Fisher Towers Sunset Panorama Photo Wall Art – The Story Behind The Photo

Photography Prints

What Is Fisher Towers And Where Is It?

Fisher Towers is a collection of massive towers along Highway 128 about 26 miles from the town of Moab in southern Utah.  The towers are made of Cutler Sandstone with Moenkopi sandstone on the top of the towers.  They are caked with a red mud that is sort of like stucco.  The towers can be seen from Highway 128.  There is a parking area nearby the towers where you can get out and look at the towers or climb the towers if you have the right gear and skills.  The Colorado River runs near Fisher Towers and is the body of water the towers are reflecting in in the photo highlighted on this page.  If you are staying in Moab and are looking for something cool to see outside of Arches National Park and Canyonlands, Fisher Towers is a cool spot to check out.

What Is It Like To Travel To Fisher Towers In Southern Utah Near Moab?

If you want to go to Fisher Towers, the closest major airports include Salt Lake City and the Grand Junction, Colorado Airport.  Chances are you’ll want to stay in Moab if you are going to visit Fisher Towers and Greyhound does have bus service to Moab.  Once you get to Moab, you will need a car to get around and will definitely need one to get to Fisher Towers.  The lodging options in and around Moab got from BLM campgrounds to fairly upscale hotels.

Traveling to Moab and Fisher Towers is fairly easy especially if you are on a road trip.  The mountain roads from Salt Lake City can be a little gnarly and crowded particularly in bad weather.  The roads around Moab are often two lane roads and may be a bit crowded but are generally pretty good roads.  There are lots of good places from which to photograph Fisher Towers.  You’ll probably want to drive around to find some different perspectives.  They can look really cool with a bit of snow on the ground.

What Does It Take To Get A Wall Art Quality Panoramic Photo Of Fisher Towers?

The biggest challenge when photographing Fisher Towers is to find a good composition.  Do you want just the towers, do you want water in the photo, do you want reflections?  There are lots of different options and compositions if you wander around enough.

They look great in winter when there is some snow on the peaks and the surrounding La Sal Mountain range.  They glow during sunset in the winter months.  There are all kinds of variables and all kinds of awesome shots you can get when you figure out the best time to shoot and the best spots to shoot from.  Crowds haven’t been a problem when photographing Fisher Towers when I’ve been there but it has been a few years since the last trip to Moab and Fisher Towers.

I purposely have not included any specific locations in this article.  Some of the best spots to photograph Fisher Towers (in my opinion) are a little fragile.  Driving a lot more people there would not be a good thing.  I encourage you to go exploring to look for your own cool spots.

What Is The Best Gear For Photographing The Fisher Towers?

There really is no “best gear” for photographing Fisher Towers.  During daylight most any camera will do from a cel phone to a high end DSLR or mirrorless camera.  If you want to get a landscape photo that includes the towers and surrounding landscape from close to the towers then you may want something as wide as a 16 or 17mm lens on a full frame camera.  If you are interest in getting closeup shots of the features in the rocks or any “faces” or other things you may see in the rocks then a 400mm or even a 600mm lens could come in handy.

If you plan to go to Fisher Towers at sunrise or sunset then you’ll probably want a tripod along with your DSLR or mirrorless camera and lens.  A circular polarizer may come in handy was well especially if you incorporate water or reflections into your photo.

The area around Fisher Towers can be wet and sloppy with mud that will really stick to your gear.  Just be aware of that and be prepared to clean off your tripod if you have to stick it in the nasty clay like mud that you may encounter.

What Is The Story Behind This Fisher Towers Sunset Panorama Wall Art Photo?

I’d spent a lot of time in Moab in previous years.  In fact “Wall Street” at Arches was the first real National Park view I’d ever seen.  It was that view and the rest of Arches and a subsequent visit to Canyonlands during that same trip that kicked of 10 years of National Park road tripping.

This photo was taken in the winter of 2016.  I’d seen just about everything there was to see at the Moab National Parks like Turret Arch Through Window Arch at sunrise, and sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands and nearby sights like Corona Arch, Wilson Arch and similar places.  I’d seen some photos of Fisher Towers with just the towers at sunset.  I’d seen one photo with the towers reflecting in the Colorado River.  I set out to get the best possible photo of Fisher Towers I could get and I was prepared to spend as many nights as possible to get it.  I was staying at the Moab Lazy Lizard Hostel which is the cheapest place to stay in Moab.  By staying there, I could afford to stay longer and not have to sleep in my car.

As is the case when trying to get a specific photo, I watched the weather forecast every night.  I looked for relatively calm winds (so I wouldn’t freeze) and partly cloudy skies.  I went a few times during the day scouting out the area.  I hiked around the towers, I hiked down by the river, I drove along Utah Highway 128 looking for unique spots until I found a good spot to capture reflections.  I did a fair amount of bushwhacking too.  Once I found this spot it took four trips there to get a night when the winds were pretty calm, the reflections were pretty good and the setting sun wasn’t blocked by cloud cover right at sunset.  Fisher Towers was kind of like sunset at Horseshoe Bend in that regard.  The cloud cover would look great and at the last minute it would deteriorate and result in a less than ideal photo.

I took some single shots that turned out well as well as some panoramic shots that came out well like this one.  Between the time it took to find an ideal location and waiting for ideal weather conditions, there was about 5 days/evenings invested in getting the Fisher Towers reflection shots.

What Formats Is This Fisher Towers Sunset Panorama Wall Art Print Available?

This particular print is available in size up to 84×45 which is a HUGE print.  That large size and of course smaller sizes are available on metal, canvas, acrylic, wood and a selection of premium papers.  If you’ve got an area with diffused light then any type of print will work well.  Metallic finish prints like those on metal, metallic and glossy paper, glossy canvas or acrylic are look great in areas with diffused lighting.  In areas with lots of direct sunlight or exposed light bulbs, matte canvas and paper prints will tent to look the best and not reflect the surrounding lighting and furnishings.

For more home decor type items, shower curtains and Sherpa fleece blankets blankets are pretty awesome and substantially cheaper than large prints.

If you’d like to show off the print with accessories you carry around or wear then apparel, cel phone cases and canvas tote bags are great.  If you need to replace the plastic grocery store shopping bags with something then the canvas tote bags can be really awesome.

For the puzzler in the family even if it is you, a jigsaw puzzle can be an excellent choice.  They come in 500 piece and 1,000 piece sizes.

 


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