Paul Orzel photography

Back in 2007 my wife and I embarked on our first cross-country adventure. Five of us, including our 3 young sons, a minivan, and a pop-up camper traveled to the west coast and back from our home in northeast Ohio. We traversed 15 states, visited 6 National Parks, and had the time of our lives. Since then, we have taken many such trip, often doing so with a camper in tow and an aim to visit more National Parks, Monuments, and natural places.

My youngest son, who is now 19 years old, has little memory of that 2007 trip (he was just 3 years old at the time). His recent desire to visit Yosemite for the “first time” was the driving force behind this year’s trip. Planning began in January since campsites in busy parks, like Yosemite, must be booked far in advance. After months of preparation when we pulled out of the driveway and pointed West on June 26^th, 2023.

Our first destination was Vernal, Utah and The Gates of Lodore for a 4-day rafting trip. Along the journey to Vernal we found new and fun places while making short stops, including the best bison burgers we’ve even had. The rafting was incredible, as was all of Dinosaur National Monument and the Green River. Never having done a multi-day rafting trip before, I wasn’t sure what type of photography gear I could safely bring along. So, all of my photos during those magical days were snapshots taken with a waterproof point-n-shoot. Now, with some experience, I’ll know how to do some fine art photography on future trips of this sort.

Our next major site was the Ruby Mountains of Nevada. Ever heard of them? I had not. While planning this trip, I needed to find a route from Vernal Utah to the southern part of the Cascades in California. In the middle of this is Nevada. My mental image of Northern Nevada was flat desert. Once I began learning about that part of the state I realized how wrong I was! 

Departing from Vernal after a fantastic breakfast at Betty’s Café, we made our way past Salt Lake, to Bonneville. Of course, we had to stop and see the salt flats where speed is the name of the game. We overnighted in West Wendover (and watched The World’s Fastest Indian that night, of course) before driving to the Rubys. Having just half a day to explore these mountains, we pre-chose a specific hike with easy access, and which seemed achievable in a few hours. After driving to a campground in the mountains (about 30 minutes from the I80) we parked in a community lot and were greeted by the camp host. He was mostly interested in our vintage camper, but also gave us some good tips on the area’s hiking. The trailhead actually began at one of the campsites nearby. 

Being late morning with bright sun and long trail ahead I opted to leave my Actus and carry the smaller, lighter family camera as well as some water and a prototype tripod which I’ve been doing design work on. I needed to use and abuse this tripod over the next few weeks. Spoiler, our upcoming “epoch” tripod is amazing! Unfortunately, for some strange reason I left my wide brimmed hat and sunscreen in the car. What was I thinking? 

This trail took us into a wide canyon. We proceeded uphill, gaining elevation as our path traced a winding creek. The higher we got, the more snow and ice was among us. All the while, the creek ran wildly over rocks and falls alongside as it made its way the opposite direction. Mountain peaks came in and out of view in the distance. Simply put, we were walking through a fairy tale, and it got better with each step. About 1/3 of the way up I found a great viewpoint for a photograph. It was a bit off the main path, so I mentally marked the area to return. I envisioned a vertical shot in monochrome with a mountain peak in the background (top, left of frame), some aspens in the middle, and the creek running through the lower portion of the frame. 

We proceed on, through the canyon, traversing two snow fields, until we reached an area surrounded by a semi-circle of mountainsides. The path ended here. The earth was laced with snowy patches, green grass, and flowers in bewildering harmony. The creek dropped into various pools through this valley before it proceeded on, down the canyon. Smaller rivulets wandered among the rocks and grass. Everything was breathtaking. We meandered here for some time before turning back. Upon reaching our car and camper I immediately slung on my photo backpack and turned back to the trailhead while Shelly and Eddie had some lunch. Clouds were moving in fast and the relatively clear sky we had the prior few hours looked like it would soon be a solid, overcast grey. I thought this would blow the chance of getting that particular photograph but was motivated to try for it anyhow. 

I hustled back up the path fast. A few times thought I might have missed the viewpoint. After second guessing myself more than once, and nearly turning back, I found it. Yep, the sky was a solid grey as I had feared. Oh well, I’ll have to make do with it and frame the shot differently. As I set up and took a few reasonably good, initial photos I noticed some light starting to creep through on my right. I watched as those clouds slowly moved; and I anticipated the light might just make it through to illuminate the trees and creek in my frame perhaps 10 to 15 minutes from now. So, I waited and watched. Meanwhile, I noticed a few more clouds start to break up far in the distance, just a bit, to the right of a mountain top I wanted in the scene. Could it be that the light would coincide with some breaks in the sky appearing over the mountain at the same time? I’m not usually so lucky, but I reframed my camera in the hope… the anticipation… the wish of this. I had my Actus ready to go with a Mamiya G 50mm lens on the front, about 3 degrees of front tilt and a bit of rear rise to create the right focus and framing. A ProMaster IRND 32 filter would give me the shutter speed I desired to get the water in the creek looking just right. A final ND grad over the top, left corner would help bring out the contrast of the sky behind the mountain. 

This was my lucky day! The light hit the aspens and creek just as the clouds and sky appeared in beautiful harmony over the mountain peak. I found myself awestruck and shaking a bit as I pressed the cable release to capture the image. 

As I made my way back down the path I had a thought: “with 2 more weeks of vacationing to go I’m satisfied to know if this is the only photograph I take, I am trilled!”. Looking back now, there were a few more keepers I shot over the remainder of that time. My next few posts will be about them.