Saving the best for last: 3 days in Zion

coscorrosa

My favorite part of my week long trip to the southwest. I knew Zion would be pretty awesome but it still exceeded my expectations. We had perfect conditions the whole trip except for when we hiked in the Virgin Narrows (it was overcast so we didn't get any of the awesome reflected light off the canyon - maybe next time - the hike was still a lot of fun though).

Here are some of my favorite shots of my first, but definitely not my last, visit to Zion.

#1:



#2:



#3:



#4:



#5:



#6:



#7:



#8:



#9:



#10:

marcpro

This is true beauty, and you've captured it well.
bow
Thanks for sharing.
My favs are 4 and 7.

Marc.

craig_d

Wow. Very nice. I find it hard to pick a favorite, though #s 1, 2, and 7 really grab me.

Sexy6Chick

Adding this to my list of places I must go!

FANTASTIC pictures.

Eia

Stunningly beautiful. Everyone of them is awesome; but the first one really does get my attention. These are the kinds of photos that one stares at for awhile. Nice!

boblu262

This is a fantastic set of images! My eyes can't stop wandering through the first image. I love the angle, composition and light!

Andy

I gotta get up the narrows again.

dlplumer

2, 4, and 7 are my initial favorites from this awesome collection.

ridgemac

Awesome
These are really great. What were your settings on the first one?

wfeller

That first one is so excellent!

-

daveman

Ron,

I really admire your ability to capture images in the way that you do. This set of shots is among your best. Very inspiring.

Dave

GoofBckt

Oh my!! These are breathtaking!! I love that place. Please share, what lens(es) were you using primarily?

coscorrosa wrote:

My favorite part of my week long trip to the southwest. I knew Zion would be pretty awesome but it still exceeded my expectations. We had perfect conditions the whole trip except for when we hiked in the Virgin Narrows (it was overcast so we didn't get any of the awesome reflected light off the canyon - maybe next time - the hike was still a lot of fun though).

Here are some of my favorite shots of my first, but definitely not my last, visit to Zion.

#1:



#2:



#3:



#4:



#5:



#6:



#7:



#8:



#9:



#10:

anwmn1

Very nice Ron. Really like the 1st three images. Need to make this my destination of my upcoming vacation.

coscorrosa

marcpro wrote:

This is true beauty, and you've captured it well.
bow
Thanks for sharing.
My favs are 4 and 7.

Marc.

Thanks Marc - those are from the Subway and the Virgin Narrows hikes respectfully, both of them are very photogenic (though the Subway isn't photogenic until about 3/4 of the way there).

coscorrosa

craig_d wrote:

Wow. Very nice. I find it hard to pick a favorite, though #s 1, 2, and 7 really grab me.

Thanks Craig, #7 would have been even better had we got some of that famous reflected light off the canyon, but it was overcast, gives me something to try for on the next visit

coscorrosa

Sexy6Chick wrote:

Adding this to my list of places I must go!

FANTASTIC pictures.

Definitely, and it's only 10 hours from Phoenix instead of, say, 16 hours from Seattle

coscorrosa

Eia wrote:

Stunningly beautiful. Everyone of them is awesome; but the first one really does get my attention. These are the kinds of photos that one stares at for awhile. Nice!

Thanks Eia - that first one was taken just before the Subway. I was completely surprised, I didn't know there was a waterfall like that there. I said while I was shooting that this was one of the most photogenic waterfalls I had seen, with the terraced cascade in the foreground, and the lit up sandstone canyon and tree in the background. I had been trying to keep my boots dry for the entire hike but when I saw that waterfall all bets were off

ront

This is some fine work here Ron. I like all of them but especially #4, 6.7 and 9. Call me nuts, but #7 seems to have a Medieval feel to it. Really a cool shot!!

Ron

coscorrosa

boblu262 wrote:

This is a fantastic set of images! My eyes can't stop wandering through the first image. I love the angle, composition and light!

Thanks! If you're ever in Zion I highly recommend the Subway hike, it's not that well maintained and you have to scramble in parts (it's probably quicker if you just hike in the river itself instead of along the shore). Also you need to get a permit, but we were able to get one for the next day with no problem, but it was past peak season.

coscorrosa

Andy wrote:

I gotta get up the narrows again.

Thanks Andy - as do I! I might try and swing by Zion during peak fall color as it's so close to Las Vegas and the flights are relatively cheap, we'll see.

coscorrosa

dlplumer wrote:

2, 4, and 7 are my initial favorites from this awesome collection.

Thanks Dan, #2 was unexpected. We had just got back from the Subway hike and the outfitter store to get our shoes for the next day's hike in the Narrows, it didn't look like there'd be much of a sunset, but it turned out to be the best one on the entire trip. That shot is from the bridge, a whole 150ft from where I parked the car

coscorrosa

ridgemac wrote:

These are really great. What were your settings on the first one?

27mm (shot with a 16-35 on a 5D MII), f/16, 1.3s at ISO 100. I also had the exposure compensation down 2/3 of a stop using evaluative metering to keep the canyon wall in check.

coscorrosa

wfeller wrote:

That first one is so excellent!

-

Thanks Walter, I definitely plan on returning to get more compositions of that waterfall and a few others nearby.

coscorrosa

daveman wrote:

Ron,

I really admire your ability to capture images in the way that you do. This set of shots is among your best. Very inspiring.

Dave

Thanks Dave - Zion is truly a special place, we were lucky with the weather, and the scenery is everywhere. Three days is barely enough to scratch the surface, I hope to return sooner rather than later.

coscorrosa

GoofBckt wrote:

Oh my!! These are breathtaking!! I love that place. Please share, what lens(es) were you using primarily?

Thanks. All of the photos in this series were shot with a 16-35 f/2.8 L II, or 24-105 f/4 L, using a Canon 5D MII body. Most of them had a polarizer. #2 and #6 were manual blends of two exposures each.

coscorrosa

ront wrote:

This is some fine work here Ron. I like all of them but especially #4, 6.7 and 9. Call me nuts, but #7 seems to have a Medieval feel to it. Really a cool shot!!

Ron

No worries, I can see the Medieval vibe on that shot

Photopaddler

Very nice series indeed , I really like #1, and also as a water guy I like #4 not for the water in the shot but the way you can see the way the water has carved out the rock.

hawkeye978

Beautiful series overall Ron. My favorites are #2 and #5.

Tharhawk

Went their as a kid for fam vacation and spent several days overnighting a canyon. Always wanted to get back. Your pics solidify that desire! Nice work as usual.

dseidman

Good looking shots, Ron! You managed to get a lot of good stuff from Zion.
Do you prefer the composition of #5 over the other one you did? I think this version with more of a closeup look is kind of cool.

coscorrosa

Thanks for the comments everyone!

dseidman wrote:

Good looking shots, Ron! You managed to get a lot of good stuff from Zion.
Do you prefer the composition of #5 over the other one you did? I think this version with more of a closeup look is kind of cool.

I think I do actually, as the composition is simpler and isolates the primary subject a little better.

Here's the other photo Danny's talking about: