What Are Turret And Window Arches And Where Are They?
Turret And Window arch are both located within the boundaries of Arches National Park in Southern Utah. Window Arch Is the sandstone arch that serves as the frame here while turret arch is the arch sandstone structure that looks somewhat like a turret seen through the Window Arch and framed by the Window Arch. Turret Arch is also a sandstone arch.
The Windows section of Arches National Park is located about 12 miles from the entrance to Arches National Park, To get there, you’ll go through the entrance on the Main Park Road and take a right onto Windows Road. At the end of the Windows road you’ll come to a parking area. The hike up to either the Windows Arches (there are two of them) or Turret Arch is about a quarter mile from the parking lot.
What Is It Like To Travel To Window And Turret Arch At Arches National Park?
When you travel to Arches National Park, chances are it will either be a road trip or you’ll fly into the Grand Junction, Colorado Airport (about 122 miles from Moab) or The Salt Lake City Airport (about 246 miles from Moab). From either one of those airports you’ll need to get a rental car to get to Arches National Park and to get to the town of Moab, Utah where you will likely stay during your visit to Arches (and possibly Canyonlands National Park).
Depending on when you go to Arches National Park you may need an Arches advance entrance pass in addition to the National Park Pass or the standard weekly admission fee. Arches National Park is a small park. You can expect crowded roads, crowded parking areas and crowded trails and viewpoints.
If you want to avoid the crowds and the advanced admission passes, you may want to go during the winter. That is generally considered the off season. It can be a beautiful time to be in the park but can also be quite cold. While Moab and the surrounding area tends to be pretty mild, temperatures can drop down into the single digits or even down below zero.
What Does It Take To Get A Wall Art Quality Photo Of Window And Turret Arch?
In order to get a wall art quality photo of Window and Turret Arch, the most difficult thing to so will be to get it without people if you want a nice clean shot. With the crowds that have swarmed Arches National Park in recent years that may not even be possible, You hay have to break out the Photoshop. People love to walk up and sit in Window Arch.
For the best chance at a good shot, you’ll probably want to get well before sunrise. Your best best for a clean shot will likely be sometime in the winter. A bad weather forecast might be a good choice but you’ll have to hope to get some cool clouds or a nice glow on the arches. In order to get to the spot to get this shot, you’ll have to do a fair amount of climbing. Any snow or ice on the rocks can make it a treacherous spot to get to. You may need some sort of micro spikes to get up there and even those might not work. You’ll need to climb a (potentially) slippery sandstone formation with your camera gear and a tripod. If it is dry, it’s not particularly difficult. Anything from wet to icy makes it tricky to dangerous.
Once you’re up there, you’ll want to setup your tripod, mount the camera and use a cable release. Chances are you’ll want to get a decent depth of field. At sunrise the shutter will need to stay open for a while. You won’t want the camera to shake.
Hang out till you get a good shots or a bunch of them if the light starts dancing right at dawn. Then carefully climb back down with your camera gear and go explore the rest of the park.
What Is The Best Gear For Photographing Turret Arch Through Window Arch?
Since this will likely be a sunrise photo of Turret And Window Arch, you’ll likely want a tripod since the shutter will need to stay open in the low light. For this particular shot, a standard DSLR or mirrorless camera will do the trick with a fairly wide angle lens. You’ll probably want something as wide as 16mm or 17mm and maybe as long as 50mm depending on your composition. A couple lenses like a 17-40mm and a 24-105mm could be handy to have and provide plenty of flexibility.
This is a photo spot where a panoramic setup could be useful but certainly not necessary. With a panoramic setup or a camera that will shoot panoramas and stitch them internally, you can capture more of the landscape around the scene. Just remember that this is a sticky spot yo climb to and you’ll have to get that gear up the rock outcropping from where this shot is taken.
Of course if you just want photos to post to social media and show your friends, a decent cel phone camera will do.
What Is The Story Behind This Wall Art Photo Of Turret Arch Through Window Arch?
Arches National Park was the first national park I’d ever been to way back in 2010, The Wall Street overlook took my breath away and lead to a love affair with the US National Parks. On that initial trip in 2010, I wandered around the park, did some hiking and of course hiked up to the famous Delicate Arch.
Some time after that initial trip, I saw a photo of Turret Arch through Window Arch in some national park photo book. In 2014 when I spent much of the winter at the Lazy Lizard Hostel in Moab, Utah, I set out to find some unique photo opportunities in Arches with this being one of them.
It took a bit of work and hiking around the Windows area of Arches National Park to figure out where photos like this may have been taken. It was winter so there was snow on the ground and the sandstone formations in this and throughout the park. After scouring the area for a few hours one day I finally figured out where to get this shot. With some snow and ice on the rocks, it was a but sketchy getting up there.
For about 5 days in a row I went back to this spot at sunrise. I’d get up well before sunset, head into the park, take a brisk walk from the car up to the Windows area and then struggle to get over the slippery, icy sandstone formations to the photo spot. In order to get Turret really well centered in Window Arch, it would take a really precarious perch. I wasn’t wiling to put myself at risk for that but did the best I could.
Since this is a small area, I’d try to be the first one up and out there in the morning. I’d also try to remain very quiet and as motionless as possible so the few other people in the area didn’t try to join me. Those in the Windows area in the morning tend to hang out right in Window Arch. That can make it tough to get shots without people in them.
In all the similar photos I’d seen and have seen, this looks like about as good as the light gets here at sunrise. I’ve never seen a really fiery sky in a photo like this. The sun rises from behind you and to your left as it lights up the landscape illuminating both the Window Arch and Turret in the winter. Cloudy or stormy skies in the summer might facilitate a more vibrant sky but the summer crowds that descend upon Arches not probably make it extremely hard to get any shot here that is not flooded with people.
What Formats Is This Turret Arch Seen Through Window Arch Wall Art Print Available?
This sunrise print from Arches National Park is available in sizes up to 40×60 inches on a variety of papers, canvas, acrylic, wood and metal. If you are looking to hang it in an area with lots of bright direct light or exposed light bulbs then something with a matte finish would be best. This would include a matte paper finish or a matte canvas. In areas with more subdued lighting, something with a more shiny reflective surface like metal, acrylic, or glossy finished paper or canvas.
If you are more interested in home decor type items, then shower curtains and Sherpa fleece blankets may be preferable. Then come in larger sizes than the largest prints. They are generally less expensive. Since they may be larger than large prints, the image print on large fleece blankets and shower curtains will soften up some bu still look fantastic for those items.
A number of household items are available and include coffee mugs, cel phone cases, and very sturdy canvas bags. The canvas bags make great replacements for the plastic shopping bags that may have vanished from your local grocery store.
If you’d prefer a mind teaser, there are also 500 and 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles available.
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