Utah

Hi all. I recently returned from a trip to Utah and wanted to share some photos. I have them all on my website organized into galleries here: http://www.daveheinzel.com/?id=4_78

Some of my favorites are attached.

heading_west.jpg

Composition of 12 35mm black & white stills.

81_301455.jpg

Hiking in Colorado on the way to Utah.

82_301635.jpg

Delicate Arch at night, illuminated by hand-held flash fired through yellow raincoat.
 
Thanks guys. Equipment is Canon 7D with either 10-22 or 17-40. I also used a polarizer (perhaps too much in some cases). Flash was a 580 EXII. I had gels but accidentally left them in the car. Instead of doing a one-hour round trip hike, I used a yellow poncho I had with me to color the flash. I had my white balance set to make the sky look blue, which made the naked flash look blue as well. I only had to do a slight correction in Aperture to this, but I was happy to get it close.

Oh and for the 35mm stills I was using a Canon EOS 3 and Ilford HP5.
 
Upvote 0
It was a beautiful area - definitely worth going. Moab is very close to Arches NP and has several options for hotels. But I reserved a campsite in the park. You have to do this in advance during busy times. Daytime temps were warm but not hot, and night was cold but not freezing. It was a good balance between each if you're camping. Arches was borderline crowded, but if you go there not expecting solitude, it's not bad. Weekdays are better if you want photos without people in them. Canyonlands, especially the Needles district, offers more remote trails and great photos as well.
 
Upvote 0
curtisnull said:
Awesome photos Dave. I particularly like the last one. I have been all over the USA but never to the south of Utah. It's on my bucket list.

You've got to go. It's wonderful. If you don't mind a crowd, Arches is great. The hike to Delicate Arch is not very long (30-40 minutes) and is very rewarding. Sunset there is magical, even when you share it with dozens of people. Canyonlands is more remote and offers long hikes. And there are great photo ops at every turn. I struggled with wanting to leave my camera behind and just go hiking, but I couldn't bear the thought of not having the camera when I found "that spot." And "that spot" was all over the place.
 
Upvote 0
Your third shot is quite amazing. Great ingenuity used as well. My wife and I had a short visit to Arches NP in early October, but not being familiar with the area, chose to hike to the Delicate Arch from the second parking area as the first was packed with vehicles. It was quite busy at the second and after a relatively short hike, we found we were quite a distance from the actual arch. The view was great, but I left my 70-200 in the car so the arch is quite small in al my photos.

When you took that photo, how many other people were there with you? At sunset while we were there, a large group was at the upper viewing area, with some people under the arch as well.

Steve
 
Upvote 0