I got up early to catch a sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. I found out that there is a good sunrise spot here and I would like to be able to at least catch a sunrise during this trip. I got to the car park first and made my way to the viewing area which wasn’t too far from the car park. Be aware that the sunrise can’t be seen from the car park, so make sure to allocate enough time for walking. Eventually, there were a few more people at the viewing area trying to catch the sunrise but it wasn’t crowded at all and everyone had their own spot. I still have to say that there are some spots better than others.
The sky was getting brighter by the second and everyone knew that it was almost time. When I first got to the viewing area, I didn’t know where this Mesa Arch is but that all changed when it was brighter. The arch was literally right in front of the viewing area. It was great that they have this viewing area in such a great position. I imagined that people would have needed to hike very far to get that signature photo of Mesa Arch but this wasn’t the case at all since the arch is right in front of you.
I was fiddling around with the settings on my camera trying to see which is the best to get the photo. This time around, the tripod I brought along for the trip was proving its worth. I only brought a short one because of space considerations but it was more than enough for me. While we were waiting we were just chatting away and sharing tips on how to get the good photo. Some people had phones with them, while others like me had digital cameras. I must admit that my phone still took better shots than the camera. I was still able to get okay shots. I know that these types of settings would require digital manipulation to combine different exposures but I couldn’t be bothered if the phone can already do it. Perhaps it is telling me to get a better camera.
As you can see that phone photo is so much better. In both cases, you can see the bottom of the arch illuminated by the sunrise. It is a shame that we didn’t get the sunburst effect that one guy was talking about. I am not sure how you get it without tools but it was still happy enough with the photos I got. One would need a much wider lens to fit the entire arch in a single photo though. I stayed at the arch a little longer than the others. I think that most sunrise people would leave at this point since there wasn’t much to do anymore. I was very happy I got up early to see this. It is a great start to the day.
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