Family of fotographers – Wachs Across America

Caden got a video camera for Christmas a few years back, Dacen got an action cam for this last Christmas, Steph has her Nexus 5X which takes amazing pictures, I just bought us a new mirrorless camera and so Brielle took over the old point-and-shoot. Armed with 5 cameras we headed off on the hunt for the best photo, the best attempt at capturing a moment in time. Our destination, Colorado National Monument, was about 1 mile from the campground. We paid for an annual National Parks pass and headed up the road. Just as you enter the beautiful Fruita canyon is a pullout for viewing Balanced Rock. We also notice some big horn sheep, so before the truck has even come to a complete stop the doors swing open and the mighty hunters jump from the vehicle with cameras aimed and the snapping of shutters commences! I think we spent close to an hour at this one point and took a crazy number of pictures.

“This road is 23 miles long and we’ve barely done one, let’s keep a movin'”. We load up and repeat this procedure the next several pullouts before we reach the visitor center where we stay for a hike, some post card shopping, a stuffed animal for Brielle and lunch.

After lunch we visited a couple more pullouts to do some short walks, see more amazing scenery and take LOTS more photographs. Dacen, who I nicknamed Ansel, commented “it’s amazing…there are an infinite number of different pictures you can take of the same thing.” Add the element of time and you can take those exact photos again at sunrise, winter, during the rain, and again at sunset and they will all be unique. Caden is more our videographer and particularly likes experimenting with time lapse many of which turned out quite fun and entertaining. Hopefully he puts them on his YouTube channel to share with you all. Brielle’s photos are great because she does not have any preconceived ideas of what constitutes a “good” photo, she just shoots what she sees. We only got about 7 miles along the 23 mile loop before we headed back home for the day. I thought a day would be enough, but I could easily spend a week in this area. The campground is amazing and is only $28/night for full hookup (plus the state park day use fee of $7 or get an annual pass for $70) and makes for super easy access to the monument. When I return I will ride the 23 mile loop on my bike (perhaps both directions), I will watch a sunrise and a sunset from somewhere in the park (and hopefully capture some time lapses), and I will do one or more of the longer hikes that take you into the bottom of the canyons and more remote areas.

I’ll leave you now with some of the moments in time we captured during our excursion.

First up are Brielle’s pictures…