Hazy Sunrise, Monument Valley
One of my favourite locations, there is a wealth of photo opportunities around here. I could have spent weeks here and not exhausted my fascination with the place.
In the best light…
The Mittens
This week I’m revisiting a place that I’m yearning to actually revisit, Monument Valley. It straddles the Utah-Arizona border within the Navajo Indian reservation. The Navajo Nation operates the Monument Valley Tribal Park and regulates entry to the area.
This scene is one of the most photographed locations. It features both the East and West Mitten as well as Merrick Butte. What you can’t see are the dozens of other photographers on either side of me. Farther into the park and later into the day as well as very early the next day, the crowds thinned dramatically. Shooting the dawn the next day, I practically had the place to myself.
In the best light…
The Goosenecks
Slightly off of the beaten path, Goosenecks State Park was a worthwhile stop on our itinerary. It’s a lesser known location than Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado but every bit of a great shooting spot. At home they would be called oxbows and not nearly as deep but here in Utah they have been named the goosenecks. A repeating pattern of back and forth loops like the hard candy you see at Christmas time. I would liked to have gotten more of the river in the foreground but the slope got steeper on the loose shale in front of me, so I took the safer choice of staying where I was. I hope you can see the green of the foliage at the edge of the San Juan River.
In the best light…
This Way Up
The Saguaro Cactus is iconic to Arizona and are interesting to photograph. We were returning to Phoenix from Sedona at the end of our travels when my wife, Sherri commented that she hadn’t noticed me take any cactus pictures previously and would like a photo of a saguaro to remember the trip. On the way out of the city to the north east towards Payson on highway 87, In there were thousands of them (and I didn’t stop there). We didn’t see any in northern Arizona or on the Navajo Reservation. I pulled off of I17 near New River and just drove a short distance from the interstate to get this image. I thought it looked like someone making a finger gun and pointing it at the sky.
In the best light…
Memory Lane – Oct 18, 2008
I’m reposting a day from my trip to Four Corners, from another blog, every Wednesday.
Day Eleven
We started out with breakfast at the hotel, then packed up and checked out. It was a 10 minute drive to my cousin Tami’s house.
We met David and the kids, and had a great but short visit with them. David showed us his pictures. He and I got to talk about photography, that was rough. 😉 We made our way to Sky Harbour, where US Airways informed me that ripping a handle right out of the side of your suitcase was just normal wear and tear. (more…)
The Stentorian Image 
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