Like many people around the world the current pandemic crisis has found me out of work, home…a LOT, and with an obscene amount of time on my hands. This experience has certainly been a double-edged sword. Though I miss working ane earning money to pay off the house, the extra time at home has been a blessing. I have gone for long bike rides, began playing my guitar again, and have taken on some photo projects that require home time.

I’m fortunate to be quarantined with my wife so I have a playmate for long walks, house projects, and the like. However, as much as I love her, I MISS BEING AROUND MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!! I volunteer as a photoguide with Arizona Highways PhotoScapes, an amazing organization that runs photography workshops here in Arizona but also around the United States and world. Due to the pandemic, all of those plans and workshops have come to a screeching halt. But I had an idea. My next photo project will be to revisit all of the non-classroom workshops I’ve volunteered on since 2014 when I started.

Perhaps these trips back to “The Time Before” will inspire you to get out and shoot in your yard, neighborhood, or local park. Perhaps they will encourage you to contact PhotoScapes and look into joining us on a photo adventure. Or perhaps you’ll just sit back and look at the pretty pictures. 😉

Here is one thing for sure: I miss the people, both fellow guides AND participants FAR more than I miss traveling. We attract some pretty amazing folks. Enjoy.

My first “overnight” workshop was in Northern Arizona. We stayed at a hotel in Page, near Lake Powell in April, and explored the area for five days. The workshop began at 7:30 am in a hotel lobby in Phoenix.  There, the other photo guide Sara and the photographer/instructor, Suzanne Mathia, met and gathered our crew into vans and drove them north. They picked me up in Kachina Village, just south of Flagstaff, where we continued to the Cameron Trading Post for lunch before arriving in Page. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. I had done two one-day classroom-based workshops already, one with this instructor so we had already met. But five days was a different beast altogether.

Becoming friends with the trip leaders and photographers is a BIG bonus. As leaders we get to see each other at a monthly meeting in Phoenix.

We arrived in Page on Monday, did a meet and greet/orientation, and headed off to our first shoot, Stud Horse Point.

If you look close you can almost see Lake Powell in the upper right-hand corner below the cliffs.

I like to have people in my landscape images to show perspective.

Check out that GLOW!

The shooting schedule for these workshops can be grueling.  It is said that you only get one sunrise and one sunset per day and that a good photographer doesn’t waste either. Trust me, Highways does NOT waste that time! The middle of the day is usually in image processing, classroom instruction, and/or photo critiques. But on this workshop we added third shoot…slot canyons!

Tuesday we were up early and headed out to the iconic Horseshoe Bend.

The rim doesn’t look like this anymore. Now one has to pay to park, follow a path to a railed in area and do this with hundreds of tourists.

Here is the iconic view. A big bend in the Colorado River between Glenn Canyon Dam and Lee’s Ferry.

A fishing boat heads upriver. This area is world-famous with the anglers fishing for trout.

Mid-day we hit our first slot canyon, Secret Canyon, on the Navajo Indian Reservation. It’s on private land which means with our tour we had the place to ourselves.

One could enter these canyons a thousand times and always see something different.

The evening shoot found us at Toadstools, a hoodoo rich environment off Highway 89 toward Kanab.

The challenge is to wander around, looking for your shot while NOT getting in the way of the other photographers. This respect and awareness of self can be where lasting friendships are made.

Wednesday morning found us at a local place called the Teepees at the “little cut” along Highway 89 south of Page. There are two big “cuts” in the road that allow you to get to the plateau following the climb from the valley floor, along 89, heading to Page. Both are simply called the Big Cut and…little cut. One we get into position and find our composition it’s just a matter of waiting for that glorious morning light.

The landscapes are stunning in this part of the world.

Suzanne is helping some participants with settings and composition.

There is a lot of milling around, shooting this and that as we wait for the morning sun to shine. And shine she does. The colors are spectacular and the light fleeting so we were clicking away.

Our mid-day shoot was the iconic Upper Antelope Canyon. That shoot was crazy. Because of the flat walking surface from end to end there were a LOT more people in it than it’s sister, Lower Antelope Canyon a few miles away on the other side of Highway 98.

Everyone was wanting a shot of the sunray. If you put the groups on one side you could get the shot. It’s amazing to look at a serene slot canyon image and not realize this amount of humans were just out of the frame.

We had walked through Upper Antelope and survived. After a short break we headed back in and headed back to the opening to catch our ride back to the highway.

For the evening shoot we went to a very cool place known as The Fins. It’s a great location in afternoon light and is in Waterholes Canyon. This area is also private property so we had to be let in behind a gate and walk a little way. SO beautiful.

Turns out this guy and I attended the same high school in Phoenix at the same time! Small World.

Thursday was an easy morning which is great because by now folks are waking up tired, me included. We drove toward Wahweap Marina and stopped along the way to photograph the lake near the dam.

We were thrilled when a boat motored along to give us something interesting in the water.

Mid-day we loaded our vans and headed to the most beautiful slot canyon yet, Lower Antelope. We had a photography tour which meant we got to spend more time than a regular tour and bring tripods, an essential tool for low light conditions.

The colors and hues in this canyon are nothing short of spectacular.

 

We didn’t have an evening shoot, per se, Thursday evening. Instead, our farewell dinner was a sunset dinner cruise on Lake Powell. One was welcome to bring their camera, in looking back in my archives, I, apparently, chose not to.

The next morning, Friday, was a big day. We woke up early, went out to Big Water, Utah, found Highway 12, a dirt road that runs through Southern Utah, and photographed the area.

It is amazing how such beautiful flowers can grow in such dry conditions

Again with the humans showing perspective.

Our esteemed photographer and fellow photo guide surveying the scene.

We then went back to the hotel, ate, packed, loaded the vans, and drove to Lee’s Ferry. This is a location I’m familiar with as it is the launching point for Colorado River Trips. Saying I love this area is an understatement.

This is the view from Navajo Bridge looking upstream toward Lee’s Ferry. Check out the silt!

One of the many stone buildings in the area from back in the day when the ferry was in operation.

Here are my take-aways from the workshop. 1). Although I had spent a LOT of time in the Page area it was either at friend’s homes or canoe camping on the lake. Every single shooting location was new to me (except the Ferry). 2). I met some amazing people. 3). What could be better than meeting new and interesting people mixed with travel and photography! 4). I have a lot to learn.

Join me next week when I go on my first Women’s Photography Retreat!

Happy shooting and stay healthy and safe out there!