Hi Everyone!

I just got back from a backpacking trip in Utah. We did a couple of nights in Zion NP and a couple in Bryce Canyon. I highly recommend both places, if you ever get the chance to go.

I'm a little dissapointed with the photos I got...maybe because I was so excited beforehand. Surprisingly, I found it very difficult to create interesting composition, especially in Bryce Canyon. Both places were huge in scale, and so different from what I've seen before. I felt a need to show tightly composed, detailed, close-ups, or wide-ranging all-encompassing landscapes, to illustrate the character of southern Utah, but they all came out kind of boring. Sometimes it's more difficult for me to compose when I'm in such a grand place. It's like trying to find the best food at a buffet, when you're just overwhelmed and sampling everything. (That actually happened to me too.)

Anyway, what I'm saying is, I think the best photos I got are ones that could have been taken in any number of places, and they don't really show the character of southern Utah as I intended. But all was not lost. Here are a few of my favorites...even if they aren't perfect.

Paul

1. This small yellow brush covered the ground in Zion's backcountry.
2. Evidence of 1993 forest fire...near our West Rim campsite in Zion.
3. Experiment with night photography, rear-curtain flash, and double exposure. That's me on the right. It was cold, and the moon was very bright...moon shot was 1/125 at f11 with 100 ISO, and it still overexposed. I know...I should have bracketed.
4. Sunrise over Bryce Canyon...about 100 ft from my sleeping bag.

What a great trip. I can't believe no one has commented yet. In spite of your personal criticism, I think these photos are nice. I really, really like the group shot from Bryce. Even if the moon is overexposed, it's a great photo. Think about it. There's no way you could have had the moon and the background exposed correctly. If I had to choose one, I'd go for the light on the rocks. To get the moon exposed well, you'd have to go to three exposures.

As for the other three photos, they may not sum up the general idea of Bryce and Zion, but they're still nice. And maybe you'll do better next time. I find that my first trip somewhere yields decent exploratory photos. But it takes multiple trips to really get a feel and start taking pictures that express my real feeling for a place. Keep your expecations low, keep your eyes open, your camera ready, and just have fun. Oh yeah - take a lot of pictures, too. The more you take the better your odds of getting a good one. Plus, you'll have more bad ones to learn from ;)

What a great trip. I can't believe no one has commented yet. In spite of your personal criticism, I think these photos are nice. I really, really like the group shot from Bryce. Even if the moon is overexposed, it's a great photo. Think about it. There's no way you could have had the moon and the background exposed correctly. If I had to choose one, I'd go for the light on the rocks. To get the moon exposed well, you'd have to go to three exposures.

As for the other three photos, they may not sum up the general idea of Bryce and Zion, but they're still nice. And maybe you'll do better next time. I find that my first trip somewhere yields decent exploratory photos. But it takes multiple trips to really get a feel and start taking pictures that express my real feeling for a place. Keep your expecations low, keep your eyes open, your camera ready, and just have fun. Oh yeah - take a lot of pictures, too. The more you take the better your odds of getting a good one. Plus, you'll have more bad ones to learn from ;)


Hi John,

Thanks for commenting, and for the encouragement. I just got my B&W pictures back and I'm much happier with them. I'll start a new thread with some of those.

I'm glad you like the group picture. I think it's one I'll be very glad to have when I'm older, but I also learned a lot from it. Just to clarify how I did it. The first exposure was 30 seconds, with a flash at the end. That exposed the cliffs, and then the flash exposed me and my buddies. The moon alone was added with the second shot. Before this, I'd only tried one double exposure, so I'm pleased it came out this close. I got a better one in B&W.

Also, here's one more color shot I forgot yesterday.

Thanks again,
Paul