The Unlikely Companion
Astrophotography Scouting in Moab, Utah
April 12-15, 2019
During the middle of April, Tony and I flew out to Utah to scout locations for an Astrophotgraphy workshop that we would be hosting for 319 Photography later in the year.
What we would experience in and around Moab was more unforgettable than we ever imagined.
The first unexpected event on the journey happened as soon as we arrived in the Salt Lake City airport, when the woman at the car rental counter asked if we’d like a free upgrade to a Mustang.
After a brief “Hell Yes!”, we took the keys into the lot and discovered they hadn’t just given us a Mustang.
They gave us a 420 horsepower, 5.0 liter V8 Mustang GT!
Despite a near-lifelong hatred of Mustangs, this car would become a trusted companion, and my surprising muse, as it catapulted us hundreds of miles around Utah.
Our trip from Salt Lake City to Moab would bring us in after nightfall, the landscape around us hidden in darkness, with only looming silhouettes towering along the sides of the road as we pulled in.
After discovering there would be a break in the weather, we set out into Canyonlands National Park to Mesa Arch, where we would meet another photographer who led us to a more secluded location to watch the sunrise.
Mesa Arch is notoriously crowded at sunrise, so we followed this kind stranger, racing through the dark, trying to beat the sun.
Our gamble was worth it, and we ended up catching a spectacular sunrise over Shafer Canyon. Our first view of the dramatic vistas around Moab was truly awe inspiring!
Take note of the road on the left side of the image above. It would become, unknown to us, a major player in the most incredible leg of our journey just two nights later.
As we explored Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, and Dead Horse Point State Park, we found one incredible composition after another. Tony was truly in his element, carefully selecting filters and lenses that would perfectly capture the beauty before us.
I was similarly in my element, capturing the human aspect of the adventure.
All the while, we’re finding so many locations for the 319 Photography workshop that we can barely keep track!
As the sun set on our third day in Utah, the overnight weather forecast did not look great. And since we were scouting locations to shoot the Milky Way, that was a problem.
While sitting at dinner, we were discussing locations we still wanted to scout and shoot. We had visited Dead Horse Point from the spot where everyone in the world has photographed the bend in the Colorado River, but it just wasn’t right.
Tony had spotted a dirt road far below the tourist overlook, and I pulled up the area on Google Maps and found what he had seen.
The weather app I use (which is NOTORIOUSLY accurate) predicted a 2 hour break in the cloud cover just before dawn in that location, so I dropped a pin on the map and we took a chance on driving on an unknown road in the middle of the night to pray for a good composition and a break in the weather…
As we entered Canyonlands National Park once again, we found that the turnoff to my dropped pin was down a dirt road with a sign cautioning that only APPROPRIATE off-road vehicles should attempt to pass.
Armed with our low-clearance, 420 horsepower Mustang GT and an experienced Colorado Rocky Mountain road pilot (myself), we pushed on for over 8 miles, which took nearly 2 hours carefully navigating large rocks and deep divots in the road.
Once again, we reached our destination in the dead of night, clouds overhead, unable to see the landscape around us, and waiting for a break in the clouds.
But we were sitting on top of the iconic bend in the river, right where we hoped.
The weather app would come through, once again, and the clouds exited as if on cue, just two short hours before sunrise. We broke out the cameras and shot until the sun came up.
As the sun rose, once again a SPECTACULAR landscape was revealed to us. A truly awesome experience, entering in the dark, and experiencing the views around us for the first time as the sun came up.
We didn’t realize it at the time, but after the trip ended we discovered that the road we had driven down in the dark to reach our destination beside the river was in fact the road we had seen down the middle of Shafer Canyon on our very first morning in Utah.
As we ascended the steep switchbacks in the morning light in our unlikely off-road vehicle, we were met with many sideways glances. In fact, a man in a jeep stopped as we were shooting our last images on the road back up to ask if we had REALLY driven down that road in THAT car.
We informed him that we had done so in the dark, no less. To which he replied, “I give Jeep tours here, and you’re making us look bad!”
We laughed and he followed up with “It MUST be a rental!”
Having traveled hundreds of miles in this car, experiencing everything from going 137 mph down a bone-straight road in the middle of nowhere, to traversing sheer canyon switchbacks, I gained an appreciation and a love for our trusty white steed that I didn’t expect.
I still hate Mustangs…
… just not THAT one.