UTAH: Part 6 - Driving to Monument Valley

Sunday, we checked out of our hotel and took a quick side trip along the Colorado River. We returned to Moab, for a quick lunch and to fuel our Jeep Patriot, then we headed south to Monument Valley. Technically, we are just over the UTAH state line, in Arizona.

We checked into our hotel "The View" which is appropriately named. We've got our cameras set up on the balcony and intend to shoot the night sky with the 3 Sisters rock formations silhouetted in the foreground. The morning sunrise should be lined up just right so we'll see what we get.

Here is a short video of our drive and at the end a glimpse of our room and the view from our balcony.

UTAH: Part 5 - Canyonlands National Park

Saturday, we visited Canyonlands National Park which has a very different perspective than Arches NP. You are up high on flat ground looking down into the Green River and Colorado River Canyons. We started the day at Mesa Arch at sunrise along with 40 other photographers. The morning sun bounces of the canyon wall and lights the arch from the underside with the most wonderful orange glow. It was stunning! We did a short but steep hike to one overlook, but most of the places we shot you drive to and take a short walk.

We finished the day at nearby Dead Horse State park overlook for sunset. Wow, what a view. Another fantastic day of photographing and enjoying the wide open spaces of UTAH.

Tomorrow we leave Moab and head south to Monument Valley on the boarder of Utah and Arizona. Should be fun!

UTAH: Part 4 - Arches National Park Day 2

Here is a video summary of Friday, the second day of sight seeing in UTAH. The video starts with our sunrise shoot at the LaSal Mountain overlook and the massive red rocks behind us being painted in the morning light. We then returned to the park later that evening to hike the trail to Landscape Arch stopping along the way to visit two other arches. It was a wonderful hike, but it wasn't the sunset location we had hoped for. We did capture some of the evening light on the distant bluff and mountains. It was a beautiful day!

I'm working on another video of Saturday's adventures. I should have it posted soon.

Thanks!

UTAH: Part 3 - Arches National Park

Here is a quick snap from the morning sunrise shoot in Arches National Park. I took this with my Sony P&S. This was taken from the Lasal Mountain overlook just as the sun peeked over the mountain tops.

We returned to Arches later in the day for a nice hike to Landscape arch and more shooting. Tomorrow we get up really early to head to Canyonlands National Park. I've been so busy shooting both images and video, that I have not had time to do a lot of editing.

We are having a great time here in Moab, UT. I'll post more when I get a chance.