Turret Arch - Arches National Park, Utah - Tips for photos and travel

Turret Arch is a very well known geological structure inside the Arches National Park, Utah. Arches National Park contains the world's largest concentration of natural stone arches. Once you are here, you can plan to Hike, Bike, Do rock climbing, horse riding, ATV off-road tours etc. Perhaps even take the Guided tours .Unfortunately I reached there around noon. The flat light will make the pictures dull. If you can reach there for sunset you can really make the pictures pop. Here is a map of the location.

Map of Arches National Park

Tips for getting good photos here

• The best times to visit and photograph this location is early morning or late evening. The color of the red rocks will be enhanced by the good lighting.
• Watch for the forecast as it rained the day we went there and we lost much time.
• Pack your lunch and snacks and get lots of water. Rest rooms and Drinking water are available only in very select locations inside the park.
• You would need a tripod and a polarizing filter to get good shots
• If you have a neutral density filter, that would help when the sky is real bright.
• Try out multiple exposures for HDRs and experiment with Panos
• Make sure that you don't obstruct other persons view when u shoot

The park has a nominal entrance fee of 10$ per vehicle which is good for 7 days. Make sure that you book your accommodation in advance as The nearby town of MOAB will get filled easily on summer weekends. The downtown has some excellent shops to buy Native Indian art and some good restaurants. Make sure that you grab a copy of the Downtown guide from your hotel. Its is also available in the shops along on the sidewalk. While you are there, please don't forget the Other major parks there like the Canyonlands National Park and Zion

I would Suggest getting one of the following books that would help you understand more about the park and the state

More Information

http://www.nps.gov/arch/

Tips on Low Light Photography - part II

Garden Of Gods, 1805 N 30th Street (at Gateway Rd.)
Colorado Springs, CO 80904

www.gardenofgods.com

Garden of Gods features some amazing red rock formations in the state. This is a free for all park that offers unpaved hiking paths, interesting challenges for rock climbers, sandstone formations, a wonderful view of Pikes Peak, etc. To make interesting photographs you need to visit this place early before sunrise or during late evenings. This time was my second visit here and i reached there almost around sunset time. The picture above was taken after sunset.

Tech info on the Photo:

Camera:	Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure:	0.6 sec (3/5)
Aperture:	f/22
Focal Length:	18 mm
ISO Speed:	400
Exposure Bias:	0/3 EV

Here are some more tips to keep in mind while taking photos in low light.

1) I almost always use a tripod. This was already mentioned in the first part of this series but i cant stress this enough. This is the single most important factor in low light shooting.

2) Mirror Lockup. (MLU) . In canon SLR cameras like the rebel series, its available under custom functions. enabling this helps prevent some vibrations caused by the mirror lifting up when shutter is pressed.

3) Remote Cable release This is a very valuable tool. This will help prevent camera shake when u actually press the shutter. Since the switch is connected to the camera using a cable or in some cases Infra Red rays, the shake caused while pressing the shutter button will not transfer over to the camera.

The remote cable release is also very useful for taking Bulb exposures. (Bulb exposures are custom long exposures that is accessible through the manual mode. Basically you can keep the shutter open as long as you want by keeping the shutter button pressed.

More to follow... keep checking
Arun (www.asasidh.com)