I love to travel. Travel photography is one of my favorite things; exploring, and photographing, places that you have
never been to before, meeting new people, experiencing new customs. When I am
preparing to go on a trip, especially to places I have never been to before, I
do very extensive research on where I am going. Some have even called me OCD
when it comes to planning a trip. For a successful trip, however, it is very
important to do the research to get the most out of your time and the best
shots that you can manage. Here are some tips I use when planning for a trip: Scour the Internet. You want to look for photos from the
location you want to go. Now obviously, you don’t want to take the exact same
photo as someone else has already taken, but in many cases you can get a good
indication of what time of day/year the photos were taken so you know when to
be there to get those shots. A lot of times photo sharing websites, such as
Flickr, will have metadata that includes the time and date the photo was taken
or, at the very least, keywords indicating sunrise or sunset. You can then
confirm this information with many different applications; The Photographer’s
Ephemeris, Google Earth, Mr. Sun. You can confirm exact times for sunrise and
sunset and where the sun will be every minute in-between. Plan out each day’s itinerary. I’m a sun chaser, meaning where I
will be for sunrise and sunset will more than likely dictate the rest of the
day. My wife often jokes that all of our trips revolve around the sun. And
she’s 100% right. I plan out a reasonable driving distance between where I will
be for sunrise and where I will be from sunset. Once I have those two items
set, in my itinerary, I then plan for everything in-between, and sometimes
afterward. I look for locations along the way, sometimes off the beaten path.
If it seems interesting, and I can fit it into my itinerary, I will try to
include it. The time around high-noon can be the hardest to determine. While
good shots can still be had during this time, sometimes they cannot. You may
want to consider using this time for rest, recreation, shopping or just used to
drive to the next location, if they are a good distance apart. In order to
calculate times, you need to know how long it takes to drive to a location, how
long of a hike you will need to do once you get there.
"Good Morning, Canyonlands"
Most of this
information you can find on the Internet. I use Google Maps and Google Earth
for figuring out driving times. For hiking, there are usually plenty of guides,
trail maps and information, on the Internet. You need to account for all of
this time and know when to leave a location so you can get to the next one
on-time, especially when it comes to sunrise and sunset.
Sunset at Pigeon Point Lighthouse
Be sure to
also allow some slack-time in your itinerary for stop-offs along the way, a few
obligatory self-portraits, and also to talk to locals about the area. You may be
surprised the things you will see along the trip that you didn’t even know
about. Sometimes people at a visitor center, chamber of commerce or even a
local bar can give you insights that you did not previously know about another
location. Don’t forget to also add time for bio-breaks, checking into hotels,
and of course eating.
"Might as well jump!"
"Go ahead and jump!"
Also print
maps or have the locations programmed into your GPS. You definitely need to
know where you’re going, especially if you haven’t been there before.
The Tower Bridge through"a sneaky-good frame"
There are
some situations where an itinerary has been prepared for you. For instance,
when traveling abroad, we use typically Globus (www.globusjourneys.com). On escorted tours you are limited
to the confines of their itinerary most times, but that is not always a bad
thing as they have some very talented people, who have researched extensively,
planning those itineraries. I still do research on each location in the
itinerary and see what freedom I have to do things on my own. The first day in
London, for instance, we had total freedom to do whatever we liked. I connected
with my friend, Tim Callister, who lives there and we devised an itinerary for
the day.
Teardrop Arch
There are
other times where you are at a location where it is required to have a personal
guide. Again, you are limited to their itinerary, but
they are professionals and you are typically in good hands. A great example of
this was when we hired Ray from Tom Phillips’ Kéyah Hózhóní Monument Valley
Tours (http://www.monumentvalley.com/). It was the only way that we were
able to see certain locations in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park as they are
restricted to public access. Expect the unexpected. For better or for worse unexpected
things can and will happen during your trip. A cloudy, foggy, rainy or snowy
day can really do a number to your trip. So can a flight delay, road closure or
accident. Even staying at a location too long can mess up the rest of your
itinerary. You have to put contingencies and consolations into your itinerary. I
try to keep my expectations low just for these reasons. There’s no more
disappointing feeling than having a plan and not being able to execute it. You
need to have backups in place. You need to identify the things on your
itinerary that are most important to you and those that you could potentially
do without, if circumstances arise. A good example; while doing research for
Capitol Reef National Park, I read that the road to Lower Cathedral Valley was
very primitive and, during wet conditions, could be impassible to even the best
off-road vehicle. As this is a place I wanted to be for both sunrise and
sunset, I needed to have alternatives in place in the event the road was
impassible. I had a separate section of my itinerary in place just for that
reason. When we arrived at Capitol Reef, I learned the road was indeed
impassible, but having planned ahead, I already knew what my consolation would
be. If I had not done my research and arrived there ready to travel down that
road I know for sure I would’ve been disappointed and perhaps even pissed.
Instead, we were able to salvage our time and use it towards another spot.
Can you see the road? Neither could we...
Here is a sample day’s itinerary that I made before our most
recent trip to the American Southwest:
Day 2 - Mar 8th (Friday) - Bryce Canyon NP to Capitol Reef NP 6:00 a.m. Drive to Inspiration point for Sunrise (6:49 a.m.) - 5 minutes (2.5
mi) drive 7:00 a.m. Drive to Bryce
Point - 5 minutes (2 mi) drive 7:15 a.m. Drive to
Escalante - 1 hour and 10 minutes drive 8:25 a.m. Breakfast in
Escalante (Subway) 9:00 a.m. Drive to
Torrey, UT - 1 hour 21 min drive 10:30 a.m. Pick up Lunch
in Torrey (Subway) - extra sandwich for dinner 10:45 a.m. Drive to
Fruita Barn - 15 minute (11.0 mi) drive 11:30 a.m. Drive to
Capitol Reef - (20.3 mi) drive - with stop-offs along the way 2:00 p.m. Check in at
Hotel - (1 night) Roadway Inn, Caneville !***---- If road conditions permit ----***! 3:00 p.m. Drive to Lower
Cathedral Valley, Temple of the Sun and Moon - 1 hour drive Sunset (6:26 p.m.) 7:30 p.m. Return to
Hotel - 1 hour drive !***---- If road
conditions do NOT permit ----***! 3:00 p.m. Drive to
Scenic Drive 5:00 p.m. Drive to
Sunset Point for Sunset (6:26 p.m.) Return to Hotel - 1 hour
drive
Now there are a few
things about this itinerary to mention. I didn’t explicitly plan bathroom
breaks, as much as my wife jokes that I do, but I did leave extra padding
between locations for them. I also left extra padding in areas where I wanted
to stay longer, especially before and after sunrise and sunset. When you are
actually on your trip, as I mentioned before, unexpected things do arise and
you have to make decisions on the trip. Which leads me to my next point: Be ready to completely alter your
itinerary while on your trip. The itinerary above is a perfect example;
Bryce Canyon became completely snowed-out. We ended up leaving before sunrise
(or lack thereof). We also decided to stop and photograph the Hundred
Handprints Native American panel, just north of Escalante. We then drove over
the most ridiculously snowy pass on Scenic Byway 12 and when we got to Capitol
Reef we learned we couldn’t drive to Lower Cathedral Valley. So instead we
received some insight from the Ranger, at Visitor Center, to do the Scenic Drive
and hike the Golden Throne Trail to The Tanks. It wasn’t as photographic of a
spot as the Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon would be, but It was
something we could do as a consolation. Since it was overcast the whole day, we
also did not get the last light of the sun on Castle Rock or Sunset Point so we
called it an early night.
Fruita Barn on an overcast day
There are other times
where something so amazing happens that it can’t be overlooked and it changes
your plans for at least part of the day. This leads me to my next point:
Serendipity is a photographer’s best
friend. Sometimes it almost seems as if the clouds part and the sun shines
just for you, both physically and metaphorically speaking. When things come
together that make for an even better photograph, than what you had planned for
in your itinerary, of course you’re going to photograph that instead. Case in
point; while staying in Sausalito, I had the morning all planned out. Sunrise
at a certain location, golden hour photos, etc. Being the Bay Area a lot of times
it will get really foggy. Upon waking up and seeing the fog, my entire morning
changed. I wanted more than anything to get the top of the Golden Gate Bridge
emerging from out of the fog. No sunrise was going to top something like that
so we ended up driving into the hills by the bay to see if I could get that
shot, a gamble that certainly paid off.
"Emergence"
Sometimes Serendipity
can be caused by you changing your plans in the first place. We were burned out
after the first day in Yosemite National Park, with our very heavy itinerary.
Instead of planning to be where we wanted to for sunrise the next morning, we
decided to sleep in. Had we followed our itinerary as normal, I would’ve missed
the sun coming up over the mountains, at the Tunnel View, and giving the most
awesome sunburst. The light in the valley was absolutely gorgeous! The Tunnel
View is not normally known for exceptional shots in the morning, it’s much more
of a late afternoon and sunset spot.
"Good Morning, Yosemite"
One more example; after several days of overcast skies, rain and snow, we
arrived in Moab, UT. The sun was finally beginning to shine through but the
clouds were still so dramatic and were lifting out of the canyons. I decided to
go to Dead Horse Point State Park for sunset. Dead Horse Point is a site that
is usually known for spectacular sunrises but not really for sunsets. Because
of the clouds, the light was absolutely gorgeous and the spot worked out much
better than my originally planned location, for sunset.
Sunset at Dead Horse Point
In summary, when
planning a trip it is important to do research and plan your itinerary, but be
prepared to change your plans as needed. The itinerary will serve as a basis –
a basic outline. How you fill in the rest, or edit it, is up to you.
"Time Flies By"
A few more helpful tips
for travel; some of these are common knowledge but I believe they bear
repeating:
Bring
only the photography equipment you plan to use. That stuff can get pretty
heavy, going through the airport. If you don’t think you need it, it may be
best to not bring it.
Bring
all of the most important items to you as carry-on. If your luggage gets
damaged, lost, or sent to Winchestertonfieldville, Iowa, by accident, you’ll
take comfort in the fact you can still take a photo.
Before
you go on that hike make sure you’re only bringing the subset of your photography
equipment that you’ll need. Again, carrying all that stuff on a hike that you
don’t need creates unnecessary wear on your body. Also bring plenty of water
with you.
Charge
your batteries every night, before you go to sleep.
If
you have another device (or two) to unload your photos to, also do so every
night.
If
you’re driving from one location to another, always make sure you have a camera
ready and both a telephoto and a wide-angle lens handy. You never know what
wildlife or grand scene you may encounter.
Most
importantly, have fun!
"At the Watering Hole"
"Open Range"
"Pronghorn Dash"
"Snowy Tractor"
You can find these photos, and many more, on my website and on Facebook.
One of my first shots upon arriving at Balanced Rock
So there I was, 4:30 a.m. at Arches National Park, one of the greatest Candylands for a landscape photographer. I was so excited, to push my ISO to obscene levels, with my new Canon EOS 5D Mark III, for Milky Way shots. My wife and I were the only souls awake at this location, this early, so I could light paint to my heart's desire. I got all set up and focused, going back and forth on what ISO to shoot at, until I settled on ISO-10,000. I'm thinking to myself, "alright, time to experiment!"
The photo above: Canon EOS 5D Mark III | Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS | 28mm | 30 seconds | f/3.5 | ISO-10,000
I was going to start a series of light painted shots, some with the rocks and foreground lit up and others with the rocks as silhouettes, when no sooner did I start then a car drives up, headlights pointed at the rocks. This is of course forgivable as I could always start over again, or so I thought. This photographer gets out of his car, headlight ablaze, turning it every which way causing all sorts of light pollution. "Well, I'll wait for him to get set up," I thought. No sooner does he set up then he just starts light painting Balanced Rock with a very narrow and focused spotlight. No asking me if I was in the middle of a shoot, just starts polluting the whole scene, never turning off his headlamp and randomly shining the spotlight on the rocks.
You can see "Mr. Etiquette" on the left side of this photo. And this shot's only at ISO-1250!
The photo above: Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF-s 10-22mm f/3.5-5.6 | 10mm | 30 seconds | f/3.5 | ISO-1250
I was pretty furious, he definitely knew we were there, because I was in the middle of light painting as he pulled up. He clearly showed right away that he was not interested in coordinating shots with me, not to mention he was in my shot. My wife is pretty good at keeping me calm, because I was quite hot under the collar at that point. But seriously, how is it alright to just stroll up and start light polluting a night scene? I know if I was not the first to show up, I would certainly go find out how to coordinate with the other photographer(s), it's simple etiquette and common courtesy. So with a sense of defeat, and a bit of anger, we decided to cut our losses there and move on to the next spot on the itinerary, Delicate Arch. I wanted to be at Delicate Arch for sunrise, but I had not planned on hiking up in the dark. It was a grueling hour hike, up to Delicate Arch, and sunrise was still quite a ways away. Anyone who has done that hike, knows what I mean, especially when you're carrying loads of photography equipment. It was also getting on to Blue Hour so I wasn't sure what to expect when we got up there. What I saw, when we rounded the corner to Delicate Arch, was absolutely stunning. The twilight glow mixed with the Milky Way was beautiful, even to the naked eye. I knew that the camera would provide an even better representation. I really loved the ethereal effect of Blue Hour mixed with the Milky Way. The addition of the low atmosphere clouds was also a very welcome bonus. In the end, "Mr. Etiquette" causing me to give up on Balanced Rock, was actually a favor.
Ethereal Arch
The photo above: Canon EOS 5D Mark III | Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS | 28mm | 30 sec | f/3.5 | ISO-10,000 After getting the shots that I really liked, we hiked to the opposite side of Delicate Arch, across the ravine. I got another treat, just before sunrise. A fairly rare phenomenon, called a Sun Pillar, shining on the low atmosphere clouds. The photos from this morning turned out better than I could have ever hoped for.
Light Pillar Eruption
The photo above: Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF-s 10-22mm f/3.5-5.6 | 12mm | 2.5 seconds | f/22 | ISO-100
You can find these photos, and many more, on my website.
Popular Science Magazine - November 2012 (pages 12-13)
I have recently received a great achievement, winning the Grand Prize in the Transitions® Adaptive Lenses, Through Your Eyes Photo Contest, hosted by Popular Science Magazine. As a result the image has been published, in the November 2012 issue of Popular Science Magazine, as a 2-page spread. It's hard to describe the feeling you get seeing your work published for the first time, least of all in a magazine that gets 1.2 million subscriptions. The photo is of sunrise at Mesa Arch, in Canyonlands National Park.
I thought that perhaps I would describe the specifics leading up to getting this shot. I was fortunate to spend a few days in the Moab area as an excursion on the side of a business trip. I researched a lot about the area before heading on the trip; looking at photographs, topography on Google Earth, checking out multiple books from the library, etc. I wanted to use this opportunity to experiment and push the limits of my photography skills. My itinerary revolved around sunrises, sunsets, the Milky Way and I obsessively planned every minute of my day, based on lighting conditions.
My first day I spent mainly in Arches National Park, north of Moab. At this point, I had driven into Utah in the dark and had not yet seen a single feature of the land. I drove into Arches, way before sunrise, taking a gamble that I could get a blue hour silhouette of the iconic Balanced Rock. A gamble that I am more than happy to have made.
Blue Hour at Balanced Rock
After finishing my shots at Balanced Rock, the area was finally starting to light up and I looked around at the alien landscape that I had somehow drove through. It was like no place I had ever seen before. Pictures cannot describe the beauty that lay before me. I was headed now to the Courthouse Rocks to catch the first sunlight glowing upon them. Watching the orange sunlight pour down onto The Organ and the Three Gossips was a religious experience. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I had driven past these monoliths, in the dark.
Sunrise at Courthouse Rocks
After being satisfied with the sunrise shot that I wanted, I ventured around the park and also went and explored some ancient rock art and other features of the area but the end of the day was reserved for one of the most famous features in Utah, Delicate Arch. I hiked up to Delicate Arch in time for sunset, but I was really there to try my very first shot of the Milky Way. Being in a place with some of the most impressive scenery is a really good motivator to try and experiment. Obviously you want to take the iconic shot first, but once you grab that, it's playtime! After extensive research and some tips from Milky Way shooters, I gave it my all at Delicate Arch.
Milky Way and Delicate Arch
After being elated at the shot of the Milky Way that I had gotten, it was still an hour hike back down to the parking lot and almost an hour drive back to the hotel, in the dark. This is where chance first affected my photos of Mesa Arch. I had run myself ragged that first day, waking up at 4 a.m, hiking and driving to multiple locations and not getting back to sleep until after 1 a.m. I had decided instead of going to Mesa Arch, the next morning, I would put it off until the third morning. I instead traveled to Dead Horse Point State Park for sunrise. Dead Horse Point is a gorgeous view of a bend in the Colorado River, with layers upon layers of rock in the canyon lying before you. The sun hits each of these layers differently creating a very dramatic sunrise image. The only problem was there were no defined clouds. Clouds are very important for landscape images and can really add to the impact of the final shot. Had I stuck to the original plan and gone to Mesa Arch, I wouldn't have ended up with the nice feathery wisps of clouds that were present the next day. But in the end I still really liked how the Dead Horse Point shot came out, with or without clouds.
Morning at Dead Horse Point
One other very fortunate thing to happen to me, at Dead Horse Point, was meeting Christian James of prophotospots.com. When I first got to Dead Horse Point, I saw a photographer on the farthest point out over the canyon, waiting there for the sunrise. He had another camera, pointed at him, taking photos every minute to document the shoot. We got to talking and I told him that I was planning on going to False Kiva, a Class II archeological site, that evening for sunset shots and hopefully the Milky Way. He said that he himself had been to False Kiva many times, and was interested in doing Milky Way shots there. He told me he would show me the way to False Kiva and accompany me there for the evening. That was very good news for me, especially since I only theoretically knew the way to False Kiva as it is a protected site and does not show up on any map. So that afternoon we made the hike to False Kiva and got awesome shots at sunset, but it was seeing and photographing the Milky Way from False Kiva that I will never forget. Christian and I worked together to light the alcove of False Kiva and use the appropriate camera settings for capturing the Milky Way. It's still my favorite photo to date.
False Kiva and the Milky Way
As with the first day, I had again had a very grueling, long day of photographing and didn't get back to the hotel until almost 2 a.m. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to make another sunrise, the next morning, but fighting a minor case of altitude sickness and not being able to sleep because of anticipation, I decided that I would sleep when I'm dead and headed to Mesa Arch for sunrise.
I had a late start so I was traveling pretty fast, through Canyonlands to make sure I got there in time, almost hitting several cows in the open range along the way. I made it, but to my disappointment there was already a crowd of people. The spot that I had originally wanted to take the photo of the arch from was occupied by a 4-headed hydra of photographers, with tripods, all clumped together. I pulled out my Mr. Sun app on my iPhone and calculated exactly where the sun was going to come up. This perspective didn't allow much of a view of the canyon itself, through the arch, but it would give me a great spot for getting a nice sunburst. I set my camera's aperture for f/22.0 to give me the maximum depth of field but also allow for a very nice sunburst. I bracketed my shots in 3 stops, -1EV/0EV/+1EV as I figured I would need to blend the exposures to have a properly lit sky and foreground in the final image.
It seemed like an eternity waiting for the sun to finally rise and reach the top crook of the arch to create the sun burst. I wish I could live in those few minutes forever though as it was just glorious. Everything I wanted for a good photo was there; amazing wispy bands of cloud formations, a stunning and iconic foreground and the most perfect sunrise. After getting the shot that I wanted, I had quite high expectations seeing the preview in the camera, but it wasn't until I reviewed the photo later, in Lightroom, that I really knew what I had gotten. To follow up such an amazing experience at False Kiva with the Milky Way with another first for me, a true sunburst shot made the entire trip, and the strain I put on myself those first couple days, totally worth it.
Sunrise at Mesa Arch
I took it a bit easier after this shot. I had put a lot of miles on both myself and driving in such a short amount of time and I had already gotten what I felt were some great takeaways from the trip. There were still a lot of great shots to come in the next couple days, but at a much more relaxed pace than the first couple days.
False Kiva
Morning in Castle Valley
Mustangs at the Watering Hole
Morning at Garden of the Gods
I love to travel. I love to show others photos of beautiful locations, through my eyes. Don't ever be afraid to promote your work, if it is something you are proud of. Had I not entered this photo in the contest, I would have never received the recognition that I have from this. Don't ever give up on your dreams. If you want to be a successful photographer, you need only to continue to improve your skills and work to get your name out there. It has always been my dream to be published and I will always work as hard as I can to deliver captivating photos that will be seen by others.
You can view all of my best photos from this particular trip here:
