had been struck by lightning. It was burnt, twisted, and awesome photography. Jackson showed Lee how to shoot the tree and set him loose to discover his own style through the lens. While Lee was taken over by the simple beauty of a dead tree, Jackson walked over to me and whispered, “We got him.” Our agenda with McMichael was to show our tourism director how powerful photography is here in this country and that it is the most important part of the tourism equation. At two hours and 30 minutes, we arrived at our spot. Jackson refers to the Paria Overlook as the Grand Canyon of Page. The excitement building up in McMichael was obvious and he was the first one out of the truck. Jackson, who takes a moment to get himself out of high-clearance vehicles, yelled out, “Ow, Ow, Ow.” McMichael had shut his door of the truck on Jackson’s fingers. The door was like a bear trap and Jackson was stuck. We quickly freed Jackson, and fortunately it
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was his left hand, which isn’t his trigger finger. It didn’t break the skin and Jackson shook it off because he is one tough 76 year old. The Paria Overlook is a high vantage point that looks down on the Paria River as it carves the canyon deeper and deeper on its way to the Colorado River. You can literally walk to the edge of the overlook, which has the same visceral response of the Grand Canyon. I would catch McMichael snapping shots with his smartphone every now and again even though I let him use my DSLR camera. And that’s the point of where we are with photography nowadays. You don’t need a second mortgage for the expensive equipment. You just need to wake up that child inside and get out there. Jackson pulled out the kites and we took turns flying them inches from a fatal but breathtaking drop. “Pretty cool, huh? Here we are: a guy in his 30’s, a guy in his 50’s and a guy in his 70’s flying kites in the middle of nowhere.
GATEWAY TO CANYON COUNTRY
SPRING 2014