Why People Come Here

There is nowhere in the world like this and it is hard to experience it completely on your own. One highway runs through and there are a couple of streets that go to hotels, restaurants and shops. To really see it, you need to go into the dirt and sand roads of the back country, something you dare not do alone. It takes a local guide and a heavy four wheel drive vehicle.

We booked a full day trip with Phillips Photography Tours. I cannot say enough good about them and our driver-guide, Tully. Mrs. C and I saw things the bus tours could not imagine. A few Navajo live in isolated homes that had no electricity until the coming of solar panels. There are still some hogons, traditional dwellings in the shape of a dome, made of intricately interlaced juniper logs and covered with dried mud. That is where we met Cecelia, spinning local sheep's wool and making exquisite wall hangings and blankets.

I took about 1,500 shots so there is a lot of editing to do We have no early morning tour today so we will rest a little longer and eventually head towards Second Mesa, Arizona, and the Hopi Reservation.       

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Entering Monument Valley.

Driving into Monument late Thursday afternoon in less than ideal light. In and out clouds, a bit of a sprinkle but, most important of all, fire haze. There are wildfires throughout the region and, although not right around here, the ash stung our eyes.

As you can see, this is pretty empty country. Civilization awaited us at the end of today's road. Up early Friday. We've booked a full day private photography tour in the back country with a Navajo guide.

Canyonlands In Bad Light

While Tuesday was brilliantly sunny, most of yesterday was hazy and covered in wispy cloud. Not the kind of light you're looking for on a day trip to Canyonlands National Park. So, to paraphrase an old saying, when life gives you lemons, open Photoshop. Try B&W, bump up the saturation and contrast, leave it dark, sharpen like crazy.

And by the way, I was wrong when I said yesterday that there are only two national parks with arches. The second photo is Mesa Arch in Canyonlands. A commenter told me that Bryce Canyon, to the west in Utah, has some, too.         

Arches National Park

There are only two U.S. National Parks that contain arches. One is outside my office window. It has a single example. This one in Utah has about 1,500. Nowhere else in the world like it, and the geology is complex. But there are so many more spectacular vistas. This post is limited to the arches themselves (including Delicate, Double, South Window, Sand Dunes, Skyline, and possibly Whatchamacallit Arch) but there are fins, walls, pinnacles and impossibly balancing boulders everywhere. We work hard when we travel. When to edit?

Canyonlands National Park today. And top photo courtesy of my constant travel companion.      

Moab

This is not Missouri (or, Toto, Kansas). We traveled a good way yesterday and ended our journey in Moab, Utah. It sits between two spectacular national parks, Arches and Canyonlands. There is road construction in Arches, the traffic has been terrible and the forecast for Tuesday is 101 F / 38 C. We hope to be at the gate at 7 when it opens.

Dinner last night at the Moab Brewery. There are many odd things hanging from the ceiling, including beer-laden skydivers. There was time for a brief drive along a quiet part of the Colorado River afterward.    

Closing Ceremonies

I have photos from one last Fringe show still to edit Shakespeare's Women, but today is a travel day and I'll have to squeeze it in when I can. For now, a few shots from the festival's closing ceremonies in the Grandel Theater. Executive director Matthew Kerns and technical boss Kevin Bowman first,  followed by stars of this year's productions and, in the last two, what's to come next year.

I'm writing this during a layover at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Flying on soon to Grand Junction, Colorado, and driving to Moab, Utah, late this afternoon. Arches National Park tomorrow. No steel versions there.        

The Everest Game

As you can tell, I've been trying desperately to learn theater photography. Sometimes my existing skills are enough, sometimes not. One thing I've learned is that the stage lighting makes a big difference. Broad lighting in a new space is a snap (see earlier posts on A Song For Vanya). On the other hand, the small space in the Kranzberg Studio Theater can have very uneven light. How to expose when one actor, or a part of an actor, is in the spotlight with the rest in semi-shadow? There is Photoshop, of course, but even that's often not enough.

This was the challenge in shooting The Everest Game. Veteran St. Louis actor Joe Hanrahan finds a magic lamp and releases a genie, who grants him a single wish. (Times are tougher than they used to be.) He chooses to go to London in 1970 to prevent the breakup of the Beatles. Hanrahan approaches BBC news reader Brenda Diamond, who announced the horrific event. Through a series of improbable meetings, Joe persuades John, Paul, George and Ringo (all played by women) to give it one more try. Yoko Ono goes along with the plan. The name of the show comes not from the mountain, but the brand of cigarettes a sound engineer at Abbey Road smoked.

I've been listening to Sgt. Pepper as I write this. My sister and I saw the Beatles second concert at Shea Stadium, quite near where we lived in Queens. Must be dating myself.