Robert Riberia - July, 2000

I love helping visitors get the most out of their journey into Red Rock Country.  A big part of most folk's visit is the photographs that they take.  Nothing can be more depressing than getting home and being disappointed by roll after roll of poorly exposed photographs.  In this section I humbly offer fellow amateur photographers a few personal observations regarding equipment and techniques that I have found useful in Red Rock Country.  A little down-to-earth photo advice from a desert wanderer. 

Getting Great Film Pictures by Understanding Your Camera's Limitations
Great Shots are possible with cameras starting at only $10!

Ever since I put this website up I have gotten a lot of requests for recommendations on specific film cameras.  A lot of people want to know what type of camera "is best" for photography in Red Rock Country.  My typical response is, "Just about any camera will work well if you understand its capabilities, and more importantly, its limitations."  If you've only got ten bucks to spend on a camera - you can still get some great images!

$10-$20 Disposable Cameras - Surprisingly Good!

You can get great shots with a $10 disposable camera if you work within that camera's capabilities.  First, you have to realize that the camera is going to have an extremely cheap lens with inexpensive plastic optics that perform poorly in low light.  The camera will also have a fixed shutter speed which is usually set for a good exposure on a nice sunny day.  When you deviate from sunny conditions, your photo quality is already being compromised.  The built-in flash has limited usefulness - its range is usually only 10-15 feet.  Therefore, if you have a $10 disposable camera simply limit your photographs to brightly lit subjects and you'll probably come away with quite a few nice images.  I have used a few cheap disposable cameras and come away with some great shots.  Don't waste your time attempting shots in dark canyons - or after the sun sets - you'll only be disappointed.  Note: A cheap, disposable, waterproof camera is probably the best camera to bring along on a whitewater rafting trip!

Fully Automatic Point-and-Shoot Cameras

This is a pretty broad category with cameras ranging in price from $60-$300. Most cameras are fully automatic with the camera setting both the aperture and the shutter speed.  Additionally, point-and-shoot cameras usually have no means of manually selecting either the aperture or the shutter speed.  They will also automatically utilize the built-in flash in low light situations, which can be a problem under certain situations.

My Canon ELPH (see above) falls into this category.  By understanding my camera's limitations I have rarely been disappointed by an image.  I'll discuss some of my methods utilizing this camera, which should apply to most other Point-and-Shoot cameras.

Unsurprisingly, this type of camera works flawlessly on nice sunny days.  Exposures are usually correct, and the pictures are normally quite pleasing as long as the standard techniques of desert photography are taken into account.  For example, on cloudless days the lighting is pretty flat between 10am and 2pm.  Desert landscape images will have little depth during this time period and colors tend to be washed out.  If your camera will take filters (unfortunately, most do not in this category) use a polarizing filter to help reduce glare.  If you must take photos between 10am and 2pm, just try to avoid landscape images. Try to focus on close-up images - arches, rock formations, lizards, etc.  During the rest of the day - shoot away!

As it gets darker outside, point-and-shoot cameras will allow you to take pictures without the flash by lengthening the exposure time - i.e. using a longer shutter speed.  At some point, usually when the shutter speed drops to 1/30 of a second, the camera will decide that the shutter speed is too slow to hand-hold the camera without blurring the image.  It will then turn on the flash to illuminate your picture.  The problem with this scenario is that the small flash built into the camera will usually only illuminate about 10-15 feet in front of you.  If you're trying to photograph a landscape you're just going to get a severely underexposed, and useless, image.  I can't tell you how many people I see at canyon overlooks taking flash pictures of the thousands of square miles of canyon country that's in front of them!  The flash illuminates absolutely nothing.

Luckily, many cameras in this category will allow you to turn off the flash.  For example, while I was hiking in the deep canyon that I photographed in Gallery 5, my camera kept telling it was too dark and that it was going to use the flash.  The tiny flash on my camera would have been useless in this huge canyon since the flash wouldn't even reach the canyon walls.  Therefore, I turned off the flash and let the camera compensate by lengthening the exposure time.  Doing this, however, means that the camera is going to use a very slow shutter speed.  If it's still daylight, and you're merely in a shaded canyon, the odds are that the shutter speed has probably just dropped to 1/30th or 1/15th of a second.  If you very carefully hold the camera steady, and slowly press the shutter release, your picture should come out just fine.  If you're worried about how steady you can hold your camera, or it's actually starting to get dark out, use additional support for your camera.  If you have a tripod available, use it.  If not, I have found all of the following techniques to be useful:

• Lean against a canyon wall or rock face, and brace the hand that you're holding the camera with against the rock.
• Sit on the ground with your knees up, and use the tops of your knees as a camera support.
• Set the camera on a rock ledge (the best technique for very long exposures).  Just make sure the end of the lens is near the edge of the rock so the rock doesn't show up in the bottom of your frame.

Generally, cameras in the category offer a decent number of features, in a compact package, that the majority of canyon country explorers will find perfectly adequate for all of their needs.  More than anything, the size of many of these cameras is hard to beat!

SLR Cameras ($300-$$$)

35mm Single Lens Reflex cameras offer the most flexibility of any camera system described on this page.  Most SLRs feature interchangeable lenses, a choice of fully automatic or manual control, filters, and a wide range of accessories to handle just about any photographic situation that may pop up.  For serious amateur (or professional) photographers, there simply is no other choice.  However, for all of the advantages that this type of camera offers, there are a few disadvantages when photographing in Red Rock Country.  

Disadvantages: This is a desert, and deserts have a lot of sand.  If you do much wandering in this area you stand a good chance of eventually be caught in a sandstorm (especially in the Spring).  I've been caught in quite a few and let me tell you, they're not fun!  Swirling winds can whip sand hundreds of feet into the air.  Visibility can drop to 10-20 feet and sand gets into everything - your ears, mouth, eyes, inside your clothes, and unfortunately, your camera bag.  SLRs are inherently complex devices with mirrors, complex viewfinders, bayonet style lens mounts, and hundreds of moving parts.  The whole system can come to a grinding halt if one piece of sand gets into the camera.  This can, and does, happen here in Red Rock Country.  The best way to combat this is to seal your camera, and accessories, as best you can.  This can result in a pretty cumbersome camera bag, or backpack.  If the main reason you came to Red Rock Country was for photography, you won't bat an eye at this.  However, if you're out here primarily for some hiking and exploring, this can be a real annoyance!  Smaller cameras can be tucked in a Ziploc bag and buried inside your pocket or pack, not so with SLRs.

Advantages: The advantages of an SLR system are far too numerous to mention here.  Lenses are generally of high quality, extremely fast (work well in low light), and available in a wide range of focal lengths from 24mm (wide angle) to 500mm (telephoto).  Another big advantage of SLRs is that they all accept filters.  Ultraviolet and skylight filters are useful for eliminating haze in landscape photos, polarizing filters are great for deepening colors and darkening blue skies, and hundreds of other filters can help with even the most complex photographic situations. Other accessories include powerful flash units capable of illuminating cathedral size areas, macro attachments (close-up lenses and filters), and even remote controls!  With an SLR, you're bounded only by the limits of your imagination.