Photos from my desert trip - YouLookFab Forum

Just in case anyone is interested, I'm sharing some favorite iPhone pics from my trip to the desert southwest. On this trip, I focused on a smallish circle comprising Valley of Fire (NV), Zion, the Grand Staircase-Escalante area, and Grand Canyon. It was a wonderful trip!

* correction -- one photo in here #28 is NOT an iPhone pic -- it is the only in this batch that came from my "real" camera. It's three vertical frames stitched together to make a small panorama of the rocks and a water pocket reflection at White Pocket

1 selfie at Lake Mead, starting off the trip
2-6 Valley of Fire State Park
7 Snow Canyon State Park
8-12 Zion national park
13 petrified wood closeup
14 abandoned mining town between Zion and Bryce
15-18, 21 Grand Staircase-Escalante
19 my new friend at my campsite in Escalante
20 caterpillar in Spooky Gulch slot canyon
22 Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
23 badlands at Old Paria ghost town site
24 a new friend on the trip to White Pocket
25-26, 28 White Pocket, a remote area I visited with the help of a guide, amazing!
27 selfie in hiking attire
29-35 Edmaiers Secret, another remote location I visited with the same guide - fantastic unbelievable rock fins!
36-39 Grand Canyon (oops, I think I got a duplicate in there, sorry!)
39 A wonderful find. An artist leaves these behind in random places as she travels, and I was the fortunate recipient of this one. <3
40 I went zip lining in Vegas over Fremont St -- fun! Here I am still in the harness.
41-42 Along bits of old Route 66 from Williams to Kingman, AZ on my way back to Vegas before I flew home

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6 years ago

Joyce B

Veteran

Your photographs are beautiful. Thanks for sharing them!

Emily K

(website)

It is an otherworldly location, isn't it? We've experienced Zion, GC, etc. and are hoping to visit Bryce. Your photos are FANTASTIC! Photography is what you do, isn't it?

Janet

It is, Emily, thanks!

I love the desert, and hadn't been to that area in about 9 years. Over 20 since I last visited Grand Canyon south rim. It is more developed now around the village, and the shuttle buses are a new thing since then, but I still enjoyed it. When I visited the first time, I day-hiked halfway down into the canyon and back up. I don't recommend doing that without some preparation, but it was a great experience. This trip, still nursing my sprained ankle, I stuck to the rim trail. I did 8 miles of it and took the shuttle back, and enjoyed it as well. Maybe not my most productive photography of the trip, but sometimes I do best not worrying so much about the photos and just enjoying the experience.

I didn't go to Bryce this time (I've been a few times before) because I wanted to keep myself from getting spread too thin. But it is a spectacular place to watch the sunrise!

Grand Staircase-Escalante is marvelous, and I didn't do a fraction of what I wanted to because of the foot injury. Slot canyons were high on the original agenda but they are a big twisted ankle risk, and hiking by myself, I just didn't want to risk too much.

Chris987

Sounds like a wonderful trip. Your photos are of course totally awesome! I adore the views, colors, light, and plants in the US southwest, and the fact that you can see so far away. Nature provides such incredible variety and beauty.

Summer

Absolutely stunning pictures, Janet. Thank you for sharing what must have been a wonderful trip.

Diana

So gorgeous. I've been following your trip on instagram and I want to visit all these places so badly now.

MsMaven

Fabulous photos. Brings back memories of long ago trips.

Suz

Janet, these are amazing. What a beautiful and eerie part of the world.

deb

Wonderful pictures, Janet!!!

rachylou

Gorgeous! How do you get such good pics? I love the desert. Reminds me.., I never posted my desert bloom pics...

Nadya

I love the southwest and every one of your photos. Thanks for sharing!

kerlyn

Your photos are gorgeous, Janet! I hope to make it there myself one day. Thank you for sharing these!

SarahTheWhite

Wow. Just... wow. These ar breath taking! Thank you so much for sharing...

Karie

What beautiful places to adventure to! Thanks for sharing.

annagybe

Dang! It's nice to see them all together. Fantastic stuff.

Jaime

Absolutely gorgeous - thanks for sharing!

anne

Breathtaking Janet - thanks for showing them to us!

Maneera

Wow....you're a BRILLIANT photographer, Janet. You have a great eye for color....each frame is perfect and beautifully captures your artistic eye.

Btw, are these clicked from the iPhone 7+ ? I've heard the double camera makes iPhone 7+ one of the best phones for clicking beautiful pictures.

Jeanie

Thanks Janet, I always enjoy your pics. What gorgeous scenery!! That cat steals the show for me....what character he has.

Maneera, I have the iPhone 7+. My pics do not look this good! Lol. It's Janet. Lol.

Thank you, everyone! I had such a great time, and it was so wonderful to be back in the desert again.

LOL, Rachy, thank you for that! It's an iPhone 6S. You're right -- the camera only does what the eye tells it to. I love my phone camera, and my Nikon DSLR, but give me a cheap point-and-shoot, and I'll still find a way to use my eye. I have been using my phone camera more in recent months -- sometimes I'll go out walking with *just* the phone and not my big camera to give myself more freedom to play and not take it too seriously. And sometimes it's helpful to use the phone to capture various angles and make studies of a subject before shooting it with my Nikon. It can be easier to see what I'm getting on that big phone screen than it is through the eyepiece of the DSLR. I'll often find a good angle on the phone and then capture it with the DSLR too, so I have a lot of these same shots in even better quality and depth because they were taken as a 36-megapixel RAW file instead of a 13-megapixel JPG.

And sometimes the phone just works better because you can hold it at various angles and locations where a bulky camera just won't go!

RobinF

Wow, gorgeous pictures. I am not a good photographer and really wish I was. I need to get out to the Grand Canyon!

Elizabeth P

These photos are fantastic Janet. I've wanted to visit this part of the world for a while, and I think you have just raised it up my list.

Just curious, are these all SOOC? Or do you do some editing? I know there are various apps for the iphone photos, but don't know much about them... I need to "get into" using my phone as a camera. You have motivated me on that front as well.

Anonymous

Stunning photos! And what a great place to take them.

Just got an iPhone 7, and it's amazing how much better the photo quality is from my 5s. I just wish I had your eye!

Sara L.

Beautiful photos! I live in this area of the country and have been to some of these places but I don't have your capacity to take such wonderful photos.

Jenn

I've been following your photos on instagram, and they're absolutely gorgeous. What a trip!

JAileen

Janet, these are just wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

Jane

Stunning! Wow! Thank you so much for sharing! I want to go there!

Evie

Active Member

I can't even begin to express how life-giving your photos have been to me! I find myself returning to them, allowing them to bless me over and over again. What incredible beauty you have captured!!! Would you mind if I used one or the other as my 'wallpaper' on my iPad?

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