A Horse With No Name

Jesse and I were heading across Utah to Delta to make pictures for USU a couple of months ago; it was a lot like this video. Jesse remembered a friend telling him about a ruins that was pretty cool and nearby. We found the old mineral kilns west of Santaquin right at sunset and had a good time hiking around them and exploring the graffiti. This was a favorite. 

Nikon D800, 14-24mm /2.8 lens @ 24mm, f/4, 1/100s, ISO 200.

Deserts

In the last two months I have been shooting in five different deserts around the American West. It's incredible how diverse and unique each place has been. It put me in mind of the first great desert I ever Photographed. In Dubai.

If you go to Dubai, you've got to go dune bashing. You get taxied out to the desert, and join in a herd of off road vehicles to cruise up and down the gigantic dunes. It's pretty fun! We pulled up to a highpoint right at sunset, and I jumped out of the car and ran to the top of the nearest dune to find a trackless section of desert to shoot. Running up those dunes is like one step forward, three steps back. At the time, I had never made any HDR images, but I was shooting lots bracketed exposures thinking I might use them sometime. I'm glad that I did.

Nikon D7000, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, f/10, three frame HDR, ISO 400.

Nikon D7000, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, f/10, three frame HDR, ISO 400.

Desert's Dessert

Firstly, you drive through beautiful country--I-70 to US 191 is amazing--gorging your eyes on red rock and canyons and clear skies.

Then you take 191 south to Moab and get a taste of what lies in the parks surrounding you on all sides. The strangeness of shapes in rock rising hundreds of feet all around, and the easy pace of people visiting for fun and residents who have the right idea of living is contagious, as well.

But, greedily looking for more, you continue south on 191 to the Needles in Canyonlands National Park and realize that you've never seen anything so incredible as the vastness and wonderfulness of being alone until now. You hike from the campground and scamper on rocks leading you higher and higher until you find a ridge to watch the sunset, which seems to never end.

Finally, having made your way down from the ridges and petrified dunes, the majesty of the universe spills over your whole world and reminds you how tiny your part is, and how sweet it is to be a part of the whole. A gracious finish to delicious desert day.

Click for a grander view.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 VR lens @ 15mm, f/4, 15 seconds, ISO 3200.

I've been enjoying working with a wonderful client and team of image makers in the desert all week. It's rough to have to come back...guess I'll be excited to head out again to the Uintah Basin on Monday: one of Utah's best kept secrets!

Oregon Trail

Isn't it amazing? You can start your day in the desert and finish it off in the rain forest. A twelve hour drive will take you from Logan Utah to Portland Oregon. That's what I call the Oregon Trail.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm, f.8, five frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 20mm, f/8, 9 frame HDR, ISO 100.