A Quick Jaunt Into The Desert

August was a hectic month for my wife and I. With family visiting for most of the month, it was difficult to find time to photograph. During the middle of the month my cousin Paul came to visit and I took him into the Utah desert to experience what makes it special.

Our first stop was Capital Reef National Park. This park is often passed by for the more popular parks in the state. Because it is less travelled, it makes for a great place to truly experience the landscape’s ruggedness and remoteness. On day one we hiked a six mile canyon in the heart of the park. It was amazing to see water flowing strong even though it was the middle of summer. What was even more amazing was the fact that we only saw one other family along the whole section of canyon.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

After our hike through the canyon, we headed out to the Cainville Badlands for the evening to experience the desert silence. Upon arrival we had the entire landscape for as far as the eye could see to ourselves and it remained that way until we left. We set up camp and reminisced about college while waiting for the evening to fade to darkness. The next morning we arose to perfect conditions overlooking the otherworldly landscape and I manage to wake Paul in time to witness it. In complete silence we sat as the sun began to illuminate the area.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

After the sun was well on its way to the height of its ascent we packed up camp and left this special place behind. Our last stop was Goblin Valley State Park, a place I’ve visited many times. I did not take any images but it was fun hiking through the surreal landscape of small goblin-like rock formations as the day went on. The next morning we packed up and headed back to Salt Lake City in order for me to prepare for my Glacier National Park Trip.

Come back next week to learn what it’s like being in Glacier as a photographer who’s on vacation with family. Thanks for reading!

If you are in need of a 2020 calendar, check mine out here.

It is full of beautiful images from around the US, with stories about each image. They make great gifts as well!

Back Blogged

I’ve been busy, real busy, and I’ve created a back log of images that need to be shared with the world. So over the next few weeks, I’ll be releasing a blog post each Friday to catch up!

When it comes to photography, I get excited easily. So when we made plans to visit Grand Teton National Park it was no surprise that I could barely contain that excitement. What feels like very long ago, when I was in my first year of college, my family and I made a trip to Grand Teton National Park. It was the first trip out west I had ever made, and it really helped shaped me into who I am today. I fell in love with the mountains and the landscape of the American West and the ruggedness of the terrain. Since then I have sought out places in this country that evoke that sense of awe and tried to memorialize them.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

On our first day in the area, we managed to snag the last available campsite anywhere near the location I wanted to photograph the following morning ( A good omen). The next morning came and we hustled our way down an old gravel road to a well documented barn that I was expecting to be brimming with photographers. However, upon arrival I had the area virtually to myself. One other photographer was off to my left a ways. I set up my composition and waited for sunrise.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

The thing that makes the Tetons so special to me is how flat the landscape around them is. They dominate the landscape for miles and miles, and create such a stark contrast to the valleys below. I captured my version of the usual barn scene, and moved on to another image I had envisioned. The image at the beginning of this blog represents how I feel about the Tetons. Bathed in golden light, the Grand Teton rises above the trees and fills the frame of this image creating a sense of majesty that captivates your attention while you travel through the area. To me, that image symbolizes the strength and beauty of nature. It is tender and inviting, yet ultimately rugged in the same moment.

The weather was forecasting thunderstorms by mid afternoon, so we hiked the rest of the morning before we had to hunker down and wait out the storm. I managed to capture one image from the trunk of our vehicle while the winds were howling and throwing rain every which way.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

With lightning striking nearby, we didn’t venture out far from the vehicle, but as the last light of the day was disappearing, I managed one more image down near Jackson Lake.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

Mt. Moran makes the perfect backdrop to this image, and while a perfect sunset would have been nice, the moodiness of this image works nicely for this scene. The brownish rock in the foreground that is glistening a golden color makes me think of the gold rush and it’s influence it had in shaping the West.

Wet and all, we made our way back to the tent excited to do it all again the next day. The following morning was a wash as we awoke to rain pounding the sides of the tent. We opted to stay in our bags and enjoy rising slowly that morning. As midday came around, the weather had slightly improved, so we headed out hiking.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

Well after the sun disappeared behind the mountains and the valley fell into darkness, the sky remained a beautiful shade of orange that faded into the purple dark of the evening. I created a silhouette of the Teton range and then went to bed excited to see what sunrise would bring to this location. The next morning I arose to a view of the entire range in view and knew it would be a special sunrise. Sitting in the calm morning air waiting for the sun to warm the valley I reflected on how lucky I was to be experiencing these locations with my wife.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

We spent the morning enjoying the moment and after we had packed up and headed away from our campsite to head back to civilization, I turned around and noticed one more composition. So naturally I unpacked my camera, set up the tripod and took one final image. Much like the first image in this post, I like how the forest framed the mountains in the distance, and gave them a sense of enormous scale.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

4 Days and 9 images later it was time to say goodbye to the Tetons. I hope one day I will return to this incredible place and show my children the awe inspiring peaks of Grand Teton National Park.

Check back on Friday to see where we traveled to next!

Life Is A Blur

SO…. SLOW DOWN AND LIVE A LITTLE.

One day, before you know it, you will reach the time of reckoning. You will sit at the edge of your bed and you will think about your life; whether it was fulfilling, lackluster, or somewhere in between. In today’s world it is easy to get lost in the endless feeds of content creation we call social media. A long list of stories that only a small handful of your “followers” actually give a damn about. We forget to be present, we forget to be ourselves, we attempt to create “content” that will resonate with the masses and get us a momentary spot of recognition before we are swallowed up by the endless tide of incoming posts.

I used to chase followers, thinking that they were important to build my career, until I had a small epiphany. They are called “followers” for a reason, to follow. If they controlled my path in life and photography, they would be called leaders… and I would be a slave to their demands.

I remember a time when I would spend hours in a dark room creating a tangible photographic print that could be held and viewed as a 3 dimensional piece of art. Nowadays, a vast majority of my images never leave the computer screen. They sit in a catalog of a thousand images on a hard drive in a place weirdly reminiscent of the island of forgotten toys from the classic Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer tale. Those images had their moment on the endless social media train, some of which received momentary glory before being tossed aside for the next new image. Now they collect digital dust and may never be seen again.

What does this all have to do with a photography blog post and reaching the inevitable end of the road?

Last week, as I sat in Yellowstone National Park staring at a sunset that was so beautiful it practically rendered me speechless, I had an epiphany. I realized I was constantly trying to create content for the next social media post instead of creating work for myself, work that resonated with me. Because I had been creating work for the momentary pleasure of strangers, I had stopped seeing and enjoying for myself. It had become a wash, rinse, repeat cycle form of creation and I wasn’t getting any joy from the incredibly beautiful scene playing out in front of me. The pungent smell of the sulphuric gases fuming from the geysers, the interaction of steam and cloud, of light and shadow; I was viewing the scene as if I were behind a screen. I wasn’t present in the moment. I was too focused on “content creation”, and that is a travesty.

So in that moment I stopped shooting wildly, walked away from a mediocre composition, took a deep breath and studied the interactions occurring in front of me. I felt the warm steam as the south eastwardly blowing wind pushed the water vapors towards me and up over the hillside behind. I watched the light dance across the shallow pools of water on the delicate surface of the geyser basin. I listened to the water as it bubbled up through the geyser pools, steadily releasing sulphuric gases into the atmosphere. I reminded myself I was standing on the worlds largest volcanic hotspot, and of the power it held beneath the surface.

I set my camera back up and took one photograph. Just one.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

As a photographer I made the decision that I want my images to resonate with me first, with the experience and feeling I had within that moment. I want my images to speak to me, to make me feel, to wonder. Like the artists’ work I adorned my walls with as a budding adult, I want my images to inspire me. If I can create images that provoke those feelings within me, then those same images are bound to provoke the same sense of wonder in others.

Let’s tie this all back into this posts title.

Life is a blur, so slow down, be present, and experience the subtle nuances of the many places you will find yourself as you write your life story. If you are an artist, create for yourself first, your creations will speak louder, and in turn get noticed by those that matter. You will feel more fulfilled at the end of the day and when your judgement day comes you can say, “ I experienced my life, and in doing so, created something meaningful, something lasting. I was present each and every day and made true connections with others, and with the planet around me. I lived.”

In that moment, I reignited the fire of exploration, discovery, and creation within me and am excited to slow down and experience the many, many events and places that will shape me as I continue to get older.

I don't know what to write about

Sometimes writer’s block can be just as bad as a creative block. For me this often happens when I come home with some awesome images I want to share with everyone, but don’t have a cohesive story to tell. I spent the last week in Moab, Utah (one of my top 3 favorite places in the United States), and experienced more stormy weather, and some serious heat for May. I slept out of the back of our SUV and didn’t eat much, ran into some friends from North Carolina, and genuinely roughed it for a little while. I woke up early to get to my photo locations and stayed up late to make sure I captured the last bits of light as they faded over the horizon, but I still feel as though I don’t have much of a story to go with these images.

So…

I’ll let the photographs do the talking.

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

© Andrew Lockwood 2019

Capturing Canyonlands

I spent the last few days chasing light and dodging lightning in Canyonlands National Park.

As I hiked around the Needles District, the ever present pop-up thunderstorm made exploring the wide open spaces a challenge. Despite those pesky storms, I managed to find a few good windows when the light was at its best.

For a few years now I have wanted to capture the essence of the desert in Utah, but every time I came home with images, I felt they fell short. So with perfect wildflower conditions this season, I have made it a point to seek out the best wildflower pockets around Utah, and attempt to capture the elusive desert image. I captured the below image as the final moments of sunset caught a low hanging rain cloud just above the cliffs of Indian Creek. I had scouted a runoff wash earlier and found a composition I believed would make for a beautiful sunset if the light began to go nuts. As usual, that composition didn’t work out, but luckily just down the wash, another fishhook cactus was in bloom and I was able to compose a composition before the light disappeared ( a matter of 3 minutes).

Many people think of deserts as arid wastelands, and while some certainly are, most are incredibly diverse and dynamic landscapes. My wife captured 38 different species of wildflowers on her phone over a 4 day period. I managed to capture one. But to me this one image is the culmination of a lot of preparation and research, lack of creature comforts (i.e. showers, toilets, beds), time and calorie consuming leg work. Any more images I capture of the phenomenal display of desert wildflowers this year will only be icing on the cake.

Speaking of cake,

check out the smooth glazing on this geyser formation near the Green River. At sunset the waters change a myriad of different hues thanks to reflected light from the sky.

The finely layered pools of the geyser allow for endless intimate compositions. I could have spent multiple days exploring the 60 foot area picking out detail after detail. Here is a more traditional landscape image of the location. You can see the finely tiered layers as they rise towards the geyser.

After I was done playing in the pools I headed to the Needles District and sought out the first image in this post.

Once in the Needles District, I hiked out to Chesler Park to get closer to the unique formations. Although the light wasn’t perfect, I managed to come away with a few good shots that I am proud of, including one panorama from right after a heavy downpour as the sun set behind the clouds.

Needing to get back to civilization before someone mistook me for a new species of desert primate, I reluctantly packed up my belongings (now coated with a layer of red earth) and began the trek back to Salt Lake City. I made a few stops along the way. One to an arch near Moab which is now all over the internet, a roadside petroglyph, and another lesser known location (which will remain anonymous) that required some decent rock crawling and low gears.

What A Trip!! I think I returned home with quite a few keepers. Im heading to Arches next, to continue my wildflower search, so check back next Tuesday (21st) for a trip report.

All images © Andrew Lockwood 2019