Bright Trees, Dark Canyon

One of my favorite hikes while in Zion National park was up the "Narrows" of the Virgin River to Wall Street. Much of the hike involves sloshing through the river at the bottom of a deep, narrow canyon. This photo shows a group of trees growing on a sandy bank in the canyon.

I shot a lot of photos in the canyon, but most of them did not turn out so well. I'd love to spend some more time in canyons like this to learn how to shot in this type of environment.

Kolob Sunset

This image was taken at sunset, near the Kolob Canyon overlook in western part of Zion National Park. To get here, via car, from Zion canyon, you must leave the park and drive a fair bit of distance. There are also trails that connect the two areas. I'd love to return to Zion and do some backpacking. One see such a limited part of the park near the roads.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Towers of the Virgin

The Towers of the Virgin, Zion National Park. The flat peak on the left side is the West Temple and is the highest point in Zion at 7810 ft. On the far right is the Altar of Sacrifice (named for the red stains on the white Navajo Sandstone).

This photo is the first that I've taken with a Graduated Neutral Density filter.  This filter is dark at the top and gradually clears until it is completely clear at the bottom.  Without the neutral density filter, the foreground in the resulting image may have been too dark (or if the foreground was properly exposed, the sky and cliffs may have been blown out).  Without the filter, I might have been forced to use photoshop to bring out the foreground. 

Breaking the Pattern

On October 19th, I blogged about hiking up to Angel's Landing in Zion park.  To reach the top of the plateau, one needs to climb up "Walter's Wiggles".  The wiggles are a set of 21, sharp and very steep switchbacks (zig-zags).  It was named Walter's Wiggles after Zion's first superintendent who helped engineer the this section.

This photo is one section of the retaining wall.  Even building something as mundane as retaining wall, the builders add a touch of art by breaking the pattern of the regularly shaped sandstone blocks with this strange looking rock.

Be sure to visit the Monochrome Weekly meme for other great monochrome images.

Deep

By the time I arrived in Zion National Park in mid October, I had been on the road for about a month. I was getting very tired of hotels and campgrounds.

However, the beauty of Zion smashed that home sickness away. What an amazing place. October is the perfect time to visit. The crowds have thinned, but the shuttle buses are still running. The weather is comfortable, and the leaves are changing color.

This photo was taken up the Upper Emerald pool where the walls of the canyon loom over you.

While in the park I keep running into pair of Portuguese photographers, Joao and Antonio. It was quite funny - lots of "you're following me" jokes. In fact, we had dinner together on their last evening in the park when I stumbled into the same restaurant.

Be sure to visit Joao's and Antonio's websites.

Also, take some time to visit Skywatch Fridays.