As a photography location Horseshoe bend is re-known for the wide angle vista of the Colorado River gooseneck, viewable from a precipitous lookout a 1000ft above the meander.
A quick search on Flickr will trawl up hundreds of near identical (or classic) landscape compositions of the Colorado’s U bend.
Half a horseshoe | Horseshoe Bend, Page
Determined to make a composition that was original I scouted around the cliff edge for a while till I found this crack in the rocks, plunging down to the river a thousand feet below. The crevasse led right into one half of the gooseneck visible at Horseshoe Bend taking the eye along one half of the U to the edge of the frame.
Even though it’s a small detail relative to the total view from the overlook, I think my brains consumed so many wide-angle photographs from this location, the scene is still instantly recognisable as Horseshoe bend.
A big part of 2010 for me is developing an individual style, and this was one experiment along that road. I think a massive part of that starts with finding new ways to shoot old classics, whose images we’ve consumed countless times. Stepping back from those and finding new compositions is (at least I find) supremely difficult.
f29
I’m digging the S-curve you’ve captured here. I’ll be making my first trip to Horseshoe Bend in January–what time of day would you recommend visiting?
Cheers,
Greg Russell
Thanks Greg,
1 hour either side of the Golden hours will be best.
At any other time of day the details and color will be bleached out in the harshness of the sun. I took this around 30mins before sunset. Sunrise might give you more scope, as at sunset certain compositions will mean shooting into the sun. For example, I couldn’t have took this on the opposing side of the bend, the other half of the S if you will, as the sun although on the horizon caused too many contrast issues and lens flare.
Let me know how you go