/// Wild Tracks - Landscape Photography by Eduardo Gallo

WILD TRACKS

Passion for Landscape Photography

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Near Sevier Lake, UT, USA

October 2010

Near Sevier Lake, UT, USA

Canon 5D MkII & EF 70-200mm f/4L USM, 1/750s f/8 ISO400 @87mm

Google Earth for this photo
INTENSITY

Driving west from Salt Lake City towards Great Basin National Park over the border with Nevada is basically a matter of not falling asleep on the wheel while cruising along miles and miles of straight road, surrounded on all sides by the barren landscape of the generally dry Sevier Lake and surrounding wastelands. Being late afternoon, I was mainly worried about reaching the park mountains as soon as possible and finding a suitable campsite with enough time left to do some photography in the warm evening light. At least, that was the plan according to the radio weather forecast, which had no resemblance to the heavy clouds I could see in all directions.

The weather was turning from bad to worse although I could notice some nice cloud formations in the distance, but I was reluctant to stop and take any photos as there was nothing of interest in the foreground and I was short on time anyway. Then, all of a sudden, after the road gained a little elevation to overcome an insignificant hill, I noticed the sun breaking through the clouds in the distance and hitting the land with a dark warm light. After a short minute wasted considering the pros and cons of stopping, I made a U turn, drove back to the top of the hill, parked on the shoulder, and got to business in a hurry, as I knew the nice light was not going to last. I rapidly scrambled to the top of a few rocks to gain some additional perspective, unfolded the tripod, loaded a short telephoto, and luckily was able to shoot a couple of different compositions before the light subdued. This is the one I like the most.

From that point on I kept alert the rest of the drive looking for interesting shots, but never again did I find anything close to what you can see above. I reached the park, found a beautiful campsite by a creek, and drove up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Road. I was fortunate to get some nice light right before sunset before the first snow of the season started to fall. By the next morning, there were five inches of it outside the tent.

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