Moab, UT: Riding a desert wave

schmoo

Although the shootout this year was one of the most exciting experiences of my life, I brought back very little to show for it. My lenses still have a slight remainder of the red dust that inevitably coats everything, and my bag is still a bit... pink. But I spent the last month scrolling through my images and shaking my head with dissatisfaction.

The desert is such a conundrum. A raw, primal atmosphere with little to see but rounded red rocks and scrub brush. It defies understanding with little obvious "Wow!" factor, but at the same time my head turns upside-down trying to capture it by approaching scenes the conventional way.

After days of driving in good company and experiencing a gray land to a yellow one, the red was just too much to bear. Everything is red, and while I have no objections to the color red and the idea of standing of Mars, red dust makes me weary.

I realize now I did bring back the most important pieces of the shootout: the people who kept me going, who intrigued me, and made the experience what it was.

Our first hike of the week was maybe not so much Mars as it was Mercury. Hot. Flat. No shade. Uphill. Both ways. And I was greatly amused that after an hour of trekking over bare rock in the middle of nowhere, we had cell service as soon as we reached the true middle of nowhere, Delicate Arch. I knew this because I received a text right at that moment about a package I was trying to track down at the lodge. (The lodge where we had no service, of course.)

She walked right in front of me as I took the shot, too distracted with her phone to realize it. I don't mind. Accidents happen. And they're worth it.



We spent quite a lot of time shooting that arch. We've all seen it and really, no matter how long you rest your butte on the stone watching it, it never really moves or turns tricks or does anything interesting. You have to look around for other stuff to spice it up.

"The Bowl"


Almost as good is just relaxing. Sitting back and taking shots of your best friends and as they're hard at work. You'll have time to shoot, but for me very little time to enjoy the company of those around you in the space of a single shootout.



While everyone went their separate ways, some shoot sunrises, some shoot trees, and some shoot wildlife. I've tried those before, so it was time to do something that hasn't been done: Rock climbing with the inimitable, invincible, implausible, and invigorating Alaskan duo, Kelsey and John.



Two days of crazy, hair-raising, fingernail-ripping, butte-tingling goodness. The menu did include cliff jumping, which is exactly what it sounds like.

"Tenuous Life"


These guys mean business. Even the best of them require a moment of peace and meditation before making any, uh, silly moves.



I did make sure to pay attention to some details around us. It is a beautiful land if you know where to look. But I guess I was on the road when they sent that note.

"Desert Waves"


The landscape in Utah is indeed breathtaking. I do not know anywhere else in this country where one can see desert rocks, hoodoos, and snow-capped mountains all in one glance. It is, indeed, a spectators paradise.



Even in autumn, the sun beats down. While the days were not always hot and the nights were cool, the rays do press on the skin like hats on ears:



Falling, freedom. I will never know what Richard was experiencing at this moment, as I can only imagine. 80 feet of uncertainty, a split second where your life hangs completely at the whim of gravity. Then... euphoric release. I wish I had the nerve to take that step.



"Floating," is perhaps the perfect analogy for my experience in Moab. I was floating - on giddiness, on stress, on the waves of people chattering and shooting, and certainly I was adrift on the sea of opportunities that surrounded each and every one of us. You can never accomplish everything that you set out to do on a Shootout, no matter how hard you try.



Just keep trying.

Andy

Writing - superb
Photography - you are too modest, very very good stuff love the BW conversions, very well done, :smo :smo :smo

Prezwoodz

This shot is amazing Shmooo! It was awesome having you guys down and we really enjoyed your company! I hope that we can do the shootout again sometime. I think we got some great tricks figured out and it would be great to put it all together again! Who knows..I hear theres great kayaking in Acadia and thats something we can also do! D

Tango

Tango

treatment is so clean, i would hope you can lead me to your tute?
at first i thought these were IR, the sunstar one is amazing. the veins of the rock have wonderful luminocities!!! how'd you do that

dadwtwins

Schmoo,

Your writing reads like a smooth well thought out narrative that pulls me into a journey of a humble photo enthusiast that is just as excited by the people she is with as with the beauty that surrounds her. I just can not get enough.clapclap

Please think about writing a book. Not the normal fact pact dry stuff but more like my fav Author Bill Bryson . Like you, he writes his travels in a very humorous way but without taking away from describing the beauty and awe factor of the places he visits.

coldclimb

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! I know we're always most critical of our own work, but you definitely shouldn't be disappointed with these Schmoo! I love them! Thanks for sharing, and thanks again for all the tons of work you and everyone put into the shootout, it was an awesome time for sure.

Seamus

I'm not eloquent enough to match your writing and I'm not skilled enough to match your photography. Excellent work!!

Ann McRae

Well done Stephanie!

Some real beauties in there.

ann

spechtal

very lovely and eloquent (both the writing and photos)

Cuong

Each of your photos is worth a thousand words and your narrative is no less mesmerizing. Don't worry about the quantity since the quality of your post is out of this world.

Cuong

schmoo

Wow thanks for the response guys. I'm really blown away, and that does mean a lot to me especially as processing photos and especially writing for myself comes at such a premium these days!

Dan I looked up the writer you linked and he looks like a real trip. I'm almost finished with my last semester in school (2 more weeks!!!) and I certainly hope to have some time to read again. Thanks so much for your encouragement and your suggestions!

I keep wanting to put together a(nother) photo book but I keep putting it off...

AaronNelson wrote:

treatment is so clean, i would hope you can lead me to your tute?
at first i thought these were IR, the sunstar one is amazing. the veins of the rock have wonderful luminocities!!! how'd you do that

Hey Aaron, I don't really have a tute. All I can say is that I open things in CS3 and duplicate the BG layer, then use the b/w tool to achieve the conversion I want.

Then it's just a matter of adjustment layers, tweaking, masking, adjusting a few more layers, and bringing down the shadows a bit since I tend to be a little bit heavy handed in my processing. Contrast = good!

I admit that for the shot with the ripples in the rock, I couldn't get enough contrast and detail in the lichen using my usual methods. So I made the adjustment layer (selecting points on highlight and shadow areas, of course) and changed the layer properties to Multiply, which seemed to do the trick. I had to dumb it down a little with the opacity slider but I was able to do what I wanted so, well, it worked!

Ever since I got to play with Ivar's IR-modded camera I'm hooked. I don't have one of my own and none of these shots are taken with an IR body but I did take a leaf out of that book when I process my B/W shots now.

Maybe if I sped up my workflow I would process more? Heh, nah.

It was so great to see Dgrinners in person! Wish the week was at least twice as long (with half the dust!)

ivar

I know you don't necessarily think so, but that's an awesome post both writing- and photography-wise

You've again managed to catch waves that no one else caught, like a pro-surfer. From the people bowl-ing, to the B/W conversions; Who thought of making all that red gray? Gray it's as impressive as red. Maybe more.

swintonphoto

schmoo wrote:

The landscape in Utah is indeed breathtaking. I do not know anywhere else in this country where one can see desert rocks, hoodoos, and snow-capped mountains all in one glance. It is, indeed, a spectators paradise.

I completely agree. It is quite simply spectacular.
Love your B&W conversions - always a good idea in my opinion.

tisun

Your narrative weaves these amazing photos into a great story. I wish I were there.

schmoo

ivar wrote:

I know you don't necessarily think so, but that's an awesome post both writing- and photography-wise

You've again managed to catch waves that no one else caught, like a pro-surfer. From the people bowl-ing, to the B/W conversions; Who thought of making all that red gray? Gray it's as impressive as red. Maybe more.

And I know that you know that jumping into the ocean is probably the very last thing I'd ever do

Re: the gray, a lot of that came from thinking about your IR camera! There's a lot from that week that comes from you, Thelma. :smo

Fred W

Stephanie, I enjoyed viewing your post.

Your pictures always seem to provide a unique and exciting perspective of the places we have been while your descriptive write-ups are like icing on the cake.

Great job again !!!!

DavidTO

Schmoo:

You're so awesome.

Nice work!

dkoyanagi

Fantastic photos Steph, as always. Very nice black and whites. bow

ian408

I dig it. All of it. What I like most is that shot of Richard falling or is he hanging? In any case, that picture tells a story and the words add to it.

Wow. You need to write a book or something. Really.

roentarre

Simply wonderful and excellent series here