Has anyone ever been to..............

[ignatiusjk]

Has anyone ever took their 4x5 to Arches National park? I was thinking about going there in the near future and was curious as t owhat it's like. What is the best time of year to visit as well?

[Vaughn]

No, just an 8x10. Avoid the summer (people and heat).

Avoid Delicate Arch -- unless you like people in your image of a over-photographed icon (yes, I have photographed Half Dome :D ).

Actually endless desert rock type of images there -- very nice. Actually the monsoon season (late July or so) can be interesting with the thunderstorms (don't lift your metal tripod too high!)...but 100+F.

I camped along the Colorado River right outside the park (BLM campgrounds) -- less people, some shade -- just have to put up with vault toilets instead of flushers. No water in the campgrounds, but there is a great spring right along the road -- not far after you turn off the main road...you can't miss it. Moab is very close to hang out in during the high heat of the day.

Vaughn

[memorris]

Have never been there in the summer but spring is nice. There can be snow in Canyonlands. Avoid Jeep Week, they come in droves and many seem determined to be jerks. But even in early March, there are a lot of people there.

[Robert Oliver]

I've shot Arches NP in summer and winner with 4x5. Winter is way cooler and you can shoot longer during the day because of the sun's lower trajectory through the sky.

Late summer is hot, but clouds can be spectacular. Thunderstorms can get pretty wild. I limit work to the very beginning and end of the day.

attached is a shot from last August shot on a 4x5 with 120 roll film back.

[Bruce Watson]

I was just in Arches in mid-May. Had a lot of fun with the 5x4 there.

Spring isn't my favorite season on the Colorado Palateau because it's often ferociously windy. There were a couple of photographs in Arches I just couldn't make because of the gale force winds.

I think fall is probably the best time. More interesting clouds, lower temperatures than summer, less tourists than summer. Winter is perhaps good also (never been) because the high desert gets the occasional dusting of snow which should be nice.

And in Arches, all you have to do is walk down a trail from an overlook to get away from the vast majority of people. The Park Avenue (http://www.us-parks.com/arches-national-park/park-avenue.html) overlook is an example. Often crushed with cars and people, but the trail that runs down the middle is often nearly deserted. And it's where the more interesting photographs are IMHO.

And make sure you carry plenty of water with you any time of year in Arches. Any trail you take. It is definitely a desert.

[Drew Wiley]

Probably thousands of 4x5's have been there. I like fall (late Oct/early Nov) because
more comfortable plus only a short drive to the aspen etc colors in the LaSal Mtns or
Abajo Mtns. The nothern section of Canyonlands is right there too, and a single park
pass is valid for both. Just park somewhere and start walking, and you'll find a lot of
interesting things which are not stereotypes of the scenery. The fabulous Fisher Towers and Castle Valley are there too, just outside of Moab.

[Erik Larsen]

I usually go to the Moab area once or twice a month. It is a great area to explore and photograph. Spring and Fall are usually windy in the afternoon in this area of the country. Spring and fall are also the most crowded times to visit as the weather is nice and the mountain bikers and rock climbers rule the area and the campsites. Hotels are plentiful in Moab however. Summer is brutal heat and is usually the time that the European and Asian tourist visit in droves. June is gnat month so beware of the little relentless nuisance. I like winter the best as the place is deserted and the rocks look nice with a little snow on them. Bruce is right about getting away from the view points, most people only venture a few hundred feet from their air conditioned cars and thats it:) Canyonlands sees a lot less visitors than Arches any time of year. I love the area and never get sick of it any time of year. I hope you visit and maybe you'll see me loitering around the area:) Here's a shot from the Professor valley area 25 or so miles north of Moab. It's an 11x14 carbon transfer on aluminum. I think it was taken in March.
regards
erik

[rguinter]

Erik: Now that is nice! I've not heard of carbon transfer so I'll have to read up a bit on it. Even on my flat screen monitor I can see the delicate shading. I particularly like the darkened sky as if done with infrared and a heavy filter. Cheers. Bob G.

[Erik Larsen]

Erik: Now that is nice! I've not heard of carbon transfer so I'll have to read up a bit on it. Even on my flat screen monitor I can see the delicate shading. I particularly like the darkened sky as if done with infrared and a heavy filter. Cheers. Bob G.

thanks Bob, I did use an orange filter with efke 100. give carbon a try, it's a lot of fun.
regards
erik

[Vaughn]

Very very nice piece, Erik. I'll have to dig thru my negs and find the couple I did at Arches with the 8x10 (family vacation so I did not have the opportunity to do more). I don't remember any that deserve carbon, but sometimes one sees something in the negs after some time has passed (was there July 2007).

Vaughn

[gevalia]

Was just there in April. Interesting with a blanket of snow. Great at sunset and sunrise and under moonlight. I've found that most of the photogs there just want snappies so if you linger a bit, most likely you'll have a place to yourself. And most will not go more than 10 minutes from their car. If it's cold, all the better.

http://ronmiller.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Black-and-White-Landscapes/img586fixedbook/893280791_WRWww-XL-1.jpg

The obvious shot just a few hundred feet from the car.

[Erik Larsen]

Very very nice piece, Erik. I'll have to dig thru my negs and find the couple I did at Arches with the 8x10 (family vacation so I did not have the opportunity to do more). I don't remember any that deserve carbon, but sometimes one sees something in the negs after some time has passed (was there July 2007).

Vaughn

Thanks Vaughn,
I'm sure you captured something interesting back then, it's hard not to in that area:)
erik

[Rick A]

Definitly a great place to visit in spring time. Autumn is awesome, but winter is spectacular if you hit the weather just right. Avoid in the summer, tourists and heat are gruesome, especially all the digipacking touristas.

[Duane Polcou]

Arches is a great park to roam about on your own, as long as you do not step on any cryptobiotic soil (the brown crust seemingly everywhere). 99% of the tourists go to Delicate Arch, Double O Arch, Park Avenue, and The Fiery Furnace. There are many trails which lead to spectacular but lesser known arches, which receive very little foot traffic by comparison. Moab photographer Steve Mulligan published a fine book, "Courthouse Wash", featuring his 4x5 Black and White images of the area .

Boulders and Desert Varnish, Arches NP
Wista VX, 4x5 Tech Pan Film, 90mm Nikkor

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu205/duanepolcou/UT-ArchesBouldersFramecopy.jpg

[Matt Sienko]

We were there last winter. It was beautiful. The weather was VERY cold as we were there during record lows for the month of December. Still, there were a surprising number of people there.

Picture this: It's our first morning there, we drive out to Turret Arch before sunrise, the temperature reads 0 degrees Fahrenheit on the way there, and there is anywhere from a few inches to a few feet of snow on the ground. Pulling into the parking lot, what do we see? A tour bus unloading about 70 tourists! It turns out that very few of them wanted to walk on the snowy/icy trails, so we didn't have to go far to leave the crowd.

Most of the days there it was snowing and that did keep some people away. Still, delicate arch was fairly busy. It was stunning and definitely worth seeing, but if it was busy in the cold snow in the winter, I can't imagine what it is like in the summer.

The whole area is gorgeous and I definitely plan on going back. Arches NP was smaller than I was expecting, but Canyonlands is huge and equally impressive.

Funny thing was, with a 4x5 camera I was as much a spectacle to some peaple as the scenery!

[Brian Ellis]

I spent 9 days there (and in nearby Canyonlands) in late April, the third time I was there. It wasn't crowded and wasn't windy. If it's your first time I'd suggest downloading a copy of the "Photograph America" publication on Arches ($8 on line, www.photographamerica.com). You'll want to do some exploring on your own but it gives you a good start in terms of places to photograph in Arches and the best times of day. As others have said, the summers in that part of the southwest are brutal and the national parks are crowded with visitors from other countries. I wouldn't go to Arches from May through September.