“Stained Sandstone, Lichen” — Lichen grows along a water stain on a Utah sandstone cliff face.
I recall the first time that I became truly aware of the variety of patterns and texture found in the Sandstone faces of The Southwest. I was photographing deep in a canyon in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument with friends when I got the idea to keep my eyes open for petroglyphs, something I had not previously thought much about. Before long, I started imagining petroglyphs everywhere. Eventually, realizing that was impossible, I figured out that the rocks and erosion processes themselves produce remarkable patterns.
“Stream and Sandstone Cliff” — Sandstone cliffs at the bend in the canyon of a remote Utah river.
This is a photograph from over a decade ago. (More on how it ended up here today below.) A small group of us spent time photographing in Utah, often in remote places. One day we dropped into a canyon and followed this stream. As so often happens in these narrow, winding canyons, “one good turn led to another,” and we kept going as each bend revealed another interesting section. We finally stopped very close to this scene, made some final photographs, and headed back upstream.
“Photographer, Canyon Country” — Photographer at work deep in a Southwest Utah canyon.
Deserts offer few clues about the scale of the landscape. Unlike forest scenes, where trees often provide a frame of reference, plants play a lesser role. Even when there are plants it can be unclear from a distance whether they are large trees or small shrubs. Here the inclusion of the human figure clarifies the scale of the grand Utah red rock landscape.
“Two Towers” — Two backlit sandstone towers, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Stopping to photograph these formations was almost an afterthought. We had been far down a remote road in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument photographing even more obscure locations, and we were headed back towards Escalante. Not being familiar with this area back then, I was surprised when we stopped here along the way, but then this little red rock garden began to attract me.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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