Mapping Big Cottonwood Canyon Part 2 (Dogwood)

Ok I have been away from the blog far to long.  Work  has been keeping me away from my photo blog so  hopefully I’ll have some more time in the future.  Without further rumblings here’s the info on the next Part of Cottonwood Canyon. 

This site is called Dogwood it is really easy to get to it’s the first picnic area up the canyon on the right hand side of the road.  There is parking around the sign on the road or if you choose to pay they have parking inside the day use area.   This is run by a property management company that runs several day use area’s up big cottonwood canyon.  Most of these area’s you can walk through without paying if you indicate that you are just walking through  and you don’t use the parking area.

If your planning on doing photo’s up here or if you are going to use any of the services please check with the on site range/manager for possible fees.

There are some good spots for pictures at this location.  Right next to the sign on the road there’s a little path where you can get down to the river and get a good shot of a couple/group of people up on the bridge. 

This is where you would stand to see the bridge. 

The part I really like is towards the east of the campground its a small trail that leads to a climbing area.

Start of trail from parking lot.

On trail.

Rocky section of trail.  (Trail = 2 minutes walking)

The area is fairly open and leaves a lot of open places for portraits.  Places to sit down and have the river as your backdrop.  You may want to be careful depending on the day/time this could also have a lot of climbers.

If your interested in getting some climbing pictures this could be a good spot as well as It should be fairly easy to go around on another trail to the top of the climbing area and be able to look down. 

Overall this is a good spot here’s some pro’s and con’s. 

Con’s

Can be costly if you park inside. 

Some of the trail is quite rocky if your carrying lots of gear keep that in mind.

Can be lots of people around. 

Pro’s

Very close in the canyon.  Less than 5 minutes up the canyon.

Plenty of parking(see con about parking fee)

Lots of great spots for river pictures. 

Good spot to setup for a bridge picture. 

Very easy walking no Hiking/Climbing or experience needed.

Here’s a site you can also find some images and information about the day use campsite. 

DogWood

My flickr album that has all of these can be found here.  You can also click on any of the pictures to see them on flickr I have them mapped out in flickr so you can see the exact location. 

Mapping Big Cottonwood Canyon

Taken at F22.0/.6 Exp/ISO 100 Nikon d80

So I’ve decided that since I’m up the canyons almost every day for lunch I would start sharing them with my fellow photographers and helping them to find places to take clients for rocking photos. This will be the first in a series of blog posts on Big Cotton Wood Canyon. I will be profiling different spots I have found that would work well for photos. Here are a few ground rules.

1. I’m going in no particular order.

2. I will post locations on my Flickr Map and on the Utah Portrait Locations map.

3. The pictures I take are snapshots. I am not trying to be artistic or show you how great my photography is I am merely there to take a picture so you know where to look before you spend the time to go up there.

4. I am more than happy to give more details about any location. I spend much of my time up here during lunch hours and early in the morning don’t hesitate to ask.

5. For this first series I will focus on everything

from Moss Ledge picnic area and lower. This is what I call 15 minutes up the canyon. Basically you can get to any of these sites in no more than 15 minutes even if you’re stuck behind this guy.

6. Right now all the pictures I am taking are  during spring time. I hope to update with winter/fall shots but we’ll see how the series goes.

I’m here to help and would even be happy to scout out some locations if you need and take some snapshots. Just drop me a line and let me know.

Now that we have that out of the way what should you take when doing a shoot up here in the mountains? Sure your normal gear is going to be fine but I would suggest a few other things that might help as well.

1. Reflector/lite disc I’m sure we all have this with us for shoots. It’s equally important in the mountains. Although you would think the mountains or trees can provide some shade sometimes there will be rays of sunshine coming through the tree’s that can either help or hinder your shot. Reflectors/lite disc are good for dealing with these.

2. Towel. As they say in Hitch Hikers guide to the galaxy. Your towel is important. If you’re shooting near rivers you never know when someone or something (like your camera) might want to take a dip. Towels are also great for sitting on rocks that are not so comfortable for your subjects. A blanket can work here as well but it’s bigger doesn’t absorb water as well.

3. Lightstand / Mini stand for your flash. My Nikon Sb600’s come with little stands that I can use to stand the flash on. If you want to use off camera flash in the mountains you either need a Lightstand of some sort or some mini stand. Sandbag can work here as well but most won’t have a good way to make the flash stand up so some creativity might be needed.

4. Dress appropriately if you don’t do much hiking or working up in canyons/mountain area’s you should make sure to have a light jacket with you and some decent walking shoes. A first aid kit is not a bad idea as well if you’re planning on leaving the designated trails.

I hope you can use this information to get out and enjoy the Canyons and take some great pictures.

Look for the next post and first location in the next few days.

Pat

My Lunchroom

 

I spend most of my lunch hours up in Big Cottonwood Canyon taking pictures.  Some of my shots never turn out and some are just way to bright since it’s the middle of the day and we all know you shouldn’t do Photo’s in the middle of the day.  But many times it’s just about getting up and away from everything.  Not worrying about the stress of everything down below and just relaxing. 

This picture I took today and I haven’t edited yet.  But i liked it enough to get it up on here and will probably edit it later this weekend. 

If your in the Big Cottonwood area some time come join me for a lunch time photowalk.  There’s nothing like being up here and relaxing by the river.  :)