Tales of a Travel Photographer

A Photography Itinerary for Arches and Canyonlands National Park, Utah

“Keep shooting. Bad weather may break. Still be at you locations. Best things come to those who wait it out.” wrote back Keith Kapple, an excellent Southwest photographer and an email pal,  when I reached out to him, worried about the weather. I took his words seriously and it paid me rich dividends. The weather in the Moab region was muggy the two days I was there. But like clockwork, I got up at 4:00am, grabbed a quick breakfast at the 24 hour open Dennys and was in situ at 5:00am. On both days, the clouds parted just for some precious few minutes, on both sides of the days for me to take hope a memorable photo. Keith, a big thank you!

Canyonlands National Park Photography Trip

I emailed my photo shoot plan to Bret Edge, one of my favorite southwest photographer who runs a fast upcoming gallery in Moab. Within minute Bret got back to me and asked me to switch Mesa Arch for Dead Horse Point for the sunrise slot. It was a sixty four thousand dollar tip! It was almost an hour past sunrise when we arrived at Mesa Arch. On the easy trail towards the arch, I was praying that Bret was right, and right he was. We saw the arch glowing warmly from a distance as we turned around a corner. And there was nobody other than a lone photographer! He looked at us and said, “Great timing guys. A few minutes ago, this place was was a jamboree of photographers.” You bet!

Arches National Park Photography Trip

Park Avenue, Arches National Park, at 5:00pm shot with Nikon 300s mounted on a tripod with a Tokina 11-18mm.

April 2012.

I recently returned from my second photography trip in Utah (previous one was in Cambodia.) In between and around, I have travelled to other places, but those trips were not photography focused. A photography trip has only one objective – to come back home with photos you would be proud of. The trip need not be memorable, relaxing or fun. In fact if you don’t come back sleep deprived, tired and cranky, your chances of coming back with good photos are pretty bleak. Every decision on the trip is biased towards capturing a memorable frame. Needless to say, it is impossible to take your family with you unless you are a family of photographers.

Southern Utah has some of the most extreme terrains in the world.  Studded with national parks, state parks and forests, it is nature’s private little laboratory. Hoodoos, canyons, bridges, goblins, desert, cliffs: they are nicely