Wild Utah w/Marc Muench and His Entourage

[dadwtwins]

The last time I was in this part of the world I was on a quest to cover as much sightseeing as possible with my travel companion that is now my wife. I unfortunately only took a few pictures on our journey and I was shooting film those days. I really did not have the skills to produce any pictures that was able to capture the vastness of the landscape nor the incredible beauty.

This trip was to hopefully settle my score with my past regrets of not having the ability to show you what I see in this incredible part of the world. What better way to do that than to go with a Marc Muench Workshop. This was the third trip that I have enjoyed working with Marc. I have been known to be very critical and disappointed of photo workshops but with Marc and his entourage I have nothing but overwhelming praise.

One the way to Grand Junction to meet up with the gang of photographers my connection flight in Denver was delayed an hour with my already a 3 hour layover. This seems to be a common theme for me when I go through Denver. Instead of sulking, I decided to walk around the terminal. I heard some music being played a few gates over so I decided to sit and listen to the entertainment. After listening to these guys for awhile I was able to muster up the nerve to go talk to them and ask if I may take a photo of them while playing. They introduced themselves as the Blue Canyon Boys and agreed to allow me to take a shot. I must personally thank the Blue Canyon Boys for their terrific entertainment in what could of been a very long, tedious and boring time waiting for my connection flight. Instead, I was thoroughly entertained with many others by the great bluegrass music that was filling the terminals.



By the time I arrived in Grand Junction I was ready to go out and shoot. The only problem is that I had to wait until the next morning before I start my adventure into and around Capital Reef National Park.

The group started off early (5am) to try and capture views from Colorado National Monument before sunrise. I failed miserably with this task. My composition missed by a mile. It was a little dark to compose, focus and guess what the correct long exposure will be. First day shooting was more of a lesson than getting a great shot. Thanks to Marc for the quick tip on how to focus in dark situations using a wide angle lens. He suggested focusing in the dark by aiming at something bright, adjust the focus to achieve sharp edges and then realign to compose the shot I originally wanted. The technique worked, but the photographer failed. Oh well, lots more practice in the coming days.

Mis-composed and under exposed shot of Independence rock and the city view of Grand Junction from the Colorado National Monument.



After my first disappointment, I started to get a hang of composing in the dark, correct exposure and to achieve what I was envisioning.

Here are a few sunset shots from Grand View in Colorado National Monument.








One of the great highlights of day 2 besides the great scenery was where we had dinner. One would not think such a restaurant like Cafe Diablo would exist in a such a small town like Torrey, Utah population of only 120 but you would be very wrong. The food and presentation was superb and a great surprise for a self proclaimed foody like myself.

I ordered a couple of appetizers rather than an entrée just so I could try as much variety as possible. Everything I tasted was excellent and every dish I saw was a piece of art on a plate. I even had my G10 to be able to capture some of the food art on our plates.

I only was able to catch some of our plates but you get the idea.

Firecrackers ~ Ladyfingers, Cherry Bomb and M80 , VERY HOT!!!! yummy

Cobb Salad

Rattle Snake Cakes

Beef Flank Steak Carbon

Pecan Chicken

After Day 2 was over, I started to feel a little more confident but not near where I wanted to be with my photo taking of such awe inspiring scenery. As the days progressed, I not only felt more comfortable but started to actually feel as if my shots were progressing to a state of respect that Capital Reef National Park demands.

Day 3......cont.

[schmoo]

I'm so happy you're already posting a detailed rundown, Dan! This brings back lots of memories, especially as Wild Utah I was my very first photography workshop (and my first time learning from Marc) and I had a lot of the same trepidations and mistakes.

I really am looking forward to hearing your breakthroughs and thoughts. And you're killing us out here by showing such fantastic food that is way too far to travel for dinner.

(PS - Totally agree with you about the regular delays at Denver...)

[dadwtwins]

Originally Posted by schmoo

I'm so happy you're already posting a detailed rundown, Dan! This brings back lots of memories, especially as Wild Utah I was my very first photography workshop (and my first time learning from Marc) and I had a lot of the same trepidations and mistakes.

I really am looking forward to hearing your breakthroughs and thoughts. And you're killing us out here by showing such fantastic food that is way too far to travel for dinner.

(PS - Totally agree with you about the regular delays at Denver...)

Thank Schmoo. I think as the thread progresses through the different days, you will see that not only did I grow a bit as a photographer but my amount of shots increased by ten fold.

[dadwtwins]

By day three, I was feeling way more confident with myself, my equipment and my surroundings. I felt that it was time to produce some decent shots and stop trying to go back to my comfort zone with my photography.

My personal comfort zone is within city limits with tons of subject matter at every turn. Out in the open with vast views and limited subject matter, I tend to freeze up and my motivation to shoot goes way down. This is main reason why I go to Marc's Work Shops. They force me out of my comfort zone and make me shoot with equipment I am not use to, techniques I am unfamiliar with and landscapes that baffle me.

As expected on this photo journey, we started at the usual 5am. We were off to capture Hickman Bridge. When we arrived at the trail head, we were blessed with a stunning moonlit view of Capital Bluff. We all grabbed our gear to take a shot before heading off to Hickman.

Orion,The Hunter, over Capital Bluff


From the parking lot, Hickman Bridge is approx 1 1/2 mile walk but felt more like 10 in this altitude, approx 7000 feet, and I am sure that my horrible conditioning did not help matters. I should of brought an extra pair of lungs for this trek since the trail was fairly steep for the first mile but fortunately did let up for the last 1/2 mile. What we were presented with at the end of the trail made it all worth while.

Hickman Bridge has a 130 foot span and has a height of 125 feet.




I had to borrow Marc's fish eye to capture the Bridge from end to end. After this shot, I realized that a fisheye will be in my bag someday very soon. Oh!!! and in case you are wondering, yes he is using a Nikon fish eye on his Canon. I know, it is such sacrilege to even think it but you do what you have to do inorder to get the shot ;-)


After the sun came up and the light looked bleak for shots, we all started to head back to our rooms at the Chuck Wagon Motel in Torrey to crash for a few hours. On our way back to Torrey we stopped off to take a few shots of a dried out creek which equals a great time to break out the IR camera and pop off a few shots.

Sunstar


Dry Creek


Once we all rested up, filled our guts with food, we headed to Panorama Point to capture the sunset and take some night shots.

View from Panorama Point in IR


Another view from Panorama Point in colour



Non-photographers watching the sunset

Once the sun was down, the sky was still awesome



Another wonderful day at Capital reef flew by. It was time to head back to Torrey to get a few hours of sleep before heading off to Twin Rocks in the morning.

Day 4.......cont

[Andy]

It was awesome to have you again on a workshop with us, and indeed, to see you grow creatively.

I had a blast, and thanks for showing your fine photos!

[dadwtwins]

Originally Posted by Andy

It was awesome to have you again on a workshop with us, and indeed, to see you grow creatively.

I had a blast, and thanks for showing your fine photos!

You are too kind Andy.

It was with the help of you, Marc and Dave Porter that made the trip as successful as it was. You have spoiled me from attending any other photo work shop that is not a Marc Muench Workshop.

[DJ-S1]

Yeah!

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by dadwtwins

By day three, I was feeling way more confident with myself, my equipment and my surroundings. I felt that it was time to produce some decent shots and stop trying to go back to my comfort zone with my photography.

[SNIP!]

Day 4.......cont

Dan - - - NICE! It was great to meet you and shoot with you and take part in the workshop. Look forward to seeing more of your photography from the trip.

Best regards,
Mark J.

[dadwtwins]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Dan - - - NICE! It was great to meet you and shoot with you and take part in the workshop. Look forward to seeing more of your photography from the trip.

Best regards,
Mark J.

Hey Mark, you were a huge inspiration that it was ok to walk away from the pack and to explore different angles and subject matters

Thank you for the Geo points and hope to see you at the Reno air races.

[pathfinder]

I remember the dinner at Cafe Diablo as well, tho I just ate mine, but I enjoyed seeing your shots of the presentations.

Your images are lovely, show us some more, please.

I am very impressed by your image editing and composition. Marc's mentoring certainly shows!!

I am awaiting a new hard drive for my desktop, to allow me to import the ~50Gb of images I am bringing home from Utah, before I begin serious editing. I have a few shots here, Dan, if you can't wait


Hi Marc2, welcome to dgrin!!

[dadwtwins]

Originally Posted by pathfinder

I remember the dinner at Cafe Diablo as well, tho I just ate mine, but I enjoyed seeing your shots of the presentations.

Your images are lovely, show us some more, please.

I am very impressed by your image editing and composition. Marc's mentoring certainly shows!!

I am awaiting a new hard drive for my desktop, to allow me to import the ~50Gb of images I am bringing home from Utah, before I begin serious editing. I have a few shots here, Dan, if you can't wait


Hi Marc2, welcome to dgrin!!

WOW! 50 Gb is alot of frames to go through. I was feeling overwhelmed with 16Gb

It was sure great to finally meet you and the lovely Nightingale. We had a great group of people on this trip which made it very enjoyable.

Can't wait to see everyone's photos.

[dadwtwins]

Today I woke up at 4am and feeling pretty excited about my photography. Even though I have not yet gone through my CF cards I just felt more confident and more anxious to get out and shoot.

The original plan was to go back to the Hickman Bridge Trail head to shoot the stars over Capital Dome but the Twin Rocks caught Marc's eye so we stopped. We spent the next few hours walking around and taking pictures of Twin Rocks and its surroundings.

Twin Rocks lit up by the moon.


This is another view of twins rocks from a different vantage point. It was lit by the moon and highlighted certain areas with a little help of a powerful flashlight that Andy so nicely "painted" onto the rocks.


I do not remember why but I do not have a sunrise pic. Maybe the cloud cover was too dense but I did grab a shot of the valley behind us after sunrise.


Some random shot


After a short morning, we headed back to Torrey to meet up with our guides for the day, Pat and Kathy from Hondoo Rivers and Trails. Pat and Kathy led us to see some pictographs as well as some petroglyphs along Pleasant Creek Drainage Basin area. We parked at Sleepy Rainbow Ranch snapped a few shots and then headed down towards Pleasant Creek.

Sleepy Rainbow Ranch Fence Lines




During the trip to Pleasant Creek, somehow random pieces of junk or artifacts miraculously appeared on Marc's driver's seat while we fiddle farted at different spots to look at the scenery. No one really knows how this phenomenon happened but I heard it started sometime on a past workshop and has continued onto this one. Hmmmm.....Very Scary indeed

Some Old Rusted Steel Can



A tree branch appeared when there were no trees in sight


Old Car Door????? I have no idea how an extra car door appeared...This was the biggest mystery of them all. Marc seemed to be amused. He obviously has a great sense of humor.


During our walk through Pleasant Creek Drainage, we were delighted by the scenery as well as the pictographs and petroglyphs.

Pleasant Creek

Human Figure Pictographs

Snake Figure Pictograph

Pertroglyphs



As the day was winding down and we were in our vehicles heading back to Torrey, we all gasped at this incredible wall with its contrasty water stains against the orange/red rock. So, as photographers we all jumped out of the vehicle to try and capture this beauty.

What a great way to end the day of photo shooting. Tomorrow we are off to San Rafael Swell to go camping at Muddy Creek in Red Canyon.

Day 5.....cont.

[AaronNelson]

[dadwtwins]

Originally Posted by AaronNelson

Where were you Aaron??? Thanks for letting us play in your back yard

[AaronNelson]

Originally Posted by dadwtwins

Where were you Aaron??? Thanks for letting us play in your back yard

schedule would not allow, I know what a good time was being had by you all!

[justin24]

Wow I need to get back into Landscape after seeing that.

[dadwtwins]

Originally Posted by justin24

Wow I need to get back into Landscape after seeing that.

Thanks justin24

[dadwtwins]

Originally Posted by AaronNelson

schedule would not allow, I know what a good time was being had by you all!

I am guessing the great Pathfinder filled you in

[dadwtwins]

Whewww!!!! It has been a great trip so far but what to come was even more awesome. Today we slept in until 7am.....yipeeee. It was good to catch up on our rest since it will be my last good rest until we head home on day 7.

The Hondoo Guides, Pat and this time Rodger, took us to their sanctuary in the Red Canyon at the San Rafael Swell. We were going to camp under the stars tonight. The Drive going to the swell was very underwhelming compared to the scenery that I had become accustomed to in Capital Reef National Park. It was baron and colourless.

The only bit of colour we saw was a patch of Aspen trees just off the road. As photographers would have it, we stopped to snap a shot.

Aspens with a star


After an hour or so of driving, we entered Red Canyon and the scenery changed dramatically. The rock formations were very interesting and the colours were outstanding. This area's history is that of Uranium Ore mining. With the bright coloured green rocks I have no doubt that we all will have a little glow to us when we head back home.

We stopped along the dirt road next to a very old stable to eat lunch. Since our breakfast was so huge and I was feeling very guilty about the amounts of food I have consumed on this trip, I decided to walk around a bit to shoot some shots instead. Sarah was kind enough to walk with me so I would not get lost.

I have a horrible sense of direction and our conversations always started with me asking, "didn't we come from this way?" with Sarah politely and probably fully irritated with my lack of awareness, saying "I do not believe so, I am sure we came from this direction." Of course she was always right. Thanks Sarah for keeping an eye on me, My family surely appreciates it.

The colors were beautiful but the light sucked to be able to capture them. This was a great excuse to break out the IR camera and shoot some scenery of this very cool landscape that had great rock formations and IR's best friend, cloudy skies.














Once we arrived at the camp site we split up who will sleep in which tent. Andy smartly volunteered to share a tent with me. I am sure it was to keep me away from the other paying guests so the chances of having them as returning photo workshop participants increase ten fold.

Before going on with this story, I really have to tell you how great the Hondoo Guides set up the campsite; The tents were of very high quality. We each had a low profile sleeping cot with an air pad. A very warm fleeced line sleeping bag and as many blankets as one needed for that little extra warmth. A convenient potty(very important) close to camp. The food was very good and the breakfast was especially yummy with peach pancakes, yogurt, granola, oatmeal, bacon, coffee and tea for me.

While at camp I took a few shots but I was more interested in hanging around the camp fire and shooting the sh*t with our group members. We all expressed what we liked about this trip as well as share how we all ended up becoming photographers from Novices to Pros. It was a great bonding experience and a great way to end our week long trip.

Before Dinner, Dave Porter told us that he found a lizard in his bedding. Since I am an animal freak and love to capture at least one wildlife shot on this trip, I took full advantage of this seemingly rare situation during this part of the season.

My one pic of wildlife on this trip, a Young 3" Northern Plateau Lizard...wahoooo


A shot I took while I was putzing around at the camp site.


Hondoo Arch through a separation in a butte near camp


Camp Fire with some yummy coffee


While we were chatting around the camp fire I turned around and saw this tree lit up by the fire.


When my eyes finally settled down from the brightness of the fire, I saw an even better shot that was lit up by the camp fire. It ended up becoming my fav shot of the trip because of so many emotional factors. The trip was in its end, the scene shows our camp view and the beauty of this part of the world, and most importantly to me, I was able to capture it with the skills learned from Marc Muench, Dave Porter and the ever boisterous but with a heart of gold Andy Williams.

Muddy Water Camp Site in Red Canyon at San Rafael Swell.


Thank you for following along with me on this wonderful trip. If you ever had any doubts about going to a Marc Muench Workshop, I hope this little adventure story will push you over that threshold. You will enjoy a week filled with learning and capturing awesome shots while meeting very helpful pros and a few photo hobbyists like myself.


~CHEERS

[ziggy53]

An absolutely wonderful collection. Color and composition choices are superb.

I am so envious.