The Red Center - Australia

Uluru and Kata Tjuta, two sandstone rocks piercing the desert floor of central Australia are some of the highlights of the Outbacks. Aboriginals have settled long ago around Uluru making this place of unique spiritual heritage. Since then, an airport was built, the roads, paved. National Parks and iconic places always bring many tourists. Walking up the trails let you avoid the crowd but it was difficult to feel the solitude of the outbacks.



I still managed to feel very much alone: after admiring the sunset on Kata Tjuta, I returned to the car park. With nobody around, I tried to open my car. It was locked. I had no cell phone coverage and the closest town was 75km away. After a few seconds of panic, I decided to walk for a couple of miles, in the dark, to the closest emergency phone I had noticed along one of the trails and called the rangers. They showed up, around midnight, towed my car and I eventually went to bed, around 4 in the morning as we had the surprise to discover another empty car on our way back, which meant a rescue attempt. Using headlamps this time, we found the lost guy who was starting his night in the wild, not without fear. Looking at his eyes when we discovered him, he was really relieved. That is my own personal experience of the Australian outbacks. Next time, I will be prepared.

Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Black & White - Australia

Uluru, Australia

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is clearly one of the symbols of Australia, this giant country / continent. This massive rock made of reddish sandstone, remnant of a much larger eroded formation,  stands out in the middle of the gigantic desert of Australia. It seems so flat for hundreds of kilometers around. I flew over the desert from Sydney to Ayers Rock. The red center was indeed red with patches of green, and particularly flat. Uluru stands out, and it is not a surprise it became a mystic place for the aboriginal community.

I went at the end of August, jut before the end of the winter to avoid extreme heat. I got there, and it was raining! My dream of seeing one of these incredible sunsets, when the rock suddenly becomes bright red, vanished. It wasn't the end of the world, as it turned out to be very pretty. A cloudy sky increases contrasts.

I have chosen to only display black & white pictures on this post. It gives a different perspective, with improved contrasts.  Twenty hours were way too short for a stay in a place like but I still managed to make good use of all my time. Walking around Uluru took me 4 or 5 hours, although I am usually walk very fast and then stop for a long time when I find something of interest. I had the opportunity of taking a few shots of this very strange and spiritual rock.

Onion Creek Diapir, Utah

Overview of the Onion Creek diapir 

Being a geologist has some advantages, like having to take classes on the field where rocks are exposed. Utah is certainly amongst the best spot on the planet and Moab in particular. The geology there is spectacular and on display in two great national parks, Arches and Canyonland. Under the massive red sands that makes Moab so famous, rests a massive salt sheet. Evaporite deposits, which do not stand weathering very well, are exposed in the Onion Creek Diapir. To my knowledge, such exposure only exists in three places on earth. Yes, this place is unique although most people would pass by without stopping. 

In the heart of Onion Creek Diapir

The dirt road to get there is an adventure by itself, and one must drive a 4WD while paying attention to the weather. Flash floods can be disastrous when driving in the steep canyon.

Above, I chose to show the diapir, in white, with its chaotic structure while the gentle "S" curve in the road is used to give a more pleasant feeling. On the right, I am using the very stable "V" shape to frame the salt formation. Rendering chaos is quite difficult as the observer can soon become uncomfortable .

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park - Utah

Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park is perhaps the most famous natural arch in the world. It appears in many books, publications and prints. It is certainly one of these places where it is nearly impossible to take a new perspective, to create an original composition. One can hope to witness a unique weather while being there. It wasn't for me. 


It took me around 45 minutes to get there, it was two and a half hours before sunset. I had other plans for sunset and just wanted to take a glimpse of Delicate Arch. I couldn't leave it. I had to see it becoming orange when the sun is at a low-angle, just before sunset. I was so amazed, I forgot to walk around to change the perspective. As I was early, I could choose the spot I wanted. I want my wife and kid to see this place one day so I know I will be back. And this time, I will walk around and experiment.






What I like about such places, is that it is full of people sharing the same passion, for hiking or photography. That night, I met a British citizen, who's name remains unknown. What I remember, is that he was about to cross the Rockies on his bicycle. His plans were to bike to the East Coast and fly back home. What was exceptional is that he left the UK a couple of weeks back, and biked East crossing all Europe, Asia and Australia. What an adventure!

Capitol Reef National Park – Utah

Waterpocket Fold from Strike Valley Overlook, Capitol Reef National Park

Muley Twist Canyon

Capitol Reef National Park is located North-East of the Grand-Staircase Escalante, in a very remote location. It is a very peaceful and quiet place, as the geologic features this park is trying to preserve are probably not appealing to most people at first. However, I'm sure almost everyone would appreciate the unique views of the Waterpocket Fold, this 100 miles long monocline with differential erosion of the rock layers. 

Here, a good 4WD is recommended, especially to drive in the creek of Muley Twist Canyon. Strike Valley Overlook is only a short walk away from the canyon. For the third time in my life, the view took my breath away. It happened before, as I was looking at the fjord Lisefjorden from the top of Preikestolen in Norway and as I was admiring the crater of Ngorongoro in Tanzania. No words could describe the feelings I had and not even the best pictures could render the view. I have made an attempt, which at least speaks to me. I find difficult to give a sense of scale to this type of landscape photography.

Fruita Historic District

There is much more to explore in the vicinity. You will find many canyons in this area. I chose to walk into Headquarters Canyon. It was my first steep and narrow canyon ever, a very easy one. As I was only there for a day, I was fairly limited in what I could see and therefore spent most of my time driving around to get a feeling of the place.


Taking good pictures would require knowing where to go in the early and late hours of the day. I had no time for this. Maybe one day?

Badland, Burr Trail Road

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Amphitheater - Sunset Point (Navajo Trail)

The hoodoos of Bryce Canyon were sculpted in the Claron formation (limestone, dolomite and siltstone) by a process of freezing and thawing. If you want to experience this erosional process, do as I did, camp. I was certainly not prepared to experience a freezing night early September. Here, it freezes 360 nights per year.
60 million years of erosion have produced this unique landscape. Traces of iron oxide has colored the rock in combination of oranges.

Bryce Point in Winter

This wasn't my first visit at Bryce Canyon. I had the chance of snowshoeing on the plateau, which offered spectacular views of the various canyons. I feel lucky to have been here both in summer and winter. Winter offers very nice contrasts between the white snow and the colorful orange of the rock. This summer, I was astonished by the variation of colors in these hoodoos, the contrast with the bright green leaves of Britlecone and Penderosa pines.

Peekaboo Loop trail - my favorite

The trails are much more accessible in the summer. Bryce Canyon is so far away from Houston, I decided to hike some the great trails this park offers. I was only here from 4 pm to 11 am the following morning. Late in the afternoon, I hiked down Queens Garden trail from Sunrise Point and climbed back up to Sunset Point on the steep part of Navajo loop. It gave me a very good flavor of what this park is all about: walking in deep canyons amongst an army of hoodoos standing still. I was in time for a perfect sunset.

Bryce amphitheater at sunset, Navajo Loop trail

The next morning, I came back to Sunset Point for the sunrise as I thought it would be a better spot. Not sure if I was right or not, but it was a very nice spot anyhow. Bryce Point would be a good candidate and next time I will be around, I will hike down to Peekaboo Loop trail very early in the morning. This trail is fabulous and despite the elevation, is fairly easy. To me hiking this trail is the best way to appreciate the beauties of this place.

Queens Garden Trail

Sunset Point

Peekaboo Trail acess from Bryce Point

Zebra Canyon, Grand Staircase Escalante - Utah

Zebra Canyon is part of the Escalante river canyons in Utah, a river system mostly dry except during intermittent flash floods. From Bryce Canyon National Park, I drove east on Highway 12, a beautiful scenic drive, by the way. I stopped in Escalante in the BLM visitor center to learn more about the weather forecast, the road conditions and buy the 1:24000 scale map of Zebra's canyon area.
Hole-in-the-Rock road is running south from Highway 12, just a few miles east of Escalante. This graveled road was in very good shape and pulled over 8 miles later just after the cattle guard. I followed a good hiker's trail heading ENE, parallel to Halfway Hollow.
The first part was quite easy, despite the temperature. I just had to make sure I was drinking every 20 minutes. I wondered how wild flowers could grow out there.

Zebra Canyon

After entering Harris Wash, I walked north to find the entrance of the canyon. This last part is much harder, as you have to walk through sand. The best part of the canyon is near the entrance. This canyon is very narrow, and I saw some people turn around as they couldn't find their way through. I had to climb along the walls to get to the best part, a very photogenic canyon cutting through pinkish stripped Navajo Sandstone.

Antelope Canyon, Arizona

Antelope Canyon, Upper Canyon

Antelope Canyon is the most famous slot canyon in the Southwest. Located in the Navajo Reservation, a few miles away from Page, it is easily accessible and therefore attracts large numbers of people.
Although very crowed, especially the Upper Canyon, it is really worth the stop. Take a photo tour. Not only will you have a lot more time in the canyons, but the guides know where to go, at what time, while pushing the crowd away from your photographs. Rays of light entering the canyon appear at specific time, making this place so unique, while indirect lighting is great to emphasize the color of the rock.

Do not count on taking pictures without tripods. You want to limit noise as much as possible so increasing the sensitivity of the captor is not an option. At a focal length of f/8, I had to use an exposure time between 1/20 to 3". Automatic White Balance is also not an option as the frame is full of orange, an unusual color. Don't forget to set up the white balance manually or by using an overcast preset.