5. Chasing fall colors in Utah and building my website

🍂 Chasing fall color

Took a full 2 weeks off to chase fall color in southern Utah
Spent 3 nights in Hanksville, 2 in Torrey, 3 in Kanab, 3 in Springdale, and 2 in Hanksville again. I'm more inclined to stay longer in 1 place instead of changing the hotel every day or two. Save up more time for refining composition in fewer places and more relaxing in the hotel.
I realized Utah state route 24 between Torrey and Hanksville got a huge potential for the small scene of trees. My note has at least 4 world-class photographers, all having great photos of taking from that route. And it's super interesting that everyone has different trees that they took. Even I have my own from last year's trip that I absolutely love. What a fantastic place.
My first day in Kanab, I realized the lottery for The Wave permit was super close to my hotel, so I woke up early to try my luck. Then I realized there are about 100 groups for only 4 tickets. 😨 So I didn't even bother to try the next 2 days again.
I was persuaded to try the Subway trail in Zion National Park. And that's when I realized it was different than The Narrow. 🤣 It's a lot easier to get the permit. I basically just went online and reserved mine. The trail itself is also easier than I thought. The water level was low, so I didn't need any waterproof stuff to get to the photo spot. I did put on water boots, though, so it's easier to walk around in the Subway and refine the composition.

On my way back home, I break my own record again. I drove by myself in 1 day for what Google Map estimated for 13 hours drive. I have the advantage of crossing 1 timezone and the end of daylight saving, which feels like I get 2 hours back. The trick for me is to always stop for rest every hour, even when I don't feel like I need it. This way, I always feel like I'm less than an hour from rest and feel easy to achieve that.
During this long drive, I listened to more than 10 episodes of F-Stop Collaborate and Listen Podcast. Highly recommended for my landscape photographer friends. Each episode is an in-depth interview with some famous or interesting landscape photographer. I even supported him on Patreon since I really do get a lot from those interviews.

Although it feels kind of wasteful, I spent a significant portion of my time staying at a hotel building this website during this trip. Not only have I finally finished the landing page but also a complete revamp of the navigation structure. Even though I could've done these in my home with all the comfort and big monitor, I realized I'm actually more productive on the road, with beautiful scenery every day, so I'm not feeling too bad for not shooting more.