Origin of a Name

In the September 1949 National Geographic magazine, writer/photographer Jack Breed chronicled the “First Motor Sortie into Escalante Land.” Breed’s expedition, which included 15 people, three jeeps, two trucks, and 35 horses, headed off into a rugged territory that is visible from Inspiration Point at at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.
On the first day of their trip they stumbled upon “A Color Photographer’s Paradise.”It was a beautiful and fantastic country. A mile to the left near the base of the cliff I could see red pinnacles thrust up from the valley floor. The few natives who had been here called this area “Thorny Pasture,” But we renamed it “Kodachrome Flat” because of the astonishing variety of contrasting colors in the formations. Fearing repercussions from the Kodak film company for using the name Kodachrome, the name was changed to Chimney Rock State Park; however, within a few years Kodak gave permission to rename the park Kodachrome Basin State Park.

This photo was taken by an Asahi Pentax 6 X 7 medium format film camera and SMC PENTAX 67 1:4 45mm lens with a Zenza Bronica 82mm L 1A filter using CineStill 50D film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered with Photoshop.