Saturday, January 28, 2012

Utah and the Canyon Lands - Day 2, Mesa Arch & False Kiva

I love to shoot - but I am really lethargic in processing my snaps and posting them. After quite a long hiatus and after having visited Utah during the Nov hols( Moab, Canyon Lands National Park, Delicate Arch National Park and the Monument Valley), finally managed to post my snaps. As they say " There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. ~Ansel Adams " . A glimpse of what I have to offer from my trip to Utah

1. Mesa Arch
Shooting the Mesa Arch at sunrise is perhaps the best experience of my life as far as photography is concerned. Waking up at 4AM, driving half-awake or rather half-asleep for approx an hour, parking in the Mesa Arch trail and surprised to see 4 cars already...taking a much needed nap for 10 minutes...trekking up the trail for 15 min and even more surprised to see 4 photographers parked with their tripods at 6:00AM...temperature dipping around 27 F ...wow ! I have to rate this as a great moment.

Shooting the arch and the sunrise with along at least 20 photographers..tripods all lined up...the sweet sounds of the camera shutters...was truly an amazing experience.



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Waiting for the sun rays to kiss the bottom of the arch to capture  the "jewel" or "star" effect was fun. What still lingers in my mind are the sounds and conversations of all those 20 and odd photographers....  in "Russian"..."English"..."German"..."Tamil"..and of course "Gods Own Country" :)

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2. Trek to False Kiva and the Green River Overlook


The strenuous trek to False Kiva was worth it.  False Kiva enjoys a semi-protected status in the US and its exact location(GPS coordinates) has never been disclosed on websites apart from  photographers who disclose it on public forums. Kivas have been believed to have been created by kachinas in native America for religious ceremonies. Considering the fact that we only had a crow for company  that looked like it came out of "The Omen" and kept hovering around us during this 3 hour trek ...this unknown expedition was a success.How I just wish it had been a cloudy dark almost rainy day to get that dramatic effect! This is one spot I wud'nt dream to shoot the landscape at sunset, there is no way to find your way back after dark!


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4 comments:

Tatjana Parkacheva said...

Your photographs are GREAT.

Regards and best wishes

Biju Chandroth said...

thnx Tatjana!

Aiketa said...

Wow, wow, wow, and WOW!!! I think these picture of Mesa Arch are some of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen.
Ha, yeah it must be a great experience too! :)

Utah for sure is on my list of States I want to visit!

Biju Chandroth said...

Aiketa - thanks for your lovely and kind comments! I loved Utah - the exhilaration of the trip is still fresh :)
U shud visit Mesa Arch at sunrise :) it's stunning!