The Wave No 31

The Wave No 31, originally uploaded by adolfo_isassi.

Here is another pick from the day at The Wave. I got there early enough to get the light still low and horizontal. Oddly enough, the typical shot of The Wave (not this POV) is taken almost at mid-day. This ensures that both sides of The Wave are free of shadows, but also makes for washed out colors and...the color temperature at that time makes for yellowish tones instead of deep oranges and reds.

Once I was done shooting for the morning, I mingled with the other parties that made the lottery that day. I think that only 3 or 4 people were not photographers, the rest of us were loaded with gear. One fella from Wisconsin was making the switch from analog to digital and was fiddling with his new Canon body. I offered some assistance.

A couple of dudes came all the way from Norway to photograph this icon. One of the Norwegians mentioned that he visited this place 15 years ago, and stated that he could see how the place was "wearing down". It seems that decades ago, the white ridges running along the walls and floors of The Wave were sticking off the surface 1,2,3 inches.

I planned to wait for the end of the day for a second session, but about 3pm a storm started to move into the area. We knew that if we got rained in, we will spend the night, if not more on wrong side of Buckskin Gulch, as with enough rain, the road becomes impassible.

One of the things that I have modified for subsequent excursions to these areas, is bigger packs and ready gear for impromptu overnights other contingencies like the storm that afternoon.