Southwest | Russ Bishop Photography | Nature Photo Blog

October 14, 2020November 1, 2021

The Ancient Ones

The Native American cliff dwellings of the southwest are the most spectacular ruins north of Mexico. The Ancestral Puebloan Indians (or “The Ancient Ones”) were the prehistoric pueblo culture that thrived in the Four Corners region of the United States between 900 and 1200 A.D. before their mysterious disappearance.

Many of their elaborate structures are well-preserved in national parks such as Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, and Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. From three-story citadels perched precariously on canyon ledges like Square Tower House shown here, to the 500 room Great Houses of Chaco Canyon, these skilled masons left a legacy to rival the ruins of ancient Greece.

Once referred to as the Anasazi, Archaeologists and scholars still debate what caused their sudden demise toward the end of the 12th century. But the stone handiwork of the Ancestral Puebloans remains a fascinating testament to the vision and tenacity of these ancient pueblo people.

October 22, 2019September 3, 2020

Grand Staircase-Escalante

One of the largest yet least explored parks in the country, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a vast desert landscape of mesas, slot canyons, petrified sand dunes, archaeological treasures and American history. Divided by a single long ridge called the Kaiparowits Plateau, this remote region was the last place in the continental United States to be mapped and is a wonderful destination to find that desert solitude that Edward Abbey so passionately wrote about.

From the south, the Vermilion, White, Gray, and Pink cliffs rise to form the giant multi-hued terraces of the Grand Staircase. And to the east the Escalante Canyons are a labyrinth of geologic wonders slowly winding their way down to Lake Powell. Together these escarpments expose 200 million years of the earth’s history in a visual feast for the eyes, and contain the most continuous record of Late Cretaceous terrestrial life in the world.

For the photographer, the Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument is a sublime location where the possibilities are endless and the light, which seems to glow from within, is worthy most anytime of day. I’ve often said you could spend your whole life in southern Utah and not see it all, but that might just be true of this very special park. The temptation to try is always present.

August 3, 2017August 3, 2017

Soft Water

Lower Calf Creek Falls, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

Shooting water in all its endless variety is one of the creative pleasures of nature photography. From drops of dew reflecting a crisp autumn morning to the power of cascading falls frozen in time, the camera allows many unique perspectives of our most abundant resource that are seldom seen in a passing glance.

A polarizing filter is a favorite tool for photographing water as it slows exposure and increases contrast, both of which serve to enhance the emotional response to a scene. While some may say this is altering reality, it’s good to remember that art is more about personal expression than documentation.

“Most creative photographs are departures from reality and it seems to take a higher order of craft to make this departure than to simulate reality.” ~Ansel Adams

This image of Calf Creek Falls in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was made on an overcast day with a long exposure of 20 seconds. The cloudy sky diffused the harsh mid-day light and saturated the colors of the moss covered rock, while the slow shutter speed gave the falls a silky look.