Zion-Mount

• Malcolm Forbes.

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My first trip to Zion National park was the first time I genuinely spend time planning for a road trip. I painstakingly created an excel page with locations that I wanted to visit with GPS coordinates, notes, and sample images taken at the site. I was proud of the planning and was confident that this new planning method would help me with my pictures. It did not quite work out as I intended. The trouble was light. I underestimated how much of a role light plays in the success of the photography in a canyon.

At most locations, early morning and evening lights are perfect for making images but not when you are inside a canyon. The area depicted in this image is a rather popular pullout on the Zion-Carmel highway that provides a nice view of the Zion canyon, the switchbacks, and the canyon junction. The photo was taken at 7:45 am, and you can already see the massive shadow in the composition. I initially did not want to process the image because when I cropped the shadowy bit out, the picture did not look well balanced. I learned the valuable lesson of minding the direction of light after this trip. If you plan a trip for landscape photography, I think it is imperative to consider planning your photo locations based on light quality and direction.

John Dryden.

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I took the above shot while I was returning from the Canyon Overlook hike. While the Canyon overlooks provides a bird’s eye view of the canyon, this shot was taken right inside it with the massive sandstone towers standing guard on each side. As we were going back to the Canyon junction to Park our car we came upon this view on one of the hairpin bends of the Canyon.

The clouds which formed a thick layer were being cleared by some intense winds which were smashing clouds against the huge sandstone peaks and breaking the clouds apart. I created this shot using the 35 mm focal length and stitching 8 shots together as the ultra wide angle was distorting the perspective a little too much and diminishing the grandeur of the majestic cliffs.. I love the intense blue of the sky and the contrast they provide against the red rocks.

Hope you all enjoyed the shot, more to follow soon…