The American southwest is one of my all-time favorite places. Sweeping vistas, canyons, desert and mind-boggling rock formations make for natural subjects. No wonder it’s such a popular destination for people from around the world. That’s why I’ve just finished teaching my second photography workshop in Moab, Utah, which is perfectly located close to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.
I divide each day into two shoots. We go out early for morning light, return to town late morning for lunch, rest and a review session. Then by mid-afternoon we’re headed out again to shoot well past dark. Night photography always ends up being one of the favorite parts of the week for the group. The combination of great subjects and lack of light pollution lets everyone learn new techniques and make nice photos. Plus, being there late in the year means we can do our nights shoots and still make it back to town for dinner by 8pm and a good night’s sleep.
This was also my first opportunity to shoot the new Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera. I used that with the new Z-series 24-70mm f/4 lens, and thanks to the FTZ adapter also used my Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5, 20mm f/1.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. I quickly fell in love with the camera, and will have a more detailed story about it in the near future.
In the meantime, here are some of my favorite photos from the week and the stories around them. I’ll return to Moab again next November, so if you’re interested in joining me, let me know.
Our first morning there was also our earliest, leaving at 5am to get to Mesa Arch well before sunrise. This is one of the iconic locations in Canyonlands National Park, as the first rays of sun give the inner arch an orange glow. In summer you can easily find over 100 photographers there, but being late fall meant we only had to share the space with a few others. My favorite photos actually came after the sun was up, getting close to one side of the arch with a wide-angle lens. In this case I used my Nikkor 20mm because it gives such a great starburst, as you can see. Nikon Z7, Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/60 at f/16, -1.7 EV, Nikkor AF 20mm f/1.8G lens.
Being there in early November means foliage change, so we watch for that. This was on our way to another location, but decided to turn around and investigate an old road we’d driven by. It led us to this scene. I used a polarizing filter to bring out more color in the leaves and darken the blue sky. Nikon Z7, Aperture Priority, ISO 125, 1/500 at f/6.3, -1.0 EV, Nikkor VR Zoom 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at 200mm.
New to the itinerary this trip was a visit to Goblin Valley State Park. I discovered it while studying a map of the area, and a quick Google search showed it had promise. We went there late one afternoon, shot through sunset, then I showed the group how to do low level lighting. I’ve set five small LED lanterns around these formations to create the light on them. Nikon Z7, Manual exposure, ISO 1600, 30-seconds at f/4, Nikkor AF Zoom 24-70mm f/4 lens at 37mm.
The overlook at Dead Horse Point State Park (don’t ask how it got its name) is justifiably famous. And from past experience, I know that morning’s the best time to be there. Luckily, we had some nice clouds in the sky that made the scene even more spectacular. Nikon Z7, Aperture Priority, ISO 64, 1/60 at f/7.1, 0.0 EV, Nikkor AF Zoom 24-70mm f/4 lens at 24mm.
It’s easy to shoot just the big features and forget about the smaller things. That’s actually the South Window at upper right (one of the area’s arches), but I chose to work with this silhouette of a tree rather than the arch, taking advantage of the shadows and colors to create this photo instead. Nikon Z7, Manual exposure, ISO 64, 1/160 at f/9, Nikkor AF Zoom 24-70mm f/4 lens at 29mm.
An even closer detail shot, these rocks were in a shaded nook near the North Window in Arches National Park. Light, line and contrast helped make this an interesting picture. Nikon Z7, Manual exposure, ISO 100, 1/160 at f/5.6, Nikkor AF Zoom 24-70mm f/4 lens at 31mm.
One of our many night shoots, this is Double Arch in Arches National Park. Doing a high-ISO/long shutter speed exposure not only brings out the stars, but also picks up what little light we’re using to bring out detail in the arch. Normally I’d pick a frame that didn’t have an airplane in it, but in this case I liked the white streak it created. Nikon Z7, Manual exposure, ISO 2000, 30-seconds at f/2.2, Nikkor AF 20mm f/1.8G lens.
Delicate Arch is so famous it’s even used on the Utah state license plate. It’s also our longest walk of the workshop, at three miles roundtrip. The tough part is the 1.5 miles uphill to get there. But it’s worth it, the entire group made it and we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset. Thanks to the new camera’s excellent in-body stabilization, I was able to leave my tripod behind. Hustling down afterwards, we were just able to make it back to the parking lot by the time it got dark. Nikon Z7, Aperture Priority, ISO 64, 1/50 at f/8 , -1.3 EV, Nikkor AF Zoom 24-70mm f/4 lens at 61mm.
We’d had a new moon (meaning no moon) at the start of the trip, so were watching for the thin crescent to make its appearance a couple of days later. Knowing what time it was setting, we placed ourselves at Turret Arch and were just able to get a few photos before it was gone. While it looks full in this photo, if I zoom in on the original 45-megapixel image, I can see the crescent, the rest of the moon illuminated by the earth’s glow. Amazing. Nikon Z7, Manual exposure, ISO 2000, 15-seconds at f/4, Nikkor AF Zoom 24-70mm f/4 lens at 48mm.
Entering Arches one morning, there were some great clouds so we did an unplanned stop at Courthouse Buttes. There were large boulders nearby, so we used them to create a curved shadow at the top of the frame, mimicking the clouds. Nikon Z7, Manual exposure, ISO 100, 1/160 at f/8, Nikkor AF Zoom 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G lens at 18mm.
The new Z-series 24-70mm lens focuses so close I could actually use it to shoot some close-ups. While the focus is on the yellow grass, I loved the rich green popping out of the dark background. The area had gotten rain a few days before we arrived, and the grass showed it. Nikon Z7, Manual exposure, ISO 100, 1/320 at f/6.3, Nikkor AF Zoom 24-70mm f/4 lens at 70mm.
Thanks to that same rain, we found a few puddles that let us try to work with reflections. This was in the Park Avenue area of Arches, and the great dynamic range of the Z7 allowed me to underexpose the lower half of the frame and still bring it back with editing software. I also used the flip-out LCD on the camera to get the lens just above the water’s surface. Nikon Z7, Manual exposure, ISO 125, 1/125 at f/10, Nikkor AF Zoom 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G lens at 20mm.
Our final shoot of the trip was at Balanced Rock in Arches. Since there were some clouds in the sky, they created a nice effect by showing blur during our long exposures. Better yet, cars leaving the park added a little sidelight to it thanks to their headlights. Nikon Z7, Manual exposure, ISO 1000, 30-seconds at f/1.8, Nikkor AF 20mm f/1.8G lens.
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