Outdoor Photographer Blog

Outdoor Photographer now features a blog post that I wrote on night photography in Arches National Park, Utah, USA.

Of all the National Parks that I have ever visited in the US, Arches National Park is without a doubt the most iconic. Many millions of photographs have been shot here, and to come up with something different is not easy. That does not mean one shouldn’t try though, and I personally greatly enjoy the creative process of coming up with new possibilities to photograph iconic subjects.

Double Arch is one of them. One of the reasons it has been photographed so much is probably because it’s so close to the car park, but also because it’s a stunning piece of architecture by mother nature. When you’re standing below this imposing marvel of nature, it’s hard to not be impressed by the size and the beauty of this amazing structure. From my research for my visit to Arches, I learned that 99.9% of all the images of this arch are more or less taken from the same viewpoint. I’m sure one of the reasons for this is that you need some distance to get the whole thing to fit inside your frame – standing inside the arch is not going to work. However, if you don’t try to fit the whole scene into the frame, new possibilities arise.

Portal To The Stars - Double Arch, Arches National Park, USA

I decided to move into the scene and resist the temptation of showing everything. Instead of moving as far back as possible to see the entire structure, I tried to find an interesting foreground and move in with my 14-24mm wide angle lens. The opening inside the smallest arch was my main point of interest, so I opted for a vertical composition with some room at the bottom for the rocks in the foreground and quite a bit of space at the top to show the height of this place. Another good reason to go for a vertical was that the vast majority of images taken of this arch are all horizontals.

My second decision was to photograph the arch at night and to bring out the details and colors by using a flashlight. The light painting would give me a lot of creative control over the look and feel of the image, so that was an important part of the shot. I wanted to include part of the Milky Way, which meant that I had only a very short window of time to take the shot – the position of the Milky Way in the night sky changes constantly and I wanted it to be in a diagonal direction.

I knew that this was going to be an exposure blend; one for the sky and one for the rocks. In order to get a many stars as possible, you need at least an ISO of 1600, but more often around 3200 or even 6400. Your shutter speed can not be longer than approximately 30 seconds, otherwise the stars will start to streak. For the rocks exposure I could shoot at a fairly low ISO to prevent noise, with a considerably longer shutter speed. And I needed some extra time to light paint such an enormous subject.

For the light painting I used my trusty assistant, my wife Daniella. She was positioned outside of the frame to the left, armed with a Surefire Invictus flashlight and colored gels. I first decided on the color temperature of the light, and then we started experimenting with the light painting. Light painting is all about seeing the unseen, so you have to previsualize everything. After a few test shots, I decided to focus most of the light on the foreground and the main arch so that those areas will grab your attention first. However, the inside of the main arch didn’t catch enough light at the angle that I preferred for the whole scene, so I decided to shoot a second exposure just for the main arch with the light positioned directly below it. I would then later merge these two exposures.

Meanwhile I constantly checked the night sky for the position of the Milky Way, and when it looked good, I shot my third exposure for just the sky, without any light painting. The three exposures were later merged in Photoshop. – Marsel van Oosten

Equipment and settings: Nikon D3, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G lens – Rock exposure: 1 minute @ f/5.6 and ISO 800; Sky exposure: 25 seconds @ f/5.6 and ISO 3200

First Prize in NPN Awards

Just when we thought that 2012 has been such a successful year in terms of awards and recognition, the new year already starts with yet another award. :-) Marsel's photograph At The Gates has won First Prize in the Nature Photographers Network Awards. NPN is the internet's top-ranked nature photography site where nature photographers from around the world share their images. It's a real honour to have been chosen as a category winner amidst so many excellent photographers.

Double Arch, double exposure. Daniella did the posing and the light painting.

Here's the story that accompanied the shot when I first put it online:

'Of all the National Parks that I have ever visited in the US, Arches NP is without a doubt the most iconic one. Millions of photographs have been shot here, and to come up with something different is not easy. That does not mean one shouldn't try though, and I personally greatly enjoy thinking of new possibilities to photograph iconic subjects.

Double Arch is one of them. When you're standing below this imposing marvel of nature, it's hard to not be impressed by the size and the beauty of this amazing structure. From my research for my visit to Arches, I learned that 99.9% of all the images of this arch are more or less taken from the same viewpoint. I'm sure one of the reasons for this is that you need some distance to get the whole thing to fit inside your frame - standing inside the arch is not going to work. Unless of course you have a 14mm on a full frame camera. But even then it was tough to find a position where I could get all the openings and the lines at the right places - it only worked with a vertical composition. I was fine with that, because the vast majority of images taken of this arch are all horizontals.

I also decided to photograph the arch at night and to bring out the details and colors by using a flashlight. The advantage of doing this also meant that there would be stars, and stars are nice. I wanted to include part of the Milky Way, which meant that I had only a very short window of time to take the shot. These decisions were all very important in order to create something original, but the most important one for me was to include a human figure. It brings the shot to life and it acts as a vital scale element. The fact that most landscape photographers don't like humans in their pictures is always a nice bonus when you're trying to create something original.

This was shot three years ago as a double exposure - one for the sky with my lovely assistant, one for the light painting. We tried to shoot it again with our group on this year's Arches Under The Stars workshop, but the weather gods did not want to cooperate. They gave use snow the next day though, so that made up for that.'

Double Light

A couple of weeks ago I posted an image here of Turret Arch shot through North Window, and I included Daniella to add some scale to the shot and to make it slightly different from the kazillion other images that have been shot at this location.

But I knew that it would take a lot more to create something truly different, so I gave it some serious thought and made a plan. I decided to shoot at night, hope for snow, and use a combination of moonlight and flashlight as I had never seen that before. I thought: night shot + moonlight + stars + snow + flashlight = not very likely to have been shot before :-)

There was only a very small window (sorry) of time to do this, because I wanted a low moon and it needed to rise at a certain angle or else there would be large shadows of the rocks behind me creeping into the shot. The inside of the arch was lit by Daniella during part of the exposure with a Surefire Invictus, the flashlight of the gods.

Eye to Eye

Icons. Most people love them, many landscape photographers hate them, and both groups for the same reason: because they're icons.

Arches NP in Utah is full of icons, and most of them have been photographed to death by millions of people who were all equally excited when they were standing right next to one of them. Especially the ones close to the parking of course ;-)

I like photographing these iconic places, because they're usually worth seeing with your own eyes, and because they provide a challenge to any serious photographer: how on earth am I going to create something different here? I've been to many places that few people have ever visited before, and to shoot something original in those places is very easy - just point your camera in any direction, and you're done. Well, maybe not like that, but you know what I mean. When you're standing in a spot from where many thousands, or even millions of photographs have been taken before you, it makes you think a little more about what you're going to do.

Before my first visit to Arches I had seen many pictures of Turret Arch shot through North Window, and never had I noticed that North Window was actually this big. It wasn't until I walked towards this giant opening and noticed it's position relative to Turret Arch that I realized that I had been completely wrong. It's a way more impressive scene than the photographs I had seen ever suggested.

The first thing I therefore did was to add a human element (who else?) to the shot to give a sense of scale to the image. It's still the same icon that's been shot to death, but the combination of the human element and the snow in the background make it just a little more different from the rest, which was all I was after.

I also shot another version of this scene without the person and with very different lighting conditions that I will post later.

If you would like to join us on our next Utah workshop, please check out our website for more information, pictures and tour impression video clips.

Marsel

At The Gates

Of all the National Parks that I have ever visited in the US, Arches NP is without a doubt the most iconic one. Millions of photographs have been shot here, and to come up with something different is not easy. That does not mean one shouldn't try though, and I personally greatly enjoy thinking of new possibilities to photograph iconic subjects.

Double Arch is one of them. When you're standing below this imposing marvel of nature, it's hard not to be impressed by the size and the beauty of this amazing structure. From my research before my visit to Arches, I learned that 99.9% of all the images of this arch are more or less taken from the same viewpoint. I'm sure one of the reasons for this is that you need some distance to get the whole thing to fit inside your frame - standing inside the arch is not going to work. Unless of course you have a 14mm on a full frame camera. :-) But even then it was tough to find a position where I could get all the openings and the lines at the right places - it only worked with a vertical composition. And I was perfectly fine with that, because the vast majority of images taken of this arch are all horizontals.

I also decided to photograph the arch at night and to bring out the details and colors by using a flashlight. The advantage of doing this also meant that there would be stars, and stars are nice. I wanted to include part of the Milky Way, which meant that I had only a very short window of time to take the shot. These decisions were all very important in order to create something original, but the most important one for me was to include a human figure. As always, Daniella was so kind to risk her life by climbing into the arch Her presence really brings the shot to life and it acts as a vital scale element. The fact that most landscape photographers don't like humans in their pictures is always a nice bonus when you're trying to create something original. :-)

This was shot three years ago as a double exposure - one for the sky with my lovely assistant, one for the light painting. We tried to shoot it again with our group on this year's Arches Under The Stars workshop, but the weather gods did not want to cooperate. They gave use snow the next day though, so that made up for that.

If you would like to join us on our next Arches Under The Stars workshop, have a look on our website for more information.

Marsel

Nature's Best Awards

Arches NP in Utah is probably the most popular place in the world to photograph natural rock arches, but there are many other locations in this spectacular state that are just as interesting and that get much fewer visitors.

On our visit to Utah last year we came across this large hole in a rock face, and at first sight it didn't look very interesting.

When it started raining, we walked around the rock, searching for a place to shelter. When we got to the other side, we saw this huge half dome with the hole in the distance. It was a spectacular sight, but as often with scenes like this, it was hard to get a sense of scale in the photograph.

I asked Daniella to climb up to the window and stand in it, and that made all the difference. After a couple of shots the setting sun briefly peeked between the clouds and colored the rocks near the window deep red.

>Click here for large version<

We are very happy that this image was awarded a Highly Commended at this year's Nature's Best International Photography Awards.

Full Moon Mesa

Icons are icons for a reason. My initial feeling is always to avoid icons, because they've already been photographed a kazillion times before - what's the point. However, at the same time I'm always curious to see the icon myself, and when I'm there I always end up trying to do my own version. Same here.

Everywhere you read about Mesa Arch, people say that it's a sunrise location and they're very specific even about the exact time that you should shoot it - only during a few minutes after sunrise when the arch turns bright red. This was very helpful information, so I decided to go there at night. :-)

The most obvious advantage was that there was no one there - not very typical for this location. I had the whole place to myself and was able to use a small flashlight to paint the arch without bothering anyone else.

I had timed my visit with full moon so that I basically had the same light situation as in the early morning, but much more subtle. I hid the moon behind the arch and used the moonlight to illuminate the background. During the 60 second exposure I painted the arch and the foreground rocks. I added a warm up gel to get a nice color contrast between the warm tones of the rock and the blue of the sky. This is a single exposure.

Nikon D3S, AF-S 14-24/2.8, 60s @ f/8, ISO 800, flashlight

>Click here for larger version<

Utah date changed to: 17 December - 23 December 2011

Because we don't want to keep anybody from having Christmas with their family, we have pushed the Utah trip one day forward. You should arrive Saturday 17 December in the evening at the latest to join in on the fun. And the tour ends after a last early morning shoot on Friday 23 December. Merry Christmas :-)

New photo tour added to Utah, USA: Arches under the stars

We've always wanted to visit the National Parks of Utah, and when we finally did in November last year, we were stunned by the incredible beauty. Sure, we'd seen many photographs from Utah before our visit - who hasn't - but it just goes to show that a picture can never beat the feeling of actually being there.

We were so impressed by the landscape and the photographic possibilities of Arches National Park and the surrounding areas, that we decided to organize a photo tour to this dramatic geologic marvel of the American Southwest.

Arches contains one of the largest concentrations of natural sandstone arches in the world. The arches and numerous other extraordinary geologic features, such as spires, pinnacles, pedestals and balanced rocks, are highlighted in striking foreground and background views created by contrasting colors, landforms and textures. It is truly a landscape photographer's dream.

Water and ice, extreme temperatures and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured rock scenery of Arches National Park. On clear days with blue skies, it is hard to imagine such violent forces, or the 100 million years of erosion that created this land. The more than 2,000 cataloged arches range in size from a three-foot opening, the minimum considered an arch, to the longest one, Landscape Arch, which measures 306 feet from base to base. New arches are being formed and old ones are being destroyed. Erosion and weathering are relatively slow but are relentlessly creating dynamic landforms that gradually change through time. Occasionally change occurs more dramatically. In 1991 a slab of rock about 60 feet long, 11 feet wide and 4 feet thick fell from the underside of Landscape Arch, leaving behind an even thinner ribbon of rock.

The park lies atop an underground salt bed, which is basically responsible for the arches and spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins and eroded monoliths that make the area a photographer's mecca.

After we thoroughly explored the park and some of the lesser-known areas outside, we decided that winter would be the perfect time for this trip. First of all, winter has the fewest crowds. Arches NP is a very popular destination, and rightly so, and we want to avoid getting hordes of tourists in our shots. Also, in winter there is always a chance of snow. Southeast Utah is part of the Colorado Plateau, a "high desert" region that experiences wide temperature fluctuations, sometimes over 40 degrees in a single day. Winters are cold, with highs averaging -1 to 10C (30-50F), and lows averaging -18 to -6C (0-20F). From personal experience we can tell you that Arches in the snow is even more breathtaking, so it's worth the chill factor.

A nice advantage of photographing in winter, is that sunrise and sunset times are a bit more humane. :-) The light is also softer in winter and the air more clear.

Chances are that we'll be getting a couple of clear nights, during which we will try some night photography. Marsel will give a dedicated workshop on night photography, light painting and shooting stars and star trails, so that should be great fun. We have already selected a couple of good locations for this specific purpose and we're looking forward to our nightly sessions!

Balancing Rock, Delicate Arch, The Windows, Wall Street, Devils Garden, Landscape Arch, are only a few of the locations we will visit. But outside of Arches NP there is also plenty to photograph, like the countless bird's eye views of the regions many stone canyons and spires from the high plateaus of Canyonlands National Park. And for those that like hiking, there are even more landscape gems to discover. We already know where to find them, and what the best time of day is for photography, so we won't waste any time.

Moab will be our base from where we will start our daily excursions. It's a quaint little town, but it's got everything we'll need, including good food.

We expect this trip to fill up fast, so if you're interested in joining us - don't hesitate and book a spot on this tour. More information & images can be found on the photo tours page on our website. You can also download the detailed day-to-day schedule (PDF), with lots of panoramic images. Hope to see you there!