Karen got this great shot of me at the Green River Overlook, in Canyonlands National Park.
As much as I love Colorado, we were parked in Golden for nearly a month, so it was time to move on. Our stay there was both fun and productive. We spent time with friends, explored the mountains and got lots of work done. But Utah was calling. Karen had never been to Moab and I was itching to get back.
My shot from Rifle Falls, CO.
We did make one stop on our route west. Rifle Falls State Park was on our way, so we stopped to shoot there. It was a nice trio of waterfalls, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It's also photographer-friendly in that it's easy to get around and there's lots of vantage points to shoot from. I'd recommend the stop if you're in Colorado heading west on 70.
In Moab, we found an RV park on the main street, not two minutes from downtown. The first photo excursion we made was to Dead Horse Point. (we were trying to make it to Canyonlands National Park, which was a bit further, but we were racing the light to get there by sunrise and didn't quite make it.)
Dead Horse point, a bit after sunrise.
Later that day, we did make it to Canyonlands National Park, and stayed there to shoot sunset. This is a huge park, split into three parts: Island in the Sky, The Needles and The Maze. We only got to visit the first, and largest, of the three. Lots of canyons. Lots of panoramas. We shot sunset at Green River Overlook.
One of the "must shoot" places for photographers in Canyonlands is Mesa Arch, and we attempted a sunrise shoot there. The idea is to get the sun coming up through the arch, just when it hits the rock with that amazing light. Well, not only was it a bit hazy that morning, but when we got there (just in the nick of time) there were already about 20 other photographers set up, making it hard to get a good vantage point. We still ended up with some decent shots though. Next time, which will be soon, we'll leave earlier and claim some territory!
Unfortunately, we had to leave Moab sooner than we'd like because we both had flights to catch out of the nearby Grand Junction, CO. When we return, we'll head back to Moab and shoot some more. Arches National Park will get a lot of attention next time around!
More to come…
*Karen also posted images from this trip on her blog, The Pixel Diaries.
A photo I shot of Karen at Green River Overlook in Canyonlands National Park.