Whirlwind Trip: Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Whitepocket, and Bryce!
Sunrise: Driving
Sunset: Forrest Gump Point
Day One of Five
Leg One: Monument, CO to Monument Valley, UT
It looked as if it was going to be another lazy weekend. That’s when I got the message, “What are we going to do about Whitepocket?” The message was from Ben of Benji’s Travel Photography, and he was right, we did need to do something about Whitepocket. In addition to Whitepocket, a location in northern Arizona, it seemed Sedona, AZ was getting blanketed with snow. Might as well add that to the list while we are “in the area.”
I am always ready for a spur of the moment road trip. I’ve always got my camping gear and photography gear ready to go. The only thing I need to gather, in order to hit the road, is a few basic essentials like a change of clothes, a toothbrush, and a bit of food. With that, it was set, we were headed Southwest and we’d leave in the morning.
Colorado Mountain Farm Life
Nikon D750 | Tamron 70 - 200mm f/2.8 | 130mm | f/11 | 1/250s | ISO 100
The first destination on the trip would be Forrest Gump Point near Monument Valley on the Utah/Arizona border. The route put a beautiful Colorado farm (seen above) in my path that I have shot every time I’ve passed it. One of these days I am going to shoot it in what I consider perfect conditions. Until then, this day’s cloudless midday light would have to do.
BTS: Forrest Gump Point, Monument Valley, UT (S8)
Pressing on, we made our way to the day’s “first” shooting location, Forrest Gump Point. The clouds were borderline on being spectacular or disastrous. Only time would tell which way they’d go.
Monument Valley Sunrise Prints Available
I had been to this location before but was there during the sunrise. I, personally, think the location sets up better for a sunrise image. Regardless, I didn’t let this deter me at all from attempting to capture a spectacular sunset image of such a beautiful setting, no matter its evening timeframe.
Three scenes from Monument Valley
Notice how the earlier skies in the Colorado Mountain Farm image vs the skies in the Monument Valley image differ dramatically? The weather conditions were changing drastically. Exciting! To me, I enjoy this. This offers up the opportunity to catch some very moody images.
The skies in the Forrest Gump Point image had the potential to be amazing. Unfortunately, the sunset didn’t end up as I’d hoped. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t terrible, just not “as I’d hoped.”
While I’d love to have sat at this location and waited for the right conditions, and maybe one day I will, it was time to press on with the next leg of our journey.
Sunrise: Grand Canyon
Sunset: Sedona, AZ
Day Two of Five:
A Grand Sunrise
Nikon D750 | Tamron 24 - 70mm f/2.8 | 56mm | f/6.3 | 1/250s | ISO 140 | Pano x6 shots
What can I say about the Grand Canyon? I’ve hiked the Grand Canyon and visited its rim numerous times, but somehow I’ve never quite been able to spend enough time here. I hope to fix this in 2021 as I’ve got a location down in the canyon that I am anxious to shoot. Hmmm, maybe the next trip?
Leg Two: Grand Canyon, AZ to Sedona, AZ
The Grand Canyon was a quick stop. This was not because I didn’t want to stay longer, because I surely did. This was because I wanted to get to Sedona as I’d heard/seen reports of there being as much as 3’ of snow in places around Sedona. Surely they’d be dang near snowed in! This would be something I’d love to shoot and a primary driver for moving along on this trip was to ensure we got there before the snow melted.
Reflections of Cathedral Rock on Oak Creek
Nikon D750 | Tamron 24 - 70mm f/2.8 | 55mm | f/6.3 | 1/320s | ISO 100
Well, as you can tell from the image above of the reflections of Cathedral Rock off of Oak Creek, the snow levels I’d hoped for did not materialize. They’d have been nice, but no worries as the show must go on!
The theme of the day became reflections instead of snow. Hard to complain either way as Sedona always seems to offer photogenic opportunities no matter what the conditions.
Cathedral Rock Reflections Prints Available
Nikon D750 | Tamron 24 - 70mm f/2.8 | 48mm | f/11 | 1s | ISO 100
With multiple places to choose to shoot from, the decision on where to shoot became a bit challenging as you only get one sunset per day. Well, unless you are in Iceland or somewhere up in that latitude. Then, you can almost get a sunset all day long. :-)
While shooting this location, I managed to bump into a couple of very nice photographers. It is always nice to meet individuals who are willing to stand and stare at the same scene, regardless of the potential extreme temperatures or conditions, just to freeze the scene in time with the squeeze of the shutter button at the moment the lighting becomes perfect. It takes a certain kind of person to do this easily bordering on being defined as extremely dedicated or insane. I suppose the term that you choose to describe such an individual depends a lot upon a person’s perspective. In my case, I met a few extremely dedicated individuals this day and am always better for it.
Sunrise: Sedona, AZ
Sunset: Driving
Day Three of Five
Images From Around The Seven Sacred Pools
The next morning found us wandering in the general direction of the Seven Sacred Pools. There are multiple ways to get to this location tho, if you want to photograph the sunrise here, you are likely to have to do a bit of hiking. No worries tho as the hikes in the area are all beautiful, to say the least.
Sedona Countryside
Nikon D750 | Tamron 24 - 70mm f/2.8 | 42mm | f/11 | 1/160s | ISO 500
After shooting the Seven Sacred Pools, I wandered around and found this tree (above) begging me to take its image. I tried to resist, but I’m too weak. I had to do it. I found it difficult to create separation. Maybe I’ll get lucky and return on a foggy day to shoot it again!
A Beautiful Sedona Day Along the Cibola Pass Trail (S8 | LR)
Not to be overshadowed by the wonderful reflections of the rocks, the plant life and the countryside of the surrounding areas around the trail are stunningly photogenic. Add to this the partly cloudy skies and I had a wonderful picturesque scene everywhere I looked!
Cibola Pass Trailhead Marker (S8 | LR)
The pre-sunrise hike to our shooting location was scheduled to be 27 minutes long. From the parking lot, the trail “Ys” off almost instantly. If you miss this sign, which is easily done in the dark navigating via headlamp, your trip is not ruined, but you will have to hike an hour and a half to get to the same location. Just sayin’… ;-)
The Chapel of the Holy Cross (Prints Available Pending My Receiving of Permissions)
Nikon D750 | Tamron 24 - 70mm f/2.8 | 70mm | f/11 | 1/500s | ISO 250
Leg Three: Sedona To Whitepocket
Before heading out of the Sedona area, we took a detour from the landscape photography and did a bit of photography of the man-made persuasion. We stopped off at the beautiful Chapel of the Holy Cross, took a few images, and we were on our way; destination, Whitepocket, AZ.
Sunrise: Whitepocket
Sunset: Driving
Day Four of Five
The drive into Whitepocket was interesting, to say the least. We ended up driving in what turned out to be quite the snowstorm. The clouds in the area had been threatening for miles. It was only a matter of time before they let loose. There’d be no sunset image this evening.
To be honest, I expected the drive into Whitepocket to be more difficult. There was no real reason for 4x4 as I made it all the way in using 2x4 minus the one time I went a bit off-trail in order to let another vehicle, that was approaching from the opposite direction, pass by. I suspect that the sand was a bit more cooperative in the cold and snowy conditions vs the hot and dry summer conditions. I guess I’ll have to find out this summer. ;-)
A Whitepocket Sunrise
Sunrise, as usual, came and went quickly. The speed of the rising sun was seemingly accelerated by the fact that I was in unfamiliar territory. This is often the case when exploring new places that you’ve not had an opportunity to scout. No worries, I’ll be more prepared on my next visit.
I was immediately torn between three different compositions. Luckily, I had two cameras so I was able to accommodate both a wide perspective and a narrow focal length. This came in handy as I found myself swapping from tight to wide compositions repeatedly as the morning and the day progressed.
The first of the compositions was the sunrise itself. There was a band of color on the horizon, that was easy. The more difficult part was choosing a foreground. My immediate choices were a lone tree that I came upon, the Whitepocket rocks themselves, and a set of what I assumed to be a small bobcat prints.
The compositions I came up with can be seen in the image set above. Did you find the paw prints?
There were just so many compositions in this place! Every composition, upon second glance, introduced another composition and another. I’ll definitely have to return and hopefully during moodier conditions!
Whitepocket Abstracts
Whitepocket ‘Scapes
I am not sure of how many miles I put in walking around Whitepocket, but I imagine it was quite a few. Odd thing is, I only feel like I’ve scratched the surface of this place. Regardless, we decided to pull chocks and head elsewhere as the conditions were so bland. I did what I could under the given conditions. There is so much more potential here. Given a bit of activity in the sky, this place is a photographer’s dream. Anyways, off to Bryce in hopes of shooting it in the snow!
Sunrise: Bryce Canyon
Sunset: Home
Day Five of Five
Leg Four: Whitepocket to Bryce Canyon N.P.
Good Morning Bryce!
Nikon D750 | Tamron 14 - 24mm f/2.8 | 14mm | f/2.8 | 2.5s | ISO 200
We pulled into Bryce Canyon National Park and, before long, it was time to get the cameras out. For good or bad, the moon was out in full force. Just before sunrise, I attempted to make the best of the moon’s glow as I noticed that it was lighting up the canyon. If you look closely, in the image above, there are still a few stars visible.
Sunrise at Bryce Canyon National Park
Nikon D750 | Tamron 14 - 24mm f/2.8 | 15mm | f/16 | 1/20s | ISO 100
I’d shot sunrise at Bryce from the canyon’s edge in the past. The views are spectacular and I love the way the canyon “warms up” as the sun breaches the horizon.
On this trip, I wanted to get into the canyon a bit more. The trail was closed the last time I was here due to the potential for avalanches. This time I was a bit luckier as the trail down into the canyon, from the overlook I was at, was open. It was my intent to try and capture the rocks being backlit by the morning’s sun reflecting off of the canyon wall and back onto the subject rocks themselves.
Morning at Bryce Canyon National Park
Just for fun, can you tell, from the image above, how many aperture blades my lens has?
Hint: The answer is in the lens flares.
Morning sunlight beaming through the rocks at Bryce
Nikon D750 | Tamron 70 - 200mm f/2.8 | 70mm | f/16 | 1/500s | ISO 100
It is difficult for these photography trips to “go bad.” Even with zero of the locations that I stopped at having ideal conditions, the trip went well. I was able to revisit a few places I’d been, visit a few new places I’d not been, and had the opportunity to meet a few fellow photographers at one of the Sedona locations.
Leg Five: To Home
While I can’t say that any of the locations I shot are off of my list-o-places-to-shoot, I can say that I’ll likely approach each one a bit differently in the future as you’ll likely see me sitting on location a bit more. In the future, I intend to reduce the number of stops I take to one or two vs four or five. This way, my odds of shortening my list-o-places-to-shoot will likely increase. We shall see.
Thanks for hangin’ in this long through this blog post. Feel free to shoot me a question/comment in the comments below or, if you do not want to publicly comment, you are welcome to shoot me a line here.
Until next time….!
Overview
