3 Apr
2010

Posted in: Arches National Park
By Ian Plant    9 Comments

The Power of Persistence

While scouting for an upcoming Creative Visions Nature Photography Workshop in Moab, Utah, fellow photographer Joe Rossbach and I decided to spend a day exploring a rarely visited red rock canyon in the Castle Valley area just outside of Arches National Park. I enjoy getting off the beaten path, and photographing areas that are overlooked by the hordes of photographers that too often descend on more popular places. The little canyon we choose was perfect in that regard: tucked away down a unmarked dirt road, and then a three-mile hike along a muddy wash, we saw only one set of footprints that day, but not a single other living soul.

The path meandered along a small stream in the wash, crossing the stream dozens of times as cliff walls came and went along its banks. After two hours of leaping back and forth across the 4-foot wide stream, the canyon narrowed, its cliffs rising on either side as high as seventy feet, until the trail abruptly ended at a beautiful 15-foot split waterfall cascading around a large boulder wedged in the canyon. We arrived late in the afternoon on a beautiful sunny day, and the canyon’s sandstone walls were glowing with light reflected from above. Although we had warmed up considerably during the sunny hike into the canyon, once deep within its shaded interior, we quickly began to feel the chill of the day, which was hovering only a few degrees above freezing. Out came jackets, hats, and gloves, as well as water shoes for wading.

Joe and I made a number of photographs in the canyon, capturing images of the glowing walls and the waterfall. As we neared the falls, we were quickly drenched by an abundance of spray. We both began the arduous procedure required to protect our lenses from moisture build-up which would ruin our shots: compose, wipe spray from lens with a cloth, hold cloth over lens to keep it dry until ready to take the shot, remove cloth and quickly trigger the shutter, repeat as necessary. More often than not, spray would build up too fast, and the shot would be ruined, but with some persistence, we both managed to make some spray-free shots.

During this time, standing in the cold water with nothing but flip-flops on my feet, my body temperature began to drop. To warm up, a would leave the spray zone under the waterfall, head slightly down-canyon again, and stop to wipe my lens and camera clean and try some different compositions. Once I felt somewhat warmer, I would head back to the falls, and try again to get a spray-free shot. I did this several times, experimenting with new compositions, until I was simply too cold. Shivering, with wet fingers numb from cold, I decided to head downstream again, this time for good.

I stopped to frame a composition of a small cascade with the waterfall far in the background before I left. Joe began to hike further downstream, leaving me alone with my thoughts. While setting up the shot, I paused and stared at the waterfall. My images, which I had reviewed on my LCD screen several times, just didn’t seem to do justice to the wild beauty of this place. Cold, wet, and miserable, dangerously close to hypothermia, I cursed persistence as I headed upstream for one more try. This time, I would make an image worthy of this magnificent canyon.

Standing once again in the spray below the waterfall, I searched for a different angle, something that would work better than the images I had made before. Nothing jumped out at me. Then, as if answering a silent summons, I started to move forward, not sure what I was doing, wading through frigid knee-deep water, passing under a drenching curtain of liquid, finally emerging in a small grotto behind the falls. Under the boulder splitting the falls, I found a dry space, a small sanctuary from spray and dripping water. Turning around, I found a magical scene of glowing red sandstone and shimmering blue water. I knew then that I had found the image I was looking for. Persistence had paid off.

“Sanctuary” © Ian Plant

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About Ian Plant  (275 Posts)

Ian Plant's photographs and instructional articles have appeared in a number of books, calendars, and magazines, including Outdoor Photographer and Popular Photography. Ian writes a regular blog column for Outdoor Photographer online, and he is the author of numerous instructional eBooks and digital processing tutorials. Ian leads several photo tours each year.