After being thwarted by a spring snow storm in my plans to take a trip to Moab in April, I finally made it up there over Mothers Day weekend. The weather was great, and I had a short list of places to shoot. Some of those places turned out to be great, some were complete busts.
I got into town too late on Friday to shoot my primary target for the weekend, so I ventured into Arches. There was no place to park for the hike to Delicate Arch, so I drove around a bit until I saw that this shot was in the making.
On the last morning there was a nice sunrise. Although I did not set out to reproduce Tom Tills iconic shot, I could not resist this one. It pales in comparison, but I like it anyway.
My goal for the weekend was to visit this location. Although I already had directions on how to get to it, I stopped by the ranger station to see what information they had. The ranger was very nice about sharing what they had, which was a sheet with not only directions, but photos of the trailhead and some key places to navigate around or through. BUT...they will not give you a copy of it.
In any case, when I got there, one photographer was leaving and another was there, but left a short time later. I waited and watched as the light changed and the shadows moved about a bit, and took WAY too many photos (the curse/blessing of digital, I guess). Considering how rugged the climb is getting in or out of there, and not wanting to try it in the dark (even with a headlamp) alone, I left a little earlier than I would have liked. The place is more breathtaking than photos (at least my meager attempts) can really show.
Hey how was False Kiva? Is there still a roped off area on the left? Nice work, this is a classic location that I visited for the first time in 2003 and need to go back. Thanks for sharing
Thanks Ken, Chris and Todd!
Chris, it was great...There is a small are that is roped off, but it doesn't interfere with shooting. The trailhead is well worn, and easy to spot. The last part of the trail is pretty tricky, however.
Rumour has it that the NPS may make it a class 1 site and close it entirely. I'd like to visit it again and hopefully shoot with some better light.
Discussion
9 repliesI got into town too late on Friday to shoot my primary target for the weekend, so I ventured into Arches. There was no place to park for the hike to Delicate Arch, so I drove around a bit until I saw that this shot was in the making.
In any case, when I got there, one photographer was leaving and another was there, but left a short time later. I waited and watched as the light changed and the shadows moved about a bit, and took WAY too many photos (the curse/blessing of digital, I guess). Considering how rugged the climb is getting in or out of there, and not wanting to try it in the dark (even with a headlamp) alone, I left a little earlier than I would have liked. The place is more breathtaking than photos (at least my meager attempts) can really show.
Ken
Hey how was False Kiva? Is there still a roped off area on the left? Nice work, this is a classic location that I visited for the first time in 2003 and need to go back. Thanks for sharing
Chris, it was great...There is a small are that is roped off, but it doesn't interfere with shooting. The trailhead is well worn, and easy to spot. The last part of the trail is pretty tricky, however.
Rumour has it that the NPS may make it a class 1 site and close it entirely. I'd like to visit it again and hopefully shoot with some better light.
My favorites are #1 & #2. Especially like the diagonal parallel branches that hold the flowers.