Click here for a chronological listing of galleries

 

an excerpt from my book on the May 2009 trip:

Zion

        My favorite place on the planet. It originally had a Paiute Indian name, Mukuntuweap, which basically means Straight Canyon. The early Mormon settlers called it Zion, meaning sanc-tuary. That fits. A sacred place of refuge. When I first visited this park I got the sense that my soul actually lives here and only visits me on occasion. Now I try to visit my soul as often as possible. We're getting along much better these days.
        This park has so much to offer a weary soul. To paraphrase something Barb read on one of the park brochures: it's best to wait until you are older to experience Zion; if you experience such magical grandeur when you are young, every trip you would make to any other part of the planet would be a let down. Wait until you think you've seen all of the beauty the world has to offer, and then visit Zion to prove yourself wrong.
        Photographers generally say the only good light for landscapes is the first few and the last few hours of the day. In Zion, however, there is always somewhere where the light is perfect. Light reflecting from the canyon walls makes a big difference in the photo opportunities. Still, there are areas that, no matter what time of day, are impossible to adequately capture without blending at least two exposures. On this trip I was trying something relatively new to me, HDR. High dynamic range imaging basically takes bracketed exposures of the same shot and blends the tones of each to develop more of what our eyes can correct to see.
        It is often said that if a storm occurs while you are in Zion, consider yourself lucky. Not only were there no storms on this trip, but only about 20 minutes of clouds to include in our photos. Our first morning we planned on sleeping in until about 8, but I arose at 6 something and saw an incredible moon outside our cabin. Trying not to disturb Barb I quickly got dressed and drove about 60 mph down the switchbacks to try to find the perfect Zion moon shot. I returned empty, but you can see some of the next mornings results on pages 27 through 31.
        We will return in November, and I can't wait to commune with my soul. 

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Galleries in chronological order of experience (most recent first):

  zion
Zion NP, UT
November 19, 2017		 zion
Zion BW & Painterly
November 16, 2017		 zion
Zion mostly Canyon Dr.
November 16, 2017
zion
Zion NP, UT
November 15, 2017		 zion
Zion NP, UT
November 14, 2017		 zion
Zion Eastside, UT
November 14, 2017		 zion
Zion NP, UT
November 13, 2017
zion
Zion NP, (Painted)
October 31, 2016
zion
Zion NP, UT (painted)
October 30, 2016
zion
Zion NP, (Painted)
October 28, 2016
zion
Zion NP, (Painted)
October 26, 2016
zion
Zion NP, UT (last 4)
October 2, 2014
zion
Zion NP, UT
May 12, 2009
zion
Zion NP, UT
May 11, 2009
zion
Zion NP, UT
May 10, 2009
zion
Zion NP, UT
May 9, 2009
zion
Kolob Terrace, UT
May 7, 2009

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