As amazing as my trip to Moab was, and as happy as I am with the photographs I captured, I am starting to discover what I missed, and what mistakes I made while there. I’m not dwelling on these negatives, or beating myself up, but I am trying to organize lessons for future trips of this nature. One problem I think I had was that I sometimes became too enamored and overwhelmed by the beauty I faced. As a result, I didn’t make a sufficient effort to seek out the details, or unusual compositions, that make a photograph unique.
This photo is, I think, something of an exception. This was our first evening in Arches National Park, and this is the Turret Arch. I had two advantages here. One was that being early in the trip I had more energy. I definitely believe I see diminished energy and creativity as the weekend progressed. The second advantage is that this particular spot, although visually interesting, is not overwhelming in its absolute scope and beauty. As a result, I was able to give my attention to the details.
Almost everyone in my group climbed through that arch and walked across a ridge. I climbed up, got about 3/4 of the way across the ridge, and decided to turn back. I’m not sure why. I then spent some time, mostly alone, investigating this side of the Arch.
Dave Wilson
8 May 2013Funny – I’m feeling exactly the same way as I look through my pictures and compare them with everything else that the trip folks are posting. This is a great example – I completely failed to grab a shot anything like this! I was stuck in “wow” mode at this point and, as a result, the majority of my shots from Turret Arch fall squarely into the boring postcard category.
Michael Criswell
12 May 2013I am totally with you on your feelings here, I get that way almost every time I shoot, I don’t know why but it’s like I always miss something, guess thats the nature of the beast sometimes! Great work, love the angle of this one
Chris Nitz
15 May 2013Dude, you rocked this one. I like that you are the only one to snag anything like this.
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Mark
15 May 2013Thanks Chris.
Robert Lussier
15 May 2013I’m with Dave. I didn’t exactly “push the envelope” with my compositions while there. But I don’t think the shots I got (or the ones I’ve seen from Dave) are boring, either.
Great comp here, Mark.
Jimmy Denham
15 May 2013Nicely done Mark – definitely not a type of shot you normally see from this location, but one I like quite a bit for its unique point of view – I also like the rim of light on the arch – very nice!
Rick Louie
15 May 2013Very nice, Mark. I need to do more of this next time I head out. I think that you will find you need to visit this place more than once. The first time you are in awe and all you want to do is capture the icons in their full glory. I’ve found with each subsequent trip that I get more an more creative and less of a desire to do the “traditional” shots.