Moonscape Overlook, 2025

    This Story Behind Every Photograph is a continuation of last month’s Story Behind that began around 2am in pitch darkness. Checkout that particular Story Behind here to get a full sense of where my mind was a bit before 4 am on June 24th earlier this year. Or, simply skip to the next paragraph and pickup the vibe as I made my way out to Moonscape Overlook in the darkness of a 1 % moon.

    This was the second trip out to Moonscape Overlook in just under a year. However, the final leg of the trek out, again in darkness was not clear in my memory. What has stayed with me for the last 25 years is the one epically uninformed decision I made on a 26 mile overnight hike with two good friends out to Angel Arch in Canyonlands NP. That Story Behind is detailed here. To this day, it is the single most uncomfortable feeling I have ever experienced in my life. In only the last few years I have read numerous stories where hikers have paid the ultimate price for “taking the backcountry wilderness” for granted. As detailed in the next paragraph, I now overcompensate for what could go wrong in Utah’s backcountry areas, regardless of the season !

    The trip out to Moonscape in ’25 found me in a brand new 2026 SUV designed for off-road adventures. Along with super brite LED headlights I had 5 gallons of water, a gallon of antifreeze, quarts of oil and an array of hand tools. Lastly, a Xmas present from my kids, a battery jump-box, tire pressure pump, cell phone charger and flashing emergency light all self-contained in a tidy portable unit. So, with detailed directions I set out directly across Rt 24 from last month’s Story Behind Milky Way shot. The darkness of 4 am would make the drive out Road marker 6650E somewhat slower, but in plenty of time prior to sunrise. Traveling 6.1 miles to backcountry sign post #0913 I turned right. The 1st .6 miles is similar washboard road to 6650E, the last 1.5 miles is a bit gnarly with some exposed deep slick-rock ruts. This section bumpier and slower with a few larger drop-offs, I did shift the drive mode of the new SUV into one of 7 different off-road settings of the all-wheel drive SUV. Now about 4:20 am and no overhead moonlight I slowed to a crawl for the last 1/4 mile. The exact orientation of the cliff’s edge was not committed to memory. Turns out there is a large open area bounded by large boulders to prevent driving over the Moonscape Overlook cliff’s edge, a drop-off between 500 – 700 ft. above the canyon floor. Sadly, there is a story of a young teen photographer from Missouri who fell to his death only a few short months back in January of 2024, linked here.

     My sole purpose for a return ’25 visit to Moonscape Overlook were the small vignets I could pick out of the incredible valley floor. I would walk the cliff’s edge for probably 100 ft in either direction overlooking what is commonly known as the Blue Valley. The name originates from the Mancos Shale that is the dominant geological formation of the Fremont river valley at this elevation, approximately 4650 ft above sea level. You could say a photographer’s dream, as the Blue valley floor is a complimentary color to the warm yellows of the rising morning sun. As the sun kissed the horizon and skipped across the undulating valley floor the contrast created by the Blue valley and the warm Sunrise can easily be separated in a Black & White image and clearly seen in the one color image that follows the video. When tonalities are spread apart, shapes and relationships are magnified creating the perception of depth and dimension. In a 2 dimensional photograph textures and swirling shapes will heighten awareness and interest from the viewer. Both visits to Moonscape have come very close to the longest day of the year. With that southerly latitude and time of year the sun rises quickly, as such golden hour is shorter and harsh light would soon overtake this magical morning. Another visit to Moonscape in the Winter months will allow the sun to sit on the horizon a bit longer. That maximizes the skimming light and terrific shapes possible, not to mention the light on Factory Butte and its incredible shapes will be much more directional. 

Moonscape 35 minutes after Sunrise

    The above image is a perfect example of how quickly the light changes as it rises in the sky. The Red Arrow shows just how quickly the contrast balance of light and dark goes beyond photography limits, illustrating just how short a prime shooting window can be. One of the most difficult lessons young photographers must learn is how much contrast the eye & brain can process and how little Film or a Digital Sensor can tolerate on the way to making world class images. There are sun blotches in the shadow areas of this image that make it unusable, at least for my aesthetic. Why ?? some may ask, look closely at the images shown at the end of this Story Behind. There is a fluidity and swirling action skimming across the features of the valley floor, I think of it as lyrics from a rock song. Specifically Springsteen’s Thunder Road, one of his few tunes that has no chorus, simply an intricately woven story much like the story this rising sun casts as it skips across the everchanging valley floor. A landscape so amazing it’s called Moonscape Overlook….Otherworldly to say the least ! Imagine the time, commitment and even the $$ to realize less than 30 minutes of prime shooting at a particular location, when success happens a meaningful body of work takes shape. 

    For context, the video below is time-stamped @ 5:52 am, just a few minutes before sunrise, importantly, the video is not color enhanced at all, straight out of the cell phone. 

      Always a bit of unexpected excitement in so many Story Behind episodes is detailed below. Yet another example of this east-coast boys’ naivety with respect to the backcountry !

Moonscape & Unwelcome Visitor

     The photo left side photo below is a still taken from a video I took of this brave soul is the perfect spot to make images of Moonscape Overlook. Seeing this photo on the internet I knew those daring years were behind me. That said, having now seen the trail in person, it did not look quite so daunting, however, I kept my feet on level ground. So, it should be no surprise that this fellow, (sounded European) would venture out there for a sit down and then again appear in a photo opp as I drove away…standing over a 4 ft. or more visitor slithering along the parking area ! That reptile, mind you blending in perfectly with the loose gravel and ground was likely not yet moving during my pre-dawn walk along the Moonscape Overlook area. Kinda

Below are several of the vignets captured that morning, the last one came to me sitting writing this Story Behind. The whole post processing and PhotoShop component is still a steep learning curve, however, I am enjoying the newly acquired skill-set and the creativity in my minds’ eye. Stay tuned, as next months’ Story Behind will pickup just after lunch on 6/24/25.

Dawn, Moonscape Overlook Ridge Line

Sunrise, Moonscape Overlook

Full Moonscape, 6/24/25