Alpine Imaging Blog

2017 was a busy year for me, full of adventure and hard work. As is my tradition, let's take a look at some of the significant photos taken this year. Sunrise from Horseshoe Mesa Angel's Gate from Horseshoe Mesa Dow Springs, Sycamore Canyon White Pocket Swirls White Pocket Lines White Pocket Startrails The Beret, Bisti Badlands New Mexico  The Rhino, Bisti Badlands  Buckskin Gulch, Paria Wilderness Chaco Doors, Chaco Canyon NP Point Sublime, Grand Canyon

Remnants of an ancient American Indian tribe, these petroglyphs sit atop a hill in the Saguaro National Park outside of Tucson. The Hohokam tribe existed there between 200 and 1400 AD. My girlfriend and I spent an evening there watching a meteor shower and making some long exposures over the Thanksgiving holiday. It remains unknown what the etchings mean, but I imagine it to be a representation of the earth spinning within the stars.

I have to thank Arizona Highways for their issue on the Petrified Forest National park. Having lived in Arizona, and only an hour and a half away, I have not until now visited the National Park. I have driven by it a number of times, but this last spring break I made the decision to stop for the evening and following morning to see what it is all about. We arrived just before closing, and sunset which is typically the best time to do landscape photography. They close at sunset and as there is no camping within the park we couldn't dally. From the main entrance and visitor's center you don't get a glimpse of any petrified wood right away. Instead you follow the road along a rim with pull-outs and wide views of the Painted Desert. Petrified Forest is one of the few parks where you can take your pets off the road and onto their trails. We did just that as we circled one of the Ancient Puebloan ruin sites. Not much to see there except some remnants of a few found...

Twenty-sixteen was a bittersweet year for me. I experienced the absolute worst day of my life, seeing my father pass away from lung cancer. The image of his last breath is forever burned into my consciousness, and will be something I will have to carry with me the rest of my days. Another disappointment is shared with the entire country. The election that transpired on November 8th will no doubt change forever the environment and landscape as we know it. These recent events really make one look deep and focus on what really matters. Like it or not the job of a landscape photographer is to document the beautiful world we live in, and to serve as a reminder that nothing is forever. The landscape image is one that can increase awareness of the necessity to preserve and conserve. I set out on my journey in photography to not only remember the good times and adventures, but to document for posterity the disappearing and fragile universe. The melting glaciers, the colla...

I am pleased to announce that 20 of my images are on display at Vora Financial again this year. If you are looking for last minute gifts, or happen to be in the neighborhood, stop by 14 E Birch Monday - Friday 9-5 to check them out.

It always amazes me that even against insurmountable odds life finds a way to live. Located atop of Dance Hall Rock down the Hole in the Rock Road in Escalante National Monument, this area supports about a half dozen trees like this. The great photographer Guy Tal made this locale famous in his book Intimate Portraits of the Colorado Plateau . I made this image on an overcast day in early spring. Many of the dirt roads were still closed and impassable this time of year, and indeed some of the higher elevations still had a foot or more of snow. Dance Hall Rock is an interesting formation that makes a natural amphitheater.  The rock got its name from the 19th century Mormon Settlers that used it to hold square dances.  You can sit there and just imagine the sound of fiddles, guitars and banjos echoing throughout the canyon.  Petticoats spinning, and girls giggling at young men courting their hearts out.  Just as the Mormon settlers did, this tree ekes ...

The last leg of our Escalante loop found us in the Valley of the Gods, just outside of Mexican Hat, Utah.  It's a great place to get the feel of Monument Valley, without the crowds.  It's a sixteen mile loop that winds through red sand stone monoliths.  You can take a self guided tour and drive the loop in about an hour, or stay in one of the few campsites overnight. Since we were coming from the Burr Trail up north we had to progress down the perilous switchbacks called the Moqui Dugway. Just at the bottom of the hill is the road to Valley of the Gods.  Of course the sign only faces the opposite direction so we soon discovered that we past the turn off.  We realized after consulting the GPS and map that we had to turn around. We were running out of time,  the sun was going down,  already making the most beautiful glow on the rocks. It wasn't long until we found a great campsite at the edge of a mesa.  I took the opportunity to captur...