Lately, I’ve been feeling I need to expand my portfolio. I wanted to add a new location. While the location I had in mind didn’t work out due to life’s intervention, I had backup plans. I’m really glad I did because I came back with some beautiful landscape photos I didn’t count on getting. Check out what I captured on my recent trip out to Grosvenor Arch of Escalante National Monument.
I shoot so many photos in Bryce Canyon that I felt I needed to branch out. I live in an area which is full of landscape photography opportunities. If I didn’t take advantage of them, I’d be ashamed of myself. So, now I branched out and expanded my portfolio. I’m really glad I took the time to do so. It really paid off for me in ways I didn’t expect.
Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument is perhaps the next closest National Park Service (though joint with another agency) location. I began exploring landscape photography options recently. However, finding time was more difficult. Still, I found a window of time and made the trek out to one of the more iconic sites: Grosvenor Arch. “Trek” was also quite accurate. Much of the road is dirt or gravel. There’s also a small washout which contains water even during dry spells. A low clearance vehicle can make it but a high clearance vehicle would be better.
So, I braved the washboard road out to the arch. Thankfully, there’s signs to help you find the way. You can also grab a map at the visitor’s center in Cannonville. I’m sure glad I had one in the car as it helped me orient out on the dirt road.
When we arrived, we found quite the day-use site in front of us. We even discovered a small paved and handicap-accessible trail which led almost to the very foundations of the arch. I opted to take the unmarked trails off the paved trail and continued to the very base of the arch. I was rewarded for my efforts with several good landscape photos of Grosvenor Arch as soon as the sun disappeared behind a cloud.
So, I thought I was done after the sun came back out from the cloud. However, I looked up and realized that the clouds promised some color if I waited until sunset (which wasn’t very far distant). So I stayed and waited. When the appointed time arrived, the clouds lit up but not as much as I expected. The truly colorful clouds were in the west and I was pointing north towards the arch. Still, I had color in the skies. I snapped away.
My real problem came when I produced several photos needing titles. I could call all of them some variant of “Grosvenor Arch.” However, that wouldn’t do at all. So I did some research. I learned that there’s not a lot of information out there about the arch. So I found myself in a bit of a bind. However, I grabbed up what scraps of information I could and found appropriate titles for each landscape photo I took.
Grosvenor Arch is just the beginning. I’ve plenty more landscape photography sites to explore in Escalante National Monument. When I have a chance to do so, I’ll make a point of sharing more with you. So, what do you think of what I captured so far? Share your thoughts in comments section below.
