Sometimes, things don’t go my way on a photo shoot.  Sometimes, I walk into a bad situation which I couldn’t have predicted.  When that happens, I must do my best to make the best of it.  Otherwise, it was all in vain.  This photo shoot was just such an experience for me.  The situation was far less than ideal, but I did my best with what I had.  See what I came back from a fiery furnace with.

I planned this photo shoot a month and a half in advance.  It was supposed to be the perfect time to try for a good sunset shot.  Also, I planned on adding an astro shoot in as well.  The Milky Way would rise at a decent time and the moon would set early.  It was perfect, or so I thought.  What I didn’t count on was a nearby fire.

As it turns out, I arrived at the Escalante Toadstools trail within a few hours of the Deer Springs fire being reported.  Someone reported it around 1PM that day.  However, the fire was already raging.  The massive column of smoke already filled the air and darkened the skies.  All I needed on an already dry and hot day was to add smoke inhalation.

So, I figured that this shoot was a bust.  Still, I wanted to do the hike again and give it a try anyways.  You never know what you will get unless you try.  I’ve managed to take less than ideal conditions and still create beautiful landscape photos.  So, I gave it a try.

The short hike really did feel a bit like walking in a fiery furnace.  The sky full of smoke, the early July heat, the orange color of the rocks surrounding me.  Thankfully, I came prepared with lots of water and the fire wouldn’t actually trouble me at the toadstools (other than the smoke, that is).

I tried a few shots actually using the smoke as a compositional element.  Some worked out.  Others did not.  Still, it was worth the experiment either way.

As sunset approached, I had a few hopes that the sun would light up the smoke the way it can light up the clouds.  I wasn’t counting on it as this column of smoke overhead was thick.  So, when the right moment came, nothing happened.  There were a couple clouds visible which showed off that pink tone.  So, I knew I was left with the dull gray skies of the smoke.  However, sometimes, this can work in my favor.

The camera can sometimes pick up subtleties which the eye cannot.  Also, post-processing can do a lot to make up for less-than-ideal conditions.  Honestly, I didn’t think I captured much of anything worth looking at.  I was wrong.  As you can see, I did indeed come back with beautiful landscape photos from that fiery furnace, in spite of the smoky skies.  In some of these photos, you wouldn’t know that the skies were choked with smoke.

Sadly, thanks to that very smoke which gave interest to some of the skies here, I couldn’t do the astro shoot I wanted.  The stars would not have been visible.  Even if they were, the column of smoke would obscure much of the Milky Way I wanted to shoot.  Oh well.  I’ll have to try that again sometime later.

Now I turn things over to you, reader.  What do you think of this fiery furnace trip?  How about a disaster of a photo shoot going sideways?  Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.