After working the image from the previous post I made my way down to the more traditional view of Mesa Arch. Here is looking through the arch with my 4x5 still set up in the previous location.The sharp eye will also notice another large format camera, its a Linhof Technica III. The other photog was working some b+w film. We talked shop for a few minutes as the light was not changing anytime fast.We were both back there the next morning for clear sky but had to contend with about 40 other people. So it was nice to have it just be a few folks with time to talk and move around.
Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park is famous for it's glow on a clear day. When the sun first rises it lights up the underside of the arch with an orange glow that is spectacular.On a cloudy day there is no glow.My first morning in Canyonlands was completely overcast. There was zero chance for glow. So I set up looking down through the arch and across the Colorado River canyons.No it was not the classic image but I still wanted to see what I could get. Hard to take a bad picture in a place like this.
Late one afternoon in Arches National Park I found myself in an area called the Garden of Eden. It was an area of rocky red spires. I took the camera and wandered into the spires looking for an image. On a steep slope I found a view that took in the spires and the distant La Sal Mountains. As the last light of day stretched across the valley, I made a couple of images. Then I waited for the glow that happens after the sunset. The sky was clear and sure enough about 20 minutes after sunset the pink glow spilling across the landscape bathed the area in light. Another couple of images.See the camera set up on the steep slope with the dunes beyond. It was a bit of a balancing act, but that is what a good tripod is for.
Arches National Park is obviously home to a few arches. It is also home to some great slick rock, red rock, and rock dunes. Rock dunes? Shouldn't dunes be made of sand? Yes, but sometimes they get buried and compressed into rock. Normally they are compressed into sandstone, but in Arches there are some petrified dunes. So they look a lot like dunes even though they are rock.Here are the petrified dunes with the La Sal Mountains rising beyond at sunset.
