On a Mission with Mish: Photography Adventures

 Capturing beautiful images in southern Utah and Great Basin National Park with friend and photographer Mike Shedlock.

Mike Shedlock (Mish) photographing in Pine Creek, Zion National Park.

Related
MishMoments - Joy of Photography

Angels Landing - Zion

Southern Utah Hikes

The Subway - Zion

Great Basin NP

Quote
"Ancora imparo."  (translates to "I'm still learning").
         - Michelangelo

One day I received an email from from a photographer who had read my Golden Cathedral via Beeline Trail hike post.  Mike Shedlock, AKA Mish, wanted to know if Fred and I would join him on another trip to this awesome sky-lit cathedral at the end of Neon Canyon in April, just in time for the spring leafing of the cottonwood trees.

Since then, we have gone on several photo adventures in southern Utah, including Water Canyon in Canaan Mountain Wilderness, Zion National Park, and a few petroglyph sites.  On our second trip to Stella Lake in Great Basin National Park, we caught the perfect dusk sky, arriving just in time after hurrying up the trail from the famous thousands-years-old bristlecone pines.
​
​You've got to be on your toes when photographing with Mish.  He sets up fast, knows his camera really well, and has a schedule - especially if we are to get to a place in time for the perfect light.  He is a combined artist and superlative technician.

Getting out with Mish has been good for me and Fred, who patiently waits and takes in the beautiful scenery while Mish and I create.  It's motivated me to get out with my Sony DSLR camera more often and learn how to use it.  I was a Canon girl before.

We are talking about a trip to Cosmic Ashtray in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument this spring.

Check out MishMoments - Joy of Photography for some spectacular images of southern Utah, Iceland, night skies, "everything water" and more.  Here are a few images I have gotten so far, some with Mish's help.

Fred squeezing through the "secret passage" to the waterfall and pool along Zion's Pine Creek (image below).

Pine Creek in Zion National Park.
The walk into this steep-walled canyon is through white sands and huge boulders.

A second trip to Pine Creek.
Temperatures in Zion NP dip into the 20's at night in December.

Autumn in Zion National Park.
Mish knows the best places to photograph.

We had to climb a short, slippery, ice-filled slope to get closer to these icicles in Pine Creek.

Water Canyon in Canaan Mountain Wilderness, south of Zion National Park.
There's no trail markers in this gorgeous wilderness that is known well by "locals."

This woman in the blue dress scrambled up these slippery falls like she's done it many times before.
Photographed at 0.5 seconds making woman out of focus, ISO = 250, f 16

Golden Cathedral at the end of Neon Canyon.

Reflections of Wheeler Peak (right) and Doso Doyabi (left) in Stella Lake - Great Basin National Park.
Wheeler Peak's summit is 13,065' - the second-tallest in Nevada.  There's a great trail to its summit.
Nevada's only glacier lies at the base of Wheeler Peak.

We found big and beautiful Joshua trees in the Beaver Dam Mountains near Ivins, Utah.
Nevada's Mormon Mountain range is in the background.

Mish and Sue at the Rattlesnake petroglyph.

Metate Arch in Devils Garden - Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument - Utah.
Grand Staircase is my favorite place to explore because it has few paved roads.  Most adventures require a rugged vehicle, lots of patience and navigation ability, and a lot of wanderlust.
I added "sky replacement" in Photoshop.

Ancient Bristlecone Pine grove in Great Basin National Park's quartzite.
These thousands-years old trees are fascinating and tough, withstanding freezing temperatures and ferocious winds that twist them into almost human gestures.
They are the largest non-clonal species on the planet, and extremely rare.

Doso Doyabi (Shoshone language for "white peak") and its reflection in Stella Lake.
This peak was formerly named Jeff Davis Peak.  

Someday (soon?)
Mojave Desert near Nipton, California in the Ivanpah Valley.

Virgin River Gorge petroglyphs.
This huge boulder is near the da Vinci panel petroglyphs.

Blooming yuccas on the Skyline Trail in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs, California.
I included this shot with my iPhone because it's one of my favorites.