Meet me in Moab! Yup, that’s right, we’re going to Moab, Utah for the 2019 Toy Photographers Meet-up! Utah is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes you will ever have the pleasure of experiencing. While searching for nooks and crannies amongst the red rocks and sparse vegetation for your toys, your eyes will take in the awe inspiring nature of the landscape.
The Overview
From April 11th through April 14th 2019, we will be exploring Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks. We will see glorious arches carved from the sandstone, visit spectacular scenic overlooks while hiking and crawling over all the red rock you can stand.
Tentative Itinerary
Day 1
As in the past, this will be a half day to allow folks time to arrive and get settled. Tentatively we will meet at a local park in Moab.
Day 2
This will be a full day in Arches National Park. We will explore the Courthouse Towers, Courthouse Wash, The Windows Section, Fiery Furnace Overlook and if there is enough interest we will hike the Devils Garden Trail. (We will not be visiting the iconic Delicate Arch. The round trip hike takes 2-3 hours. If you would like to make the trip I recommend you extend your trip.)
Day 3
On Day three we will head into Canyon Lands National Park and visit Gemini Bridges (you will need a vehicle suitable for off road) Dead Horse Point and if we have the time visit the Mesa Arch in the Island in the Sky district.
Day 4
On day 4 we will head to a great trail up Highway 128 to Grandstaff canyon. Here we can walk an easy trail along a river (bring your water shoes!) to Morning Glory Arch. That afternoon we will begin the goodbyes and exclaim that: “Four days is just not enough time!”, “It’s been awesome!” and “See you next year!” Their can never be enough hugs to make this parting any easier.
This meet-up will be a little more adventurous than past events. There will be several hikes of varying lengths and plenty of sight seeing thrown in to our toy photography fun. Utah is known for its wide open spaces, so be prepared for a couple of long drives.
On the plus side, this is one of the most beautiful and uniques places that I have visited. The red rocks, scrub brush and long vistas will allow you to create unique toy photographs. This trip will be a feast for your own eyes as well as your cameras.
The Details
Like past meet-ups we will have a group dinner on Thursday night to break the ice. There will be a print exchange and a white elephant exchange to keep the fun rolling and so everyone has a memento of the weekend.
We will once again have some awesome swag for you! Dennis is busily working on another custom LEGO figure that Im sure will be as unique as his past work. There will be free LEGO for everyone! And since this is our Fifth Anniversary we will have a couple of special items for your swag bag.
The Specifics
- Dates: April 11th – 14th
- Location: Moab Utah, USA
- Cost: $45
- Registration fee is fully refundable until March 10th
- All photographic ability levels, camera styles and toy genres are welcome!
PERKS OF REGISTRATION
- Participation in the White Elephant Gift Exchange
- Participation in the Photo Exchange
- Contests with prizes!
- You will receive a custom mini figure created by Krash_Override to commemorate the weekend
- Limited edition swag to commemorate our fifth anniversary!
Why Moab?
One of our objective when we started these meet-ups was to use toy photography as an excuse to travel and explore different environments on a macro level. On our first meet-up in Las Vegas we spent nearly our entire time at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. We all had a blast playing on the rocks and setting up our toys amongst the scrub and puddles found in the red rocks.
Early this fall I asked all past participants of these events where they wanted to go. As always, when presented with several locations, there was no real consensus as to the perfection location or time. Naturally I’m concerned that I’m over reaching and no one will join me in Moab. Who wants to throw a party that no one comes too? When I’ve casually mentioned the final location to friends I’ve heard reactions as varied as “Excellent, Moab is on my bucket list” to “Gosh, I hope I can afford it.”
But if you’re feeling adventurous I can promise you an epic weekend unlike any of our previous meet-ups. I’ve been to this area multiple times and I’ve never had a bad time. Not when the wind blew so hard my toys fell over, not when it rained so hard I thought it would dent the roof of my car, nor the time it snowed. Not even the time I got lost in the dessert while mountain biking and ran out of water. Fun times indeed!
A final word
But if Moab and the red rock landscape doesn’t inspire you, we will be venturing to Minneapolis, MN in 2020.
Like all our Toy Photography events, this one is open to all toy photographers and their families. All ability levels and camera types are welcome. Even if you’re not a paid registrant, you’re welcome to attend. Don’t worry, you will still have access to all the fun and camaraderie that make these events so special!
If you need more incentive I encourage you to check out posts from past events in Las Vegas, NV, Seattle, WA, San Francisco, CA and Canon Beach, OR. Another good sign that this is going to be memorable is that I haven’t felt this excited about a meet-up since Seattle in 2016.
So meet me in Moab and lets play together!
~ Shelly
If this sounds like fun, you can register here. Paid registration gets you all the swag and a simple registration lets us know to expect you. Utah or bust my friends!
Looks so fun!! And the terrain will lend itself to some amazing images I’m sure.
One day.. one day..
One day Janan! That would be amazing if we can make it happen.
Nooooo….I need to be somewhere at the same time! I can already imagine the shots that I cannot take! Sounds like an awesome and exotic place to be. Pretty sure much fun will be had and great memories made. All the best for this outing!
Honestly Sunny I never would have considered you would travel to the state for one of these. If I had know I would have asked your opinion on dates. You have to let me know these things!!! But we will endeavor to have some fun even though you cant be there with us. 😀
The destination sounds so exotic and as Janan so rightly commented, one day…one day.
Ahem…. paid in full.
Matt it might be just you and me, but you know what, we will still have fun! See you in April my friend!
These looks like fun! I am going to see if I can get the days off from work. Which I should be able to. I think this year I would like to try and book a room with some of the other Toy Photographers. So please let me know who needs a roomie.
I hope to be there and J and T are very interested, too. I gotta look into lodging and air. Thanks for the announcement Shelly and the work behind it! ❤️✈️??
I’d love to go. Just ending up I Utah to do photography would be amazing. I’m thinking of it. Dreaming isn’t forbidden…
It’s on our calendar! Making sure we can get time off… Have you driven there from the PNW? Contemplating that road trip option too…
It would be awesome if you and Cindy could join us! Yes, I have made the drive and I will this time as well. Its a little over 16 hours of driving. Usually we make it in a little over a day. But we are hard core long haul drivers from all the years of craft shows. There is some talk that the family and I will be there the week before the event starts doing are family thing. I plan on leaving in the afternoon of Sunday and being home by Monday night. The advantage of driving is I have my Jeep with me so the off road parts are easy. If you have an all wheel drive vehicle you will want to bring it. While we will be on pavement most of the time, you really don’t get a feel for the area unless you get off the road at least once!
Grr… I’m gonna make a Toy Safari yet!!! I had already planned a trip to CA this month and Toronto in Aug. No funds for a third trip… ? I plan way ahead or the solo CA trip may have suddenly changed to Moab!
Molly I announced the dates in November of last year because I know people need to plan ahead. Im sorry you wont be able to make 2018. We will probably head to Minneapolis or Duluth for 2020 (the dates will be similar). Also you may want to read the post from Thursday Jan 10th where we’ve made change to the location. We are meeting near St George because an opportunity came up we couldn’t pass up. Unfortunately the dates are the same. I hope to meet you at a gathering someday!
Hi, I really want to go to a meetup, but the dates conflict with my class schedule. I also live on the east coast, am in college, and can’t really afford to go anywhere too far out of state. I’m new-ish to toy photography and really want to meet other people who enjoy this as much as I do. Do you have any ideas on what I could do or maybe try and have a meet up nearby? My school is in the mountains and the town is a bit of a tourist site so maybe a meet up could happen here.