Sometimes I think that what I have seen in Utah is unreal. Hidden valleys, flowers in the desert under the silent watch of the Milky Way, millions of years of planet’s geological history blended in a unique irreplaceable and delicate paradise: did I imagine a universe with an overwhelming beauty or I have actually been in Utah?
Chaos decided that I had to visit these wonders. It also decided to destroy my digital camera in an accident 3 years ago. The negative event was actually going to bring a positive force in my life. It started my infrared journey.
The photos I share with you are children of my love for nature, photography, and the fantastic invisible infrared world. Utah is a place to be discovered. Any dirt road leads to views, to places which cannot be forgotten even beyond this lifetime.
Introduction
It was 3 years ago when I decided with my friend Greg to rent a car and explore Utah. Each little town was a treasure. Colorful rocks, archeological sites, scenic drives, and rewarding trails were waiting for us. Some danger was also there.
Deserts need to be respected. We all need to follow what Chaos is going to serve us. But we need to not forget that nature has magical beauty but also an incredible power.
We spent the nights in several locations alternating camping and hotel. I will never forget getting up at the very first lights of the day and seeing the river turning around between the rocks like an immense snake, the rainbow far away, the red colors everywhere, the shadows fighting and losing the battle against the lights of the new day…
I also remember the long endless drive in the desert, where you could not see a single tree or home in tens of miles. Nobody had been driving the road for long time. “What happens if something goes wrong?” At that moment I felt what loneliness and risk really meant. But the fear was just an illusion. We were going to be safe.
The night at the desert, exploring its creatures hiding in the darkness, was one of the best days any man could have in his life. The exploration continued the following day with the storm and lightnings painting the horizon. I had already experienced much more that what I could picture with my imagination. After years I can still see the images and the entire sequence of places. Every single moment cannot be described by a few words and even the pictures do not actually record the breeze, the sounds of birds, and the trees moving while caressed by the wind.
Exploring Utah
This first trip made me realize that following the official guides on “what to see in Utah” is pointless. Everyone should just take the car and stop when the light is special or when the moment simply dictates to admire what was shaped in an enormous amount of time by nature. When you walk in such environment you feel almost guilty by just moving a rock by accident. Maybe it was there for an uncountable number of years. Moving it, would be altering the artistic work nature did for us. You have the strong feeling of being part of something greater than everything ever seen before. Yes, this is Utah. Go there, explore, find your secret places. Respect them. Fight for their preservation.
Preservation is, indeed, the key concept. I have seen the “effects” of reckless hikers not paying enough respect to nature (it is sufficient to have 1 person over 10,000 people to do irreparable damage and, thus, compromise the treasures). That is the reason why I decided to not disclose exact locations of any place I visit. I do not want to be the reason, with my photos, why unique environments are spoiled by a large number of visitors who go to a “must see place” I contributed to create. Social media could amplify and accelerate the number of tourists in certain locations, destroying forever what required millions of years to shape.
My experience with the Utah infrared journeys” is now shared with you… Have a pleasant trip!
Talking with the Universe
The night was very windy. The option was to just return to “our” Utah home (see Figure 1) and rest to get ready for the next explorations, or have faith that Chaos would have solved the problems for us.
We decided to leave our night, and what was going to happen, to Chaos. We did not care about the strong wind and we proceeded in the darkness. After some time we reached an upper elevation which had a natural stone wall. It was simply perfect. The wall was protecting us: the wind was gone only in that area, “our” area. That is what we needed: Chaos decided that a magical night had to take place. Looking at the Milky Way made me feel a tiny organism in the universe.
My philosophy when I take photos is not to “design” my composition. Many photographers go to a place during the day, decide composition, take GPS coordinates, mark the terrain etc. I think that photographs should be photos of our soul and how we imagined/perceived the unrepeatable scene in front of our eyes. Photos are parts of our memory and not an engineering product. They should be a fossil of what we felt in that unique instant of the time-space reality. Thus, I decided to walk in the night, sure that Chaos was going to reserve something more precious than what I could imagine. I did not know what I was going to pursue. Eventually I noticed in the darkness an interesting rock formation. When I reached the location desert white flowers appeared in the sand. At that moment I realized that Chaos brought me to a fragile landscape and that the particular point in the space time continuum had to be frozen forever with a photo (Figure 2).
The Road to Eternity
I was driving with my friend Greg. The road was going uphill and after a few seconds this scene appeared (see Figure 3).
I did not know where to direct my attention. Should I have wondered with my mind and imagined what was at the end of the road? Should I have just looked at the magnificent sky or at the red rocks? And what about the white hills?
I could not leave that scene without an infrared photo (see Figure 4). Clearly, reality was not just what was “obviously” in front of my eyes. I “had” to record as much as I could from that moment, definitely one of the most memorable instants of the life any person could imagine to have.
The Mystic Temple
Exploring Utah should be done without planning, making Chaos dictate what scene to see. Who knows what is next; who knows what beauty is waiting to be discovered.
It was later afternoon. Rain and wind were abundant. The light conditions were, to say the least, simply horrible. We almost decided to return back where we came from. But we decided to pursue the adventure anyway. Maybe the storm could have given us a break later. Maybe Chaos was going to bring something unique. He always does it, if you are willing to listen. Following this act of “faith”, we drove for about an hour. We then reached a place with rock formations that appeared like man-made structures designed to meditate on the nature and universe, and collect its energy. I explored the land. A view suddenly captured my attention: it appeared different than everything we had seen before. I patiently waited for 1 hour until the clouds could give room to some light, enough to bring life to the rocks and release the inner energy the universe was delivering (see Figure 5).
I “had” to take the infrared image of The Mystic Temple (Figures 6 and 7).
The Ancient Tree
We knew that a big day was going to arrive when we decided to explore a solitary and pristine location of Utah. And, indeed, what I experienced was overwhelming by any standard. Any mind could not process such vastity, solitude, and incredible beauty. After a couple of hours of this journey, I took a look far away and I spotted a large tree dominating an immense ocean of conical rocks. I and Greg decided to separate and let Chaos show the way. I took my 2 CANON6D cameras, filters, lenses, and tripod, and backpack with minimum survival kit. Physically it was very challenging, but I “had” to see the location I identified. The light was simply perfect. The breeze was massaging the face while I was walking toward my destination. I was excited. After several minutes I arrived. I was alone, really alone. Miles and miles of views with not a single person present. Only me, the wind, and a tormented sky: nothing else was there (and would not have been needed…). I then took 30 minutes of complete meditation looking at the clouds passing by, evolving, and painting unseen shapes. In that moment I thought that if there had to be a place where my ashes had in the future to be, the bed of The Ancient Trees was surely that place. I imagined to be powder flying with the wind, disassemble myself into particles, embrace every single rock, be part of this multi-million year work of nature and Chaos}. I had to freeze in my mind that time and create a copy of what I was seeing with my eyes, mind, and entire body (see Figure 8).
I then placed my tripod on the rocks and I experimented with some of the filters. I wanted to “see” this unique place under different perspectives. Reality is not only what we perceive. Reality is something of superior essence.
Figure 9 presents the scene obtained with the Hypercolor filter (470nm). I love the effects this filter does on the sky. Super bright colors of unmatched beauty.
The foliage becomes more bright with the 550nm filter (see Figure 10). Also, the soil can get interesting tonalities. Clouds become more dramatic and have a better contrast in the dark sky.
The effects of the 590nm filter are presented in Figure 11. The comparison between Figures 10 and 11 shows the actual differences between the 550nm and 590nm filters. Both of them provide vibrant colors for the foliage. However, the 550nm keeps some colors for the ground/terrain with respect to the 590nm filter. This can also be seen as a point of advantage of 590nm filter: the trees are more clearly “separated” from the terrain/rocks, making them particularly evident and giving them a central role in any scene.
A fantastic effect can be obtained with the 720nm filter (see Figure 12).
The trees appear like covered with snow. Colors are practically gone. However, a super dark blue remains in the sky and the clouds really pop up. But if one really likes the contrast between plants and everything else, and a black sky with extremely white clouds, then the 830nm and 850nm filters provide that result. Both of them practically deliver the same final image. Figure 13, obtained with an 850nm filter, looks like a dream. A Dream which was happening in front of my eyes and beyond them. But my camera was able to record it, and keep forever for me and for all of you.
The beauty of The Ancient Trees can also be brought to our perception by combining different images obtained at different wave lengths. Examples are reported in Figures 14 and 15.
Obtaining the combination of visible and infrared photographs requires a patient postprocessing work. But at the end the result brings the best of both portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. In particular, Figures 14 and 15 have the dramatic infrared sky and the bright colorful trees typical of the 590nm filter. The ground, which was with an incredible red color is maintained in its “original” appearance our eye would perceive (i.e, hot mirror filter was adopted).
This is why I love infrared photography. It is just beauty to its maximum power.
Beauty After Death
I had been walking for hours, without feeling tired. I was almost trying to not breath to just feel the pure silence surrounding me. I had the impression that nobody had been there for hundreds of years. I felt guilty that my footprints would have interrupted the drawing Chaos had been making in this location for an endless amount of time. I saw the beautiful branches from distance (see Figure 16). The tree was apparently dead. But is was perfectly blending itself with the surroundings. Its essence was still there, intact and alive.
The Lost Empire
At one point there was a Dominator. Creatures demanded its support. He was ruling the land. His magnificent shapes were examples of beauty and harmony. But everything had to arrive to an end. The animals which used to have a shelter had to find other companions. He still dominates with its ever lasting energy the other dimensions, you can feel its presence. I tried to capture that energy with an infrared photo (see Figure 17).
The Loyal Soldier
He did not give up. The Dominator was his emperor, he was his reason to be. The empire fell, and its ruler is no longer there, but his ever lasting energy kept the loyal soldier alive (Figure 18). He will never give up the land. The wind bent him, but it was not able to win his loyalty. The soldier will forever be the guardian of The Lost Empire. I had to respect his authority. I had to listen the story of his Lord. He was telling me the secrets of the towers (see far away in the image presented in Figure 18) hiding the desert life.
The Desert King
Protected by solid walls, another kingdom can be found in the area. In an unexpected terrain on unique rock formations, there is Him, the Desert King (see Figure 19). This was the highest gift Chaos gave to me. Chaos made me go there in the first place, and at the right time, when there was a thin layer of clouds covering the sun just enough to create a diffuse light filling the entire scene and a tormented sky. Desert King was watching me and I had to bow to his authority. His spirit and power are always with me, even if hundreds of miles are between us at this very same moment. Memories of that intensity and magnitude cannot be deleted. But I am concerned. I have seen a known photographer posting a Milky Way photo of the Desert King. The photographer disclosed on the media the location of the kingdom. I decided to write to the photographer, but I did not get him realize how much damage a photo can do if a place becomes a “must see location”. I hope that the Desert King’s fortress will be strong enough to protect his land during the invasions.
The Silent Canyon
It was late morning. We wanted to explore something different. After some time we reached a promising canyon. The rocks were populated by silent trees. I could “see” the infrared scenes one after the other one. Everything was worth, by itself, the entire trip to Utah. Thank you, Chaos, for having brought to my attention this Silent Canyon (see Figure 20), filling my soul.
Conclusions
If you intend to live a dream, Utah is the perfect land. Do not go online to search for places, suggestions, and somebody else’s secret locations. Just rent a car, drive and stop whenever the place is appealing to you. Let Chaos dictate the weather, light conditions, clouds in the sky. Respect the power of nature, do not forget that we are all guests in her lands. Let the spirit experience the emotions that are already waiting for you. What I have presented in this article is only a tiny fraction of what is there. And if you cannot travel, I hope that my images helped you to dream. Close the eyes and think about Utah. Embrace beauty.
Each moment is unique
…nature provides an immense and stunning endless beauty