Location: Canyonlands National Park, Utah

If you are a landscape photographer, you know there are a few locations that are referred to with equal measures of affinity and disdain: Tunnel View. Maroon Bells. The Firefall. Mesa Arch. These are spots that you jockey for position, maybe for hours, among lines of tripods and lenses for a brief “money shot”, then the hordes race away to the next location. However, there is a reason that these locations draw the crowds, and I have tried to find the bright side in off-season (or middle of the night) chances to capture moments at these locations, talk to other people, and enjoy the beauty. This morning at Mesa Arch was tremendously cold and windy, keeping it to me and just a dozen of my closest friends :).