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A group of photographers from a landscape photography forum were having a gathering in Moab, Utah last weekend, so the preceeding week was spent taking the long way there via different locations in southern Utah. Some were national Parks, some were lesser known spots.

First spot was Bryce Canyon. I had been there one cold winter a few years ago, so the warmer temperatures and lack of snow were appreciated. All of the hoodoos can become an indistinct jumble in a wide angle view, so I tried zooming in on individual formations.


After the Sunday morning shoot, I ventured a little eastward to Willis Creek. It forms some narrow canyons. Although not a slender as a slot canyon or with the red sandtone of Antelop Canyon, it did have some nice curves and light reflection. It was nice in that Rica could hike also, unlike in most national parks.


Off of the Hole in the Rock Road is Goblin Valley. Just a small area with interesting sandstone structures.


Between Escalante and Boulder is a nice tree-lined sandstone canyon formed by perennial Calf Creek. At the end of the 2 3/4 mile trail may be one of the most beautiful falls in the southwest. I spent a few hours photographing various sections of Lower Calf Creek Falls.
Matt Klar had posted images of these falls a few years ago, and they have been on my "gotta go see" list since then.
[IMG]
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a390/dkoepsel/Utah/Ed800CalfCreekMay2012_059.jpg[/IMG]

The Burr Trail passes through Long Valley southeast of Boulder. The road along the old cattle drive route is now like a slot canyon for cars. Pine trees growing beneath the varnished sandstone walls made for nice viewing.


At the upper end of Long Canyon are the Circle Cliffs, whose colorful rock sit upon equally colorful red and blue clays.


The Burr Trail road leads down to Waterpocket Fold, a neat geological area.


The last four days of the trip were spent around Moab. Had a morning at photogenic and popular Deadhorse State Park.
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a390/dkoepsel/Utah/Ed800Canyonlands2012_058.jpg[/img]

An evening was spent in Arches when a dust and wind covered Canyonlands.
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a390/dkoepsel/Utah/EdWindowsArchesNP-2012_023_01.jpg[/img]

One sunrise was spent intertwining tripod legs with other photographers at iconic Mesa Arch in Canyonlands NP.
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a390/dkoepsel/Utah/Ed800BlendMesaArch7476.jpg[/img]

The last evening around Moab was spent above Castle Valley with the other photographers from the NPN forum.
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a390/dkoepsel/Utah/Ed800CacheValley-2012_077.jpg[/img]

This is a sampling of ten days of photography. Other images from the trip can be seen in the Bryce, Escalante, and Moab galleries in my photo album.

http://www.plateaulightphotography.com/Landscapes/Bryce-Canyon/11511535_Nx7BwW#!i=1863592638&k=hVn2wjx

http://www.plateaulightphotography.com/Landscapes/Escalante/23222228_NHMj2f#!i=1872251038&k=NXdjHQJ

http://www.plateaulightphotography.com/Landscapes/Arches-Canyonlands-Capital/23223941_nB6VJV#!i=1872409410&k=LdLCKxr

Thanks for looking.

Doug

Wowowowowowowowow!!!!!

That second to the last one is absolutely BREATHTAKING!!!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!

Beautiful work Doug! That is such a great trip. I always love hitting that area. It has been a few years and your work is inspiring me to get back!!!

you should've told me you were coming up Doug! We were at fallen roof & house on fire on Sat/Sun and came up through Newspaper rock & Needles yesterday.

btw, I counted no fewer than seven Nikon D800s along the trail...

M and CLTPA, thanks. Moab certainly warrants a return trip when there is snow on the LaSals.

Matt, House on Fire and Fallen Roof are pretty neat, eh? Did you see any other ruins in the area? Seven+ is quite a few D800s to see- quite the popular camera. Processing those file sizes would bring my laptop to its knees quickly. I spent this Memorial Day weekend processing the 20GB of images from this trip. We had 60mph wind gusts Saturday, so didn't feel bad staying inside.

Doug

we did stop by the ruins of the cliff village in what (I think) is called Comb Wash as well as finding a couple cliff dwellings in Devil's Canyon (near the campground), but I had the kids in tow so hiking was necessarily limited to 5-6 miles a day.

Beautiful area and GREAT pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful pics..

although its purty hard not to have photo ops in Utah...

I like the pine tree shot and the sunrise pic. Awesome series!

Thank you for sharing the photos and your photo trip. You do some nice work!

All of the photo's are super! I especially like #7 and the next to last I think it was. I've made several trips thru there but have never had time to spend. Some day!

that's just amazing. I'll be waiting for more

Cool pics

Hard for me to pick a favorite. The pine tree against the wall stands out and the wall has a lot of detail. I like the last one a lot too but they're all good. Thanks for posting those.