Bentonite Hills in Utah

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I love this area and go there a few times a year now. Constantly fascinating. Best if shot before the direct light hits the scene or after the sun goes down. P4P.

cowdungpano10.jpg
 
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What a marvellous spectre of shapes and colours.You are lucky there in Utah as you have some exceptional locations of these art of nature sculptures, more than worth to be filmed.
 
Very cool! I'm going to Utah soon (again--did the same last year) and already have Capitol Reef NP on my list.

So this area is the place about 1 mile past fording the Fremont River at Hartnet, just off of hwy 24? Or from the other direction?

I'll have my drone, but I'll be in a compact FWD, so I'm not sure I should ford that river. But I can come at it from the other direction if I don't mind a longer drive, right?
 
Very cool! I'm going to Utah soon (again--did the same last year) and already have Capitol Reef NP on my list.

So this area is the place about 1 mile past fording the Fremont River at Hartnet, just off of hwy 24? Or from the other direction?

I'll have my drone, but I'll be in a compact FWD, so I'm not sure I should ford that river. But I can come at it from the other direction if I don't mind a longer drive, right?

Yes, there is an area of Bentonite Hills along that road not too far from the river crossing where the road starts, which is easy to cross in any 4WD SUV or Jeep, or even a good 2WD truck. A compact front wheel drive car is definitely not advised. However, that is not where my image was made. I was east of the Factory Butte turnoffs, onto an unsigned road a couple miles further. That turn is 3 miles from Hanksville if you come from the east. You can find it on GoogleEarth.
 
Cool. Yes, I think I found the general area. Thanks much!

Edit: and I found the exact spot the above was made. Now I have to avoid the area to keep my shots unique. ;-)
 
Cool. Yes, I think I found the general area. Thanks much!

Edit: and I found the exact spot the above was made. Now I have to avoid the area to keep my shots unique. ;-)

The good thing about those complex and interesting areas is that you'll always come out with your unique vision even tho others have shot it. Every time I go back to the same place my images are different.
 
The good thing about those complex and interesting areas is that you'll always come out with your unique vision even tho others have shot it. Every time I go back to the same place my images are different.

Yes! That's the cool thing about nature, there's so much abstract views to obtain from it.

I trust you didn't have any troubles from the (name removed) local Research Station?
 
Yes! That's the cool thing about nature, there's so much abstract views to obtain from it.

I trust you didn't have any troubles from the (name removed) local Research Station?

No troubles. I've never seen anyone there and I don't draw attention to myself. Stealthiness!
 
Very cool! I'm going to Utah soon (again--did the same last year) and already have Capitol Reef NP on my list.

So this area is the place about 1 mile past fording the Fremont River at Hartnet, just off of hwy 24? Or from the other direction?

I'll have my drone, but I'll be in a compact FWD, so I'm not sure I should ford that river. But I can come at it from the other direction if I don't mind a longer drive, right?
Similar to Bryce Canyon NP also. Same formations with a ton of hoodoos.It's about an ~hour out of St. George.
 
I finally went out to the Bentonite Hills back in October. Thanks to Jeffrey for the excellent location pointers. I did find the same location as the photo in the OP, but also shot a lot of others. I did not attempt to visit the Bentonite location closer to Capitol Reef park.

I post-processed without coming here to reference Jeffery's photo above. I see now that I don't possess the processing-fu to get the same blues out of the colors that Jeffrey did, but I got a lot of other colors, from white and yellow to red and purple (I didn't do any hue adjustments, but I suppose I could have pushed purple into the blue area).

See here for a gallery of my shots:


If you're interested in seeing more drone shots, see the following gallery. I believe all shots on this site are Mavic 2 Pro shots.


The dusk/night shots were mostly shot in the Mavic "multiple" mode and stacked in Photoshop, "median" mode (to reduce noise in ISO 200/400 shots), though there's a few AEB shots there too.

Chris
 
I finally went out to the Bentonite Hills back in October. Thanks to Jeffrey for the excellent location pointers. I did find the same location as the photo in the OP, but also shot a lot of others. I did not attempt to visit the Bentonite location closer to Capitol Reef park.

I post-processed without coming here to reference Jeffery's photo above. I see now that I don't possess the processing-fu to get the same blues out of the colors that Jeffrey did, but I got a lot of other colors, from white and yellow to red and purple (I didn't do any hue adjustments, but I suppose I could have pushed purple into the blue area).

See here for a gallery of my shots:


If you're interested in seeing more drone shots, see the following gallery. I believe all shots on this site are Mavic 2 Pro shots.


The dusk/night shots were mostly shot in the Mavic "multiple" mode and stacked in Photoshop, "median" mode (to reduce noise in ISO 200/400 shots), though there's a few AEB shots there too.

Chris
Yowza, Chris, there's not a formation there that you didn't capture! Nice imaging. The colors of these types of areas are so dependent on the lighting and the time of day. That's why I get up real early and also shoot shoot just before and at dusk. I camp nearby to make it easy. Good for you to find this place and come home with good stuff.
 
Thanks Jeffery, before dawn next time. Though that state, I got'a say, Utah could keep me busy for the rest of my life. There's so much to see, I don't know when I can get back to this location. I should just move down there so that the drive isn't so long.

Cheers, Chris
 
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Sorry for reviving. Great photo! I'm interested in why there are so few photos uploaded to this forum?
 

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