s book, “Photographing the Southwest, Vol. 1,” and we were able to do some planning before setting out. That book is a marvel. It identifies prime photographic sites and rates them according to: scenic value, photographic interest, road difficulty, and trail difficulty. My nature photographer friends with experience in Utah agree that this book is essential for planning photo shoots in the red rock country. Martrès’s book also offers beautiful photographs to illustrate the various sites, especially those inaccessible to all but young and adventurous photographers. I might add at this point that we are old enough to appreciate easy to moderate hikes, comfortable lodging, and accessible coffee shops. We were able to accomplish our creature comfort goals fairly well on this trip with the sacrifice of more remote photogenic sites at dawn and dusk.

We rented a car in Salt Lake City and started our photo shoot in Arches and Canyonlands NP’s. Moab is close by and offers a number of motels and restaurants, and Arches is especially convenient for early morning photography. Here is an example. Canyonlands Island in the Sky is more distant but offers fantastic vistas. Weather was a mixed bag with frequent overcast days. Also, we also encountered high winds with blowing sand at Canyonlands. I strongly recommend a camera sleeve of some sort for protection from sand and rain. Here is an example of the view through Mesa Arch at midday. This is a fine sight at sunrise, weather permitting. We moved on after four days with a definite plan to return in the fall to do the hikes we missed and to have another chance on good weather. In particular we want to hike in The Devil’s Garden in Arches and to visit overlooks and trails in Canyonlands that were inaccessible to us because of wind.

Our next destination was Capitol Reef. This trip took us by The San Rafael Swell and some interesting side trips that we will save for another day when the weather is better. Torrey, which is about ten miles west of the Capitol Reef visitor’s center has a number of motels and a few adequate restaurants. Also, there is a good coffee shop at the junction of UT 24 and 12. We followed Martrès’s suggestions for excursions and were quite impressed. The Scenic Drive is exceptional. Also, the Cohab Canyon trail is of special note. This trail required a short, rather strenuous but safe, climb to reach wonderful overlooks and the hidden canyon. The Castle is also very photogenic and should be even better in the fall when the cotton wood trees are yellow. On a return visit we plan to do the Hickman Bridge and other hikes and to photograph the sky at night.

One day while staying at Torrey we decided to drive over Boulder Mountain to Boulder via UT 12 so that we could see the Burr Trail. That took us through Long Valley with spectacular, sheer sandstone cliffs with desert varnish as shown here. Burr Trail definitely merits a return visit.

We chose to drive from Torrey to Bryce Canyon by way of “Scenic Byway 12”. That route took us back over Boulder Mountain via the 9,000 ft pass to Boulder. Snow was likely at that elevation, but we were lucky and could proceed without delay. The town of Boulder is tiny and does not contain much besides the Anasazi State Park and the entrance to the Burr Trail. However, the section of SB 12 from Boulder to Escalante is one of the most beautiful drives you will find. Also, a few miles north of Escalante one encounters Hole-in-the Rock Road that leads to the Escalante Devil’s Garden. That is an easily accessible must see photographic site. We spent a couple of hours there in the middle of the day and must return. The whimsical figures there can be photographed any time of day but would certainly be better in early morning. When we return in the fall we plan to make Escalante a base for exploring the region. Oh yes, we were able to get a good cappuccino from a street vendor in Escalante.

Our remaining side trip on the road to Bryce was Kodachrome Basin State Park. This required that we leave UT 12 in Cannonville for a three hour round trip plus time in the park. The small park is noted for its unusual rock columns. We spend a couple of hours driving around and hiking there. The red monoliths, the vegetation, and the sky really make an RGB experience. Here is an example. This was a worthwhile excursion and we may return in the fall.

We found that there is no town near Bryce Canyon, only a couple of motels and other businesses outside the entrance and a Subway a couple of miles away. The motel we stayed at and the lodge inside the park are nice, but this was the only site where we failed to find a real cappuccino. (We don’t accept push button machines.) For those who are as unfamiliar with Bryce Canyon as we were, I should point out that our motel was at about 8,000 ft and some of the overlooks are 9,000 ft. It was cold and when the wind blew, it was really cold. I have good gloves and a supply of hand warmers, and they were necessary. As advertised the overlooks are spectacular, especially Sunrise Point. One morning there was snow, and that was a special treat. However, all of the major trails other than Victoria’s Garden were closed. After the morning snow, the wind blew it all away and we were able to enjoy the VG trail. We also took the Mossy Cave hike in the northern part of the park. That one is very easy and the scenery is great.

Our final destination was Zion Canyon. We entered from the eastern side on the Zion Plateau in the morning. That is an ideal time to experience the sculptured landscape of white, pink and red rocks starting with the Checkerboard Mesa. After about five miles we came to the eastern end of the Zion tunnel. The canyon overlook is accessed by a trail of about one mile length that is rated as easy. It is maybe easy or moderate, but it is also dangerous. Some sections are narrow ledges over sheer cliffs hundreds of feet high. There are often no railings and, where railings exist, they are too high to offer little protection for small children. The canyon overlook panorama is nice, but I would not do the climb again.

The tunnel is an engineering wonder offering canyon views through giant windows, and the descent into Zion Canyon is interesting to say the least. In contrast to the Grand Canyon and Bryce here one lives at the bottom. The town of Springdale is adjacent to the western entrance to the park. It has evolved to accommodate the flood of tourists who flock to the “Grand Circle” of national parks in Utah and Arizona. Consequently, it has everything for visitors from expensive restaurants, boutiques, to photo galleries; and, of course, it has coffee shops. We liked the Café Soleil for cappuccinos, sandwiches and even breakfast.

The down side to our visit was the crowds. That was a surprise to us for mid-April, but our visit coincided with spring break for many schools and a free pass weekend. In addition to that, the afternoons in the canyon were hot.

The best bet was to park at the visitor center early in the morning, when spaces are available; and to take the bus into the park before the crowds appeared. One can then access Springdale on foot and via free buses. We did this a few days and were able to enjoy the iconic scenes and trails such as the Virgin Narrows and the Hall of the Patriachs. In the future I think we will arrange to visit the park in March or November when cars are allowed in canyon’s interior. Towers of the Virgin, overlooking the canyon, makes a good panorama especially at dawn. Each morning we would drive to the Zion museum and set up my tripod directly behind the building. About a half dozen other photographers had the same idea, but there was no crowding. This is a place where the Nodal Ninja Panoramic head was very useful.  Time lapse photography would also be good from this location.

Our last day at Zion we hiked to the Kolob Canyon Viewpoint in poor weather as a short stop over on our way back to the Salk Lake City area. It was a nice hike but would not merit any additional time. There are some fantastic photographic sites in the Zion area such as The Subway that require long, strenuous hikes. We do not plan to do any of those.

For a larger sample of my Utah photographs can be found here.

Photo Galleries: The beautiful red rock country has attracted a number of excellent photographers whose galleries can be found close to the National Parks. We were impressed with the work exhibited in Tom Till’s gallery in Moab, but we did not get to meet him. We understand that Guy Tal has a gallery in Torrey. We will try to see him when we return in the fall. Also, Tracy Hassett is a landscape photographer based in Escalante, and we hope to meet him in the fall. There are a number of landscape photographers in Springdale with galleries large and small. We met David West and discussed his impressive images. We understand that he has recently started conducting photographic workshops.

My equipment: My basic camera is a Canon 7D and I try to travel light. For the Utah trip where landscapes were the major interest I usually had a Canon 15-85mm lens on the camera. I also carried a 10-22mm lens. In addition I had a Canon 70-300mm IS lens in case we encountered wild animals or interesting birds and a 35mm f/2.0 for low light situations including night shots. The 70-300mm lens is very good up to about 200mm. My backup camera was a Canon XTi and I carried a Canon S90 in a top pocked of my vest for quick shots that are not convenient for my larger cameras. Since I was trying to limit weight, I left macro lenses at home. That was no problem as the 15-85mm focuses quite close. However, on my next trip I may bring a fisheye lens for night sky shots.

In addition to cameras and lenses I packed my Nodal Ninja 3, Mark II Panoramic head. My tripod was a SLIK Sprint Pro D778T with a Giottos MH 1302 Head (Acrotec clamp). There was also a Manofrotto 676B Monopod with a 3232 head. Both the tripod and the monopod can double as walking sticks for rough trails. Photo storage and processing were accomplished with an Acer Netbook (Aspire One) and a Seagate Free Agent 250 MB portable drive. Of course, I had extra memory cards totaling over 50 GB, extra batteries, polarizers, and neutral density filters up to 10 stops. Oh yes, there was also a Canon 580EX Speedlite with a Better Beamer.

When I am concentrating on wild life, for example in Yellow NP or NPs in Alaska I take along a Canon 100-400mm lens in place of the 70-300mm, and I leave the 10-22mm lens at home. Also, I don’t pack the panoramic head. All of this assumes air travel, and some items such as the panoramic head depend on using a rental car rather than public transportation at the photo site.

Of course, every trip is a special case. When island hoping in the Galapagos, I carried a very light weight backpack with a Seal Line Bag as liner. It contained my Canon DSLR fitted with the 100-400mm lens. That was essential because the backpack was often in water in the bottom of a zodiac. A point and shoot camera in my vest handled other photographic situations except occasionally when my wife carried the backup DSLR with a wide angle lens attached.

The final items concern transportation of photographic equipment by air and later to the photo site. I chose a Think Tank Speed-O-Matic 20 for very efficient packing of my cameras and lenses for air travel. It fits under the seat and minimizes the chances that anything will be taken away for storage elsewhere. Other items such as memory cards, batteries, and my portable disk drive were loaded into my Domke Photographer’s Vest. A camera sleeve and a Seal Line 10 gallon bag also easily fit into the vest.

When hiking I don’t get along very well with the Think Tank or any other back pack as far as that goes. I don’t want the extra weight and the possible loss of balance on the trail. My hiking backpack needs to carry my rain suit, bug spray (bear spray?), extra water, and perhaps a lunch. It can also manage an extra lens, but not other photo equipment. I acknowledge that this says something about my age and strength, but so be it. I am interested in high quality images, but I also want to survive the trip in good shape.