I guess this is destined to be my crazy year of travel. Despite having attended a UTadventure tour in Utah in June, and despite having just recovered from being sick, after Dima made me an offer I couldn’t refuse I joined them again for another tour in Utah with only last minute notice. This one was a little different in that the team of models was different, and also I had never done the tour in the later part of the year before. Our group had four photographers and three models. Two of the models I had worked with before and one model who was new to me: I have worked with Meghan Claire on several UTadventures as well as at my house; I had worked with Sara Scarlett on my tour in Hidalgo, Mexico last year; and this tour included Alaina Wulf who is based in the midwest.
The basic itinerary was the same as the last tour, except we switched the order of a couple of the locations taking advantage of the shorter days. I won’t repeat all the details except to note the differences from the earlier tour. The first deviation from our plan occurred at our first location when we got to the Bonneville Salt Flats and discovered it very wet, counter to what the reports were saying. We ended up driving up into the hills beyond the Salt Flats and exploring for a bit and ended up on the Silver Island Mountains Back Country Byway. Before settling on a spot to shoot, we actually ended up crossing over into Nevada on a backroad where the only indication was a rickety wooden sign. While some people missed being able to shoot on the Salt Flats, this was a new location for me, and we got some cool shots that included some dramatic storms in the distance. We also got some cool moon-rise shots with the models from the hills overlooking the Salt Flats.
The next day we headed south, checked in to the hotel, and then shot at Leprechaun Canyon, which is always great, and then after that at Little Egypt near sunset. The moon was almost full, and I was able to get some cool shots of the rising moon, lighting the model with a flash.
The next day was a usual Moab day, shooting at Professor Valley in the morning and at Upper Onion Creek in the afternoon, with a nice picnic dinner after the sun had set. The next morning was our rest break. In the afternoon, we went to Crack Canyon, which is always interesting. We had a little adventure as by the time we were leaving it was dark, and we got a little lost on the way out but eventually sorted it all out.
The last day down south, we shot at the White Wash Sand Dunes in the morning, then at the Wedge Overlook before heading north to Salt Lake City.
On the final day of the tour we, as usual, shot at the Great Salt Lake in the morning, and then had our farewell lunch. I flew back home that evening. This was a good group of folks and interestingly I shot significantly more pictures on this tour than a few months earlier. I think each group of models just brings a different energy and posing techniques, which required me to shoot more in some cases. Also, a nice coincidence, one of the photographers on the tour went through Berkeley, getting his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, at the same time I was there. Small world.
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