I love the southwest and this trip was one of the main reasons I fell in love with the area. I went to a photography workshop to Moab Utah to visit Arches National Park and the first night I was there we went out to shoot some astro photography. I remember getting out of the car as my eyes adjusted to the complete darkness. As my eyes adjusted thousands of stars appeared before my eyes. I didn’t realize how dark it would be in Arches National Park or how many stars we would be able to see. As we set up for this shot the Milky Way rolled right through the arch. It was an amazing sight to be seen and I was so thrilled with the shot that I have it printed in my office.

A night under the stars - Arches National Park Utah

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I recently took a trip to Moab Utah with the Out of Chicago crew. They put on their second annual travel workshop and Moab Utah was on my long list of bucket list travel locations. The drive from Salt Lake was long but extremely scenic. Leaving Salt Lake and heading into the mountains of Utah reminds me of how much I miss the mountainous terrain.

When I left Chicago it was 70 degrees and sunny. As I headed to Utah the forecast was for rain all week. Not good. The day I arrived was perfect desert weather. Dry, clear and perfect. I had a night shoot scheduled for my first night in Moab. This was lining up to be a perfect night for star shooting.

For those of you who don’t know Moab is home to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Both parks are just minutes from downtown Moab. As I bundled up for my night out the weather looked like it would be perfect. Clear skies, cold and no light pollution. Moab is out in the middle of nowhere, the skies are pitch black but apparently there are darker areas of the country. I really can’t imagine darker skies that what I experienced in Moab.

As we got out of the car our guide told us to look up. “See that?” he asked as we all looked up. “That’s the Milky Way. Give it a few more minutes and your eyes will adjust and you’ll see it as clear as day”. He wasn’t wrong. I don’t remember ever seeing the Milky Way in my life but it was soon as clear as day.

As we walked through the arches I have only seen stars like that in Monument Valley. But in Monument Valley I didn’t get to see the Milky Way. Being out there was like sitting in a planetarium. So vast, and so many stars. It really gives you some perspective of how small we are in this world and how incredible this world is.

I left that night with some incredible shots of the Milky Way and left even more in love with the beauty of the southwest.

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