About My Desert Lens
 |
My name is Robert Riberia, and I've loved the deserts of the American Southwest for as long as I've known they existed.
I grew up in the Northeastern United States, but the moment I stepped onto desert soil in 1986, something clicked. The vast landscapes, endless skies, and quiet beauty of the Southwest felt like home in a way I couldn't fully explain. Six years later, after gradually unwinding my ties to the East, my wife and I packed up our two boys and headed west. By 1998, we had settled in southern Utah for good.
For nearly four decades, my wife and I have explored and photographed the canyon country of Utah and the deserts beyond. While much of my work centers on the red rock landscapes around Moab, my wanderings have taken me throughout the Great Basin, Mojave, and Sonoran Deserts, always in search of new light, new perspectives, and new reasons to set my alarm at unreasonable hours.
 |
Photography has been part of that journey from the beginning. What started as a desire to document these remarkable places gradually became something more: an attempt to capture not just how the desert looks, but how it feels. The stillness before sunrise in Arches. The immense silence along a Canyonlands rim. The unexpected wonder of snow dusting sandstone cliffs. These are the moments that keep drawing me back.
For many years, I shared my adventures through my original blog, *Utah Red Rocks*, encouraging others to discover the beauty of the Southwest. After moving to Moab, I also spent twenty-five years working in tourism promotion, helping visitors explore Arches and Canyonlands safely and responsibly. It was rewarding work, but over time the demands of the job left less room for my own writing and photography. When I retired in 2024, I finally had the opportunity to return to what inspired me in the first place.
And so, My Desert Lens was born.
 |
| A local newspaper, The Times-Independent, wrote a kind profile during my final week on the job. It focused heavily on the website I managed - just one small part of a much broader role - but it was still a generous sendoff. Stepping away when I did was the right choice. It gave me room to breathe again, and to rediscover the reasons I fell in love with this landscape in the first place. |
This blog is part photography gallery, part travel journal, and part collection of reflections gathered from years spent wandering desert trails. Here you'll find photographs, stories, trail experiences, occasional humor, and observations about the landscapes that have shaped nearly every chapter of my life. You'll also find the realities of desert exploration: long drives, frozen tripods, early mornings, and the ongoing challenge of convincing loved ones that hiking in winter conditions is actually fun.
But at its heart, this blog is about something larger than photography.
Many people spend their lives pursuing wealth, status, and possessions, only to discover too late that they neglected the very things that make life meaningful. The desert has taught me a different lesson. Nobody reaches the end of life wishing they had spent more time accumulating things. But many wish they had spent more time watching sunsets, exploring wild places, and experiencing the extraordinary beauty hidden in the world around them.
Every photograph and story shared here is my original work, created with deep respect for the land and a hope that it might inspire others to seek out a little more wonder, curiosity, and adventure in their own lives.
Life is short. Don't miss the magic.
 |
 |
| Robert & Rhonda |
Comments
Post a Comment