Trip Report - Cliché Warning!

René and I headed to the Wave late last week thanks to Adam Kavalunas. It was my first time there and although it was a bit of a death march, it was totally worth it!

I thought I was the only one who hadn't previously been to the Wave but I've since learned that there are one or two other photographers who haven't been there yet. For those who haven't been there before, this shot is included for perspective. That little guy in the picture is 6'8" René Pirolt.

Wave Abstract #1

Wave Abstract #2

René and I spend an hour or so just photographing this small area. When we got there, the photographer who was working it walked away after telling us, "It's all yours. This isn't the good part of the Wave anyway." Apparently he isn't the whore for light bouncing off Southwestern sandstone that I confess to being!

After enjoying a few margaritas at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Page, we met up with John Mumaw (thanks for loaning me the fisheye!) and Grant Collier for some nearly moonless night shooting outside Page, AZ. I learned a few things about shooting at night and added another lens to my Wish List while we all hung out in the dark that night.

Count me among the one or two who has never seen the Wave in person. Man, I really need toget there! I like these shots, especially the first two. Including René in the second photograph really gives the viewer a sense of perspective - I had no idea that spot was so big!

René and I took our time getting back to Denver by exploring some petroglyphs and ruins we hadn't seen or shot previously. This ruin, which I'm calling Sunflower House, was tucked away in the most idyllic location. The ruin isn't particularly spectacular but it is pretty nonetheless.

This Historic Ute petroglyph is one very small part of a very, very large series of petroglyphs of created during many different eras. I think this entire area will look best just after sunrise in mid-winter - so I'm heading back there in December!

Glad you had a great time CAZ. Now you're addicted..... I've never seen so much sand in the bottom of the wave.

Oops! I almost forgot to include this one from the Boneyard. After spending most of the day in the Wave, René and I headed to the 2nd Wave so I could scout compositions for a return trip. We then went over to the Boneyard, which is notable for the candy-colored red and white stripes pouring down and around the hillside.

That whole area is mind-boggling. I could spend days just taking it all in - without a camera.

Wow - I've never been to the Wave either - I didn't realize the scale of that area. Wave abstract #2 is wonderful, as well as the image from the bad part of the Wave.

I went backpacking this weekend and tried some milky way shots myself. This shot turned out great! What ISO did you use out of curiosity? I was experimenting from 1600 all the way up tp 6400, but the noise gets to be a real killer.

I've never seen so much sand in the bottom of the wave.

Adam, the sand wasn't just in the bottom of the Wave. The gale-force winds were keeping it airborne until embedding it into our ears, skin, gear, etc.

We had to time our shots for the brief windless moments and hold down the tripods to keep them from blowing away!

Michael - I just followed the instructions of the more-experienced nighttime shooters (Mumaw, Pirolt and Collier) and set it at f2.8 for 30 seconds at 4000 ISO, then followed René's advice regarding noise reduction in Lightroom.

Thanks for the info CAZ.

Another person here that hasn't been to the wave. Thought about it several times, but just never made it out there. Great shots.

I'm heading back for my second take on backpacking Paria Canyon this spring and will definitely set aside a few days to explore the Wave area. Thanks for getting me pumped about my trip

Man, I never tire of images from this area. Great stuff!

Very cool images CAZ....I have never been to the wave, but not surprising since I mostly do woldlife. I don't thin I would ever tire of seeing new images of it though. Nice work!

Outstanding collection, Caz! Add another one to the list of never having been there. And thanks, Caz for including Rene to give me some scale perspective! The place is a lot bigger than I thought. You caught a varied group of shots and all of them are excellent, except maybe the ruins shot, which is just a document shot anyway, I suspect.

Well, these look a helluva lot better onscreen than from the back of an LCD.
I'm especially impressed with that shot from the Boneyard!
Nice seeing you guys, and I hope we can do stuff like that many times in the future.

One of the sites still high on my list. Great shots, love the perspective with Rene. Nice that you didn't have to try to win the lottery for a pass!

Let's see more!

Count me in as someone who hasn't been to the Wave. I like all the Wave shots, but I love the sense of scale in that 2nd one. Not what I expected.

Nice trip. I like the low perspective of the Boneyard shot with the stripes and single lattice rock. Almost like the DV racetrack comes to the Wave.
And the glow off the back wall in #4 is nice. Thanks for nice primer as I should be there tomorrow for the first time.

Count me amongst the Wave virgins. I really like the starry night image, especially the small cluster of stars just off the rocks on the right edge. Cool stuff!

Nice stuff! Wave Abstract #2 is still my fave. Guess you couldn't drag your drunk self out of bed for Wahweap Hoodoos?

Abstract #2 is great! Nice composition!