Photographing Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks: Best Shot Locations, Details on Trails, Lighting, Composition...More
By Tim Truby
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About this ebook
Professional writer and landscape photographer Tim Truby has gathered all the photo-related information beginners and enthusiasts need to create their best photographs at Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks.
Best shot locations
Representative images
Details on each trail
Settings and lens thoughts
Composition dynamics for each spot
Landscape photography Top Ten
Lightroom ideas
This material is more than a typical photo guidebook. It's how savvy photo enthusiasts and pros think about shooting these Utah parks, written in a style that's readable and entertaining.
Tim Truby
Professional writer and landscape photographer Tim Truby has spent a career making abstract subjects accessible to readers. He's written numerous articles for industry publications plus how-to books, user stories, video scripts, websites, even several (produced) plays. Companies he's worked for include IBM, Toyota, Aerospace Corp., and Cars.com. For many years, Tim handled most of the corporate photographic needs at Cars.com's California offices, including company portraits, event photography, and auto shows. Tim has traveled extensively, and his portfolio of American and international photographs can be found at Tim-Truby-Photography.com. He has a special love of the Southwest and has been to the Utah parks many times over the last two decades. Tim was an army brat and grew up all over the USA as well as a couple of foreign countries. He has degrees from Brown University and Catholic University of America. He and his wife live in California.
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Photographing Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks - Tim Truby
Copyright © 2016 by Tim Truby. 732772
ISBN: Softcover 978-1-5144-5796-2
EBook 978-1-5144-5795-5
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Rev. date: 04/29/2016
Xlibris
1-888-795-4274
www.Xlibris.com
CONTENTS
First Things
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
The Moab Area: Beyond the National Parks
Capitol Reef National Park
Lightroom Post-Production: One Approach
About the Author
Acknowledgments
FIRST THINGS
The Utah National Parks have become marquee locations for landscape photographers from around the world. The massive monoliths of Arches, the expansive vistas of Canyonlands and Capitol Reef and, of course, the perfection of Zion and Bryce (covered in my companion book) – these parks help make the Southwest a photographer’s Mecca.
For photography enthusiasts, shooting a great Southwestern park can be the chance of a lifetime. But as any pro will tell you, preparation is essential. Luckily, as an LA-based writer and photographer, I’ve had these parks on my doorstep and each is like an old friend.
It takes time to get your head around a great park: the logistics, best locations, best time of day to shoot, trail details. And when you’re at the shooting location, there’s a different set of challenges – composition, lighting, camera settings.
There are plenty of fancy guidebooks out there. But big name travel guides don’t give you any photo info at all. This book puts all that stuff at your fingertips – so you can focus on staying in the zone and getting the best photographs.
Whether you have a day at Canyonlands or Arches or a month, you will enjoy. That’s the whole point of this book: great photo locations, less hassle with logistics, more focus on your craft… kick-ass shots for your portfolio.
Note: For the same detailed approach to shooting Zion and Bryce Canyon, the other great Utah parks, get my book, Photographing Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.
What’s In the Book
This book provides photo locations that are creative jumping-off points for you. It’s true, there are photo guidebooks that cover these same parks. And several are useful in the locations they cover. But this book offers more than locations and trail info as you’ll see below.
In fact, I’m attempting go beyond the musty guidebook approach entirely. I can’t teach anyone to see as a photographer. We each go down that path on our own. But I can share how (one member) of the landscape photography community thinks about the craft – in a way that’s readable and un-jargony.
So if you’re just starting out, you’ll learn some stuff – and end up with better photographs. If you’re already an enthusiast, you’ll appreciate the usefulness of the info and tips. (I know that because of the many enthusiasts who gave me that feedback on the first edition.)
For each park, you’ll get this level of nuts and bolts information:
Best photo locations (and none of the just OK stuff)
Representative images of major locations, so you know what to expect
Details on each trail
Settings and lens suggestions for each shooting location
Thoughts on compositional dynamics
Landscape photo tips
Lightroom post-production ideas
Related issues from geology and history to shooting etiquette
Do not expect this book to list restaurants, hotels or every activity available in the park. Our focus is on getting you good shots. And I’m opinionated on which locations I recommend because no one ever has time to cover everything.
You’ll find lots of landscape photos here. And I hope they will get you stoked to go to these spots. But don’t mistake this for a coffee-table book. It’s a different beast.
You’ll find useful landscape photography tips – but this book isn’t a magic wand. You have to get out there and make choices based on your instincts. And if you make bad choices — well, we’ve all come back to the hotel room with crappy shots.
Shared insights, great shoot locations and actionable suggestions, everything you need. Yes, you can figure out all the Arches and Canyonlands shooting info on your own—eventually. But the more info at your finger tips, the better the images you’ll create.
Who the Book Is For: What Are You Shooting?
As far as your gear, this book doesn’t care if you’re carrying a smartphone or a full frame DSLR. The person who can see the shot will always do interesting work.
Equipment does matter of course. If you have a point and shoot with limited lens range, you won’t get that wide-angle look. If a shot can be improved by using a specific lens or a tripod, I’ll let you know. And my tips on composition will take you to the next level regardless. So whatever camera (or smart phone) you’re packing, we’ll get you cools shots.
Shooting the Classic Southwestern Locations
I’ve chosen to focus on photo locations that I think are classics. But why go to a classic
location in the first place?
First, each spot here was chosen for its impact – these are the 6-8 spots at each park that are truly kick-ass. That’s why so many of these places are iconic.
Second, (and more important) spending an hour at a great photo location pulls the best out of you. Each location has its artistic and technical issues. I’ll point all that out so you’ll be ready.
You probably won’t end up with the ultimate Delicate Arch shot – I doubt there is such a thing. But cracking the photographic code for a location is like a painter studying the composition of a masterwork. These locations challenge you to develop your unique vision. And you leave with images you’ll be proud of.
So treat this material as a starting point for following your creative vision. And when you are there, at some awesome overlook, your photographic juices will kick in.
The Locations We Cover: In This Book
Arches National Park
Before the Arches section of the Colorado Plateau was plateau, it was sea beds and sandstone layers. After the salt beds leached out, the massive stone arches and monoliths were all that remained on the high plain–like huge dinosaur bones jutting out of a Salvador Dali beach.
Arches is full of these ancient stone carcasses
– there are some 4,000. But even with all these arches, it never feels like a one note park. Arches has more marquee locations per square mile than almost any place on earth. There’s something about pictures of these massive spans of stone that gets people’s attention. Arches needs to be on your short list of desert parks.
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands NP was a revelation for me. Most Americans have never heard of the place. So on my first visit, I was astonished by the visual treasures. Even now, each trip I take to Canyonlands is one long photo high.
Like the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands was etched by the mighty Colorado. So prepare for immense expanses of desert and river canyons. But while the Grand Canyon is one deep symphony, Canyonlands is abstract variations spread across the vast White Rim plains.
Capitol Reef National Park and Moab State Parks
Capitol Reef National Park is a bit off the beaten path but has several locations worth shooting, particularly the