Artist's Statement, in Development

Working on an “artist’s statement”, yeah, I know, it sounds kinda pretentious to me too. But, after I thought about it a bit, I guess it’s a nice way to folks to peak into the inner workings, the thought process, of the artist. What the stand for, what makes them tick. It’s cool, and I’m definitely coming around to it. 

Here’s what I got so far. 

Why do I take pictures, what am I trying to do, what am I creating? One of the reasons is that I would like to raise awareness of the places and things in my photographs. I want to inspire people to go out and do. I want kids to ask questions like “Where is that?”, “Can we go to Timbuktu, Mom?”, “What is that little girl doing?”. I want to remind people of their past travels, of favorite places, or wonder and lust after places they’ve never been. I want people to look at my photos and dream about places they haven't been to, and at least they can take joy in knowing someone, me, who has been there, who has done that, to quote a popular phrase. I enjoy for them to be able to personalize it through me. 

And I also just enjoy the process of visiting new places and trying new things, of being a little bit scared sometimes, and the comfort in coming back to familiar places, and of coming home. Home can be so many places from your past lives. It’s always a joy to come home. 

Thanks, let me know what you think.

Helpful Tips for Photographing Monument Valley

Monument Valley is an incredibly gorgeous place, but it’s also smack dab in the middle of the desert. A dry, hot, dusty, dirty desert. With very little shade. What does all this mean to photographers? And, I should add, it’s a popular place because of it’s beauty, uniqueness, and location. So, what do all those visitors and everything I mentioned above, mean to photographers? 

The scenic drive is open basically from sunrise to sunset. Double check hours, as they vary throughout the year. But if you get there in the middle of the day as do most of the tourists, you will be following many other cars and trucks on the sandy, dusty, scenic road. Which will inevitably create the situation of you being behind someone, driving in a constant cloud of dust for the duration of the trip. Even if you have the windows up and AC on, you’ll still want to stop and get out and shoot. So you’ll get dusty. And your equipment will as well. Nice, fine, red, dust. Be ready for it. 

Or, could you get there first thing in the morning, or be prepared for the last drive of the day? The light will be better, guaranteed. It will be cooler, which in the middle of the summer, the heat can be downright oppressive. And, with less traffic, you might even be able to drive with the windows down. (We all love to do that right?)

I was there in late April and the place was packed. Busloads of French tourists, oddly enough, differing from the usual Japanese groups you usually see, all running around in their designer label clothing, with $4000 cameras. Ah, I love ‘em. 

Or, can you go in the winter? You’ll have the place to yourself. 

Camping? Can you camp, are you prepared to do that? Yes, there is camping there. The “campground” is absolutely horrible, it’s a parking lot. I’m not kidding. A dirt and gravel parking lot. If you have an RV, you’re in good shape, or you can just walk 100 feet from the lot, down the mesa a touch, to find dirt, instead of gravel. The camping sucks, but it is about a 2 minute walk from the famous “Photographer’s Point” (John Wayne’s favorite spot in Monument Valley, at least according to the plaque. He and John Ford shot 4 movies here.) And the campground is at the exact entrance to the scenic drive. Good location, to say the least. And the Navajo Nation does close the gate to the scenic drive, but camping, you’re inside the gate. Bring water, none available. No bathrooms, no showers, no nothin there, just killer location. 

If you do come during the May-September busy season, pray for clouds. But not rain. Too much rain can make the road impassable. 

On a side note, the night and next day that I was at Monument Valley, the Lone Ranger movie crew was showing up to start filming. Cinema, Johnny Depp, John Wayne, Westerns. Awesome. It all comes around. 

Hopefully this helps you plan a trip and go to Monument Valley. It’s stunning. Go!

Mitten, Monument Valley, Navajo Nation

Moab Sunset

Just had to give a big shout out to Mama Nature for her spectacular sunset last night here in Moab. This is straight from the iPhone, no processing.

Soaring with Eagles and Angels

I wanted to share a couple images from my travels over the last couple weeks. I did a big road trip to Southern Colorado and Utah. The Four Corners area. I place I revisited after many years away and absolutely fell in love with was Zion National Park, in Springdale, UT. 

Zion has become one of the most visited parks in the entire National Park system. It’s stunning in so many ways. The first white Americans to discover it were the Mormons, in their push Westward to escape religious persecution. The name Zion, and most of the names of features within the park bear some sort of Biblical reference. Zion itself means refuge, or sanctuary. Or maybe some would say the “promised land”. 

Angel’s Landing is one of the premiere hikes in the park, and the entire National Park system. It’s strenuous, quite dangerous, and incredibly exciting. That’s a lot to say about a hike. 

It got it’s name in 1916 when an early hiker and explorer to the area, Frederick Fisher exclaimed, "only an angel could land on it,". Angels were supposed to land on it, and hang out, where they could easily be seen from the Great White Throne, one of the more prominent features of the park. 

looking out from Scout Lookout, onto Angel's Landing in Zion National Park

It’s an awesome hike, and one I highly recommend. The first shot is taken from the final rest spot, Scout Lookout, with the narrow final climb up to the actual Angel’s Landing. The second shot is from below the famous Walter’s Wiggles, looking out onto a rock wall I don’t know the name of. The third shot is looking down upon the section of trail known as Walter’s Wiggles, named for the trail designer and builder, who figured out how to get up this extremely steep section of trail. 

sunset, looking down Zion canyon, across the Virgin Riverlooking down Walter's Wiggles

Delicate Arch at Sunset, Arches National Park

This is an image of the iconic Delicate Arch, which is in part famous for being on the state license plate of Utah. But really, it’s famous for what it is. This arch, on top of a very steep walled natural amphitheater. Like nothing else in the world. It’s truly spectacular. And the sunsets at this location are 2nd to none. The arch and surroundings light up and have this ultra pleasant warm orange glow, it’s really incredible. 

Well, I should say it does that sometimes. For the shot below, there was certainly an incredible sunset, but instead of lighting up the arch, it really only lit up the distant sky off to the West. Luckily, I was placed perfectly to capture that sky and arch in one shot. 

Funny story about this evening. Usually, everyone sits facing the arch from a broadside perspective, you can see that shot here. And when I say everyone, I mean about 200 people on a warm, weekend night. This night was not warm, not in the least. A strong wind was blowing the entire hike in, and it only intensified as you came around the final corner, which is up on a bluff, a kind of spot you look at and say “It’s probably always windy up there.” 

The amphitheater tends to act as a giant funnel, blowing wind directly at you as you come around the final corner, catching your first glimpse of Delicate Arch. Certainly this very wind that has been blowing in this very spot, for millions of years, is the very reason Delicate Arch is where it is. Geology 101, at work here. Great lesson for kids by the way. 

Anyway, the wind is howling, and it’s cold. 2 weeks earlier, I was in shorts and t-shirt. Today, long underwear, jeans, and a heavy down jacket wasn’t really enough. Cold and wind, lovely combination. 

So for these reasons, there weren’t many people at the location, and very quickly, most of them left when it became apparent that the clouds in the sky weren’t going to cooperate. That left just a few, and we gathered, sitting where I shot the photo, as much to see the sunrise, but probably more because it offered a bit of shelter from the wind. 

At this point, there were probably less than 10 of us there. Two brothers from Switzerland (they didn’t care about the cold) two guys from Denver, three chubby Korean tourists, and myself. We decided to wait it out. There was a feeling in the air, and we collectively decided that we had come this far, and waited this long, that we were going to see this thing through, to the end. 

And what a treat we were given. I live in a beautiful mountain town, and have traveled in and out of the mountains, to many gorgeous locations, and have been treated to many incredible sunsets. But this one really took the cake. The way the pink lines lead right to the arch is a work of some higher power I believe. Things cooperated just perfectly, and at just the right times. It only lasted about 30 seconds, and then it was gone, but wow. I was there, I waited, I was prepared, and everything worked out. Many times it doesn’t work out. You go to a location, you sit, you have all the gear, you do everything that you’re supposed to do, but Mama Nature just doesn’t cooperate. This night she did, I hope you enjoy the photo. And see more from my Moab area trips on the Arches, Canyonlands gallery page on the right, or just click here. 

Delicate Arch at sunset