Utah – March 2026 – Part 11

My son and I began shooting at Utah’s “Little Grand Canyon” ahead of sunset golden hour. This post contains images from that portion of time. The next post will contain golden hour photos.

Big Sky
Late Day Shadows 1
Late Day Shadows 2
Late Day Shadows 3
Late Day Shadows 4

I like the way the late day light highlights the grass growing in the cracks between the rocks in ‘Late Day Shadows 4’, but I like the bigger picture image ‘Late Day Shadows 5’, made just a little later, when the highlights were almost gone, more. That small tree and the grass anchor the image in ‘Late Day Shadows 4’,

Late Day Shadows 5

but somehow getting more of the rocks into the foreground appeals more to me.

Late Day Shadows 6

Note that ‘Late Day Shadows 6’ is composed very much like ‘Late Day Shadows 3’, but the shadows are deeper and the highlights look a little brighter in contrast to the shadows. Golden hour is close now. Stay tuned for golden hour images,

Ken

 

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 8

More scouting and exploration photos in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Intricate Rock, iPhone Photo
Desert Flower, iPhone Photo
Desert Shadows, iPhone Photo
Natural Imperfections or Non-Photogenic Nature?, iPhone Photo

Nature is messy and cluttered.  Photographers don’t like clutter, even if it is a part of nature.  I cropped this photo to remove some of the natural clutter, mostly on the bottom left.  There remains some clutter on the bottom left and what about that unkempt looking bush and roots on the pond border?  Is it really necessary to clean up a natural scene, to make a more pleasing photo?  It depends upon one’s vies of the world and one’s idea of photography and purpose of the photo.  Sometimes one may want to show the clutter, sometimes not.  Sometimes clutter can’t be avoided.

X Marks the Spot, iPhone Photo
Nodular, iPhone Photo
Petrified Dunes, iPhone Photo
Rock Ribs, iPhone Photo
Droopy Rocks, iPhone Photo

The way my eyes look in the morning.

Ridgy Rocks 1, iPhone Photo
To the Desert Born, iPhone Photo

More desert scenes to come,

Ken

 

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 25 – Bentonite Hills

Continued from Part 24:

After sundown, I continued to shoot in the dimmer light, going back to some of the earlier locations to capture the scenes in muted light.

Bentonite Hills 9
Bentonite Hills 10
Bentonite Hills 11
Bentonite Hills 12
Bentonite Hills 13
Bentonite Hills 14
Face Off

Staring at this old tree I see what appears to be a fierce guardian of the hills, rising up from the desert sand, spreading its tentacles and roaring from its upper, dark center.  (Viewing on a large screen can help viewers see what I see, or else maybe I’m off my tree).

Contortionist
Twisted
Bentonite Hills 15
Rest Time

This concludes the Capitol reef portion of this trip.  I’ve just got a few other miscellaneous items and experiences from this trip to share.

Ken