Photo Adventures of Jeff Coleman, Bryce Canyon.

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Light Painting with the Twins 11-11-07 - Off Road Race 11-03-07 - Bryce Canyon 10-12-07

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

Bryce Canyon is located in South Central Utah, 87 Miles from Cedar City. It is also very close to Zion National Park. In fact most people visit both parks in one day. Besides being a photographers paradise, I believe Bryce is one of the most unique places on earth. It is so unusual that I feel like I'm photographing an alien planet. The majority of visitors stick to the warm months. If Bryce in summer is magical, then Bryce in winter will blow your mind. I love the contrast of bright white snow blanketing vibrant earth toned rocks. My most recent visit to Bryce was on 10-12-2007. I brought a friend along who wanted to learn more about photography.

This is what Bryce is famous for. Colorful columns of rock,
carved over millennia by wind and water.

Bryce Canyon

Nikon D2X, Nikon 17-55MM @44mm, ISO 100, F9

Nikon D2X, Sigma 10-20MM @ 20MM,
ISO 100, F10

The day I visited, a weather front was moving through the area. Over cast
skies are great for portraits of people but not so good for landscapes. Dramatic clouds from a brewing storm however make for beautiful images. If the sun peeks through the clouds, lighting your subject while the dark clouds brew in the background, you've hit the jackpot. That is precisely what happened the day I visited. The sun kept popping out for a few minutes at a time. Because I was there later in the day, the angle of the sun was ideal.

Nikon D2X, Sigma 10-20MM @ 20MM, ISO 100, F16

I shoot almost everything on Manual Mode. The cameras built in meter does a pretty good job most of the time but it can be fooled by bright or dark skies or a million other things. When photographing scenes like this, I usually underexpose the scene a little bit so the sky is exposed correctly. A graduated Neutral Density filter is a valuable tool for scenes like this. It is a piece of glass that is clear on the bottom half and darker on the top half, like tinted windows. Skies are usually a few stops brighter than the landscape below. Cover the sky with the dark half and your images will look a lot better. I didn't have a filter with me on this trip but I sure wish I did. I also forgot to bring my tripod. A Polarizing filter will also help retain the color and tonality of the sky.

Nikon D2X, Sigma 10-20MM @ 20MM, ISO 100, F14

Bryce Canyon tree 1 Bryce Canyon tree 2 Bryce Canyon tree 3 Bryce Canyon tree 4

Dead, old or twisted trees make great subjects for photography. I was immediately inspired by this ancient tree that has stood in this spot for thousands of years. I lifted the camera to my eye almost immediately as though the tree was about to scamper off into the forest. Silhouettes can be beautiful but I wasn't too impressed with my first shot into the sun. I positioned the sun behind the trees trunk but the clouds were just too bright. Also a fence is clearly visible at the bottom of the image, unacceptable. I may have been standing on a trail, walked on by millions of people before me but I wanted my image to look as though I had trekked for miles into the back country. No signs of man allowed. I walked around the other side of the tree and positioned myself low enough to block out the other tourists that were constantly streaming by. With the sun behind me now I created shot number 2. It's cool but I had an extremely wide angle lens on my camera. I knew I could exaggerate the massive trees size and get something special. Sure this tree has been photographer thousands of times but not at the wide angles I was about to try. I set my lens to 10mm and moved within an inch of the trunk for shot #3. I really liked the way this image made the tree look larger than life, as though it was scraping the sky. The clouds played along and separated right above the tree. I noticed that the coolest part about the tree was it's exposed roots. I wondered how long they've been above the ground? Did the exposed roots kill the tree? Did it succumb to the borer bugs that carved graceful winding trails out of it's trunk? How long has it been dead? It was clear that the roots made the most impact. I removed the camera from my neck and placed it on the ground. I did a few test exposures, locked the focus and pointed the lens up at the tree. Since the camera was on the ground I couldn't see through the viewfinder. I had to lean back and duck because the lenses view is so wide that it can see at almost a 90 degree angle. It took about 5 tries before I got my final shot. If you compare shot #2 with shot #4 it's easy to see how much a wide angle lens can change an image. In image #2 the roots look straight and the thickness from tree to out of frame is fairly consistent. In image #4 the roots have much more personality, with graceful curves.

Bryce Canyon Image
Nikon D2X, Sigma 10-20MM @ 10MM, ISO 100, F14

This is one of my favorite views of the canyon. I prefer to shoot landscapes that convey great depth. The large sandstone boulder precariously perched on an outcropping of eroding rock, makes for an interesting foreground subject. While I worked at capturing this shot, my friend and the rest of the people standing nearby were fascinated by a bold chipmunk that was hopping around, going about it's daily business as though no humans were around. It jumped onto rocks and branches that hung out over steep cliffs without a care in the world. I didn't even try to get a picture because I had the wide angle lens on my camera. Everyone else acted like paparazzi photographing a super star. I wondered how many people have photographed this same little chipmunk?

While looking at the free map that the park rangers gave me when I drove in, I noticed a place called Moss Cave. Since I live in a dead, desert environment, the idea of seeing moss was appealing. A few minutes drive outside of the park and I was there. The trail to moss cave is quite nice. Beautiful orange, red, white and tan colored sand blankets the earth. The trail follows the path of a stream. This first shot is about 5 minutes from the parking lot.

Nikon D2X, Sigma 10-20MM @ 20MM, ISO 100, F8

Nikon D2X, Sigma 10-20MM @ 10MM, ISO 100, F8

This is just a little further down the trail looking in the same direction. The stream is to the left. After this image was captured, I left the trail and hiked up the more interesting stream bed. The water was only a few inches deep and 3-5 feet wide while I was there. The last of the fall leaves rustled in the breeze and crunched under foot as I made my way to a nice little waterfall. I was surprised at how uncrowded this trail is compared to Bryce which is only a few minutes away. Especially when you consider that this trail is free and Bryce is not.

On the way up the trail I wondered if there was really any moss in moss cave. I'm pleased to report that there is quite a bit of moss there and the lighting is almost perfect. Since I had no tripod I was forced to raise my cameras ISO to a level I don't usually use. It was the only way I could get this shot. I braced myself as best I could and pressed the shutter slowly. I thought about putting the camera on a 2 second timer but I could tell after a couple of test shots that the images were sharp so I didn't bother. Who knows how long the water seen dripping on the moss has been seeping through the rock above. The foreground and background are out of focus thanks to an aperture of F2.8. If you visit Bryce Canyon, I highly recommend the short hike to Moss Cave. There are hundreds of photo opportunities along the way.

Nikon D2X, Nikon 17-55MM @ 38MM, ISO 800, F2.8

I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip to Bryce Canyon, Utah. If you've never been to Bryce, you're truly missing out on one of the natural wonders of our world. I mentioned earlier that most people zip through Bryce and Zion in one day. I suggest that you take two days just for Bryce. On the first day, visit all of the outlooks like sunrise point and sunset point. Take pictures from the rim of the canyon and take note of the hiking trails that wind through the hoodoo's. That is the term for the columns of rock. On your second day find out where some of those trails lead. At the entrance to the park there are lodges, shops, restaurants and more. I would also suggest visiting the park during non peak times of the year. Mostly the winter. Some roads are closed in the winter especially after a storm. They keep the main roads clear and close the least popular ones.
The drive from Cedar city is breath taking. The road winds and twists over steep mountains, through deep valleys, alongside beautiful lakes, and right through an area scarred by volcanic activity. It's interesting to see birch trees growing on top of black, volcanic rock. The wilderness area between Bryce and Cedar City is a tourist destination itself. In the summer it is loved by campers, fisherman and people who own ATV's. In the winter it is a snowmobilers haven. My first time though the Penguich National Forest was the morning after a heavy snow storm. All of the pines were covered with a foot of snow. It looked like frosting or a Thomas Kinkaid Painting. I doubt I'll see a winter wonderland as beautiful as that again.
Bryce is about a 4 hour drive from Las Vegas, making it an easy day trip. Stop in Cedar City for lunch on the way and again for dinner in the way back.

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