The North Window And The Eastern Glow
After Eric Gail and I decided on shooting the North Window for sunrise, we grabbed a couple of hours of sleep and headed back from the campsite in the dark. (Eric, by the way, has some serious mojo when it comes to getting campsites at the last minute on busy weekends. I think this was the third time in a row he just rolled up to a site that was marked "full" and somehow a got campsite.)
As soon as we parked, I made a bee-line for this particular spot as I knew it would fill up early. I need to thank Eric for tipping off to this location the day before. When you see photographers perched up in this position from below, it really does look intimidating. You can't really see the ledge or for that matter any possible way to crawl out there without using some serious rock climbing skills. But once you actually begin claiming up to this spot, there are only a couple of sketchy spots to negotiate before you arrive at one of the most stunning locations in Arches National Park. The arch within an arch is immediately visible as you look through the North Window to the Turret Arch directly behind.
And so I crawled out there in the dark and set up on a little outcropping of rock and dug in for the long haul. And sure enough, an army of photographers began to arrive 20 minutes later. By sunrise entire van loads of photographers were now milling around the window. It was interesting to watch several of them asking "WHO in their right mind would climb out there?" initially before their curiosity inevitably got the better and up they came.
For this particular shot, the "glow" behind the rock is actually light pollution, presumably from Moab, but I liked the way it played off of the early morning burn that was beginning to set up off to the East. I spent most of my time shooting up there with the Rokinon 12mm as I wanted to pull in as much color off to the East as possible while shooting through the window.
I finally gave up my spot to several other photographers who were circling like vultures behind me after the sun finally came out from behind the clouds. It was truly a spectacular morning and one has since become one of my favorite mornings of shooting to date. I can't wait to get back there!
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Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
Blog | Website | Facebook | Instagram | 500px | Twitter | Google +
The North Window And The Eastern Glow
After Eric Gail and I decided on shooting the North Window for sunrise, we grabbed a couple of hours of sleep and headed back from the campsite in the dark. (Eric, by the way, has some serious mojo when it comes to getting campsites at the last minute on busy weekends. I think this was the third time in a row he just rolled up to a site that was marked "full" and somehow a got campsite.)
As soon as we parked, I made a bee-line for this particular spot as I knew it would fill up early. I need to thank Eric for tipping off to this location the day before. When you see photographers perched up in this position from below, it really does look intimidating. You can't really see the ledge or for that matter any possible way to crawl out there without using some serious rock climbing skills. But once you actually begin claiming up to this spot, there are only a couple of sketchy spots to negotiate before you arrive at one of the most stunning locations in Arches National Park. The arch within an arch is immediately visible as you look through the North Window to the Turret Arch directly behind.
And so I crawled out there in the dark and set up on a little outcropping of rock and dug in for the long haul. And sure enough, an army of photographers began to arrive 20 minutes later. By sunrise entire van loads of photographers were now milling around the window. It was interesting to watch several of them asking "WHO in their right mind would climb out there?" initially before their curiosity inevitably got the better and up they came.
For this particular shot, the "glow" behind the rock is actually light pollution, presumably from Moab, but I liked the way it played off of the early morning burn that was beginning to set up off to the East. I spent most of my time shooting up there with the Rokinon 12mm as I wanted to pull in as much color off to the East as possible while shooting through the window.
I finally gave up my spot to several other photographers who were circling like vultures behind me after the sun finally came out from behind the clouds. It was truly a spectacular morning and one has since become one of my favorite mornings of shooting to date. I can't wait to get back there!
--------------
Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
Blog | Website | Facebook | Instagram | 500px | Twitter | Google +