From the advantage of the La Sal Loop Road, high above Castle Valley and the flow of the great Colorado River, it is an awesome view to the northwest and into the dusk-blue fastness of Arches National Park. The lines of the great butte known as The Rectory, with its distinctive Castleton Tower (left) and The Priest and Nuns (right) standing in the gloaming, is an erosional feature of that canyon-building creation we call The Colorado Plateau. We are easily fooled into believing that the Public Lands of the American West go on immutable forever. They do not. For reasons of self, for reasons of power, for reasons of money and greed, our shared common is constantly under attack by private interests and the politicians who would do their bidding. It is not sufficient merely to visit them, we are obligated to preserve and to protect. If we do not, they will be lost to us.
A focal length of 157mm, just on the cusp of medium-telephotoland, provided the angle-of-view I wanted and some magnification/compression as well. An aperture of f/20 from the camera-to-subject distance provided dept-of-field; and a shutter speed of 2.0 seconds at ISO 100 gave me a somewhat darker-than-medium exposure. ISO 100 was chosen to minimize the digital noise inherent in low-light situations.
There are lots of great people in Utah, but the Utah Congressional Delegation seems determined to do everything it can to gain complete state control of the public lands of the Beehive State. I do not consider this to be an acceptable outcome, and I hope you will agree with me and act on behalf of places such as Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante. The La Sals and other icons of Southern Utah may ultimately be at risk, as well. On February 6, the BLM announced its plans for the 2 million acres of public land removed from Bears Ears and GSENM. Big Oil/Big Dig +1; Public Lands 0. My idea of photographic beauty has a hard time wrapping itself around a uranium mine or an oil derrick and pumpjacks.
Lovely image! Elizabeth and I loved our journey through the La Sal Loop two years ago. Thank you for suggesting it. This picture shows the power muted images can have. We often aim for tack sharp detail in our photos and bypass images where we cannot get that. The layers and silhouettes in this image tell an amazing story, despite the haziness. The varying tones of blue topped off by the orange are very soothing. Thank you for sharing.
Don, please keep using your well honed craft and deep understanding of the value and beauty of public lands to share your call to protection. This is a beautiful image that conveys the power of these places. Ray
Don, thank you for the choosing the exposure that you did. It was the the subtleness of the image that first struck me, and pulled me into itself. It was quite a few minutes before I could leave it, to read how it was produced. It pains one to see what is being done to the Southwest, it must be stopped. I am so thankful for the many weeks I was privileged to spend there with you and Bonnie.
Howdy Don, Very beautiful play of warm tones in the sky and cool tones in the land. This image is very reminiscent of Smoky Mountain Landscapes
Don
A note to say I’m still enjoying your images
In the fall I drove the La Sal Loop Road while my husband rode the Mohab trails on his bike. I got to see Castle Valley from many viewpoints but didn’t get to see this view and this color. Thanks for sharing it. These structures are beautiful but just the sheer vastness of the land is also breathtaking. Seeing the bones of the land changed me somehow, let me into an understanding of how diverse and grand our planet is.