Horseshoe Springs Sunset

Horseshow Springs is basically in the middle of nowhere, in the desert between Salt Lake City and the Salt Flats. I was surprised to see so much water in what I expected to just be dirt and sage - especially since it's in a place called Skull Valley. I believe it it was an important water stop for pioneers on their way to California - it is right on the California Trail. I stopped there at dusk yesterday while out on a scouting drive in Utah's "West Desert." I almost drove right past because it was just starting to get dark and I figured I wouldn't see much. Boy am I glad I stopped. Not only was it a very cool spot, but I got lucky and caught a really memorable sunset, in a very dramatic location.

Attachment 92429

Attachment 92430

I was so intent on the photos above, looking northwest across the spring, that I almost missed the more dramatic show behind me. The color was actually so bright that the glow reflected off the mountains onto the ground around my feet caught my attention. It was like there was a big fire behind me. So I turned around and then frantically began shooting the mountains as well as the spring :)

Attachment 92431

Attachment 92432

I don't usually shoot direct sunsets. I prefer the subtlety of the reflected alpenglow. But in this case I figured I should make an exception :)

Attachment 92433

All of these photos were taken with Nikon's new AW1 waterproof mirrorless camera and the 11-27.5mm waterproof kit lens. The 1-inch "CX" format sensor is definitely a bit more noisy than I'm used to with an interchangeable lens camera. But it certainly didn't let me down. Plus, I could have dropped it in the spring and kept on taking pictures. Maybe next time...

Nice! Good thing you remembered to look behind you! I have those "Holy ****, look at what I haven't been shooting and the light is almost gone!" moments more than I'd care to admit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mattb

Nice! Good thing you remembered to look behind you! I have those "Holy ****, look at what I haven't been shooting and the light is almost gone!" moments more than I'd care to admit.

---

It's easy to get target-fixated and forget to look around. I was obsessing on the color reflecting off the water from the north. Luckily, the light on those mountains was screaming, "LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!" :)

Beautiful mountains !

I have considered bringing more than one camera when shooting around sunrise/sunset, I can leave one camera doing a time lapse of the "main event" and look around with the second one

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by armando_m

I have considered bringing more than one camera when shooting around sunrise/sunset, I can leave one camera doing a time lapse of the "main event" and look around with the second one

---

That's a great idea, Armando. I like it!

I'm glad you noticed these photos because I noticed your sunset lake photos, yesterday. It was like we were photographing the same same sunset - although we are actually very far apart. Plus, your D800E has a bit of an image quality edge over the AW1 - just a bit :)