ET Highway, Rachel, NV
My brother and I took a road trip down the Extra Terrestrial highway in preparation for the Utah UFO Festival. The basin and range landscape make for some uniq...
Read more
My brother and I took a road trip down the Extra Terrestrial highway in preparation for the Utah UFO Festival. The basin and range landscape make for some unique open road shots that span upwards of 10-15 miles!
Read less
Read less
Aug, 2016Views
121
Likes
Awards
Legendary Award
2020 Choice Award
Member Selection Award
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Top Ranks
Top 30 rank
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on the infamous Route 375 dubbed the Extraterrestrial Highway. This stretch of road in Nevada meanders through mountain ranges before stretching out in long 20 mile basins of the Great Basin. It’s the closest highway to Area 51, where in the 1980s Bob Lazar blew the whistle on reverse engineering extraterrestrial craft. This inspired the movie Independence Day which a portion of was filmed in Rachel, NV, one of the only towns on this lonely stretch of desert highway.Time
My brother and I took a road trip from southern Utah to explore the ET highway. We used a GoPro attached to the front of his vehicle to record a time lapse of the whole route. We stopped at the top of the other side of a long basin and quickly setup a shot in the middle of the highway. I had a long reaching lens (Jupiter 37a 135mm f3.5) which helped to compress the long stretch of road and bring out the haziness and layers. We were in a hurry as a semi was barreling towards us. Even traveling at around 85mph, we had about 15 minutes to shoot before having to move.Lighting
The lighting couldn’t have been better for this particular shot. It was midday and clear skies, which is usually not the best lighting circumstances. Using a telephoto lens helped to reduce the brightness and the sunlight from a bit to the southwest helped create some good contrasting shadows on the mountain pass.Equipment
Camera: Olympus OMD EM5 Vintage Lens: Jupiter 37a 135mm f3.5 (manual focus) Handheld.Inspiration
We are the founders of the Utah UFO Festival. I have always been a fan of the culture and stories associated with the UFO phenomenon. It is just as part of the desert southwest of the United States as the cowboy and Wild West. Anyone who has the opportunity to travel the lonely desert highways of the southwestern United States should take it. I grew up in southern Utah and always went on many exploratory road trips. Extraterrestrial highway is definitely a highlight of the area.Editing
I did post process this photo utilizing my digital portable darkroom (iPhone). I added a bit more contrast and color to match what was actually seen. I compensated a bit for the washed out middle of the day clear sky lighting.In my camera bag
I love the micro four thirds format because of its portability and ease with using vintage glass and adapters. I also use a full frame Sony a7r with many adapters for vintage glass. I love the character that old lenses give. I feel most new lenses have all the character engineered out of them and they lose their unique qualities. My current gear: Camera bodies: Olympus OMD EM5 Mark ii Sony a7r Lenses: Voigtlander Nokton 25mm f0.95 Minolta Rokkor 58mm f1.4 Helios 42-2 58mm f2 Jupiter 37a 135mm f3.5 Lensbaby Twist 60 (60mm f2) All packed away in the Mindshift Backlight 18L & Mindshift Photocross 13 bags.Feedback
A trip to this area in the summer is very hot and dusty. I suggest a winter trip. January is quite cold but the highway is even less busy (1-2 cars per hour). Stop in at the Little Al’e Inn in Rachel, Nevada and get yourself a flying saucer or alien burger. Say hi to Connie; she is awesome!
