Easily Remove Halos in Photoshop

I’ve seen several beautiful photos recently that were nearly ruined by the fact that sharpening produced halos around edges where sky met edges. What’s worse, the photographer could have easily removed them in Photoshop. With less than a minute of work, those halos could be gone.

Here’s an example that illustrates what I mean.

I made this photo of a rock climber in Arches National Park. It’s a nice photo but if you zoom in, you will see the halos I’m writing about.

After sharpening the image, I was left with a halo around the edges.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could simply take the clone stamp, select from the sky and paint the halo out, without affecting the rock? The good news is that’s exactly what you do. To get rid of those halos, (make sure you are working on a flattened or composite of your image) you simply change the blend mode of the clone stamp from Normal to Darken. The Darken blend mode tells Photoshop to replace pixels that are lighter than the selected area with pixels from the selected area BUT, only replace pixels that are lighter than the selected area. So long as the selected area is lighter than the adjacent rock, only the halo will be replaced.

Notice how the halo disappears without leaving any telltale signs on the rock. Brush size doesn’t matter, just make sure that opacity is set to 100%.     

            

Unless you are very careful, your cloning can leave you with areas where the sky doesn’t match properly like in the image below.

To prevent this potential issue, you can use a little different approach to removing halos. Instead of working on a flattened or composited image, add a new layer. Click on the new layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette: 

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Change the blend mode of the layer to Darken and use the clone stamp to eliminate the halo. (It doesn’t matter what the blend mode of the clone tool is.) If you get mismatching sky, fix it using a gaussian blur. Make sure the new layer is selected, click on Filter >> Blur >> Gaussian Blur and apply enough blur to fix the problem. The blur will only be applied to the layer you were working on. It of course, will only have the data from fixing the halo so you won’t cause yourself any other problems with the image.

Halos can ruin an otherwise great photo. Fix them quickly and easily in Photoshop.

Photographing a Speeding Train

Photographing a speeding locomotive from the tracks in front of it is dangerous business; too dangerous for me. So, how did I make this photograph? While, not simple, I created a composite using an image of the mountains I had made in Glacier National Park, another with colorful foliage in Alaska, railroad tracks that I photographed in Granger, Texas and a locomotive I photographed in my kitchen. That’s right, I photographed it in my kitchen. You see, my friend Jim Doe creates remarkable models of all kinds of things and he let me use his BNSF locomotive. It is so lifelike that no one would know it isn’t the real thing. I loaded all those images into Photoshop and went to work. This composite was the result. Who would think that the train in this photo is a model? I don’t know. It looks real to me and creating this image was completely safe.

Turning a Sow's Ear into a Silk Purse

I've heard it said that photographers should just delete any bad images as they come out of the camera. If it isn't good now, they say, it won't get better with time. There is a lot to be said for that, but I keep all my images. I will go through old images once in a while and in doing so, I've uncovered some that I didn't think were keepers at the time. I'm sure I discarded one image of some gannets in New Foundland because the tip of the wing was cropped off. Otherwise it was a really nice image. My Photoshop skills have reached a point where I knew I could recreate the wing tip. So I fixed the wing and printed the photo. It won a second place in a local photo contest.

Sometimes when I look through some of my old photos, a Photoshop idea pops into my head. Look at the four photos below. None of them are "keepers" by themselves, but when I composited them in Photoshop, I think I produced a pretty good "altered reality" image. In fact, I am very pleased with the final image. Scroll down to take a look.

A Guy Can Quit

I previously posted an article entitled: "Sometimes a Guy Can't Quit". At the time, I thought I may have done everything I could have done with the photo of the old homestead at Berry Creek. As it turns out, I wasn't done. I added a night sky and put reflections in the windows. I can't think of anything more that could possibly be done, so I think I am finished. Here is the final image.

Canyonlands National Park

While Canyonlands National Park is relatively close to Arches National Park, it is much different. In the most popular areas of the park, you are looking down instead of up as in Arches. 

The park has three distinct areas: the Island in the Sky, The Needles and The Maze.

The Island in the Sky

The Island in the Sky is the most visited area in the Park. Access to the park is off Highway 191 about 11 miles north of Moab. The turnoff is clearly marked. It is another 15 miles to the park entrance but much of the drive is uphill through beautiful red rock canyons. About two miles from the visitor center you will see the entrance to Dead Horse Canyon State Park. If you have the time, make sure to visit this park after you tour Canyonlands. If you need restrooms, it is a much better stop than the Canyonlands visitor center.

The Island in the Sky offers amazing views of the canyons formed by the Colorado and Green Rivers and if those weren’t enough, the iconic Mesa Arch is only a short walk from the main road.

The views begin near the visitor’s center with Shafer Canyon where there are two parking areas. 

View of Shafer Canyon from near the Visitor's Center

Many of the viewpoints are along the canyon rim and gorgeous views are only a few steps away. If you are limited by time, there are three “must see” views in the Island in the Sky. In my view the Green River Overlook is the most spectacular of all the views in the Island in the Sky. It is impossible to describe. That’s why I’ve included the panoramic photo I made from there. There is a large parking lot by the viewpoint and a short walk will have you enjoying the view in no time.

The Green River Overlook offers the best views in the Island in the Sky

The Grand View Point Overlook is the other “must see” stop in the Island in the Sky. It is located at the end of the road. It is not spectacular but it gives you a view of The Maze and you can just see the spires in The Needles. There nice parking area at this viewpoint and you can hike along the rim if you wish.

The Grand View Overlook

Mesa Arch must be the most photographed landmark in Canyonlands, and for good reason. The Arch is relatively small compared to many of its cousins in Arches but the fact that the rising sun lights the underside of the arch has photographers standing elbow to elbow at sunrise. You don’t have to see the arch as sunrise. It is a great spot anytime and later in the day the front side of the arch is lighted as are some of the more distant landmarks like the “Washer Woman”.

The parking lot at Mesa Arch is relatively small given the number of visitors to the arch so finding a parking place may be difficult. Keep that in mind. The hike to the arch is about a quarter mile. When you reach the trailhead, you can go to the right or to the left. The trail to the right takes you up and over the hill while the one on the left circumnavigates the hill. Neither is difficult, but the one on the left is easier. 

 Mesa Arch at Sunrise

If you have the time, I recommend that you rent a Jeep in Moab and drive the Shafer Trail. The entrance to the trail is near the visitor center. The exit is along the Colorado River at Potash. Most of the trail is a reasonably well maintained gravel road. There is one place where the trail is on slick rock and crosses a dry stream bed. Navigating the trail should be no problem unless there are heavy rains in the area. You will find beautiful views here like this one of the bend in the Colorado below Dead Horse Point State Park:

Colorado River along the Shafer Trail

Needles District

The Needles District of the Park is located 40 miles south of Moab. Take Highway 191 to Highway 211 to access the Park. The first several miles of 211 are not very interesting but that changes as you get closer to the park. Before you arrive at the Park, you will be greeted by this butte:

Near the entrance to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park

Unlike the canyon views from the Island in the Sky, The Needles is loaded with beautiful rock monoliths and other rock formations. Unfortunately, those spires are still some distance from the paved road as illustrated by this photo that I made from one of the viewing areas:

Distant spires in Canyonlands National Park

To see the needles close-up, you should hike the Elephant Hill Trail to Chesler Park. This six mile round trip hike that leads you through some extraordinarily scenic places to Chesler Park, a basin surrounded by red rock spires. The round trip hike will take 4 – 6 hours so be prepared. Good hiking boots are essential as you will be walking on slick rock most of the time and there are plenty of ups and downs on this hike.  Take plenty of water. The views along the way and those at Chesler Park make the hike well worthwhile. When you arrive at Chesler Park, make sure you find a place to sit and enjoy your surroundings.

Rock Formations Along the Elephant Hill Trail

Rock Formations Along the Elephant Hill Trail

Chesler Park

The Maze

The Maze is only accessible via 4-wheel drive vehicle or by hiking. I've never been there so I can't comment.

Sometimes a Guy just can't Quit

I made this rather mundane photo of the old homestead at Berry Springs Park near Georgetown, Texas. 

Ordinarily I would just chalk this one up as a lost cause but this time I thought it might be interesting to turn it into a night photo, so I made adjustments in Photoshop to make it look like a night shot. Then I thought I should do some digital restoration and add some light to make it look lived in.

Light may make it look lived in but furniture and pictures on the wall seemed like a good idea to really make it look like someone lived there. I decided that the furniture should be something that would be found in an old homestead and decided that everything should be wood and the light source should be an old kerosene lamp. In keeping with the era, the photos on the wall needed to be in black and white. I took a couple of my photos, converted them to black and white and put them on the wall. The one in the room with the lamp is actually a photo of the homestead I made from the back.

To make it a bit more “rural”, I decided to add an old wagon wheel from photo I made in west Texas. Then I decided to dress up one of the windows by adding an image of a skylight window I made at the courthouse in Waco. I thought I was done but as I was going through some other photos, I thought I should add an old truck that I photographed in Walburg, Texas. I processed that photo to fit in. The problem though is that this 1958 Chevy truck wasn’t around in the early days of this homestead. I got to thinking that in west Texas, there are still a lot of ranch houses without water and electricity so the truck would fit.

At one point, I put a moon in the sky but it was too bright and actually detracted from the image, so I took it out.

Below is the final image. Is this really the final? I don't know. I thought I had a final before I added the truck. It could be the final, but never say never.

270 Degree View

When we visited Big Bend National Park in west Texas, I found this old panel truck near Terlinqua.

I struggled with how to make an interesting photo of this subject. The sun was high, the sky was clear and I couldn’t come up with a way to turn it into an interesting photo, so I made shots from different positions all around it. In my post processing, I tried many different approaches but found nothing that I liked. As I thought about what to do that would be creative, I thought of Picasso who showed the front and side view in the same painting. With that in mind, I set out to combine images of the side and front of this truck into a single image. I was so pleased with the result that I decided to include the rear of the truck. Ultimately I produced a 270 degree view of the truck in a single image. While I was doing all my photoshopping, I decided to replace the sky with something a little more interesting.

Here’s the final result.

"Killing Time"

I recently joined a photography club. The club's “creative” special interest group issued a monthly challenge with the subject “clocks”.  I had only a couple of days to meet the challenge if I was to show an image at the SIG meeting. I really didn’t know how to make a creative photo of a clock so I decided to start by making a photo of a clock we had on the wall. It was a traditional clock with traditional numbers that we had purchased at Wal-mart for less than five dollars. Clearly, I couldn’t make a creative image of that clock in the camera so I relied on Photoshop to help with the creative piece.

My first idea was to liquefy it. Salvador Dali, the famous Spanish artist had done that so I used Photoshop’s “puppet warp” tool to squash it up a bit. That seemed like a good start but I needed to do more than that. Then I came up with the theme of “killing time” so I decided to create a clock image with that title, complete with bullet holes and blood drippings. This is the final image.

Photo Stacking to Capture the Light.

When I set up my camera and tripod in anticipation of making a photograph of this beautiful valley in Iceland, I hoped for something better than I ended up with. The sky was mostly cloudy but the sun would peek out through an occasional break in the clouds. As portions of the valley lit up, I would make an exposure; all the time hoping the sun would light up the mountain at the end of the valley and that a blue hole would open behind it. Unfortunately, the sky simply did not cooperate and this was one of the photos I was able to make.

While this photo is acceptable, it wasn’t what I was looking for.

Before I packed it in, I raised my camera, and using a wide angle lens, captured the scene with the blue hole that was high in the sky. That photo wasn't very good because the blue sky wasn’t where I wanted it in the frame, it had too much sky and the valley was completely shaded.

As I made my photographs, I was thinking about whether I could make the shot I wanted in my post processing by combining the images that I had made.

When I got home I gave it a try. First, in Adobe Camera Raw, I opened twelve images I had made of the valley; all with different places lit by the sun. I made my adjustments,made sure that I had selected all the images and applied the adjustments to all of them. I then clicked on the “Done” button. With those same images selected in ACR, I clicked on Tools,  Photoshop,  Load Files into Photoshop Layers. When all the files were opened, I selected all the layers and changed the blending mode to “Lighten”. By changing the blending mode, all the lightest pixels were exposed so the entire valley was lit up. I liked the final product much better, but all the shadows were now lost. I then clicked on the eyeball next to each layer to see what it was contributing to the entire image. By turning off some of the layers, I was able to bring some of the shadows back into the image. When I found the combination I liked, I flattened the image and the result was much better than the original. Still I wasn’t satisfied.

In ACR, I opened the final photograph I made; the one with the bit of blue sky. I applied the same settings as I had made for the other images and opened it in Photoshop. Next I duplicated the layer by pressing CTRL  J. I then clicked on Window, Arrange,, Tile All Vertically. Now I could see my two images side by side. I took the Move Tool, grabbed the top layer of the image with the blue sky and dragged it to the other image. While holding down the Shift key, I dropped the layer on top of the other image. Holding Shift ensures that the two images are aligned on top of each other perfectly. With the blue hole image on top, I went to the bottom of the Layers Pallet and while holding down the ALT key, I clicked on the Add a Layer Mask icon. Holding down the ALT key created a black mask that hid the entire layer. Next I clicked on the background layer and using the Quick Selection Tool, I selected the sky. I then selected the blue hole layer mask and  hit the DELETE key. That painted the mask white in the selected area and revealed the blue hole layer in the selected area. The blue hole was perfectly placed. (If it had not been where I wanted it, I would have used the Move Tool to position the layer in such a way that the blue sky was where I wanted it.)

I then pressed CTL ALT SHIFT E to flatten the layer above the other layers. I converted it to a smart object and applied select filters from Nik's Color Efex Pro 4. I then used Nik's Viveza to make some targeted adjustments to the mountain top, adding the light I had hoped I would get from the sun as well as adding a little saturation.

While I captured the light I wanted via stacking and getting the sky I wanted by compositing the sky from a photo made during the same stop, I still wasn't completely satisfied with my shot. I liked everything about it except the foreground. I thought it needed more or none at all because I thought that what I had was more of a distraction than a photographic element.

I looked through my images and found another one I made at the same location but at a shorter focal length. I was able to move the foreground from that image to my stacked image and it worked well.

Here is the final result.

This is the image I set out to create. When the sun and sky didn't cooperate, I took what they gave. When my eye didn't capture the best foreground, I inserted the foreground from another image. In the end, I created the image I was after.

What a View!

In 1961, the area which is now known as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park was donated to the State of California by the Helen Brown, wife of a former New York Congressman Lathrop Brown. They acquired the property in 1924 and built a stone house along the Big Sur coast.

As I recall the story, Helen was the adopted child of a wealthy family in New York. When they died, she was left with a fortune. She married Brown, moved to California and purchased this property, which was literally in the middle of nowhere. There were few people in the area but Helen and Julia became good friends, so good, in fact, that when Helen donated the property to the State of California, one stipulation was that the land be made into a state park and another was that it be named after her friend Julia.

The Brown's built a home at this location above the ocean. Their home had extraordinary views. This view looks north.

The view looking South was even more magnificent than the other one. An 80' waterfall poured on to the white sand beach with Caribbean blue waters at McWay Cove.

If there is a more beautiful view along the Pacific coast, I haven't seen it and can't imagine how it could be more beautiful than this location.

Why I Make Composites for My Night Sky Photos

I enjoy making photos of the night sky, especially when the Milky Way is clearly visible. I usually try to shoot on clear moonless nights because I find that a moon produces too much light. Even a quarter moon lights up the sky and, as a result, dims the stars. Of course, the problem with shooting the night sky with so little light is that in order to light up the foreground, a long exposure is required. An exposure long enough to light up the foreground is too long to capture pinpoint stars.

Left: Exposure for the foreground.






Right: Exposure for the sky.











I photograph the night sky with a 14mm, 21mm or 24mm lens which means that I usually keep my exposures to 25 seconds or less. Anything longer than that will produce unacceptable star trails. Now star trails can make very nice photos but the exposure needs to be more like two and a half hours. A dark foreground can’t be captured satisfactorily in 25 seconds. Using Photoshop to increase the exposure for the foreground can work, but there is simply too much noise to make the shot acceptable.

 Either before or after I expose for the sky, I shoot the foreground. I’ve found that I like to have three stops of light greater than the exposure for the sky. Getting three stops requires about four minutes. (A one minute exposure doubles the 25 second exposure, two minutes doubles it again and a four minute exposure doubles it again for a total of three stops.)

  

Compositing the two shots in Photoshop is relatively easy so long as the foreground isn’t too complicated.

Here is he final composited image.

The Dreaded Orange Glow

I like to photograph the night sky on clear, moonless nights when the only light comes from the canopy of stars. I also like to create composites for my final image. To do this I make exposures of about 3 minutes for the foreground and 25 seconds for the sky and combine them in Photoshop. 

Unfortunately, even on the darkest nights, the camera will capture the orange glow of a distant city.

The photo below, made from Yavapai Point at the Grand Canyon was exposed for three minutes. Notice that the canyon is properly exposed but the stars are forming trails because of the long exposure. Notice the glow in the sky just above the horizon on the left. It comes from the City of Las Vegas which is 175 straight line miles away. 

Here, the sky is exposed for the stars but the canyon is underexposed. The glow from Las Vegas is still clearly visible.

I combined the above two images to make this composite.

Here's how I did it. First, I opened both photos in Adobe Camera Raw and made various adjustments. What they were is really not important because this article is about creating a composite from two images. What is important is that I made the same adjustments to both images. I've found that making separate adjustments for each layer tends to make the composite look fake and fixing it is more difficult than just using the same adjustments.

I opened both images in Photoshop. I made a copy of the image with the properly exposed foreground (CTRL J) and using the move tool, placed it as a layer on top of the image with the properly exposed sky. Using the quick selection tool, I made a selection of the sky. Because the intersection of the horizon and the plateau is virtually flat, the quick selection tool did a great job. With the sky selected, I held down the ALT key and clicked on the create a layer mask icon on the Layers pallet. That created a black mask which hid the selected the area on the top layer and revealed the selected area on the bottom layer creating the perfect composite.

But what about the glow from Las Vegas? Here's how I fixed that. I simply selected the sky layer and then chose EDIT, TRANSFORM, SCALE and dragged the handle at the bottom corner to make the sky layer larger. I then used the move tool to move that layer down until the glow was below the foreground layer. With the original foreground selected and making sure I had selected white as the foreground layer, I clicked on the add layer mask icon. This action revealed the sky of the transformed layer.  It was a simple matter. Because the sky layer is larger, you can also move it from side to side to get that layer in the best position.

Is there a downside do using Transform? Yes, it has the effect of using a longer lens so the slight trailing in the stars from the 25 second exposure will be a bit larger but that will only matter if you decide to print an enlargement of your photo. But even then, depending on your camera, the effect will be minimal.

To see other composite photos on my site where I used the same technique click here or here. The first composite was not as easy because selecting the tree on the right was much more difficult.

Favorite Photo Locations - Arches National Park - Part II

After visiting the windows section of Arches National Park, follow the road back to the main park road and turn right. The road will take you down to the floor of the valley. Watch for the signs to Delicate Arch. Turn right there.

There are two parking areas along the road. The first is at the Wolfe Ranch where the trailhead to the arch begins. It isn’t a hard hike but is about a mile and a half and has an elevation gain of about 500 feet. Most of the hike is over slick rock and there are cairns along the way to direct you to the best route. As you approach the arch, the trail is narrow and drops off a sheer cliff but the trail is wide enough and smooth so walking is easy.  You can’t see the arch until you get to the end of the trail.

There is a small arch in the wall just before Delicate Arch that provides a nice view of this famous arch. It is a relatively easy climb up but the climb down is dangerous. If you choose to check out the view, be prepared to slide down on your backside.

Make sure you take plenty of water on your hike to Delicate Arch. The hot dry climate can drain you of water. The effort will also cause you to perspire. If you visit Delicate Arch during the cool season, make sure you carry a jacket. It may be warm on your hike, but when you get to your destination, even the slightest breeze will cool you down fast.

The best time to photograph Delicate Arch from this location is in the late afternoon when the sun lights up the arch and the La Sal Mountains in the distance.

The hike to Delicate Arch is well worth the long hike.

The less strenuous place to see Delicate Arch begins at the parking area at the end of the road. There is a lookout area a short distance from the parking lot. The arch is a long way off so you won’t get the classic view of the arch, but you will be able to see it. There is a hiking trail there that will lead you to a viewpoint much closer to Delicate Arch. It isn't nearly as demanding the hike to the arch itself, but it is steep. You can’t get to the base of Delicate Arch from this place as there is canyon that separates the two places.

These locations offer good photographic opportunities from mid-morning on. Early in the day, the arch is in shadow. A long lens is a good idea when photographing Delicate Arch from these viewpoints.

Delicate Arch Viewed from the upper viewing area at the end of the road. I made this photo using a 400mm lens.

After viewing Delicate Arch, head back to the main park road and turn right. The road will take you past Fiery Furnace and lead you to the parking area near the Devil’s Garden.

The Fiery Furnace is interesting and best captured from the viewpoint. The best way to see it close-up is to sign up for a ranger led tour. The Fiery Furnace is a maze that can easily get you lost if you don’t know where you are going.

As you drive along the road past the Fiery Furnace, you will see Skyline Arch along the fin wall on your right. There is a parking along the road if you wish to hike to the arch. It is less than a half mile round-trip to the arch.

The setting sun will light up Skyline Arch so plan you photo op for late in the day.

Make sure you leave plenty of time to visit Landscape Arch which the longest known arch in the world. It is accessible via an easy hike from the parking area at the Devil’s Garden. The hike is along flat ground and is about a mile and a half round-trip walk. You can get reasonably close to this arch but, because a piece of the arch collapsed a few years ago, access to the area below the arch is prohibited.

The view of this arch is from the east, so early morning works best for photographing it. That time of the day also assures you of a parking place. The Devil’s Garden is a very popular area of the park and parking spaces are not always available.

Landscape Arch may collapse in the near future so make sure you see it while it is still there.

Beyond Landscape are some other impressive arches but getting to them requires much more effort. Access to Pine Tree and Tunnel Arch are just off the trail between the parking lot and Landscape Arch. These are easy walks.

If you see all of the features of Arches National Park found in these two articles, you will have seen some of the best that the park offers.

Favorite Photo Locations - Arches National Park - Part 1

I am often asked about my favorite locations for photography. I usually answer by saying I don’t have a favorite because I have photographed so many spectacular places that I can’t pick a favorite. I been fortunate enough to photograph many wonderful places so I’ve decided to write a series about some of them.

I recently returned from Moab, Utah, so I’ll begin there.

Moab is the gateway to Arches and Canyonlands national parks along with Dead Horse Point State Park, the Colorado River Canyon, Castle Valley and others. With so many places to photograph near Moab, one post can’t begin to cover them all so I’ll  start with Arches National Park. Even then, I will need two posts to cover the park and they still can’t provide a lot of detail.  

Arches is the closest park to Moab. The entrance is just about two miles from the Colorado River crossing as you head north from Moab. This park is known for its arches but it is filled with rock formations of so many sizes and shapes that, in a drive through the park, you may imagine groups of bears or penguins while others may see something entirely different in the same formations.

So, where are my favorite photo locations in Arches? To answer that question, I will lead you through the park from south to north as you travel from the park’s entrance. After passing through entrance gate, you will climb through a series of switchbacks until you are high above the valley. The first pull off along the park road is at the Moab Fault. You will find some interesting information here about the formation of the area but it is not a photo site.

Park Avenue

My first stop for photos is at “Park Avenue” on the left side of the road. This is a canyon created by a mass of red rock on the left and high fins on the right. The shape of the sandstone fins roughly resembles the buildings you might encounter walking along the skyscrapers in large city; hence the name. Park Avenue can challenge a photographer’s ability, as it is such a large expanse. The one mile hike through Park Avenue, which ends at the Courthouse Towers Parking area, offers many photo opportunities along the way. Morning and evening offer the best lighting.

Park Avenue is the first photo stop along the Arches National Park Road

After leaving Park Avenue, you will pass the La Sal Mountains Viewpoint on the right. The rising sun lights up many prominent features along the park road including The Organ, The Tower of Babel and Sheep Rock. The La Sal Mountains Viewpoint is a good place to capture warm light on them. 

 The Three Gossips

The Three Gossips is one of my favorite rock formations in Arches. It can be seen from the La Sal Mountains Viewpoint, but you get a much better view from the Courthouse Towers parking area. This rock formation looks so much like three people together that those who don’t know its name, think that “The Three Kings” would fit. Indeed it would.

The Milky Way rises above the Three Gossips

The three gossips is one of my favorite formations in Arches

Balanced Rock

From the Courthouse Towers parking area, the park road crosses Courthouse Wash and takes you past the Petrified Dunes.

Petrified Dunes in Arches National Park

There may be photo opportunities here, but my next favorite stop is at Balanced Rock where there is a fairly large parking area. This is one of those head scratcher formations that makes one wonder, not only how it got there but why it hasn’t come tumbling down. It is best photographed with the late afternoon sun.  

There is a short hike along a boardwalk past Balanced Rock which leads to a nice viewpoint of the rock formations called the “Garden of Eden”. You can also capture Turret Arch with the La Sal Mountains in the background from this location.

Will Balanced Rock some day become unbalanced?

The moonlit night sky over Balanced Rock

Windows Area

Just past Balanced Rock, there is a right turn that will take you to the Windows area. Your drive will take you past the “Garden of Eden” on your left. The garden is a line of interesting rock formations. Many people are so intent on getting to Windows, that they don’t even see the beauty of this area. It is massive, hard to capture in a photo and there are few pull offs along the road.

When you reach the end of the road, you will see more arches at one time than anywhere else in the park. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your car but you will want to. From the parking area you will be able to see the North and South Windows as well as Turret Arch. There are other smaller arches there too.

A trail from the parking lot leads up an incline to the arches. The hike is only about a quarter of a mile and while it is uphill, it is not a difficult climb.

Approaching the North Window

Turret Arch photographed from the trail between the North and South Windows

To capture the classic shot of Turret Arch through the North Window, you have to walk through the North window, and down the other side. Stay to the left and follow the trail up to a rather precarious perch at the end of the trail. This is not a place to stand. Stay low, put your camera on a tripod and set up your photo, staying as low to the ground as possible. A fall from this location could be fatal. Keep in mind that the Windows area is very busy so plan to get there early when everybody except photographers are still in bed. Every photographer wants to get this shot, so there may be a line. Wait your turn patiently.

Turret Arch through the North Window

The trail to the North Window branches to the right where you can get a good view of the South Window and Turret Arch. The South Window doesn’t offer the same kind of photo opportunities as the North Window but Turret Arch can be very nice, especially early in the day when the sun is low in the sky. The arch will be in shadow except where the sun shines through the South Window and lights up a portion of the arch.

When you’ve finished there, either walk or drive the short distance to Double Arch. This is a beautiful pair of massive arches that get less attention than they deserve. The hike from the parking area is relatively short with little elevation change. You can photograph Double Arch from a distance or from very close up. You may be tempted to climb to the bottom of the opening of the west arch. It is an easy climb until you get to the last 10 to 15 feet where the wall is straight up. If you decide to climb it, make sure you are wearing shoes with good grips. You may want to have someone there to help you with your gear as you come down. The up is difficult. The down is very difficult. Double Arch is one that is easy to forget, but you will be doing yourself a disservice if you do.

Double Arch as seen from the approach

Part II of Arches National Park will cover the hike to Delicate Arch, the Firey Furnace and Landscape Arch.