The Traveling Widower

Category: photography

Top level category for photography related posts

  • Moab & Arches National Park – First Impressions

    A vintage GMC truck with a playful face painted on the front, featuring large eyes and a big smiling mouth. The truck is rusted and weathered, parked in front of a wooden building with trees and a cloudy sky in the background.

    April 16th, 2026

    This has been a very different kind of trip for me so far – I usually have enough free time to work on blog posts, but I have been either driving, hiking, or doing something with cameras pretty much the entire time I’ve been here. And finding time to sleep has been a problem as well. So, here is an update on this trip before my afternoon nap, and heading out for about a 12 hours photo shoot this evening…..in the freezing cold.

    My flight out to Salt Lake City was uneventful – it’s only a 2 hour flight, and we got in early. For the first time in a very long time, I even arrived at the airport slightly less than 2 hours from departure. I’m living on the edge these days..

    This is the first time I’ve flown into Salt Lake City since, oh, maybe 1980 when I had a class in some long forgotten technology. I’ll bet the airport did not have jetways back then, and you boarded/departed the plane on stairs. Anyway, the airport is enormous now, and finding the rental car counters was a challenge. I eventually found Budget, got a little Chevy SUV-like thing, and headed south-east to Moab. What a beautiful drive! Once you get out of the main highway (US 15) past Provo, the landscape is incredible. It was a very pleasant drive on a mostly four-lane highway with lots of rest stops,  but it was very nice to finally motor into Moab around 5 o’clock. 

    As I mentioned in the last post, I have only been to Moab once before, in my undergraduate geology field camp back in 1972. Moab back then was a mining town – there was a huge uranium mine and processing plant, which closed in 1984, leaving a lot of tailings and waste to clean up. Back then, there was not much of a reason for tourists to flock here, so the town was pretty small. Now the main street is filled with brew pubs (yes, in Utah), restaurants, jeep tour offices and of course the usual tourist shops selling t-shirt/western type stuff. And a lot of hotels. And at least four ice cream and/or gelato shops. I kind of like the place – the town has nice vibes, sort of a larger version of Kanab Ut. And it is a 10 minute drive to the park entrance.

    A street view of a small town with shops, including a sign for Arches Trading Post. People walk along the sidewalk, and cars are parked nearby. The sky is bright with clouds and there are mountains in the background.

    After settling into a very nice room and grabbing some dinner at a nearby restaurant, I decided to take advantage of what was forecast to be a cloudless, but a bit windy, night. I might as well give it a try on my own. I did a Google search (of course) on the best location in the park for night photography, and chose one that sounded interesting (Balanced Rock), which was not too deep a drive into the park since I was pretty tired from the flight and drive. I loaded my gear and warm clothing into my sporty little Chevy, and headed off to the park a bit before sunset. 

    There were no lines getting into the park – it is open 24X7 but the entry booths are not staffed at night. Once you get past the entry point, the drive was one big “OMG” for me. The landscape is incredible – enormous walls of red sandstone, huge fins and rock towers. Absolutely spectacular. Very much different than Zion or Bryce. It was about a ten minute drive to the parking lot for the Balanced Rock – I pulled in, and did a quick walk-around to figure out where to set up once it got dark. And took a few pictures while it was light of course.

    A man with glasses and a winter hat stands in front of distinctive rock formations during dawn, surrounded by desert vegetation.
    A clear evening sky transitioning from dusk to night, featuring a prominent contrail from an aircraft and a small celestial body, with a silhouetted mountain range in the foreground.
    A balanced rock formation in a desert landscape with blue sky, featuring a tall, slender column topped by a large boulder.

    There were a few other cars in the lot, also waiting for nightfall, and a steady stream of tourists stopping for selfies. Once the sun went down, few if any cars stopped by, but there was a steady stream of traffic heading towards the park exit, even at 10PM, there were still cars driving by. This was a problem for night photography – with a 20 second shutter speed, a passing car can ruin a shot. Or in some cases as I discovered, it actually helps to have the rocks “light painted”.

    A nighttime landscape featuring distinctive rock formations under a starry sky, with a visible meteor streaking across the scene.

    The other problem I had was with groups wandering around in the dark – it was incredibly dark so that you could not even see a foot in front of you. Every now and then, I would hear voices of people coming down the path and had to warn them before they walked into my tripod. There were also groups with flashlights, randomly pointing at the rock formations. Crazy town. 

    Eventually, I had my fill of this location, and decided to head back towards town. I made one more stop at another location requiring a short walk down a gravel path, and after that, headed back to the hotel. I was way too tired to look at any of the results, and just collapsed in bed.

    The next morning, I downloaded the photos on the SSD card to my laptop, and started doing some editing using Adobe Lightroom CC – I have been learning how to use this software, (Youtube videos), but I’m still a novice. Mostly what I did was changes to exposure, clarity, shadows – all basic editing, which is allowed in competition. I was surprisingly pleased at how some of the shots came out, given my lack of experience with astrophotography –  I’ve still got a lot to learn about camera settings and processing with Lightroom. That’s why I’m taking this course.

    A clear night sky filled with numerous stars and constellations, with a gradient from dark blue to light near the horizon.
    A night sky filled with stars above towering rock formations, with a prominent balancing rock illuminated by light, and a faint streak of what appears to be a meteor or satellite.
    A stunning night sky filled with stars above a rocky formation, illuminated by a soft orange glow.

    And you can get a little crazy with the editing and get some very unnatural colors.

    A starry night sky over a unique rock formation, featuring a prominent balancing rock and lush vegetation silhouetted against the blue background.

    Thursday was another free day – the course officially started at 5:00PM when the group first met with the trip lead. Since I had most of the day free, I decided to check out the park in the daylight. Unfortunately, the weather was uncooperative for photography – heavy cloud cover and a lot of wind. But, I wanted to check out some of the famous arches and do a little hiking. The park was crowded, but not too bad – only a 15 minute wait to get through the entrance.

    Cars waiting in line at a park entrance with red rock formations in the background.

    First on my list was the best known feature of the park, the Delicate Arch. There are two trails to see this feature – one requires 3 miles of hiking on steep, rocky terrain, which gets you right up to the arch. The other is a mile hike up a steep, rocky trail which gets you to viewing area where you can see the hordes of people in the distance who hiked up the more difficult trail. I opted for the long range view, and I’m glad I did. 

    A natural stone arch formation with visitors in the foreground, set against a clear sky.
    A landscape view of reddish rock formations under a cloudy sky, featuring distinct hoodoo shapes and cliffs.

    Next on my list were the Windows, two large arches close to another well known feature, the Double Arch. The lighting was extremely flat by then, but I hiked up some of the trials for the fun of it – I’ve got a few more free days, so I’ll hopefully get a chance to photograph these in better conditions. 

    A natural rock arch formation in a red desert landscape, with a winding stone path leading towards it and sparse greenery surrounding the area.
    A desert landscape featuring a prominent rock arch in the background, surrounded by red sandstone formations, with dry vegetation and twisted tree roots in the foreground.
    Rock formation with an arch and tower-like structure surrounded by desert terrain and shrubs.

    I met up with the rest of the group later that afternoon – a good mix of folks, mostly from the Denver area, but a few from other parts of the country. There was also a mix of experience with the group – some had been on this same trip before with the same lead, and most everyone had prior experience with astrophotography. I also had a bad case of gear envy – many of had higher end cameras and lenses, a few with the top end Sony cameras. It also became apparent on how this was different from all my other trips – this was all about the process and technical details of astrophotography. The trip lead is an expert in this field, and the focus of the course is all about the camera gear and understanding the fine details of tuning it for capturing low light from the stars. What was missing from the initial workshop session and first outing, was any discussion of the park and region, unlike Road Scholars and National Geographic trips. No culture, no geology, no flora or fauna – just cameras and how to shoot the stars. I doubt if I will ever focus much on star photography after this trip – this was just one of those topics I’m interested in enough to take a course like this, and I will be doing more night photography for the Northern Light trip. But I cannot see myself investing in the specialized gear and software for stacking photos of the Milk Way or creating those cool spiral shots of star tracking. But that could change I guess.

    Our first workshop session was enlightening though – I learned a lot about the fancy camera I have, and the basics of star photography. We then headed out for our first session at 11PM – the weather was not exactly conducive for photography – cloud cover, cold, very windy, but the lead wanted to at least show us how to “tune” the camera settings, and that needed to be done out in the wild. The bare basics were how to set your focus correctly – that’s not as easy as it sounds. I had fortunately lucked out in getting the settings right on my own, but now understood more on how to balance between the aperture, shutter speed and ISO to get the sharpest photos. And for focusing the camera….well, you don’t just set your focus to infinity. You’ll wind up getting blurry stars. Why? The stars are beyond infinity! You actually just have to pick a star, not a planet, and manually focus on it until it is small and clear, and then tape the focus ring on the lens. You’re all set at that point.

    Enough technical details for now. We headed out in five cars – I decided to drive on my own in case I was too tired and wanted to head back early. It really did not matter – it was too windy and cold to do anything other than set the focus under the trip leads supervision, and then we headed back to the hotel. The clouds were rolling in again anyway, so there was no sense in staying any later. The spot we wound up in for our calibration exercise was an issue for me – we had to hike down a rocky trail in the dark – the trail would not have been a problem for me in the daylight, with my hiking stick, but a bit frightening with only my headlamp to light the path. I wound up using my tripod as a hiking stick on the way back. No damage done, and I did get to sleep by 1:30AM. 

    I did not get much in the way of photos from this second day (first of the trip) – I’ve included a few of the Windows arches (more stairs to climb!), and some other odds and ends including Delicate Arch, taken from a distance. This evening (Friday) we are heading out for sunset, and then multiple stops for Milky Way photography, and should be back by dawn. The skies will be clear, but the temperatures will be down in the teens. I did not pack for winter, and had to buy some thermal underwear. I’ll be spending a lot of time in the car with the heater on.

    One last strange photo – never seen an outhouse with one of these before.

    A stainless steel squat toilet in a restroom, featuring a round opening in the center and textured foot positions on either side.

    On that note….Peace.

  • Random Thoughts and More Photos

    An older man sitting in an airport lounge, holding a tablet and pondering, with a thought bubble representing a brain above his head, suggesting he is engaged in deep thought or reflection.
    I wish my arms looked like that. Maybe I can trade.

    March 29th, 2026 (thru April 2nd)

    Well, I’m finally home, and thought I’d start my trip summary – I’ll have a lot of photos and videos to add to this but it will take a few days to sort and curate the collection of images. So this will probably be posted in early April. For now, I’m just adding in a bunch of those random thoughts about the trip and life in general, that have been bouncing around in my head the past few days, and jotted them down in my journal. Most were written on the trip, sitting in the airport on the way home, or in between naps when I made it home. They are in no particular order. Here goes.

    I’m really looking forward to getting home – I love traveling, but the getting to/from the starting point for international trips is getting to be a real drag. This one should have been relatively easy, but the TSA walkout turned this into a stressful and expensive trip. I really did not want to stay in a hotel last night but had no choice. And this morning, I had to get up a Oh-Dark-Thirty to avoid the four hour delays getting through security – even then, at 7AM, there was a sea of humanity in Terminal E, but a well organized one. It only took a little over an hour to get through it all. I did like the signs TSA posted in the maze, which gave the estimated time from that point. Sort of helpful. 

    A sign displaying an estimated wait time of 15-30 minutes at an airport queue with people in line.

    I try to keep politics out of this blog (it sneaks in once in a while), but I have to ask – What the heck are all the armed ICE agents doing at the airports? There were clusters of them, all wearing body armor, all carrying sidearms, and all doing absolutely nothing other than chatting and drinking coffee. They cannot replace the TSA agents since they are not trained, and the airport staff organizes the lines. I  did see one ICE agent helping to direct people. That was it. He’ll probably be fired.  

    And while I’m into politics, here’s two more thoughts: Do any of the  leaders in Congress really think that it is a good idea to make the TSA agents suffer through this, just to make a political point? At some point, they will become tired of being political pawns and never come back to a job where they can be forced to work without pay, based on the whims of a few leaders in the government. 

    And (the last complaint), somehow money was magically found in the bloated DHS budget to pay the TSA agent salaries, and now the huge lines have disappeared in airports like Houston. Why was this not done right at the git-go, and avoid the inevitable chaos at the airports? Just saying, End of political rant.  

    This was the first trip where I’ve signed up for one of the pre or post extensions, and I’m glad I did it. I had read through the extension itinerary, and it sounded like it might be interesting, but still had no idea on what to expect. It more than exceeded my hazy expectations – it was nice to be with a small group of people and establish a few relationships before getting on the ship. That helped to avoid the bane of my existence on these trips – the first night of looking for people to sit with at lunch and dinner. Plus, it really helps to settle into trip mode before getting on the ship. I’ve already signed up for a post-extension on the Patagonia trip (plus I’m getting there early) and the same for the Sea of Cortez trip. I’m also getting in early for Kodiak and Iceland. It’s just nice to be able to recover from the long trip before the daily activities begin.

    This trip was something of a learning experience for me, on how to handle my latest body failures. I was extremely concerned about how i would handle my cardiac issues (high blood pressure, rapid heart beat/ arrhythmia) – stress is likely the main trigger for these “attacks”, and just worrying about having an attack can be a trigger. I found myself looking down at my watch all the time to check my pulse rate, and then stressed out if it was high. When my worrying finally led to a tachycardia (look it up) incident, the ship doctor basically talked me into relaxing, and that helped for the rest of the trip. I stopped checking and just focused on the activities. I even made it through the somewhat stressful trip home without any problems. 

    I had another epiphany during the trip, one I’ve realized before but keep trying to ignore. News Break: I’m not 25 years old. I’m not even 65 years old. I’m in my mid-70’s, with heart disease, a bum knee and distal neuropathy. I need to be careful on what activities I sign up for. Fortunately, I’ve already begun to favor outings that are focused more on photography than on meeting some aerobic goal for the day. Although I did manage to make it up two observation towers, and two hikes which involved a few steep sections. I also have to consider my stability now and remember to use the hiking sticks that I bring along – I might have avoided a very embarrassing and potentially dangerous trip/fall I had on the last day. But I am giving some thought now, to selecting trips that are mostly cruise based – no more land trips with lots of hiking, and multiple hotels. I have three of those scheduled in the next year (2 to Iceland, 1 to Madagascar. Kodiak is sort of in-between). I intend to stick to longer trips with Nat Geo/Lindblad or possibly Natural Habitats that are entirely cruise based going past 2027. 

    I’m definitely getting the hang of solo traveling after 6 major trips (5 with Nat Geo/Lindblad, 1 with Road Scholars) and a countless number of shorter domestic trips, but I still miss my wife all the time. It’s hard experiencing some of the most amazing places without her. And it’s difficult being alone in the midst of so many couples and families – no matter how welcome people on these trips make you feel, you still feel awkward not having a partner to share the moment with. It’s just something I have to try and deal with.

    Here’s a few observations I’ve made after 5 Nat Geo/Lindblad trips:

    1 – I’ve been on four different ships so far, and the experience has been excellent on each. The shipboard hotel services are consistently superb – all the staff, food, cabin comfort, lounges, bars are all top notch.

    2 – The National Geographic trip leads and naturalists are fantastic – most are local to the countries the trip is centered on, and are literal fountains of knowledge on the culture, history, fauna and flora. Plus, they are lots of fun to be with. I learned a lot on the trips, which is the point of these expeditions.

    3 – One of the best features of these expeditions is that the itinerary can change daily and sometimes hourly depending on the weather, ocean conditions, and sometimes on where animals have been seen. Keeps you on your toes.

    And for the fun of it, here are the highlights of this trip for me:

    Best Activity – so many choices. This was a unique trip. I’ll pick two: the VIP tour of the Miraflores lock on the Panama Canal, and the Zodiac cruise around the Monkey Islands, in the Gatun Lake. Great videos of the canal, and great photos of three species of monkeys.

    Funniest Moment – that one is easy. The cemetery/prison tour when we were attempting to get to the docks in Colon. 

    Best “But I got the Photo” Moment – getting some great shots of the Tamarin Monkeys after my finger was smashed between the boat and some trees. I’m a very dedicated photographer.

    Most Stressful Moment – trying to get past customs at the Panama City airport. I was close to pleading for mercy when they decided I must be a National Geographic photographer. Smashing my finger beween the boat and a tree was a close second.

    Biggest Surprise – how much I enjoyed the “Pre” trip, which had nothing to do with animals, and all about learning some very interesting things about Panama history, and the Panama Canal.

    Best Evening – going through the canal locks at night. It was like a party on the bow, in the rain. Passing through the narrow Culebra Cut channel would be a close second.

    OK, enough random thoughts. Many of the photos below were already included on my trip posts, but I’ve had more time to curate them on Adobe Lightroom, using the RAW formats instead of JPEG. As I continue to organize and review the files (using Lightroom Classic), I’ve found a few gems as well. As I’ve mentioned before in the blog, you can expand each photo to full size by simply clicking on them.

    A playful monkey clinging to a tree branch in a dense green forest, showcasing its curious expression and agile posture.
    A squirrel monkey perched on a tree branch surrounded by lush green leaves.
    A close-up of a capuchin monkey sitting among green leaves, with a serious expression on its face.
    A close-up of a Capuchin monkey sitting among green leaves, with a contemplative expression.
    A howler monkey perched on a branch, surrounded by green leaves and clear blue sky.
    A monkey hanging from a tree branch, surrounded by green leaves and a blue sky in the background.
    A close-up of a monkey perched on a branch, surrounded by lush green foliage, showing its side profile with distinctive facial markings.
    Close-up of a monkey perched on a branch, featuring gray fur with brown patches and expressive dark eyes.
    Two monkeys lounging on a tree branch among green leaves.
    A howler monkey sitting among green leaves, gazing intently.
    A baby monkey with a black and white face sitting on a branch, surrounded by lush green foliage.
    A colorful toucan perched on a tree branch surrounded by lush green leaves.
    A colorful bird perched on a weathered tree branch, facing downward, surrounded by lush greenery.
    A woodpecker perched on a textured tree trunk with a blurred green background.
    A standing heron with brown and white striped feathers, surrounded by rocks and green foliage.
    A brightly colored bird perched on a branch, featuring a green head, red chest, and gray wings, surrounded by lush greenery.
    A white bird perches on a branch over water, poised to catch a fish, surrounded by lush green foliage.
    A heron taking flight from a water surface surrounded by green foliage.
    A heron standing on a branch above calm water, surrounded by green foliage.
    A woodpecker perched on a tree branch against a clear blue sky, holding an insect in its beak.
    A colorful parrot eating fruit from a cluster of orange berries on a palm tree, surrounded by green leaves.
    A colorful parrot feeding on a cluster of orange fruits hanging from a palm tree.
    A colorful macaw perched on a branch, eating a green leaf, surrounded by lush green foliage.
    A black vulture standing on green grass, with a distinctive gray head and sharp beak, under a natural setting.
    Three birds flying over the ocean with a cloudy sky in the background.
    A small green butterfly resting on the edge of a large green leaf with a soft-focus background of blurred greenery.
    A close-up of a vibrant red and yellow tropical flower against a blurred green background.

    OK, I’m tired of this post but still have more photos to share, mostly from the Panama Canal. I’ll do another post – no long stories, just photos and videos.

    Peace