Adventures in Landscape Photography: Utah’s National Parks

After accidentally gettin’ some “buns of steel” hiking up and down Bryce Canyon, my recent romp through Utah moved to Escalante – an odd, small town that’s a hub for hikers, and home to some very interesting locals.

My group ended up staying in a little house owned by an accommodating, hard-working and cynical old lady, whose cat I tried desperately to make friends with, to no avail. I honestly LOVE meeting locals in new places. When you’re somewhere unfamiliar, everyone seems like a character from a book, and Escalante, Utah, did not disappoint.

For instance, one morning I watched a dude walk his horse through the neighborhood on his ATV. Like ya do…

Also, became BFFs with a “stray” cat that literally jumped into my arms. He was fat and happy, or else I may not have been able to leave him.

But the point of this trip was landscape photography, so each day was about going on another hike and finding more stuff to shoot. This time there was more than just rocks and canyons though.

Speakin’ of rocks – check this cool thing out. We found it in a rock shop a few miles outside Bryce Canyon.

One day we hiked to Calf Creek Falls, and on the way there we walked by, over, and under literally millions of caterpillars, swingin’ from trees like Tarzan – I walked face-first into SO MANY of them, guys.

Also – cactus that looks like a it stole it’s colors straight from a desert sunset WHAAAAT. So pretty.

But the real star of Calf Creek Falls is, obviously, the falls. It was also the part I was looking forward to the most (except no one told me you had to fight off armies of caterpillars to get there! It’s like a really weird, non-dangerous game quest.)

I hadn’t had the chance to practice that whole “smooth water” look you can accomplish with a long exposure. The longer the exposure = the mistier the water. And the lighting was just right so I didn’t even have to use a filter with the long exposure.

PHOTO TIP: For those who don’t know, long exposures basically mean your camera lens stays open longer, which makes anything that moves blur. It also takes in more light the longer it’s open, so if you’re shooting during the day, you’ll probably have to use a filter that darkens the scene so your picture doesn’t come out overexposed. 

Oh, and did I forget to mention the star photos? This was a few miles away from Calf Creek Falls.

Hope you guys like the photos!

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