Land Around the Corner

Hilltop View of  Caineville, Utah

Civil twilight had just begun. I crawled out of the bed of the truck, grabbed my gear and headed into the wide open space. What looked like attainable buttes at first, seemed endless once on foot.

 "Just over the next hill" I kept thinking to myself. "I just want to see what's over the next hill." 

 I was finally out of sight of the truck. The air was warm and still, and the sun slowly raised to wash over the desert barren land. I wondered how much further I could go before my fellow adventurer woke up and started to worry. 

"Just a peak over the next hill" I thought again, and I ventured off to see what else lay in the "land around the corner". 

Exploration is just as important an element to landscape photography as your tripod. Getting "lost" in the landscape or in nature can bring out images you never even thought were out there. Explore, get lost, and keep going around that last corner. Happy weekend everybody! Oh, and happy birthday Mom!

Location: Mount Timpanogos

The meadow full of wildflowers below the summit of Mount Timpanogos

We finally made it to the meadow, sweaty and exhausted. The hope of wildflowers was met with patches of blue and red below the summit of Timpanogos. We found a spot to pitch out tents and quickly crashed after setting up our beds. My sleep was interrupted throughout the night, by hikers getting an early start (as early as 2 am) and coyotes howling under the moon. My lack of sleep and excitement for the photo ops in the early morning light got me up before dawn. The views were right outside my tent door, so I didn't have to go very far to get what I wanted. I opened my tent and started setting up my gear when three deer casually walked just eight feet in front of me. The first one heard me and froze. I tried taking a shot, but hadn't realized the lens cap was still on. Oh well. They probably would have only been a blur, anyway, with the predawn light. They left as quickly as they came and the sun was starting to rise. I grabbed my gear and started scouting sunrise shots with overwhelming opportunity. 

Lupine wildflower in the basin of Mount Timpanogos

Lupine in the foreground of the summit

Camping under the moon and the stars at Mount Timpanogos Wilderness Area

The next morning we decided to relocate our camp and head towards Emerald Lake to filter some water. It was hard to put a heavy pack back on and climb further up the mountain, but it was worth it. The area surrounding Emerald Lake offers 360 degrees of beauty. Mountain goat were abundant and wildflowers were scattered throughout the area. We headed to the summit in the afternoon and made it back to enjoy some pasta salad with some friendly fellow backpackers. I soaked a sore knee in the icy glacier water and caught some sunset light on our camp. We packed up the next morning feeling rested and successful and started the long hike back down the mountain. 

Mount Timpanogos shelter near Emerald Lake

(Clockwise starting from the top left photo) Hiking to the top, camping under mountains, mountain goat family, Emerald Lake, Lupine and Indian Paintbrush wildflowers, Mount Timpanogos Wilderness

Hiking to the top of Timp

Emerald Lake and the Timpanogos shelter

Moose on the hike up Mount Timp

Timpanogos shelter and our camp near Emerald Lake

Lupine and Indian Paintbrush in the meadow of Mount Timp

View from the summit

Lupine and the Timp shelter

Timpanogos Wilderness

Backcountry Pack List

I'm headed off into the backcountry, and with a backcountry adventure comes meticulous packing. Every ounce counts, and as a photographer that can mean leaving most of your gear home. Any extra weight is just that much more you have to carry up the mountain, adding more stress to your neck and back and bringing less enjoyment to what should be an amazing experience. I already know going in that I'm going to have to sacrifice some equipment. But what if I want to take night shots? I will definitely need my tripod. And I know there is going to be wildlife up there. Don't I need my zoom lens? Perhaps when I get everything packed up and on my back I'll be thinking otherwise. But I do want to shoot some night photos, and I know there will be wildlife. I may have to choose between one or the other. Or maybe I can sacrifice some socks and underwear in order to bring both. Or maybe not... For now, this is how my pack list is looking:

Camera Equipment
Canon 5D Mark II (1)
Canon 24mm TS-E 3.5 (2)
Canon 70-200mm 2.8 (3)*
32 GB of CF cards (6)
2x Batteries (9)
Warming Filter (on the 70-200)
Singh-Ray ND graduated filters (5 stops total) (4)
Shutter release remote (for bulb exposures/time lapse)
Lens cloth and 2x Zeiss lens wipes
Rain cover (weighs next to nothing, but is invaluable in wet weather) (7)
Gitzo GT 2531 tripod (5)
Kirk BH-3 Ballhead


Camping Equipment
Backpack
Tent (11)
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad (12)
Optimus Terra Cook Set (13)
Sea to Summit Spork
Optimus Stove
Lightweight meals (2x breakfast, 2x lunch, 2x dinner)
Water
Knife
Toiletries (14)
Headlamp (10)
Epi Pen
Seat to Summit 13L bag (just in case I need to keep the electronics dry)

Clothing (16)
Columbia shorts
Lightweight pants
3x T-shirts
Lightweight sweatshirt
Columbia lightweight rain jacket (15)
3x Undies
2x Wool socks
2x Sport socks
Hat

*This one is still on the fence. We'll see if it makes it into the final cut...

Edit: I ended up bringing both the 70-200 and the tripod. I just couldn't bear leaving one or the other behind. I may have been cursing them on the way up, but I was satisfied and happy to carry the weight coming back down. I wouldn't have gotten some of the imagery I ended up getting without them. However, it made me rethink a lot of the other gear I was hauling up, such as my old inefficient sleeping bag. I will most likely be revising this list as I continue to head into the backcountry. In the mean time, enjoy my next post on the imagery I captured in the Mount Timpanogos Wilderness. 

Location: Humboldt Redwoods

We got off Highway 101 and followed the signs for Avenue of the Giants. The small winding road led us through towering redwoods I had only dreamt about, until now. It’s incredible to see something so large and living in person. No picture can substitute the feeling. So, what is a photographer to do when you know any photo you take will only be trivial in comparison to the feeling of actually being there? I’m not sure I have the answer. I couldn’t plan to capture the enormity of the giants; I merely wanted to capture the aura. To say the Redwoods are grand and peaceful is an understatement. One step into the forest of giants and it’s like you’ve stepped into another world. I wanted to capture the scale of the place. I wanted to capture the journey it takes to get to such a peaceful place. So, I went in with a warming polarizer and a tripod and set out in search of shots that would satisfy my intent. 

I found most of my success included some kind of human element, whether it was a car driving through the walls of giants, or tourists trying to make a human chain around the widest tree. Without the human element in my photography, it seemed the trees lost their splendor. It’s funny, in such a place that could mask the human presence only a few yards away, the best way to capture it was to include that presence. I think it has to do with including a familiar object with an unfamiliar landscape. We need that familiarity to wrap our brains around such a magical place, and keep from being fooled by it.

The Avenue of the Giants actually goes through Humboldt Redwood State Park, home of some of the most brilliant redwoods in the state. We checked-in at the main campground and decided on the environmental camp (Hamilton Barn) a few miles from the center. We ended up avoiding the crowds at the main campsite and had the entire site to ourselves. The next morning we woke to a light drizzle of rain, just enough to saturate the colors of the forest. I didn't want to leave, but the next adventure was calling: Yosemite National Park.

Location: Goblin Valley

Layers of rock in Goblin Valley

Here are some pics from my latest trip to Goblin Valley State Park. The afternoon started out windy, and when I say windy, I mean *blow-your-tent-from-it's-stakes-so-you-never-see-it-again windy, so I was a little skeptical about actually getting out to shoot sunset. As my friends and I hunkered down in the back of a shell covered truck to wait out the wind, the light started to change. The wind died and the menacing clouds broke enough to create some dramatic light in the valley. There were 360° views of magical light. 

The weather never ceases to surprise me. I have learned this time and time again, especially living in a place like Utah. There is a saying in Utah, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." This is a valuable truth to learn as a photographer; light can change instantly and if you're not ready for it, you'll miss it. 

The three sisters in Goblin Valley

Photographer takes in the views in Goblin Valley

The Three Sisters in Goblin Valley

*Actual experience. I set up my tent with it staked to the ground in relatively calm weather, go off and play among the goblins in windy-as-hell weather, and come back to three stakes in the ground holding nothing but the air around them. The $25 tent that had been my shelter for so many weekend adventures was gone. 

Website Preview

I just want to share a preview of the imagery that will be showcased on the new website. The photo on the left is on Antelope Island looking back across the Great Salt Lake, and the right photo is of my best friend, fellow adventurer and photographer, Becky, in Goblin Valley. Now, get out and have an adventure!