For years, Las Vegas has been a location I’ve been very tepid about. The shallow allure of the Strip is what most people imagine but I got to know the city outside the strip a bit better during the trips I took at my last job seeing every library in the city. I must have gone to Las Vegas every two weeks for 6 months. However, this was the first time I got to see another facet of Sin City. Red Rock Canyon State Park.
We caught perfect weather for a day outdoors as we made out way around the 13 mile scenic loop. The first stop was the most crowded and most beautiful. Red rocks with striations and patterns right off the road. I had some trouble figuring out what it was that I actually wanted to shot on this trip. I mostly photograph people but tourists and families aren’t exactly the most interesting subjects. I’ve never really thought much about landscape photography (and I still don’t) but it was an opportunity to shoot the land as creatively as I could.
This was the first stop on our way to Utah for my first ever Spring Break as a teacher. After reviewing the photos from the trip, I couldn’t bring myself to publish these in black and white.
If you’ve been alive and outside in the past year, I’m sure that you’ve seen rocks stacked like this. Yes. It looks kinda cool like you’re some kind of zen master but actually it can be quite detrimental to the environment. Caitlyn educated me on the ecological impact of rock stacking and how much she dislikes the practice. The gist of it that “leave no trace” is thrown out the window by doing this. Sure it’s just a couple of rocks but since millions of people visit these places the problem grows exponentially. We found this stack on the hike to the Keystone Thrust. Even by opposing the practice, I must admit that it makes for nice photos.
