- [Announcer] Voyage Charters shares the blue waters at the British Virgin Islands and offers private sailing vacations aboard ships like the Summer Breeze, a six cabin, all electric catamaran.

It's your voyage.

Make the best of it.

(bright music) - [Announcer] Sigma is proud to support photographers and filmmakers around the world.

And we believe creativity and sustainability go hand in hand.

- [Announcer] Every explorer seeks their own path and the promise of what's to come.

The truth lies west.

- [Announcer] Georgia College and State University provides over 40 graduate program offerings, including doctorates in nursing and education.

Learn more at gcsu.edu.

- [Announcer] Troncalli Subaru is a proud sponsor of "View Finders."

(insects chirping) (flies buzzing) (birds twittering) (light upbeat music) ♪ Ran outta gas somewhere in Arizona ♪ ♪ So, I started walking through that red mud ♪ ♪ You said you saw God ♪ ♪ Through one of them picture sliding viewers ♪ ♪ And He walked with you through the rain ♪ - One of the most significant geological sites in the United States.

- With canyon walls that tower over 1,700 feet above the water below.

- Containing a reservoir that stretches 91 miles.

- This is the Flaming Gorge.

I'm Paul.

- I'm Chris.

- [Together] And we're the "View Finders."

(upbeat country music) (upbeat country music continues) (upbeat country music fades) (bright music) ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh how could I have ever held my breath ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I'm sinking to that dried-up riverbed ♪ - So the area here, the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, it's a beautiful area.

It's a huge destination for recreationists.

We're close to some of the best fly fishing in the world.

♪ The older I get ♪ ♪ So much more that I'm thinking ♪ ♪ About ways I might wind up dead ♪ ♪ But never, no, not once ♪ ♪ Do I think about my life without you in it ♪ - The views here are phenomenal.

Just right down the road we have the Red Canyon overlook and it is just, it's gorgeous.

You know, you go down there for the sunset and it's fantastic.

You can't really beat it.

- Paul.

- Unbelievable.

- [Chris] I can't get over how good this is.

- [[Paul] Unbelievable.

- [Chris] Like when we walked up and saw this, we were both just like speechless.

We could not believe we.

- Let's just be honest it's a gold mine.

- It is.

- It's a gold mine.

- This is an undiscovered gem that flies way under the radar.

It is an absolutely amazing view.

And the photography potential is spectacular because there is not only a sunset here, there is a sunrise here.

This is a peninsula that sticks out into the gorge.

You can shoot both directions.

And we are about, I guess, 16, 1,700 feet above the gorge right now, above the water.

It's just unreal.

Now we got these boats kind of cutting through, creating a really interesting kind of foreground or leading line with this.

I just, I can't say enough good things about it.

I think a big part of it is it's just such a surprise.

We just didn't expect it to be this good.

♪ Lately he's unraveling ♪ ♪ Lately he's unraveling love ♪ ♪ Ooh and it haunts me ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ It's on me, unraveling ♪ ♪ The parts I see, traveling ♪ ♪ The line between ♪ ♪ Everything I want and need, unraveling ♪ ♪ It's on me, unraveling ♪ ♪ The parts I see, traveling ♪ - It's kind of cool, like when we were doing the sunset I was like, this could be a really neat asterist spot.

So we just, we're at the lodge just down the road from here.

We had to come back.

- Yep.

- What do you think?

It's your first time doing it, right?

- Yeah, yeah, so Chris explained the process to me.

We're working it through.

A lot to learn, lot to adjust to.

It's not your normal type of photography, a lot of trial and error but hopefully the image comes out correct.

- I think it will.

There's some stars, it's getting really windy and a lot of clouds kind of rolled in that I really wanted to have at sunset, but that's okay.

But we're starting to see stars on our screen, so I'm hopeful we're gonna get something.

Well, let's show 'em what we got.

How about that?

- Let's go with it.

- All right.

♪ It's on me, unraveling ♪ ♪ The parts I see, traveling ♪ ♪ Ooh, oh, oh, oh ♪ (shutter clicks) - When we look at gorges like this, like the Flaming Gorge, the amount of sediment that was eroded off of the Rocky Mountains buried that whole area.

So that whole area is buried and the streams are eroding through just like we would see local streams erode.

But there's always a limit to how far down a stream can erode and if the landscape isn't lifting up at the same time, you're not gonna get a gorge.

(wind rustling) (wind rustling continues) (enigmatic music) - [Chris] We're on roads less traveled right now.

- [Paul] Yeah.

This is not my kind of terrain, man.

- [Chris] We are heading to the desert because I think desert photography could be really interesting.

- [Paul] Never done it before.

Looking forward to it.

Play with some textures in the ground, the sand.

See what comes up of it.

- [Chris] I'm hoping this rain doesn't kind of mess us up here, but we still have 11 miles to go.

And again, we haven't seen anything but look, here comes some more cows.

The cows really like the road.

They just kind of hang out and graze right alongside the road and then give us a mean stare when we drive by.

- And wait till the last minute.

- And then they get off the road.

But this is about as remote and isolated as we have been on any of our episodes.

And as long as the car starts, I'm not worried about it.

We got plenty of gas, we got plenty of daylight, but we have zero cell service and there is nobody else out here.

- If we get hungry, at least we have burgers.

(cow bellows) ♪ When did we lose our way ♪ ♪ Easier to let it go ♪ - The whole great basin is within a rain shadow desert.

And so as the moisture comes off the Pacific, these air masses, they run into the Sierra Nevadas and as they go up and over, then they drop their moisture there.

So the down sloping air warms, sucks the moisture from the landscape and so it enhances the desert conditions that are there.

- I've never had the opportunity to do photography like this.

- Me neither.

Not in a desert.

- [Chris] After a very long 20-plus mile drive through a very dusty region.

- Very rough ride.

- Yes, where we actually turned around at one point to head back and then we're like, "Let's do it."

We're here.

We are in the desert.

- And it didn't disappoint.

- It did not.

No.

It is so different than what we have been photographing up till now and what we'll photograph after this.

But the patterns, the minimalist, the abstract, the light, the shadows, the changing skies.

- [Paul] Is bringing it all together.

Yeah.

- It's phenomenal.

It's just so cool and different.

I'm excited to see, I don't know if I'm gonna go black and white or color, or both, because I think you can go either direction.

But I'm just kind of picking apart the landscape and I'm watching the clouds change the light on all of these dunes.

It's just super cool man.

I'm glad we did it.

Glad we we continued down that awful, awful rough road.

- That rough road.

Oh my goodness.

- Let's go explore.

There's endless shapes.

Knock this out and then let's hope the car starts.

- (laughs) Yes, let's go.

♪ Oh, don't be scared about it ♪ ♪ Don't forget it was real ♪ ♪ Do you remember the way it made you feel ♪ ♪ Do you remember the things it let you feel ♪ ♪ How do I make you stay ♪ ♪ When it's easier to let you go, no, no ♪ ♪ Nobody knows what we know about it ♪ ♪ No one needs to know ♪ ♪ Call, call me when you've made up your mind ♪ ♪ But you won't ♪ ♪ Caught up in the way that you played my heart ♪ ♪ Only love could ever hit this hard ♪ ♪ Oh, don't be scared about it ♪ ♪ Don't forget it was real ♪ ♪ Do you remember the way it made you feel ♪ ♪ Do you remember the things it let you feel ♪ - Here at the lodge we're about 10 minutes away from the Green River, which is considered one of the top five fly fishing destinations in the United States.

♪ On Dufferin street living side by side ♪ - The Green River is a big river system, part of the Colorado River system.

They dammed it up as in the sixties for the Bureau of Reclamation.

It's a big water project to, you know, hold water for the Green River for all the communities around here to use for irrigation and just drinking water.

It was turned into a national recreation area two years after the dam was built just to draw people to the area.

♪ The songs that I have come to know ♪ - Dutch John, the town right down the road was built for the dam.

It was built to house the workers and now it's a kind of thriving little tourist community.

♪ So sing to me Jane ♪ ♪ I don't know your name ♪ ♪ But that's alright, that's okay ♪ ♪ I don't know your name ♪ ♪ But you're everything ♪ ♪ You're all that I have some days ♪ ♪ And that's okay ♪ - So I think what's so special about Flaming Gorge is the rocks, the view.

It's a place where you can be on the water looking up 1,500 feet at the top of the cliff.

Or if you go farther north, you're in the sagebrush flats up in Wyoming.

So there's a large variety of different scenery.

It's a lot of room, we've got 90 miles from the dam to the highest boat ramp on the lake.

So it's just a lot of place to hide and it's quiet.

The lake trout fishing brings people and entices people from all over because I think the record lake trout is pushing 50 pounds for this lake.

This morning we caught a 10 pounder, 12 pounder that was 30, 32 inches.

So, you know, there's some big ones in this lake and that's what brings everybody here.

But again, they're hard to catch in the summer 'cause they're on the bottom.

They're down 100, 150 foot deep.

You never know what you're gonna see around the next corner, you know?

So it's just every corner you go around something else to see and a different view.

♪ So sing to me Jane ♪ ♪ I don't know your name ♪ ♪ But that's alright, that's okay ♪ ♪ I don't know your name ♪ ♪ But you're everything ♪ ♪ You're all that I have some days ♪ (shutter clicks) ♪ And that's okay ♪ - [Chris] This is just what I love about getting out with a camera.

If nothing else, it gives you an excuse to just go get off the beaten path.

- [Paul] And this is different for me.

I mean, I'm a city guy so we don't see this often.

You have to travel for it so when you see it, you experience it.

- [Chris] You hear it, you smell it.

- [Paul] You enjoy it.

- [Chris] You feel it, like the air feels different.

Dude, you're gonna, this is gonna be disastrous and then I'm gonna have to hear about how cold your feet are the whole way back.

- [Paul] So you have no faith, Chris.

Yea of little faith.

♪ Have you down a gravel road ♪ ♪ You can't get any traction ♪ ♪ You're digging dirt and slinging stones ♪ ♪ And heading in no direction ♪ ♪ Sometimes that's how I feel ♪ ♪ Like I'm spinning wheels ♪ ♪ And I'm tired of running ♪ ♪ Tired of running like I'm standing still ♪ ♪ I will not find tomorrow if I'm stuck in yesterday ♪ ♪ Like all my days to follow are buried in a winter grave ♪ ♪ But I won't give up ♪ ♪ 'Cause I am enough ♪ ♪ And I'm tired of running ♪ - It's amazing how much of a difference clouds make.

- Yeah, yeah, on a day like this, you're shooting in the middle of the day, water scene.

- Oh yeah.

- Extremely high highlights.

You need that cloud cover.

- Yes.

We've been driving along just looking at the sky 'cause it's noon and we're like, come on, we need some clouds.

We need some clouds.

And we got to this waterfall and we saw some puffy clouds and we're like, here we go.

We just gotta wait.

- We had to sit it out and wait for a little bit.

- We did.

- Yeah.

- We had to wait it out.

And due to the magic of television, they didn't have to watch us wait for 30 minutes.

But it was kind of pretty, once the cloud hit, it just totally changed the scene completely.

- It evens it out, it gives it a nice polished look.

No harsh light hitting anything.

- Absolutely.

- Harsh shadows hitting anything.

- Yeah.

- [Paul] It really makes a difference in the shot.

- Yeah, once the shadows are here, there's still a little glare 'cause the sky's bright, so fortunately I have my polarizer and my ND's with me.

I think I'll have 'em with me at all times now.

I kind of like it.

- [Paul] It's a manny fanny pack.

♪ Tired of running ♪ ♪ Tired of running ♪ ♪ Tired of running like I'm standing still ♪ ♪ Oh, I'm tired of running ♪ - We look at the Green River or the Flaming Gorge or any of that area out in say Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada.

That's part of what's called the Great Basin.

And when we think about the formation of that, it's intimately tied to the uplift of the Rocky Mountains.

And so as the Rockies uplift, there's a lot of deformation that's going to occur and a lot of huge basins, huge areas where sediment's going to accumulate.

And so looking at, say the Green River, it's a enormous lake deposit.

(tranquil music) Those lakes probably formed 55 million years ago.

The establishment of the Green River flowing to the south rather than flowing east probably happened 40 million years ago, okay?

Maybe 35 million years ago.

15 million years of erosion that is occurring in order for those features to form.

(tranquil music continues) (tranquil music brightens) - So what are you thinking about for the sunrise?

- I've got a couple of different compositions I'm looking at.

The first one is directly into the sunrise.

I kind of like the way that water down there, it just goes from one side of the frame to the other side of the frame leading up to the sky.

- [Chris] Yeah, and it just kinda arcs towards it or curves towards it.

- Yeah, and one important thing I think about this location is the rock, the boulders on the side and the different tones and colors you have inside there.

So what I wanna do is probably move to the other side with the sun behind me lighting up those boulders.

- I've actually seen another little spot tucked away in here that is not part of the overlook that I think I'm gonna shoot as well.

The textures of these rocks and these, I guess ponderosa pines, they just have this look to 'em that is really captivating.

So I'm gonna try to get one of those as well.

But it's very, very peaceful.

Like it's literally- - Yeah, only us up here right now.

- I can't hear anything.

I can't hear anything.

There isn't a single sound.

- Yeah.

- It's pretty wild.

- And you know, composition wise, I see exactly what you're talking about with those trees.

I really do want to incorporate some of those trees in there.

The only thing is I'm afraid of heights and this little barrier we see here- - I know.

- doesn't extend all the way around.

- [Chris] It's wild how close you can go right up to the edge if you want.

- If you're brave, you can get some really good shots from the other side of this camera that we're looking at here.

- I read that we're 1,700 feet up right now.

That would be, that would be quite a fall.

- I have trouble being 17 feet up.

That's why I have a drone to do stuff like this.

♪ On your lips ♪ ♪ Held like a fist ♪ ♪ A concussive wish ♪ - So what I think I'm gonna do here, instead of looking at that one big, huge landscape that I saw just a little second ago, and explain to you guys how I saw four elements that I like here.

What I think I'm gonna do instead of creating one big picture where people can get lost in it, I'm gonna flip my camera into the portrait orientation and I'm just gonna get four or three different shots of what I see.

I think it's gonna be easier on the eye.

- So here's a word in photography you might not think of when you think of photography and that is movement.

And so I am always moving and composing a scene to remove distracting elements and really enhance the subject.

So for instance, if you know my photography, you know I love trees.

I love this tree right here but there can be some distracting elements.

When I first walked into the scene, these branches of this tree were kind of hanging into my frame, kind of creating a distraction, pulling the viewer's eye to the top right.

I really want the focus to be solely on this tree.

- Might be easier on the composition instead of one huge photo that has just everything in it, the walls, the sky, the.

Keep it simple.

Let's just show the people this here.

One shot.

Show them the water.

Second shot.

Show 'em the right side there with the clouds, probably that's the third shot.

Let's see how this works out.

If it doesn't work out, don't worry you won't see it.

- So what I've been doing is been moving my camera around and recomposing until just that tree is visible, these hanging branches aren't, and it strengthens the image.

It's a really, really simple thing to do, but you just have to think to do it.

(shutter clicks) (mellow music) (shutter clicks) So what I'm doing is I'm just kind of varying my composition.

I'm going vertical, I'm going horizontal and the sun, which is really kind of beautiful right now.

We can almost look at it 'cause it's so, the clouds are kind of absorbing some of that light.

It's just coming right up over that ridge.

If I could place the sun, I would've had it come up over this bend in the water.

But that's okay, it's still not bad at all.

And I'm using my long lens, but I'm about to switch to a wider angle to kind of incorporate more of the gorge.

But it's really, really pretty still and getting some good color out of the sky.

- Beautiful.

Beautiful.

And what I'm doing right now is I'm exposing for the sky like I always do 'cause I think that's the main character of this little movie we're creating here.

And I took some earlier shots and I might get a few more to capture some of the details in the shadows down here and then I'll combine them all in one shot and getting a little bit of detail from the shadows, the trees that are down here, the water obviously, and then the sky.

That thing is good.

Really good.

(mellow music continues) (shutter clicks) (shutter clicks) - Well Paul, this was kind of a hidden gem, like an.

- Definitely a hidden gem.

- It was like an, it was unexpectedly awesome.

I mean I've heard about it before.

I'd actually been through here before a long time ago, but I had no idea how good it actually was.

- Yeah.

- What did you, like, what are your thoughts?

- Totally lived up to expectations.

Just some of the images I saw online here, this place lived up to the hype again.

Totally impressed, totally overwhelmed by the size of this thing.

- The scale is amazing.

- Yeah, it's amazing.

Really.

- It has a feel.

It's not the Grand Canyon obviously, but it's quiet, there's not many people.

Everything that we photographed was pretty close to each other, so we get to really spend some time taking pictures, thinking about our compositions and not feeling rushed to get to the next spot 'cause it was a long drive away.

- Exactly.

- And so that was actually kind of cool too.

So I felt like I could really kind of sink into the scene and spend some time.

- [Paul] I can't say anything else except totally impressed with this place.

- Very impressed.

- Totally impressed.

- I would highly recommend it to any photographers or really anybody else that just wants to kind of soak in a scene that is so vast, so grand, it almost overwhelms at first.

I remember the first time we walked out to this overlook, we were just like, wow!

It was really incredible.

We are always trying to find new views, we found one here.

- We got it.

- For sure.

- 10 outta 10, five outta five.

- This was 10 outta 10, Five outta five, yeah.

- How ever you rate.

- Two thumbs up.

Whatever your rating system, this hits it.

It was awesome, and let's go find another one.

- Let's go, man.

- Yeah.

♪ Hollows in the woods call out ♪ ♪ Trails up mountains climb ♪ ♪ Waves and sand keep beatin' time ♪ ♪ Mossy blankets, swirling streams ♪ ♪ Over rocks and dirt ♪ ♪ Run at pace with all the earth ♪ ♪ Could we capture nature's wonder ♪ ♪ Find our way to getting lost ♪ ♪ Freeze a frame to save forever ♪ ♪ Adventure worth the cost ♪ ♪ Bees and dandelion grain ♪ ♪ Dance in sun-soaked fields ♪ ♪ Wind and gleam together yield ♪ ♪ Pocket worries fade to dim ♪ ♪ Wait on focus new ♪ ♪ Wild is coming into view ♪ - [Announcer] Voyage Charters shares the blue waters of the British Virgin Islands and offers private sailing vacations aboard ships like the Summer Breeze, a six cabin, all electric catamaran.

It's your voyage.

Make the best of it.

(bright music) - [Announcer] Sigma is proud to support photographers and filmmakers around the world.

And we believe creativity and sustainability go hand in hand.

- [Announcer] Every explorer seeks their own path and the promise of what's to come.

The truth lies west.

- [Announcer] Georgia College and State University provides over 40 graduate program offerings, including doctorates in nursing and education.

Learn more at gcsu.edu.

- [Announcer] Troncalli Subaru is a proud sponsor of "View Finders."

(logo chiming)