Decades of Discovering utah

Discovering all that Utah has to offer to travelers is a daunting and difficult task, but it is one that Utah photographers Bob Grove and Mark Wade have been attempting for several decades.

A History of Tourism

Raised in Bountiful, Bob has followed a tourism based career path that includes working for Skywest airlines, a major rental car company, and in his own businesses where he has partnered with the likes of Maverik stores, Morris Travel, and many others.  He has spent many years working with tourism focused TV and Radio productions in Utah with Steve Brown (ABC 4 / Utah Jazz), Tim Hughes (KSL Outdoors - Radio), Adam Eakle (KSL Outdoors - TV), and others. For the past 15 years Grove has been a regular guest with Brooke Walker on KSL TV's Studio 5 to highlight travel experiences within Utah.  "I've enjoyed building some strong relationships with some great people in the travel media world", says Grove, who has also worked as a guide for groups, large and small, leading people on tours of Utah and the neighboring states of the Intermountain West.

Mark, born in Provo, spent some early years in the country of New Zealand and initially pursued a career in radio and television news, but quickly evolved to video production and Internet marketing as it became a viable tool in the late 1990's. "Travel information was one of the things that people were searching for early in the advent of the Internet", says Wade, "and I was able to find a niche early on in that arena."  In the early 1990's Wade was hired as the Director of Tourism for southwestern Utah, an area that encompassed all or part of Zion, Bryce, and Capitol Reef National Parks, Lake Powell, St. George, Cedar City, and Cedar Breaks National Monument. Wade says that this was an incredible part of Utah to promote, and it was his springboard to future opportunities to work in sales and consulting with hundreds of tourism based businesses; hotels, resorts, and outfitter companies.

Consulting, Photography, Media

Their histories of working in travel and tourism ran parallel courses for three decades before Grove and Wade decided to partner together as tourism marketing consultants and outdoor photography/videography professionals. This effort has led them to work with county tourism offices, resorts, outfitters, and other tourism operations throughout Utah. For the past three years Grove and Wade have been featured every Saturday morning on KSL Outdoors radio with Tim Hughes.   Their segment, "Road Trippin With Bob And Mark" is faithfully listened to by many who enjoy their insights and stories about their experiences within Utah. "These guys are some Utah's foremost experts on Utah", says KSL's Tim Hughes. "They're always coming up with details and stories about lesser known destinations that are new to most of our listeners.  Bob and Mark have become good friends as well. We not only enjoy talking on the radio together, but we like to experience Utah together as well."

Grove and Wade have developed a combined following of over 30,000 people on their social media accounts where they share their photography, videos, and personal experiences in Utah.

As accomplished Utah photographers and writers each have had travel related stories published in many magazines and online publications. For two years Wade was a regular contributor to St. George Health and Wellness Magazine with his featured segment "Wade's Walkabout" with stories of adventure and discovery in the southwest region of the state.

The Future Looks Colorful

Both Grove and Wade indicate that they get some of their greatest enjoyment in getting outside before dawn, or staying out past sunset to capture the best light of the day, or even the midnight sky as the Milky Way rotates across the southern sky.  "We have so many common interests", says Grove, "that we really have a good time traveling around the state and finding the hidden gems that even we have yet to discover."  That list of items that these two have yet to see is increasingly growing smaller, but that doesn't stop them.  "We've been in some national parks over 100 times", says Wade, "but it's impossible to grow tired of any scenic destination because there's always a change in the weather, the light, the accompanying wildlife, or some other element that makes the whole experience seem brand new."

Visit the website UtahPhotogs.com to learn more about Utah photographers Bob Grove and Mark Wade, and to see samples of some of their extensive collection of photos and videos from throughout the entire state of Utah. For details on some of their adventures visit their blog site.