Full Moon, Red Rocks, Clouds...

This afternoon I was witness to great afternoon light just as the full moon was rising. I got these shots of Balanced Rock and the formations near it.

Moab

Today I left Zion after spending a month there. I enjoyed it a great deal, but felt it was time to re-energize my creativity by going to a new location. I'm in Moab, Utah and will be here for at least two weeks. This is a shot I got at Arches National Park on my visit to Moab in December last year.

Moving on soon...

Haven't posted in a few days, so here's a few shots from the past couple days. Tuesday I'll be saying goodbye to Zion and moving to Moab for at least 2 weeks.

Bryce Canyon Sunrise

Today I drove up to Bryce Canyon National park. It's about 80 miles north of Zion. I went to a point called Sunrise Point for some early morning photography. Most shots of Bryce are wide angle shots showing a large section of the canyon below with the rim and sky above. While these are nice shots, I wanted to do something different. I used my telephoto zoom to isolate this section and I think it turned out quite well.

Bambi...

There are several herds of deer that live in Zion Canyon. They are pretty used to people and with care they can be approached within 30 ft. or so without them running scared. I got this shot of this Mule Deer Fawn not too far from the main road.

Left Fork Trail

Today I hiked about 2 miles down the Left Fork trail. The trail is accessed via the Kolob Terrace Road. It is a steep climb down to the river on a primitive trail. Once you get to the river's edge, you basically follow the river, there is no established trail. Originally I had planned to reach a slot canyon called The Subway, but after 2 miles of rock hopping and semi bushwacking, I decided to turn around. It was a bit too cold and I realized that with all the photo stops I wanted to make, I hadn't left early enough in the morning. I did find several spots where the river had frozen and got these shots.

Kolob Terrace

Today I drove up to the Kolob Terrace section of Zion National Park. It is a high elevation area of the park reached by heading north out of Virgin along HWY 9. I saw several herd of deer along the way. They were much more skittish than the deer that live in the canyon, which allow people to approach very closely. The closest I could get were these tracks.

The Crags at sunset

I've been dealing with frozen pipes in my trailer for the past couple days, so I haven't done much photography. Nightime temps have been down in the low teens and not above freezing during the day. I did manage to get this shot of the Crags on my way to Ace Hardware tonight. The Crags are a formation of rock cliffs just west of Zion National Park. I hope I've got my freezing problems solved, I'll know in the morning.

East of Zion Canyon...

Today I drove to the eastern end of the park and beyond the exit on HWY 9. The landscape beyond the park is mostly flat land and forests. I found this windmill in the middle of a field covered in about a foot of snow. I converted the image to black and white because I feel the shapes are the most interesting element.

Beautiful day in Zion

Yesterday's snowstorm left plenty of snow on the canyon floor today. I was one of the first to drive up the canyon and snapped this photo of the road. It was cold today, high of about 28 and a low of about 14 last night. The next shot is of the Streaked Wall. Both were taken in the morning. The final shot is of the Virgin River at sunset. Click the image to enlarge.

Light is an amazing thing,..

The sunrise today was incredible. The image speaks for itself I think.

Zion Delivers... again

I spent a full day shooting in Zion Canyon and filled over 4GB worth of CF cards. It will take a while to edit all the images, but I have these done so far.

Zion, land of many faces...

I woke up this morning to a fresh blanket of snow. What was that saying about sailors and red skies? It was a red sky last night, at least on the rocks, and now look at it, simply awesome. I know my friends in Colorado probably think I am crazy, but being from California, I love this stuff! I just got an email that my new tires are in at Costco in St. George, yesterday would have been better, but I'll head down there tonight after shooting. As usual, click the picture to enlarge.

Zion, land of amazing light...

It's been overcast all day and I thought there would be no opportunity for good scenic photography today. But right at sunset, the clouds opened up on the horizon and beamed golden light on The Watchman and Bridge Mountain. I grabbed my camera and ran to the back end of the campground to grab these two shots.

Moonset over the West Temple

I tried several mornings in a row to get a shot like this. Each day the moon sets a little later, so today was the day when there was a nice red sunrise glow on the rock cliffs and the exposure could be easily balanced with the moon to show detail. Click the image to enlarge.

Hike to Canyon Overlook

Yesterday, Troy, Marjorie and Kiera and I hiked the Canyon Overlook trail. It is an easy trail about 1 mile in length. The view from the end is amazing. You are looking west toward the serpentine Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway as it winds it's way up toward the famous tunnel. We stopped along the way for a photo of our shadows. Click the image from the overlook to enlarge it and see more details.

Amazing Sunset

Troy and I were witness to an amazing sunset over the Virgin River in Zion this evening. This is one of my best shots from tonight.

Early Morning in Zion

Here's a shot I got this morning. There are opportunities all over Zion for shots like this where you can silhouette a tree against a red cliff. Best shot early or late in the day for warm colors. Troy and family arrived late last night and soon we'll head up the canyon for a bit of hiking and photography.

Travel Days

January 1st and 2nd were travel days between Jonhson Valley and Zion National Park. It's only about 400 miles, but I split it in two legs, stopping at stateline the first night. I'll be here in Zion for at least a week to learn more about the park, seek out new photo locations and of course, take lots of photographs. You can see from the photo why I love Zion and why I love living in my RV.

New Year's Eve 2006

I spent New Year's Eve in Johnson Valley. Four of us went Geocache hunting. After rock scrambling to the top of a small mountain, we realized we were still .10 miles away and needed to return to our vehicles and drive closer. We found the geocache entitled "Ammo of Mine." It was hidden on top of a large rock at the end of a steep, rocky jeep trail. We took photos to document the find for the geocache website: