Monument Valley in Utah is characterized by many sandstone formations called buttes.These rise up from the plateau and the tallest one rises 300m. They are quite the sight to see. This area is privately owned by the Navajo nation and there is only one hotel to stay in if you are visiting this place.
Hoping for a sunrise view, we woke up at 5:30am and were outside in the cold waiting for sunrise by 6:15am. Temperatures was about 22deg F but the windchill made it unbearable. While we waited, we saw a faint predawn glow. Here are the buttes in the backdrop of the glow.
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| Pre Dawn |
About the Photograph:
ISO 1600, f22, 18mm,1/6
(Thinking about it now that is a pretty high ISO; the previous night i was trying to shoot stars and probably forgot to correct it)  |
| East Mitten Butte |
About the Photograph:
ISO 1600, f22, 119mm,1/15
As we continued to wait, I was getting impatient and i was playing around and came across this idea. I just created two more buttes. Take a guess as to how this was done. It made for a pretty cool picture. Remember, you saw it here first!
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| The five buttes |
About the Photograph:
ISO 200, f22, 23mm,1/15
The sun came out to the right of the monument, which was not optimal because it did not illuminate the butte. There was a bigger butte which was illuminated.
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| Red rock Formation |
About the Photograph:
ISO 200, f18, 33mm,1/8
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| Sunstar |
About the Photograph:
ISO 200, f20, 22mm,1/20
After snapping a few more pictures, I rushed back to a warm inviting bed and within minutes I was sleeping like a baby. Later that morning, we drove around the valley on the dirt roads. There is a loop which goes around the buttes and it gets pretty dusty. While driving around there, I found this family that was chilling out by their Ford Edge, one person was reading while the other was taking in the view. I think this makes for a great advertising photo for the Edge but Ford wont accept any unsolicited material!What a shame.
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| Ford Edge, Drive Anywhere! |
About the Photograph:
ISO 200, f16, 35mm,1/40
PS: I am in no way associated with Ford or Ford Edge.
At all the viewpoints, you will find native Indian people selling jewellery and some interesting fridge magnets made out of burnt wood.
After driving around the buttes, there are fantastic views of the buttes from behind. This view was probably better for sunrise too, although the sun would still rise from the left in this picture.
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| The buttes from behind |
About the Photograph:
ISO 200, f20, 23mm,1/40
As we completed our drive, we came back to the starting point and the views from the front were pretty dramatic too.
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| Buttes from front |
About the Photograph:
ISO 200, f20, 18mm,1/80
And so we concluded our visit to Monument Valley, we headed out for the classic Road shot. We drove out on 163. As we started driving we went up a small incline and as we reached the top, we came upon a wonderful view of vast desert lands beyond.
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| Looking away from Monument Valley |
About the Photograph:
ISO 200, f20, 92mm,1/80
The classic road shot is usually taken from Mile 13 on Rte 163. There are countless posters of this shot. As we drove there, it dawned upon us that it was too late in the afternoon to take this shot. The sun was behind the buttes and was now just creating a silhouette. Usually, this photo would be like the one above with the buttes in the horizon. I was extremely disappointed but nevertheless clicked some pictures. I usually do not like sunflares and was annoyed even more. Long after my trip, I saw a similar picture that a friend had taken and loved the effect. I edited my photo, increased the shadow such that the only thing visible was the road and the buttes. I love this effect - thanks (Mahintha Chandramouli).
About the Photograph:
ISO 200, f22, 76mm,1/80
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