An evening on the Notom Road
“So what are you going to do on your week off?”
My head spun around, “WE HAVE A WEEK OFF???”
I guess I ought to look at the calendar instead of making assumptions more often. It turned out that the string players who were not part of the Utah Opera performance of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci,” of which I was one, did NOT actually have a full week off. But when I realized that I had THREE WHOLE DAYS unexpectedly free, I asked Scot if I could take the car and go someplace for photography. Woo-hoo!
I had just come from Capitol Reef; the musicians who weren’t part of the opera production were on tour playing concerts in schools in Manti, Richfield, and Bicknell. My trips to Capitol Reef have always been work adjacent; the Utah Symphony would be nearby and we would have time to do a quick hike in the park before dark. I’ve never had an opportunity to visit Capitol Reef specifically for photography.
Except this image which I took on a quick hike on a tour in 2023.
One area I wanted to visit was the Waterpocket Fold district. I was pretty sure that the Subaru would be able to handle the road itself, but I wasn’t sure that I had enough time to really be able to explore adequately for photography.
Enter Hunter Page and Capitol Reef Photography Tours. I’d first been aware of Capitol Reef Photography Tours because of a previous Utah Symphony trip. Our hotel had an advertisement for their photo workshops, so I started following on Instagram. When I saw that they offered a Waterpocket Fold tour, I did a last minute check of the forecast, signed up, left the dogs in Scot’s care and went to Torrey.
Hunter picked me up at my hotel. When I got in his truck, I thought I heard something familiar on the radio, so I asked what he was listening to.
BOB DYLAN. Ok, so I guess I’m in the right place. Did he cyber stalk me to figure out my musical tastes? I don’t know, but we talked about Bob, Neil Young, and other favorite musicians until I was distracted by the landscape and couldn’t talk anymore.
We talked a lot about looking for layers in the landscape, and how to use a zoom lens properly to bring out those layers, and zero in on smaller scenes in the larger landscape. I learned a lot about how to better accomplish that on this outing, thanks Hunter!
I loved this little juniper bush. It made me think of how the bird/wildlife photographer Ray Hennessy shoots '“small in frame” birds, showing a small bird in its larger habitat. This bush is tiny, tiny, tiny in this landscape. It must have such resilience to survive here. Someone told me that the juniper is too small and unidentifiable to be a significant part of the image, but to me it’s everything.
Down there…right down there… in the right lower corner is the same juniper bush from the previous image. Layers upon layers, small in frame, the Henry Mountains looking over it all. Honestly I probably included too much in this image but I don’t care.
Maybe right now we are all that little juniper, everything around us is huge, maybe we are overwhelmed. But we can be resilient. The juniper is a survivor.
Right?
More layers. I exposed this one high key and included the sky just so it would feel bright, like it was…but also kind of hazy, like it was. That’s Utah…
Unfortunately, a cloud moved in front of the horizon for sunset and we didn’t get great light, or *any* light for that matter. But the slight haziness and the blue darkness did create a mood, and I still had a blast with Hunter, learning about zoom lenses, looking for layers, chatting through my brain dead problem with hyper-focal distance, which I am determined to practice.
Moonfall
It’s a weird image and doesn’t fit in with the rest.
Maybe a self-portrait in moon…
I can’t wait until the next time I can get back to this area. Be right back, going to pore over my calendar looking for three free days.
it’s constant
If you’re ever in the Capitol Reef area and want to go on a single day outing, or a longer workshop, reach out to Hunter Page and Capitol Reef Photography Workshops. You’ll have a blast, you can ride and gawk at the scenery, and talk about Bob Dylan. If you want to. I generally want to…