While I was in Arches National Park earlier this week I took a lot of photos—that was the entire purpose of my trip, after all. For the two full days I was there I was in the park by 4 am to photograph stars & the sunrise, and then out again by 6:30 pm to catch the sunset. It was the first time I’ve ever really done anything like this solo, and it definitely won’t be the last.

I brought a pretty good assortment of camera gear along with me … basically my full camera bag. The only time it was a little cumbersome was on the hike up to Delicate Arch, but even that wasn’t too bad. One of the lenses I brought was my Lensbaby Composer  (a no-brainer, really, if you know me well enough). The shot above was a quick grab-shot of the other photographers and tourists at Delicate Arch (the arch is to the right of the frame). I realized that I had seen a lot of photos of the arch itself before I made the journey on my own, and I didn’t know what to expect once I got there and this is a pretty good view of what it looks like when you are sitting up high to take photos. (I also have a panorama I’m working on … I’ll post it here when it’s ready.)

This is a good example of looking all around you and not ignoring some of the less obvious sights when you are out taking photos. It can be easy to be bewitched by all the beautiful landmarks and keep your camera pointed only in one direction when in a place like Arches National Park , but don’t forget to pause and look everywhere else, too. I was only there a few days and got a bunch of the “cliché” photos, but tried to keep my eyes peeled for other opportunities.