« Posts tagged moab

Yellow Comet Panel

posted in Rock Art

Yellow Comet Panel

Here’s a very cool panel of Barrier Canyon Style pictographs located near Moab. It’s also a tough one to get a good photo of since it is in direct sunlight most of the day and the pigments are already pretty faded. It’s pretty amazing to think about just how well the paints used have managed to hold up to the UV rays of the direct sunlight for possibly thousands of years! Luckily, the day I visited this panel earlier this year there was just enough hazy cloud-cover in the sky to help me get some better photos. I think it would be even better on a very overcast day. Even though it’s hard to see, if you look closely at the figure that looks like a comet, you can see the very faint yellow pigment. Above the largest anthropomorph (which is life-sized) there are a few yellow arches that go from hand to hand, but they are very faded in this photo. A very interesting panel, indeed!

>> Yellow Comet Alcove

Inside Out

posted in Rock Art

Inside Out

There is a reason I am posting this photo of a large petroglyph near Moab right after posting the Quail Panel earlier. It’s because this petroglyph strongly resembles the ‘shield’ figures found in the Quail Panel over 80 miles away…only much larger! Go ahead and compare! Of course, this one is much larger and pecked instead of painted, but the resemblance is uncanny. This large shield-like figure also has a smaller anthropomorph and part of a bighorn sheep inside of it. While there are quite a few other petroglyph panels found near this one, this one stands out the most for it’s uniqueness.

>> Hidden Valley & Behind the Rocks

The Owl

posted in Rock Art

The Owl

Rock Art depicting owls doesn’t seem to be very common, but the few pictographs and petroglyphs of owls that I have come across so far seem to really stand apart from the rest. This amazingly preserved petroglyph of an owl is carved high above the canyon floor near the Colorado River and Moab. It’s hard to see from below without the use of binoculars. It’s a steep loose climb to reach this panel, which contains many more petroglyphs than just this owl, but it’s well worth the climb so you can sit back and view this great site.

>> Some more Moab Rock Art

Kane Creek Sheep

posted in Rock Art

Kane Creek Sheep

I’ve seen many bighorn sheep petroglyphs while out exploring the desert, but for some reason this one has always seemed to stand out to me. I consider it one of my favorite sheep petroglyphs, and have visited it a number of times. It’s carved on a canyon wall along Kane Creek near Moab that has many other petroglyph panels nearby, including some that are quite large and impressive- but for some reason I always gravitate back to this precisely pecked petroglyph (say that three times fast!).

>> Mill Creek, Kane Creek and the Bartlett Panel

Into the Vortex

posted in Rock Art

Into the Vortex

Since I posted a photo yesterday with ruins and star trails, I figured I would follow up today with a photo of rock art and star trails, which is something I’m hoping to do more of in the very near future.

After photographing sunset in Arches National Park, I set out to visit the Moab Maiden (Moab Princess) for a night photography session. Since I knew this petroglyph panel faced approximately north, I had envisioned making an image looking up past the Maiden to Polaris with the other stars circling around. I ended up taking this shot with the aperture wide open so that the very close foreground and the stars were out of focus. This is something that I have not seen done before, since most photographers prefer nice sharp star trails, but I think it looks good and adds a feeling of depth to the ‘vortex’ beyond the Maiden. I lit up the boulder and petroglyph by bouncing the light from my headlamp off of a nearby cliff. I’m very happy with the way this image came out.

The Moab Maiden is surely one of my favorite petroglyphs around, and I’ve enjoyed trying to create a unique image at this location.

>> RMNP Spring Fling 2011

« Older PostsNewer Posts »