Zion Subway

kdog

AaronNelson, BeachBill and myself began our hike to the subway well before dawn. The first hour was spent on a suicidally steep descent in the darkness down the face of the high canyon. We got to the river at first light and spent the next few hours following it to the Subway. The scenery starts out fabulous and gets better the further you go. I'll get right to the best stuff.

#1 When you get to the big tiered waterfall, you're pretty much there. (EDIT: This is the new reprocessed version.)


#2


#3 Entrance gate


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


#9 The end of the road, or at least as far as I was willing to go


Thanks for looking, and hope you enjoyed it.

-joel

wfeller

Great shots. Mmmm, candy.

anwmn1

Very nice stuff Joel. Jealous of the trip for sure.

dseidman

Very nice series of images, Joel! I like #2, 7, and 8 the most.
The first shot has a nice composition but it has way too much of that HDR look to it. Also, I'd tone down the blues in the water.
Anyway, besides some issues with #1, these looks great overall.

Eia

O my - these are gorgeous!!! The first two are my faves - BEAUTIFUL! they need to be hung on a wall! It looks like it was well worth the hike!!!

alexf

Shots are good, light and compo-wise. But I dislike garish, overdone HDR. Way over the top IMO.

kdog

wfeller wrote:

Great shots. Mmmm, candy.

Mmmm. Thanks, Walter.

kdog

anwmn1 wrote:

Very nice stuff Joel. Jealous of the trip for sure.

Thank you, my friend. So many places to shoot, so little time. :cry

kdog

dseidman wrote:

Very nice series of images, Joel! I like #2, 7, and 8 the most.
The first shot has a nice composition but it has way too much of that HDR look to it. Also, I'd tone down the blues in the water.
Anyway, besides some issues with #1, these looks great overall.

Thanks, Danny! I definitely need to redo #1. I don't like the blue either. I did take a run at removing it, but evidently was too stupid to figure out how. Maybe I'll tone down the HDR look too while I'm at it. Appreciate the comments!

-joel

kdog

Eia wrote:

O my - these are gorgeous!!! The first two are my faves - BEAUTIFUL! they need to be hung on a wall! It looks like it was well worth the hike!!!

Thanks, Eia! It was definitely worth the hike. In fact, even the hike is worth the hike!

Cheers,
-joel

kdog

alexf wrote:

Shots are good, light and compo-wise. But I dislike garish, overdone HDR. Way over the top IMO.

Thanks, Alexf! Garish comment is duly noted and acknowledged.

Cheers,
-joel

kdog

First picture has completely reprocessed and replaced, so please take another look and let me know how it looks. (I just deleted the old one because it was too over the top.)

Thanks!!
-joel

bryanj87

Wow Joel, these are great. The tonemapping isn't overdone.

chrismoore

Man, I am DYING to shoot that location. Please tell me more about the hike- how long, strenuous, etc. Great compositions

dlplumer

Great job Joel. What an amazing place; one which I will never see in person.

Danny

Tango

kdog wrote:

#2



-joel

sweet set, but this is

Tango

chrismoore wrote:

Man, I am DYING to shoot that location. Please tell me more about the hike- how long, strenuous, etc. Great compositions

Im going to do this again in spring...

This is how we link up for these trips, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=78528747529

Ric Grupe

Some seriously cool stuff, Joel!

Love them all...not gonna pick one.

kdog

bryanj87 wrote:

Wow Joel, these are great. The tonemapping isn't overdone.

Thanks, Bryan! I value your input, so this is good is good to know. You may not have seen the original version of #1, and that one was definitely over-baked.

I appreciate you checking in.
-joel

kdog

chrismoore wrote:

Man, I am DYING to shoot that location. Please tell me more about the hike- how long, strenuous, etc. Great compositions

Chris, I do a lot of hiking, and I'd call this a strenuous hike. The most strenuous section is at the beginning and end when you either descend or ascend the steep canyon wall down to the water . There's a well used trail on this route, so it's easy to see where you're going. But, there's slippery dirt and tons of roots and big rocks to scramble over. Often times you're perched right on the edge, so a slip could be very dangerous. Then you get to the river, and there are multiple routes criss-crossing the river. Basically you choose between either bank, or traveling up the river itself, picking and choosing as you go. There are many times where you stop and reassess because it appears you've hit a dead-end, or at least something more scary or wetter than you want to get. So you try something else, and of course this increases your workload.

We spent a full day at this from well before dawn to dinner time. Aaron had said the hike was 6 miles round-trip, but it seemed much longer than that to me. I just checked the National Park Service Website for it, and they say the hike is 5 miles in each direction which puts the total at 10 miles. That's more inline with my estimate. So it's strenuous, non-technical, and doable. However, there is definitely some danger involved. There was one dude from Seattle with a big grin on his face, very wet, and with well-bloodied legs. He'd had some falls. That didn't dampen his spirits though and he was getting some great shots that he showed me. You'll want plenty of water and food for the trip. Our own BeachBill took a bad fall himself in the Subway on the slippery wet leaves. You want to have good grip shoes and just be very careful. You should definitely do it though if you ever get the chance. Being in shape definitely will increase your enjoyment of the experience.

-joel

Nikolai

Joel,
I'm speechless.....

kdog

AaronNelson wrote:

sweet set, but this is

Thanks, Aaron. Figures you'd pick the one non-HDR of the bunch.

Great hanging with you, man. And thanks so much for organizing the event and your hospitality. I'll look forward to seeing the rest of your shots as well.

-joel

riddim_maker

Am I happy for this little detour away from Wildlife forum.
Very impressive images Joel
Love the colors.
I was playing around with the idea to visit Zion for the fall colors,
now I don't have to anymore after seeing your images
Actually, now I'm inspired :ivar

kdog

dlplumer wrote:

Great job Joel. What an amazing place; one which I will never see in person.

Danny

Thanks, Dan! Never say never. Start working out now, and it'll be a walk in the park for you come next spring when we do it again.
Of course, it's a big planet, and nobody gets to see it all.

Cheers,
-joel

kdog

AaronNelson wrote:

Im going to do this again in spring...

This is how we link up for these trips, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=78528747529

kdog

Ric Grupe wrote:

Some seriously cool stuff, Joel!

Love them all...not gonna pick one.

Thanks, Ric! You don't have to pick one, you can have 'em all.

Cheers,
-joel

chrismoore

kdog wrote:

Chris, I do a lot of hiking, and I'd call this a strenuous hike. The most strenuous section is at the beginning and end when you either descend or ascend the steep canyon wall down to the water . There's a well used trail on this route, so it's easy to see where you're going. But, there's slippery dirt and tons of roots and big rocks to scramble over. Often times you're perched right on the edge, so a slip could be very dangerous. Then you get to the river, and there are multiple routes criss-crossing the river. Basically you choose between either bank, or traveling up the river itself, picking and choosing as you go. There are many times where you stop and reassess because it appears you've hit a dead-end, or at least something more scary or wetter than you want to get. So you try something else, and of course this increases your workload.
...
-joel

thanks for the info, I'm definitely going to put it on the list. Sounds like time is of the essence for a day trip. Assuming you could bring it, is camping in the area overnight allowed?

dlplumer

Nikolai wrote:

Joel,
I'm speechless.....

That has got to be a first. Way to go Joel

rwells

Great images Joel, and #1 is a WOW

coscorrosa

Now you know why the Subway is awesome!

My favorites are the first two, I'd like to see the first without the HDR treatment though.

kdog

Nikolai wrote:

Joel,
I'm speechless.....

Really? That's a first! :wow

Thank you, sir!!!

Cheers,
-joel