This week, we continue catching up on new landscape photos created during spring and saved until now.  Here I present some photos which took me quite a while to make happen.  This should be most of the backlog now.  So, check out this elevated view and see what I needed to do to achieve it.

Elevation changes your perspective in photography.  Things open up and widen from top to bottom.  You can see things in a way simply not available from the ground.  Naturally, photographers of all kinds pursue different angles and elevations to capitalize on this phenomenon.  Many popular landscape scenes are, in fact, elevated views.  I’ve used the trick myself, in fact.  Today, I’m sharing another elevated view which I recently captured.

I saw a version of this very shot I wanted and couldn’t immediately figure out where the shot came from.  However, I wanted to try it myself.  A little internet research showed me that this isn’t a very common shot (yet).  But, the elevated view of Capitol Reef National Park’s Gifford barn isn’t as easy to achieve as it first seems.

With drones forbidden in NPS lands, that option for an elevated view is immediately wiped off the table.  There’s no way I’d attempt flying a drone THIS close to where the park rangers reside.  I’d get caught for sure and I really don’t want the $5000 fine or risk 6 months of jail time.  Besides, I don’t currently own a drone.  It’s all together a bad idea to try and achieve this elevated view of the barn using a drone.

So, if drones are out, how do you get a view like this without a drone?  The answer is simple.  You use your head and your feet.  I took a good hard look at a map of Capitol Reef to try and figure out how to achieve this shot.  I finally figured out where I would probably need to stand.  With some small doubt, I confirmed with a park ranger.  She told me that it was a likely place.

My first attempt at this shot didn’t work out.  There was a travel bus parked in frame which I couldn’t easily remove using Photoshop.  Sadly, I needed another attempt.  As I wanted green grass and green leaves on trees, that meant I needed to wait a while as my first attempt was in September.  Fall comes early, winter lingers, and spring comes late in these higher elevations.  This meant I needed to wait until practically summer to achieve the greenery look I wanted.

When late May rolled around, I found a way to make it out to Capitol Reef to attempt the elevated view of the barn again.  Thankfully, this time, there was no travel bus or van in the parking lot to ruin my view.  I scaled up to my previously chosen spot and took some test shots under the clouds.  The light was beautifully even and gave me a shot at the photo I wanted.  Why pass on the chance?  The cloudy indirect light provides a different feel than the indirect light of sunset blocked by hills.  You never know what will work best.

Still, I went back for sunset.  After all, golden hour is the best for landscape photography.  This second attempt in the same day yielded a horse out in the field this time.  That horse adds some color to the otherwise spectacular landscape scene below me.  I have seen better sunsets before, but this one was adequate for my needs.  There were clouds with color in frame, even if the color wasn’t as strong as I hoped.  I did need patience as there were several tourists and vehicles passing through.  Also, this last attempt yielded something rare in landscape photography for me: a photo which works equally well in both landscape and portrait orientations.  I have options.

During my trip to the park, the deer were out in full force.  There were a couple herds which decided to enjoy themselves close by.  I photographed them at multiple points during the day.  However, the harsh direct sunlight simply could not be avoided.  As the day wore on, the deer moved along towards the barn.  The the time of my second attempt of the day, they were in position and lighting conditions for another rare achievement for me: a wildlife photography shot.

How picturesque is this?  We have amazing light, great scenery, and wildlife all in one shot!  What a fruitful trip!  I don’t think I could have asked for more from that photo expedition.  Now, I leave it to you.  What do you think of these latest additions?  Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.