Tower of Terror: A Stunning new Photo location near the Towers of Silence

“The Towers of Silence” have fascinated me since I first learned about them years ago thanks to the now-classic “Photographing the Southwest” by Laurent Martres. Also known by the less inspiring name of “Walheap Hoodoos,” I finally had the chance to visit them earlier this year.

They are best viewed at dawn, but I really wanted to try some Milky Way shots. That meant I had to be at the trailhead by midnight. The early start would allow me to cover the 5 miles and get there when my PhotoPills app told me the core was rising.

The hike

It was a warm and moonless May night in the Utah desert. No light but my headlamp. Fortunately, my downloaded Alltrails Pro GPS allowed me to navigate in the dark with no problems (and no cell service). The hike was in a wide wash (dry river bed). The footing was good and the miles went by easily. (For more tips and safety hints on night hiking, check out this article.)

I got to the Towers with no drama. First I scouted around a bit to figure out the best spot to set up my tripod. While doing that, my headlamp picked out an dim shape in the distance. I could just make out an odd-shaped ‘headless’ hoodoo standing forlornly in the wash about 100 yards (90 meters) to the east. I ignored it and spent the the next couple of hours diligently shooting the ‘Towers of Silence.

But the whole time I felt this nagging urge to keep glancing over at that weird hoodoo. Misshapen and ‘lumpy,’ it wasn’t particularly attractive but something about it kept tugging at the back of my brain.

Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore and walked over to check it out.

Glad. I. Did.

As it turns out, when I got around to its northern side, I stopped dumfounded in my tracks. The malformed shape transformed itself into a near-perfect spear-point profile. Combined with the full spread of the Milky Way arching over it, the composition was just breathtaking.

Even better was that I’d never seen a Milky Way shot of this spot before. Which is amazing because a lot of photographers have shot the Towers of Silence at night (check out the internet). This is a case where something is hidden in plain sight. You just have to see it from a different angle.

The photo

The resulting image shown above is a 12-frame panorama and covers about 180°. It consists of five shots of the sky taken at ISO 6400 for 13 seconds each. The foreground took seven shots taken at ISO 800 for 300 seconds each. I tried several foreground lighting scenarios but the one I liked most was a single Lume Cube on a 7′ light stand. I had to move the light stand for the last foreground shot (for the far left) because my shadow was visible. Photoshop was used to stitch the frames into a pano. Milky Way processing via Astro Panel 5.1. Noise reduction via Topaz DeNoise AI.

For a detailed article on how to shoot the Milky Way, check out this link.

The glow of lights on the horizon is from Page, Arizona about 25 miles to the southwest. The green airglow was a nice bonus and a subtle contrast to the orange light pollution.

The Location

Stand in front of the ‘main’ hoodoo (the tallest one, you can’t miss it), turn and face north. The ‘Tower of Terror” is that funny looking ‘humped’ hoodoo about a footfall field away down on the edge of the wash. The photo below points it out.

I’m like most seasoned photographers. I’m always looking to find a unique shot, rather than simply replicate the same one captured many times before. This image fulfills that need superbly. I am quite tickled that I found it.

Cheers!
Jeff

PS: Yes, I also took some morning and Milky Way shots of the “Towers of Silence.” You can see that blog here.

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