Canyon Country
©Bert Gildart: For the past 10 years the Airstream life has been our life, so I’m always delighted to see the mail-person when she delivers the most recently released edition of the magazine — “Airstream Life.”
The magazine is a “slick” publication, and that’s because magazine publisher/editor Rich Luhr goes to great lengths to insure creation of the industry’s highest quality of reproduction. Certainly that’s one reason I’m always delighted to see each new issue.
L to R: Lake Powell Dump Site (Not bad, huh?); Janie ascending
Lower Antelope Canyon; Dixie National Forest Campground, contiguous with Bryce Canyon National Park.
Since the magazine’s inception about 10 years ago, Rich has featured my photographically illustrated travel stories in each issue. That means I’ve published about 40 travel stories with Airstream Life. Stories have covered North America, ranging in subject from the Alaska, Nova Scotia, Key West, California (Impossible Railroad), Montana (Virginia City Follies) and to dozens of points in between — OR AROUND, such as Mike Busby’s Chicken Gold Camp. Now I can add Canyon Country to my portfolio listings, for this issue of Airstream Life includes my written and graphic interpretation of this enchanting area. Of course, I’ve also published in dozens of other excellent periodicals to include Smithsonian, National Wildlife, New York Times, and Field & Stream, but I’m particularly proud of my work for Airstream, because of the sheer volume — and because travel in an Airstream celebrates the way we live much of the year. (We tell folks we are not full-timers, just 9/12-ers.) Yet another but no less important fact, is that we meet so many other enthusiastic and delightful travelers.
Though we have traveled these absolutely amazing canyons before, all images for this issue were made 8 to 12 months ago. During that period we visited Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon – and several slot canyons in Arizona known as Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon. All these areas set high standards for beauty. Capturing this beauty with the best light is not easy, and Janie and I worked hard trying to do it justice. We used early morning and late evening light, and in several cases I tried a new photographic technique known as HDR, or high dynamic resolution.
Rich featured 10 of my images and the combination of text and pictures covered six pages. Several of the images ran edge to edge and I was absolutely delighted with the work of his graphic artist.
L to R: Image made at Desert Center using an HDR method to maintain
visual acceptance of shadows and highlights; dust thrown into air dramatizes shafts of light; Horseshoe Canyon.
When I submit images for a story I submit more than they need. That’s standard for all magazine stories. In this case I submitted about 40 images and the top three (above) are the ones his layout artist included. Because most readers own an Airstream — or want to own an Airstream (Airstream Camper Tips)– they want to see images of this iconic trailer, so I obviously include images of our Airstream. We’re proud to do so. Other images tell the story of the areas natural history and its history. Rich even used my image of a tarantula.
The next three images, (just above) were not included in the magazine but are posted here to illustrate the sheer variety of features contained in Canyon Country. In other words, you can travel the area for weeks and never see it all. To use a thought from my story, “there was beauty before and behind us. There was beauty all around.”
That’s from an old Navajo chant, and it suggests that it is hard to do justice to such country; the reason we keep returning – and that you should too.
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AIRSTREAM TRAVELS THIS TIME LAST YEAR:
*Indian Hill — A Journey Into the Past
BOOKS THAT WILL HELP WITH YOUR TRAVELS:
4th ed. Autographed by the Authors
Hiking Shenandoah National Park
Hiking Shenandoah National Park is the 4th edition of a favorite guide book, created by Bert & Janie, a professional husband-wife journalism team. Lots of updates including more waterfall trails, updated descriptions of confusing trail junctions, and new color photographs. New text describes more of the park’s compelling natural history. Often the descriptions are personal as the Gildarts have hiked virtually every single park trail, sometimes repeatedly.
Big Sky Country is beautiful
Montana Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Treasure State
Montana Icons is a book for lovers of the western vista. Features photographs of fifty famous landmarks from what many call the “Last Best Place.” The book will make you feel homesick for Montana even if you already live here. Bert Gildart’s varied careers in Montana (Bus driver on an Indian reservation, a teacher, backcountry ranger, as well as a newspaper reporter, and photographer) have given him a special view of Montana, which he shares in this book. Share the view; click here.
$16.95 + Autographed Copy
What makes Glacier, Glacier?
Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent
Glacier Icons: What makes Glacier Park so special? In this book you can discover the story behind fifty of this park’s most amazing features. With this entertaining collection of photos, anecdotes and little known facts, Bert Gildart will be your backcountry guide. A former Glacier backcountry ranger turned writer/photographer, his hundreds of stories and images have appeared in literally dozens of periodicals including Time/Life, Smithsonian, and Field & Stream. Take a look at Glacier Icons
$16.95 + Autographed Copy
