One of the most excellent adventures the High Desert of the Southwest has to offer is the dusty, dirt track of the Behind the Reef Road, northwest of Goblin Valley and roughly parallel to Utah Highway 24. And if you go in anything other than a high-clearance, 4-WD vehicle, don’t say I didn’t warn you. What you will see will be amazing – the Red Rock at its finest, the northwest face of the San Rafael Swell. There are buttes and canyons everywhere; and when the atmospheric conditions are right, the cloud-beings put on a fireworks show of their own. This is BLM land, it is public land, and we should work to see that it is always available for the public to enjoy, and care for, because with enjoyment always comes responsibility.
A focal length of 31mm, short enough to still qualify as wide-angleland, gave me the angle of view I wanted. An aperture of f/22 provided depth-of-field; and a shutter speed of 1/30th second at ISO 100 gave me an overall slightly-lighter-than-medium exposure. The shutter speed was sufficiently fast to freeze the motion of the expanding cloudforms as they radiated outward from above the butte like the spokes of a giant invisible wheel.
We have abrogated the regulation of so much of our western public lands to a corporation-influenced bureaucracy. We would serve ourselves well to get to know this land and to speak up for its preservation.
Howdy Don, you definitely struck it rich with this image. Perfect time of day, great atmospherics with the radial clouds coming off the butte “hub”. Nice rich warm and cool color palette. Mother Nature gives us so much beauty and you images make the beauty everlasting. Thanks
I love the way you have captured the cloud forms over the redrock butte.your death of field encompasses the entire landscape in a way that brings it all together.the textures of the rocks are very distinct. Thank you for sharing your craft.
The cloud gods did bless you with this. I’ve been trying to get cloud pictures but as you know, my first problem around here is getting out of the trees. I love that you were able to get such clarity.
Wow u did it again ?
My first thought on seeing this image was of the butte defending itself in a science fiction sort of way, by launching a spray of soft missiles at its foes — not to inflict harm on them, because there would be no damaging physical impact from the hit, but to transform them by surrounding them with a bit of visible nature that they must breathe in.
Beautiful image. You caught the clouds at just the right moment. Making them the largest part of the scene was an excellent choice. Maybe it is the engineer in me, but I struggle with one very small aspect of the scene. It feels just a hair off level to me. I understand that the butte is not supposed to be level with respect to the ground, but a small portion of the scene seems just a bit slanted in the far bottom right of the frame. Maybe it is supposed to be slanted, but the line along the ground looks unlevel. It appears it could rotate clockwise just a little. Overall though, I love the image and am just being nit picky with my comment.
This image brings back some good memories. Can you believe that this was 5 years ago. As I recall when we first arrived at this location there were virtually no clouds. These clouds developed very quickly and it was as interesting to experience the explosion as well as photograph it.
Hi Don, Jon is so right about bringing back some wonderful memories from 5 years ago. Has it really been that long? He’s correct there were no clouds upon arrival, but then Mother Nature smiled on us! This shot is one of my favorites from the trip.
Beautiful. I believe there was a very small tree there that captured my full attention. It is an enchanting place. I was telling someone about it just last evening.
All your patience hard work really paid off with this one. I looks like you were witness to the crowning of the butte and it should have been headline news! If images like that were in the news every night, what a difference that would make in the awareness of the beauty all around us. That should help keep America beautiful! 🙂 Thanks for sharing this one.
Good morning Everyone. I am delighted that you have all joined me for this conversation. It’s great to hear from you. If you stop and think about it, every small town in America has something for which it is known far beyond its own boundaries. For Rutledge, Tennessee it’s tomatoes; and twenty-seven years ago Rutledge created an annual weekend party known ’round the world as the Grainger County Tomato Festival. It’s going on this weekend and my friend Gordon Gaiser and I were there. We, indeed, came home with some of Grainger County’s finest. Wish you all could have been with us.
Howdy Michael; your words are more than kind, my friend; and I appreciate them very much. You are so right, Mother Nature has blessed us with beauty everywhere we turn and I feel very strongly the obligation to preserve that beauty both with my images and with my actions. Always good to have you with me.
Hey Chuck. I hope this finds you well, and I appreciate your kind comments. This image seemed so much about not only the clouds, but the land beneath as well that it seemed only right to create a field of view that encompassed all of it with as much detail as possible. In this case, as above, so below provided a perfect guide.
Hi Linda. It’s great to have you join us. We recently had some excellent adventures with the cloud gods, did we not? There are forests in South-central Utah, but they are mostly confined to places where moisture can collect, and usually not on the tops of the Red Rock. As I recall you are planning an adventure in the Southwest sometime soon. Good research will help you find great locations for your creativity, and there is a lot of good research to tap into. Hope our paths cross again before too long. Thanks for your kind words.
Hi Mike. Your words are very laconic, but they are thoughtful and very welcome. Thank you. Hope your summer is filled with wonderful adventures.
Howdy Donald. I may be encouraged to think that you have too much free time on your hands; but I love the storyline: foes turned to allies through the transformative power of nature’s beauty; what a wonderful idea. Walk in Beauty, my friend.
Hey Kev. Somewhere along the way I’ve got to show you this place. It is, indeed, out of the way, but the effort to get there is very worth it. I also struggled with “level” in this image. The ground seemed tilted so matter which direction I looked to. Finally I noticed the bed of a old road running from right to left near the very bottom of the frame, coming into the picture from the right edge. That old road seemed to my eyes to be running fairly level at that point, so I worked to line up the bottom of the frame with that roadbed. Thanks for suggesting the dilemma; I’d be curious as to how you would have worked through it. Be well. Looking forward to seeing you and Elizabeth soon.
Hey John. It’s good to hear from you. I hope all is well in the High Peaks. That was a wonderful adventure with great memories, and I’m glad you shared it with us. Our recollections are in complete sync. I remember being engrossed in playing with a scene in the opposite direction and then turning around to see this sudden atmospheric explosion going on above the butte. It was just about all I could do to make myself start considering how to compose. Remind me when you’re headed this way again.
Howdy Chuck. Indeed, that was a wonderful adventure and I’m very glad you and John both were with us. I’m going to start feeling really old if y’all keep this up. In all of our trips to the Southwest, this was the only time we went behind the reef, but I’d sure love to visit this area one more time. This butte and the old uranium mining town were special places. Be well, my friend; hope your healing continues at a good pace.
Hey J Warren. Wow, the entire gang (almost) has gathered! We are very excited to have the good news you shared last week, and sharing the memory of this adventure is just icing on the cake. I’ve traveled down a BLM road just west of this butte not long after a good rain event and I’ve seen the mud that can come from such. I’ll always be grateful that when we were here, there was only the dust. Looking forward to seeing more of you and Freida in the times ahead.
Hey Nancy T. It’s always wonderful to have you with us. Your thoughtful comments reminded me of the old CBS Sunday Morning program and Charles Kuralt. He ended each week’s installment with footage from somewhere around the country from a beautiful and peaceful place. It was always a great way to celebrate the beauty of our world. Your words always bring to mind a celebration, and I am always grateful to have them. Walk in Beauty, my dear friend.
Thank you all, again, for being part of this wonderful experience of sharing the beauty that surrounds us everyday and for being part of my creative family.