Island in the Sky

• Dennis Banks.

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After Bryce Canyon exploration and our brief stint with the cold we went on to Moab, UT. The gateway town to both Arches and Canyonlands-Island in the sky National Parks. On our first day we decided to tackle the popular destinations and visited one of the most famous geological formations, the Mesa Arch of Canyonlands. There is a pretty short hike to get to the arch which is actually not as huge as I envisioned it but spectacular nonetheless. The only problem is the number of people at location, being one of the most photographed locations in Utah and perhaps southwest itself it's pretty popular even on a cold December morning. Thankfully I am early enough to get a decent spot, I heard some photographer to my left camped out in the location since 4 am for a sunset at 7am.

Anyways we had a nice time talking to fellow photographers about the locations and had a blast sharing tips regarding techniques. I made this pano shot once everyone started to leave after the sun burst through the horizon. This is a four shot panorama of the whole arch, with the early morning sun providing amazing light on the valley below.

Canyonlands National Park

I almost waited for 4 hours at this spot with a hope that the sun will break through the clouds during sunset. You can see that it paid off. Just the...

WESTWORLD es el nombre de una sensacional serie de HBO, catalogada como distópica: término opuesto a utopía.

Fuera de términos literarios, este escenario es del parque nacional de Canyonlands, en Utah, Estados Unidos. Este escenario ha sido el marco de diferentes películas, como Thelma y Louise.

El parque nacional de Canyonlands está representado por un relieve lleno de color que se ha erosionado en incontables cañones, mesas y buttes (cuellos volcánicos) por el río Colorado y sus afluentes, como el río Verde. Los ríos dividen el parque en cuatro zonas: 'the Island in the Sky', 'the Needles', 'the Maze' y los ríos. Los cuatro comparten una atmósfera desértica, pero cada uno tiene sus propias características.

Esta imagen está hecha desde 'the Island in the Sky' y lo que vemos son los meandros del Río Verde. El escenario en conjunto me recuerda mucho a la serie 'WestWorld' por eso la he titulado así.

WESTWORLD is the name of a sensational HBO series, cataloged as dystopian: a term opposite to utopia.

Outside of literary terms, this landscape is from Canyonlands National Park in Utah, United States. This place has been the setting for different films, such as Thelma and Louise.

The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. The park is divided into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the combined rivers.

This image is made from 'the Island in the Sky' and you can see the meanders of the Green River. The stage as a whole reminds me a lot of the series 'WestWorld' that's why I have titled it that way.

The Island in the Sky Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah, United States September 2016

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It is scenes like this that keep us all coming back for more. It had been a few months since our last road trip and Kevin Benedict and I were...

USA 2011 - Canyonlands

• Guru Nanak…

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Now let's move on to the customary shot of mesa arch, the sunburst through the arch just as the sun breaks the horizon. I had actually prepared for this a bit and through the use of this amazing app called photopills knew that the winter sun will rise to the right of the arch. So while most people were clamoring to get to the left of the arch, there were only a couple to the right side. Problem with staying to the left was that once the sun comes out you will only have a few minutes for sunburst as the arch is more open and the rising sun will soon overpower everything, while on the left side the arch opening is narrow so we had more flexibility to shoot the sunstar.

The one thing that surprised me most about the arch was how small it actually is, its tiny. Most of the photographers there were actually using fisheye lenses, I believe to accentuate the width of the arch and to get the whole thing in a single frame. But small or not this was a stunning sigh albeit a little crowded.

Mesa Arch, Moab

Canyonlands National Park

A view of the loneliest part of Canyonlands- the Maze District, from Cleopatra's Chair sandwiched by the Henrys, across Turks Head with the Green...