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North Creek, Zion National Park, Utah.
Technical: Nikon 28-80mm zoom lens, 6 second exposure to cream water.

Devils Garden, Escalante National Monument, Utah.
After several trips to the Escalante region, I finally decided to visit this odd collection of towers, beehives and teepees. I had spent the morning exploring some unnamed drainages without much success and then in the early evening made my way to these formations which in some respect reminded me of the more famous features in Bryce Canyon. Here, the sandstone proved to be less brittle and actually allowed for some fine scrambling opportunities that I took full advantage of before setting up some compositions. Around sunset, a sedan came barreling into the parking lot screeching to a stop and sending a plume of dust into the air, a fitting exclamation point as the two would be photographers arrived several minutes too late for any light. Seconds later, the car peeled away in equally abrupt fashion. Technical: Nikon 28-80mm zoom lens, split density filter.

Canyonlands Obelisk, Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
Admittedly, I really just bumbled into this striking sandstone tower between trips into the national park. Unable to secure a permit, we camped just outside on BLM land and with a couple of hours on my hands, I located a modest blocky formation to practice some friction moves. Once on top, this tower immediately drew my attention. After a quick descent to get my gear, I returned for sunset to compose a few telephotos that included the tower but felt that dawn might hold the best potential. An hour before first light, I hurried towards the tower carrying some of my faster lenses and my rock shoes. Both came in handy as I had to scramble a nearby outcrop to capture the streaming clouds above the oblesisk before the winds dispersed them into the deep blue of the desert sky.
Technical: Canon 50mm lens, polarizer.

Escalante Sandstone, Escalante National Monument, Utah.
The badlands above Coyote Gulch are nearly as intriguing as the actual canyon. At the end of a long day exploring the main canyon, I scrambled up a slickrock chute to catch sunset. Once on top, I was greeted by ferocious winds heralding the arrival of a storm. Bracing my tripod behind a large boulder, I put on my fastest lens to render the sculpted sandstone in last light before making a very careful descent down the exposed ramp back to my bivy site under an overhanging wall. The rains later came with great intensity, spilling as a curtain over the lip of my rock roof. Technical: Nikon 24mm lens.

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.
Technical: Canon 28mm lens.

Bull Valley Gorge, Utah.
On our way to a canyon named Lick Wash, my wife Asea and I drove across a deep chasm via a dirt bridge. My palms began to sweat and my neck hairs hit red alert. Here was a slot!! With a dirt bridge no less. We re-crossed the bridge on foot and rim walked for a quarter mile before entering the mouth of the canyon. Once in, we encountered only two significant barriers, the first a dryfall and the second a chockstone problem that I was able to belay us along with a local Utah family and their canine to the bottom with some of my rock gear. This image was taken in the vicinity below the bridge which had an infamous accident in 1954 when a pickup, carrying three men, stalled and rolled back missing the bridge and plunging deep into the gorge. Eventually, the truck struck a constriction point and remains there as flattened metal scrap to this day. Technical: Nikon 24mm lens.

Zion National Park, Utah.
Located in southern Utah, Zion exhibits a combination of lush well watered drainages within soaring walls of Navajo and Kayenta Sandstone making for one of the most impressive collection of canyons within North America. In this image, strong winds kept the sage brush in motion but I was able to hold the firelit walls in focus by reinforcing my tripod with extra weight from my pack and camera bag. Technical: Nikon 24mm lens, split density filter, multi-second exposure.

Slot Cascade, Zion National Park, Utah.
Technical: Nikon 50mm lens

Potholes, Zion National Park, Utah.
One the intriguing features of this canyon would have to be the many round shaped pools, some more than 20 feet deep, nestled along the shallow creekbed. En route to this area, I hiked an ankle deep stream just below Keyhole Falls, turned left and temporarily lost my leg to one of these watery graves before recovering my wits and wayward limb from the abyss. Later, I learned I may have been following in the footsteps of giant lizards. It seems archaeologists have long speculated that some of these deep holes are actually dinosaur prints from the Jurassic Age. Technical: Nikon 28-80mm zoom lens, multi-second exposure.

Pothole, Arches National Park, Utah.
Located near Moab, Arches is one of the smallest and most visited parks in the Southwest. Besides, the spectacular arches, I also found the concentration of monolithic rock often expressed as waves, fins or domes to be quite impressive as well. Technical: Canon 24mm lens.

Round Valley Rim, Utah.
Technical: Nikon 50mm lens.

Hoodoos, Bryce National Park, Utah.
Rendering the iconic hoodoos of this famous park presents a different set of challenges than photographing in the backcountry of the North Cascades. In this scenario, I produced a backlit image by exposing for the rock and cutting off the horizon thus adding a glow to the rocks without the normal silhouette that occurs when shooting towards the sun. Technical: Nikon 28-80mm lens, polarizer and lens hood to reduce flair.

Logjam in Round Valley Draw, Utah.
On my initial visit, I was perplexed on how to gain entrance into this narrow slot. Finally, I set anchor on a stout looking tree and rappelled down with a six foot freefall at the end as my line came up a bit short. The driftwood presented a wonderful opportunity to give the canyon a sense of scale. Years later, I simply chimneyed in at the start not needing the additional gear. The canyon remained impressive as ever but with the passage of time, a flood had cleaned out some of the more challenging sections of the draw as well as clearing the lodged wood seen here with it.
Technical: Nikon 24mm lens, 15 second exposure.

Kodachrome State Park, Utah.
This image happened by chance as I was driving out of Kodachrome State Park early one morning en route to a nearby sandstone arch. Along the way, I caught a glimpse of the moonrise in my rearview mirror resulting in a change of plan. After parking, I ran to a hilltop where I could compose an image with the crescent moon above and between the two sandstone monoliths. Later in the morning, I located the arch but feel fortunate that I was able to switch gears when a better opportunity presented itself. Technical: Nikon 28-80mm zoom lens, 2 second exposure.

Rainbow on the Waterpocket Fold, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.
A series of September thunderstorms swept through the Southwest leaving me few options but to read Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire and wait for some semblance of a clearing. This image resulted just after a particularly severe shower. A band of bright light broke through the clouds illuminating some nearby cliffs and immediately prompted me to race up to the park overlook and then hike down to some protective boulders out of the wind. Technical: Canon 100-300mm zoom lens.

London Bridge, Bryce National Park, Utah.
Bryce is a series of amphitheaters famed for its unique hoodoo formations many of which have been named after real or imagined objects or places such as Thor's Hammer or the Chinese Wall. Erosion of this unique sandstone is induced by a combination of rainwater and frost wedging whereby liquid seeps into a crack, freezes, and the resulting expansion changes the shape of the rock. Technical: Nikon 100-300mm zoom lens, polarizer.

Chockstone in upper Paria, Utah.
I had visited this slot some years prior and photographed the deepest, darkest section. This time around, I reversed my thinking by framing a scene whereby the viewer sees the canyon opening into a less constrictive place by the inclusion of a brightly lit wall beyond the final boulder. Technical: Nikon 24mm lens.

Hourglass, Paria River, Utah.
Technical: Nikon 28-80mm zoom lens.

Little Death Hollow, Utah.
A fine adventure for the aspiring canyoneer, this slot composed of Wingate sandstone features on average about 8 chockstone barriers. Most of the obstacles require a few traditional rock climbing moves to ascend and descend or a willingness to squirm underneath a boulder cavity along the canyon floor. Strangely enough, most pilgrims find the wading and sometimes swimming through frigid brown muck to be the most memorable aspect of a day spent in a narrow slot. Recently, a flash flood scoured the canyon resulting in many of the hurdles being cleared away. I imagine new ones will form in time.
Technical: 24mm lens, multi-second exposure used on a mid-tone wall.

Y Snag, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.
<br>Technical: Nikon 24mm lens.

Shamon Rock, Bryce National Park, Utah.
<br>Technical: Nikon 100-300mm zoom lens

Buckskin Canyon, Paria River, Utah.
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One of the deepest and darkest slot canyons in the Southwest, this portion of the Buckskin required nearly a 2 minute exposure to properly expose the sandstone walls. A mile further, I scrambled into a pitch black cave of boulders, ascended a chute and emerged atop the stack via tiny hole covered in reed and thatch. A rabbit hole if ever there was one!!!
Technical: Nikon 24mm lens, long exposure.

Mungo National Park, Australia.
Inclement weather forced my wife, Asea, and I to divert away from the Great Ocean Road. Since we were in Oz, why not experience the Outback instead and so we drove inland for hundreds of miles to a park primarily known for its petrified sand dunes. Once there, we found the wildlife including red and gray kangaroos, flocks of lorikeets and a fine bat collection of the flying sort to be a notable highlight as well. In this image, the subtle lighting was caused in part by the large band of smoke on the horizon due to farmers burning their fields. Technical: Nikon 28-80mm zoom lens, polarizer, minor fill flash for snag.

Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona.
Technical: Nikon 28-80mm lens, split density filter, multi-second exposure.

Cococino Sandstone, Arizona.
One of the really lush canyons of the Southwest, in some respects reminding me of coastal California, I arrived before sunrise to scout some images. Having hiked the canyon a few days prior, I realized this particular section might carry some potential but needed further exploration and some favorable lighting. The sheen off the narrow stream and the polished walls of Coconino Sandstone instantly drew me into the shallow creek for a good half hour of long exposures before morning sun would warm up the canyon. The thought of a hot shower and a cup of Starbucks finally prevailed as my water logged sneakers and numbed toes informed me it was time to go. Technical: Nikon 35-70mm zoom lens, multi-second exposure.

Palouse Falls, Washington.
<br>Technical: Nikon 28-80mm zoom lens.

Canyonlands Obelisk (portrait view), Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Admittedly, I really just bumbled into this striking sandstone tower between trips into the national park. Unable to secure a permit, I camped just outside on BLM land and with a couple of hours on my hands, I located a modest blocky formation to practice some friction moves. Once on top, I immediately noticed the tower in the distance. After a quick descent to get my gear, I returned for sunset to compose a few telephotos that included the tower but felt that dawn might hold the best potential. An hour before first light, I hurried towards the tower carrying some of my faster lenses and my rock shoes. Going light proved beneficial in capturing the tower with the clouds overhead. The rock shoes however; only got me part way up before common sense sent me back down. Technical: Canon 50mm lens, polarizer.

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