Moab Photography Workshop

Well a few months back NPC wrapped up its first Moab Photography Workshop and there were some really cool experiences and some great lessons picked up along the way. Todays blog post does a brief recap of that adventure and hopefully gets your excited for future trips, because there are some awesome places that are still under explored that we will get out to on future workshops. 

Day 1

On day one we met up in Moab at a local hotel and loaded up the Jeeps for our four day adventure. This trip was to begin on the south side of Moab at a region called the Anti-Cline Overlook. This view gave our little crew a stunning view of the Colorado River and some of the wild geology of the region. Now if you are not from Utah, this view is truly breathtaking and its safe to say, it blew the clients away. During our sunset at this location, mother nature threw a wind storm at us to shake the very soul, but there were some awesome clouds that came with the system.

Day 2

Our second day began with a massive storm and rain. Lots of rain. I didn't pull a camera out on our sunrise (sorry, no pictures) and eventually had to bring everyone back because the wall of rain coming in was about to become serious. So we spent our morning hiding back in camp in our tents letting the system pass. Did that damper our photographic spirit? Absolutely not, we had more adventures to go on!

For our sunset location we were going to go on one of the most exciting roads in the area called Chicken Corners. This is a 4x4 trail that twists and rides along the edges of huge cliffs and eventually leads you to a huge bend in the Colorado River. It provides views up at dead horse and the edge of Canyonlands National Park. A spot that is really quite grand and a total blast to photograph.

Day 3

Day three was going to be a day of exploration and adventure because we were going to go to a spot that literally is not seen by average adventurers nor any photography workshop that I am aware of. And because of that, I am going to leave its name a bit of a mystery, but its safe to say this spot did not disappoint. 

The region provides a view of one of the big rivers in the region that is breath taking. It is a huge horseshoe bend type structure that stretches the horizon. Not only does it have huge views, it also has some amazing variety as there are multiple points to get different flavors of the canyon. 

Not only was the spot amazing, the camping was perfect. Camp on this evening was a few hundred feet from the edge, which means we didn't have to drive to photograph, we just had to roll out of bed and take a 5 minute walk.

So much better than a 2 hour drive through the desert at 4AM. This is why we do the overlanding photography workshops. They provide quick access to some of the most stunning landscapes. 

Because this area was so amazing I planned both a sunrise and a sunset at this location. For the sunset, we got a shot at getting the sun directly in our images with a huge river bend below. Kind of like those iconic horseshoe bend shots, but instead of sharing the view with 3000 people it was us. 

So for this evening I gave a nice lesson on composition, then set the guests on a quest to see if they could accomplish what I had instructed them. As the evening went along I played ring around the rosy and wandered in a large circle between everyone giving feedback and small tweaks. I think by this point most people were getting their stride and were walking away with some awesome images.

Day 4

On our final day I had two locations planned. First was our big bend in the river, the second was a series of towers called Determination Towers. Sunrise was calm and was lacking clouds, but was not lacking in deep color. The desert did not disappoint on this morning and provided a soft but stunning sunrise.

After our morning photoshoot we packed and went back into Moab and checked into our hotel and allowed everyone to take a shower, reset and then went out for dinner. Dinner was at a local restaurant and of course we cover this, so if you plan on joining us on a photography workshop, we got your meals covered. 

The drive to Determination Towers is no joke a pretty serious drive. From Metal Masher Hill side it is quite short but that route is way beyond our vehicles. From the second direction the road climbs up a steep hill then pops up on top of this ridge, but that last "pop" requires the car to be turned side ways on a steep incline. Best leave that route to the side by sides. The third route winds through dryish river beds then eventually down a narrow slot where the wheels slide against sharp rocks as you slither through the U shaped canyon. Eventually the trail turns to a mix of sand and rock crawling until we reached the towers. 

The towers are each a few hundred feet tall and rise out of the sandstone desert like monoliths that an ancient god might use to show off his power. They are surprisingly hard to photograph but when conditions align they can be quite stunning.

At this point the guest spread out across the desert to take in the views and to come up with their own interpretation of the view. I ended up joining one on the backside of the towers for the image below. This view only shows two of the towers. There are more just out of view. 

The workshop came to an end this evening. So I returned everyone to the hotels and called it an adventure. It was a trip filled with wild 4x4 trails, rain storms, meals on the edges of huge cliffs, and brand new locations. 

Future Trips

We will return to Moab in the future. Each time I do this, I build an understanding of the region. I think in the next adventure we will skip out on a few of the spots we did on this trip and will add a few locations in Arches and Canyonlands while also visiting some of the hidden gems in the surrounding region. 

Keep an eye open to those workshops as we announce them, so stay tuned!