I just posted a bunch of photos from my trip in Utah! Though I was only out there for two weeks total, it truly felt like a full month. It always amazes me how time slows down when I travel. I think that is the secret of living longer… to travel a lot! In that regard, I suppose it’s not all about how long you live, but how well you spend your time while you’re here. (I say that after having the last three days fly by while working on the computer again).

Anyhow, now I’m back home in Ouray, Colorado. It feels great to finally be back home. I’m really looking forward to summer.

>> Check out my new Utah photos here.

My winter season in Jackson Hole has come to a close. Though it’s actually snowing again as I write this, I am packing my bags and am excited to spend 3-4 weeks wandering around in the deserts and canyons of Utah. Tomorrow I drive to Moab where I will put all my stuff in a storage unit, then the adventures begin! My rough plan is to do some hiking and backpacking in the San Rafael Swell, then Escalante (shown above from my last trip there way back in 2001), Bryce Canyon, and depending on my timing and the conditions, perhaps Zion and Cedar Breaks.

My blog will be pretty quiet while I’m gone, but when I’m back home in Ouray in early May I will surely bombard my website with a heap of [hopefully decent] desert photos!

In the meantime, check out my collection of favorite skiing/snowboarding shots from my winter in Jackson Hole.

Dawn light on Mount Timpanogos, moments before Deer Creek Reservoir’s morning fog shrouded the scene. Happy holidays!

Sunrise at the Great Goosenecks of the San Juan River, as seen from Goosenecks State Park overlook on the southern end of Cedar Mesa in southeastern Utah, on the morning before my backpacking trip in the Grand Gulch this last weekend.

The San Juan River, which originates from the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, slowly flows through the 1000 foot deep canyon walls, forming one of the world’s best examples of entrenched river meanders. This is one river in the photo – it flows from left to right via three immense meandering curves. It is a very impressive sight to see, and to portray the full scene with all the different river bends, I needed to create a panoramic image.

I made this panoramic photo by stitching together 5 vertical photos in AutopanoPro. Each of those 5 photos were made with dual exposure blends, prepared manually in Photoshop, to control the dynamic range of the bright sky and darker canyon. So that was a total of 10 photos needed, which I shot as quickly as possible using manual focus and two manual exposure settings (one for the canyon and one for the skies), with preset white balance for all. Between the relatively long exposures and quickly changing sunrise light, I only had about 2 chances to get this right.

Over three days and two nights this last weekend I went on a ~25 mile loop hike from Cedar Mesa in southeastern Utah. I hiked down Todie Canyon, to Grand Gulch, then out Bullet Canyon. Most of the way the hike passes through dramatic canyon scenery with vertical cliffs and dramatic rock formations. But the highlights were without doubt the numerous ancient ruins and pictographs along the way.

Check out all the photos from the Grand Gulch trek on my gallery site.

Brilliant backlit autumn colors in the foothills of the Wasatch Range, Utah.

Fresh snow blankets the North Peak of Mount Timpanogos.

>> See more photos from my weekend in Utah here. <<

[+] On my way home today from Midway, Utah (near Park City), I made a detour from Moab and drove up to the Island in the Sky, in Canyonlands National Park. There was still lots of snow on the ground, even two days after the Christmas dump, and the roads up there were sheets of ice! After a slippery drive to the Grandview Point overlook, I donned my down jacket and snowboard boots, and hiked a mile along the rim to take photos of the evening light and sunset.

More photos below.

[+] Sunset alpenglow lights up the La Sal Mountains as they tower over the canyonlands.

[+] Dusk light illuminates Monument Basin and the White Rim, as seen from the rim of Island in the Sky. Though not visible from here, the Colorado River flows through the distant canyons.

I took some 4×5 shots of a variation of this scene, but it might be a while until I get those developed. I haven’t shot my 4×5 camera in quite a while, and I must admit it felt great to use it again. The ability to use rear tilts gives you a three dimensional perspective that cannot be duplicated in an SLR camera (without a tilt/shift lens, that is). In fact, I took shots with both the 4×5 and SLR in similar positions, and eventually I hope to post a comparison to explain this concept further.

Merry Christmas from a very snowy Midway, Utah, where it has been dumping snow nonstop. Tomorrow should be a great powder day!

This last weekend I went up to Utah to visit my parents, who are building a house in Midway, and my sister, who was visiting and is about to move back to Berlin. On Saturday night I was supposed to go to a play with them, but my mom was kind enough to let me play hooky to go hike up Mount Timpanogos instead.

Since it was almost a full moon, I decided to go watch the sunset from the summit and hike back down under the moonlight. I’ve been up the mountain twice before via the Aspen Grove trail (including a glorious snowboard descent), so this time I took a different trail – the Timpooneke Trail. The trail gains ~4,500 feet over ~8 miles, and after a quick three hour hike I reached the summit at 5pm, with a full two hours to relax up there by myself, soaking in the views and taking photos.

Timpanogos may be Utah’s most beloved mountain, and indeed on this Saturday I counted over 300 signatures in the summit register – all from that day! It’s great to see to see that so many people enjoy this majestic peak that’s in their backyard.

See my sunset photos from Timpanogos here.

I look forward to returning soon and photographing Timp under a blanket of winter snow.

This last weekend I went backpacking in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. After shelling out 25 bucks for entrance and permit fees, I set off into the “wild”. Is it just me or do national parks feel like nature amusement parks? All the regulations and designated trails and campspots definitely spoil the notion of being out in the wilderness. But these areas are national parks for a reason – they are undeniably spectacular!

Here are some DP1 digital photos from the trip, as well as a few 4×5 film ones.

Elephant Canyon.

Sunset in Chesler Park.

[+] Looking south into the more remote areas of the national park.

Dusk in Chesler Park. Chesler Park is a really unique place – it’s a huge, flat, elevated grassy meadow surrounded by vertical spires. The designated campspots are located at the base of this formation.

Above Elephant Canyon.

Druid Arch, a massive double arch at the head of Elephant Canyon (from my angle here, you can only see one of the arch openings). Of all the places I’ve visited so far in the Needles District, I’d say this is the most spectacular.

Nice post-sunrise light on the Needles. This was the best light during my three days there, but unfortunately the sun went behind the clouds right before I was about to take my 4×5 shot (not the first time I’ve missed a good shot with the 4×5).

Though the photography was challenging, and at times frustrating, it felt good to get out on my first “dry land” backpacking trip of the summer season. The desert warmth was a nice bonus too – not too hot out there yet. Probably the high point of the trip for me was on the second night – a crystal clear night with a new moon – when I was lying cozy in my sleeping bag just gazing up at the stars and into outer space. No camera will ever capture that sensation.