Canyonlands!

Green River Overlook

The weather in Moab, Utah has been crazy this week. Eighty degrees one day and then freezing cold and 20-30 mile per hour winds the next. The only thing we haven’t seen is storms. Some real storm clouds would be nice. I love photographing with good cloud formations in the sky. Even without the clouds, though, I have had a good time with my family and made a few good photographs as well.

We went to Canyonlands the other evening and stayed to watch the sunset. The sky was real hazy and the wind was whipping as a cold front was moving through, but it brought no real clouds. We drove through the Island in the Sky district and stopped to check out most of the access points to the rim of the canyon. We decided to go to the Green River Overlook area to see the sunset, and I am glad we did! The wind was howling, it was bitter cold and I left my coat at the hotel, there were dozens of photographers battling for prime real estate to shoot from, but the view was spectacular. I photographed until it was too dark to focus the camera and my fingers were too frozen to operate the camera anymore, then we all warmed up on the drive back to the hotel.

The image above is one that I made that night battling the wind and cold. When I got back and looked at the images, I noticed the cool undertones that most of the images had. Interesting for sunset photos, as they usually filled with predominately warm tones. It really showed me how much my own feelings influence how I photograph. I try to absorb my surroundings and make my photographic decisions based on feeling and emotion. This has become my way of working. Even when I am not thinking about it, that is often what happens. It did in Canyonlands that evening. I was working quickly and in a difficult environment, but my emotions took over. This was evident to me in the finished print. When we allow our work to become our way of life, our work becomes personal. That is what will take your work to a new level.