SW Area in December

Day 0

Well, it’s the first trip out for the Five-Billion-Star-Hotel since I installed the new engine. So far, so good. I went from ~15 MPG with the old engine to ~22 MPG with the new.

I didn't want to take her over Vail Pass before properly breaking in the engine, so I took a much longer route. The drive was over eight hours and included both Wilkerson and Monarch Passes. I made it to my initial destination without any issues. I'm hoping for a nice sunrise in the morning at Mesa Arch.

Day 1

The morning did indeed find us at Mesa Arch. I definitely wouldn’t call the temps warm by any means, tho I've stood in the same spot and nearly froze in the past, so I’ll take it!

The weather conditions weren't exactly as forecasted, but even my worst day out with the camera is better than my best day in the office.

BTS at Mesa Arch

I’m looking forward to the final images from this morning's shoot! I’ll not mess with them until I get back home from this trip.

After shooting Mesa Arch, Ben and I went and scoped out our shot for the evening's sunset. Below is a hint at where we will be shooting…

Canyonlands National Park

The evening's shoot would require a model. There were two plans in place in order to make this a reality. Plan B involved me setting up my camera gear, running to get into place with the help of a walkie talkie, posing in the image, and having Ben squeeze my Shutter button for me as well as his camera's. This wasn't ideal as I'd not have the opportunity to recompose any. Plan A was much better, but it'd require some outside help.

Plan A's actual planning began hours earlier with a chance reencounter with a pair we'd met while shooting sunrise earlier in the morning at Mesa Arch. By chance, we happened to bump into a dad (Dale) and daughter (Karen) duo who were out enjoying the sights. We'd previously chatted with them and took the opportunity to do so once again when we by-chance met at a coffee place in Moab. While chatting, the evening's plans came up. It was then that we invited them to come model in our photoshoot and enjoy a beautiful sunset at the same time. They agreed, we set times/places, and parted ways.

Come closer to sunset, Ben and I headed out toward our shooting location and got out the kitchen. Ben had burgers on the menu. We sat and ate while watching for our models to show. Dinner came and went, so did our meeting time. It looked like Plan A wasn't going to happen; or was it?

Up ahead, overlooking the beautiful cliffs was a couple, Ivan and Sandy were their names. We asked if they'd be staying through sunset. They answered back that they were indeed staying throughout sunset. Nice! Maybe they'd fill in for our regularly scheduled models!

Turns out, they were game! The only catch, modeling for our shoot was going to take some nerves! We'd chosen a spot along the cliff edges that stood out to us earlier. I walked/climbed with the couple to the location. Sandy was a bit nervous but pushed through the climb like a champ! I can't thank her enough for stretching her comfort limits!

As sunset neared, our original models showed up. Turns out, they'd have made it in plenty of time after all...!

We all chit chatted our way through sunset. I didn't get the skies that I was hoping for, but what's new there? We thanked both pairs of models, exchanged a bit of contact info. And were off on our separate ways. Ben and I decided to drive a few hours down the road and prepare to get the drones out in the morning as the weather was a bit iffy. With the drones, along with the location we chose, if the sunrise was a banger, we could catch it from the air. If the sunset was a bust, we'd shoot without the skies in the composition.

Here's a (crumby) phone image of the scene. I’m looking forward to getting home and seeing how the Z8's images look!

BTS at Canyonlands National Park

Day 2

The morning of day two found the Five-Billion-Star-Hotel rocking as gusts of wind hit it over and over. It was quite windy out, but there was still an hour or so before I wanted to throw the drone up.

As the time approached, I began getting my drone ready. Of course, my old drone was giving me problems; its camera wouldn't properly calibrate! I dug through the settings in the controller and the option wasn't listed. It seems my last-minute update before I left the house left me without the ability to calibrate the camera. There'd be no morning images for me. Bummer...

With my planned morning photography ruined, I set my sights on the evening's shoot, tho, I was unsure where that'd be. Ben wanted to try again for The Wave, so we drove to Kanab. Ince within the Geofence for The Wave, both Ben and I applied for permits to do the hike. They make you have to physically be local to apply for the permit, days in advance. I feel it’s a gimmick to increase revenue in the area. Regardless, while we waited to see if our permits were selected in the lottery, we drove into Zion National Park.

I feel I've never given Zion the time it deserves. Even on this trip, we dipped in, walked a couple of miles, and then left. Sooner than later, I’d like to spend a few days in the park. I've yet to leave that park with an image that I'm proud of.

My L300 at the Zion East entrance

Just outside of Kanab is a set of Toadstool Hoodoos that I've been wanting to shoot. Ben and ai decided to head there while we waited for word on the permit. Getting to the hoodoos by sunset was gonna be close. Not only did we need to get there in time, but there was a decent hike involved as well.

we got to the parking lot a bit late for sunset, but in time for shooting in the Blue Hour. Before I could head out, we both received notifications that we were not selected for a permit, again. I thinknive tried seven or eight times now and have never been selected. This let the wind out of my sails. I ate dinner and began setting my sights on sunrise in the morning.

Day 3

Day three found us in the Monument Valley area. Conditions were great if you were backpacking. 🙄 The morning skies were crystal clear; not what I was hoping for. With no real time to plan, I decided to scout out a location that I wanted to shoot later when conditions were better. I was curious if I could get my camera and tripod into a tight little nook under a tree. Here's a BTS image below.

BTS at Monument Valley

I had to break down my tripod into a bipod for it to fit into this tight spot. By the time I got the image done, I could barely feel my fingers. It was very cold out despite maybe not looking so.

After my shoot, I met up with Ben. We chatted about about where we wanted to shoot. He wanted a shot from down by the river that required a drone. Mine was currently messed up, so I decided to go explore a spot I've been wanting to check out. We parted ways both having quite a bit of driving to do to get to our shooting locations.

I drove out to a very remote location in UT. I was looking for an old Puebloan granary I'd read about. The drive out was long, slow, and, at times, snowy. I made it out without issues after stopping and seeing Newspaper Rock.

Once I got out to my location, I still had to find the old ruins. This price to be quite the challenge. I searched for hours with no luck. I went back to the Five-Billion-Star-Hotel, made dinner, and then went out abs searched some more. Still no luck. I'd have to continue the search tomorrow.

Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument

After the quick stop at Newspaper Rock, it was off to my shooting location for the evening.

The road out was long, lonely, and quite rough. It took a few hours, but the Five-Billion-Star-Hotel and I made it without issue. I had zero cell service, a lot of ambition, and plenty of daylight to use to scout around for the granary that I'd been wanting to photograph. The ancient Puebloans had other plans as their granary wasn't easy to find. After hours of searching, I decided to call it a day without shooting a single evening image. Don't get me wrong, the sunset was nice, however, I was intent on finding the granary and chose that over searching out a sunset composition.

My ancient Puebloan granery video

I made a video (see above) of my trip out to photograph the granaries. Check it out and let me know what you think! :-)

Day 4

The morning came and I had no choice but to get up. I was in a 0⁰F sleeping bag and my toes were hurting they were freezing so bad. I had to get up and get the old heart pumping. If you watch my video above, what you don't see are the attempted jumping jacks, the jogging in place, or the laps around the Delica that I was doing to stay warm while my water came to a boil. I wanted the coffee for the warmth, forget the caffeine!

Spoiler alert, the day was going to turn out much more productive than the evening prior.

Ancient Puebloan granery (2 o’clock position)

If you watched my video, you'll know that I thought I found the granary that I came in search of. While photographing the below image, it dawned on me that it indeed was not the one I'd come to shoot.

Ancient Puebloan Granary Prints Available

I still have an urge to go back out and find “the one.” This one looks pretty good, but it pales in comparison to the other that I hope to one day find and photograph.

I had a dilemma, the day was young; should I stay and look for the granary or get on the road to the evening's shooting location? Now, I'd not chosen a location yet, but if I was going to be able to make it anywhere in the area, I'd have to leave soon. In the end, I chose to leave.

I hit the backcountry dirt roads and eventually ended up back on the pavement. Looking up at the skies, the clouds looked good in all directions. It was 2+ hours to Shiprock, a place where I wanted to shoot star trails in the Blue Hour, and 1.3 hours to an area of Canyonlands that I wanted to photograph. I had 1.5 hours until sunset; I'd have to be quick if I was going to make it on time! (That's a Delica joke.) To Canyonlands, I went!

It's tough driving down the road and watching a sunset develop that you want to photograph. It's like having to pee really badly. The closer in proximity you get to the restroom the more of an urge you have to urinate. It's the same with photography. The closer you get to your destination, the more unsure of yourself you are that you are going to make it in time. Long story short, I made it in time! Here's a BTS image below…

Sunset at Canyonlands National Park Check back for final image!

After driving for over three hours total, I pulled into the parking lot with ~20 minutes to spare. I set up my camera equipment as quickly as I could. I expected to have to run into position and stand in my own image. Luckily, another group of photographers showed up and already had a model headed out to the cliff's edge. I'd not have to be doing any running this evening after all…!

The sunset was worth the drive!

After a long day, I decided to make it even longer; I decided to drive home. I was exhausted and a bit frustrated. I’d been out for four full days and really only photographed once where I thought conditions were worthy of the image in my mind that I drove out for; that was this last image at Canyonlands. Everything else either had poor conditions or my timing was slightly off due to driving distances. ‘Tis okay tho as I don't mind an excuse to come back to UT with the camera! 😀

Until then!