Up before the sun

We left the hotel at 2am to go to Canyonlands National Park for a lesson in star photography.   So about 3am, I shot my first photo of the Milky Way.   Tom, the instructor, was very helpful and he and I both agreed that my Canon SL1 did not have a big enough sensor to get a great shot but it did get the shot.  And this photo in the collage has been edited very little.  

Around 4am we went to Mesa Arch in Canyonlands for the sunrise...along with about 20 other people who had the best locations. We were on the narrow end of the arch but I did get some great light on the red rock.   Then I decided to see about getting a solar flare and it is in the extras.     

After this we had some snacks..it was still early morning..about 7:30am!  We went to two other  locations in Canyonlands  to shoot some landscapes.   One of them was an overlook to the canyon with a long narrow road that I used in the collage.  I cannot describe the immensity of this place and photos just do not show it at all.     

The last place we stopped for photos was at Dead Horse Point State Park.  We saw where the Colorado River twists and turns in this area as it goes toward Canyonlands on its way south.   

We got some real food and realized we had already put in a 10 hour day!  Back at the hotel for showers and a rest before supper, then more photos.   The clouds are supposed to move in later so we are not going out for the sunset.   Fortunately if there is any color we may be able to see it here where we are staying.    Then if the weather clears out some, we may go out again at 2am to shoot more star photos.   The workshop leader would love to get a photo of the six students in front of Milky Way!  We don't know if that would happen but maybe.

Four and a half hours sleep is not really enough so napping will be done after I post this blip!!     After I jot down a few notes on some things I learned today.