reflectioninapool
Delicate Arch
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."
-John Muir
A day at Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.
Delicate Arch, featured on the Utah license plate is probably the most popular natural arch in the country. I've seen this arch as the countless subject of innumerable photos, but it's always the arch standing majestically alone and seemingly undisturbed against a dramatic sky or under the milky way. It gives you the impression that few are out enjoying these natural landmarks.
But reality couldn't be further from the truth. This was my first trip to some of the more popular destinations in the midwest. Here in our parks in West Virginia, you may encounter only a dozen or so people even on the most popular trails. It's few enough to briefly take you out of an isolated nature state of mind when you do see people or catch a whiff of perfume out in the woods. However, at Arches, Bryce Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, etc there's always enough people, everywhere that you never feel isolated. With shuttle buses, sometimes requiring hours of waiting, taking people throughout the parks, single file unbroken lines of people on the trails, and literally waiting in line with a number of other photographers to get those iconic lone, majestic landmark shots.
The national parks have become a veritable Disney Land, that was the first thought that came to mind. It was very frustrating to see, at first. However, when you step back to think about it and reflect on the words of John Muir, in some ways, wasn't this the goal with the National Parks? To not only preserve nature but to give everyone an outlet to get out and enjoy these sites? Until Ansel Adams brought his photos taken out west for the world to see, people who had only lived on the East Coast had no idea that places like Yosemite existed and would have given little thought of its preservation.
Today, the world is smaller and everything is more accessible. A journey toward far away lands that once took a month to reach, often times arriving with only a fraction of the party you began with, now can take a day to reach by car or plane. Why look at a photograph when you can go there? How many times have you told someone that the photograph only tells half the story, it was really something you just had to be there to see for yourself to appreciate the impact? If people in Ansel Adams day could be moved by photographs toward the desire to preserve these places, how fervent will that desire be when they actually have the opportunity to SEE them in person?
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Delicate Arch
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."
-John Muir
A day at Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.
Delicate Arch, featured on the Utah license plate is probably the most popular natural arch in the country. I've seen this arch as the countless subject of innumerable photos, but it's always the arch standing majestically alone and seemingly undisturbed against a dramatic sky or under the milky way. It gives you the impression that few are out enjoying these natural landmarks.
But reality couldn't be further from the truth. This was my first trip to some of the more popular destinations in the midwest. Here in our parks in West Virginia, you may encounter only a dozen or so people even on the most popular trails. It's few enough to briefly take you out of an isolated nature state of mind when you do see people or catch a whiff of perfume out in the woods. However, at Arches, Bryce Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, etc there's always enough people, everywhere that you never feel isolated. With shuttle buses, sometimes requiring hours of waiting, taking people throughout the parks, single file unbroken lines of people on the trails, and literally waiting in line with a number of other photographers to get those iconic lone, majestic landmark shots.
The national parks have become a veritable Disney Land, that was the first thought that came to mind. It was very frustrating to see, at first. However, when you step back to think about it and reflect on the words of John Muir, in some ways, wasn't this the goal with the National Parks? To not only preserve nature but to give everyone an outlet to get out and enjoy these sites? Until Ansel Adams brought his photos taken out west for the world to see, people who had only lived on the East Coast had no idea that places like Yosemite existed and would have given little thought of its preservation.
Today, the world is smaller and everything is more accessible. A journey toward far away lands that once took a month to reach, often times arriving with only a fraction of the party you began with, now can take a day to reach by car or plane. Why look at a photograph when you can go there? How many times have you told someone that the photograph only tells half the story, it was really something you just had to be there to see for yourself to appreciate the impact? If people in Ansel Adams day could be moved by photographs toward the desire to preserve these places, how fervent will that desire be when they actually have the opportunity to SEE them in person?
Follow me on Facebook!