Tag Archives: utah

Stream and Sandstone Cliff

Stream and Sandstone Cliff
“Stream and Sandstone Cliff” — Sandstone cliffs at the bend in the canyon of a remote Utah river.

This is a photograph from over a decade ago. (More on how it ended up here today below.) A small group of us spent time photographing in Utah, often in remote places. One day we dropped into a canyon and followed this stream. As so often happens in these narrow, winding canyons, “one good turn led to another,” and we kept going as each bend revealed another interesting section. We finally stopped very close to this scene, made some final photographs, and headed back upstream.

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Autumn Trees, Canyon Wall

Autumn Trees, Canyon Wall
“Autumn Trees, Canyon Wall” — A small grove of autumn cottonwood trees next to the wall of a Utah canyon.

A few years ago three of us explored a long section of narrow canyon in Utah, looking for photographs in this rich landscape. We started in a broad valley where a stream flowed between low hills, but soon the walls rose and steepened and the valley narrowed, and we found ourselves following a creek. The canyon was alternately wide and then narrow and constricted.

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Photographer, Canyon Country

Photographer, Canyon Country
“Photographer, Canyon Country” — A photographer at work deep in a Southwest Utah sandstone canyon.

Deserts offer few clues about the scale of the landscape. Unlike forest scenes, where trees often provide a frame of reference, plants often play a lesser role. Even when there are plants it can be unclear from a distance whether they are large trees or small shrubs. Here the inclusion of the human figure clarifies the scale of the grand Utah red rock landscape.

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Two Towers

Two Towers
“Two Towers” — Two backlit sandstone towers, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Stopping to photograph these formations was almost an afterthought. We had been far down a remote road in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument photographing even more obscure locations, and we were headed back towards Escalante. Not being familiar with this area back then, I was surprised when we stopped here along the way, but then this little red rock garden began to attract me.

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