Bryce Canyon

Stef

OK... I know you all have some places that are "must" see places at Bryce Canyon.

DH and I will be making a trip up there for 3 days the end of August. A little R & R for our anniversary. I have ordered a few field guides and trail guides from Amazon, but what can you all recommend?

We will be there on a Saturday, Sunday and Monday...

(pray for no rain while we are there. .. even if it does rain though, it will be better than being at work!!! )

claudermilk

The obvious, of course: Sunrise Point at sunrise and Sunset Point at sunset--get there a little early to stake out a spot. Queen's Garden--and remember to turn around every five feet or so...

I don't recall the trail name, but there is a nice one that starts a little outside the park entrance & ends up meeting the main basin trails.

Also, Red Rock Canyon on the way in has some nice photo ops. Right at the cutout mini-tunnels with the wide parking areas on the highway.

Andy

Dgrin Shootout 2006 at Bryce: Threads
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=25634

Nikolai

Since this was not mentioned
IMHO, Bryce point beats Sunrise/Sunset points hands down. It's a tad longer drive, but the view is ...wow.

Also, if you take a longer Peekaboo loop, you'll be rewarded with a very nice hike and a not-so-often seen views.

Don't forget to drive all the way to the Rainbow point and stop at every vista on the way (there are like 5 or 6 of them). You can scout them all during the noon-time and decide which one you wanna shoot when the light becomes more dramatic...

I'm sure other folks pitch in with more particular places..

HTH

DavidTO

A great way to get through the flat light of midday is to spend it in Wall Street, where the slot-type walls need the midday sun for best shooting. Hiking farther on from there is beautiful, too.

Here's a link to my gallery from Bryce. If you have specific questions about any of the shots, I'll do my best to help you. If my memory serves me, that is!

Stustaff

DavidTO wrote:

A great way to get through the flat light of midday is to spend it in Wall Street, where the slot-type walls need the midday sun for best shooting. Hiking farther on from there is beautiful, too.

Here's a link to my gallery from Bryce. If you have specific questions about any of the shots, I'll do my best to help you. If my memory serves me, that is!

Wow nice shots, Im there in September and really looking forward to it.
quick question in this shot for example http://davidrosenthal.smugmug.com/gallery/1481043/1/71847596
did you use a filter to get that shift of blue in the sky?

DavidTO

Stustaff wrote:

Wow nice shots, Im there in September and really looking forward to it.
quick question in this shot for example http://davidrosenthal.smugmug.com/gallery/1481043/1/71847596
did you use a filter to get that shift of blue in the sky?

I gotta say, I don't remember, but probably. What I do remember is that I brought the lightness down for the blue sky in post, using LAB and blend-if. Or maybe it was a layer mask? I *definitely* remember that I did *something* in post!

Stef

Thanks Chris, Andy, Nik, David and Stustaff.

I appreciate the help.

Andy- I followed those posts when they first came up. That is why I am so excited to go. I really wanted to make the shoot-out, but alas work won out. (I hate being an adult with a job )

I hope to get shots even half as nice as you all got. Now I just have to wait...

BTW, how was Ruby's Inn? That is where we are staying.

DavidTO

Stef wrote:

BTW, how was Ruby's Inn? That is where we are staying.

Fine. You're kind of stuck with their food, but we made it through.

Stef

DavidTO wrote:

Fine. You're kind of stuck with their food, but we made it through.

Well that doesn't sound promising. Was it that bad?

DavidTO

Stef wrote:

Well that doesn't sound promising. Was it that bad?

No, it just wasn't all that good, either, even though they charged for very good food.

Stef

DavidTO wrote:

No, it just wasn't all that good, either, even though they charged for very good food.

I hate it when that happens.

Hopefully we will be able to find other places to eat. I know the Bryce lodge has a restaurant, but I think you have to have reservations. I may just check that out.

If nothing else, we will check out the surrounding area.... although by looking at the map, there doesn't seem to be too much around there.

Stustaff

Think Im staying at Bryce lodge. visiting so many places that im losing track!

Zion
Bryce
Lake powell
Grand Canyon
Arches
Death valley
Salt lake
ect ect
Am loving the idea of this forum ad going to have a nortebook filled with all the useful info in my camera bag.

Nikolai

Another sample for you

Nikolai wrote:

Also, if you take a longer Peekaboo loop, you'll be rewarded with a very nice hike and a not-so-often seen views.

This is what I meant:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=38574

claudermilk

Stef wrote:

I hate it when that happens.

Hopefully we will be able to find other places to eat. I know the Bryce lodge has a restaurant, but I think you have to have reservations. I may just check that out.

If nothing else, we will check out the surrounding area.... although by looking at the map, there doesn't seem to be too much around there.

They didn't when I went. We just wandered in & got seated, though I expect the normal meal times it's pretty packed. It is pretty remote, so not many choices, though I did like the food at the lodge.

David_S85

The Bryce Lodge has better food, balanced with less variety. Dinner there requires a reservation. Breakfast and lunch are good and the price is right.

The lodge is on the left side of the access road, not far beyond the main gates to the park.

Ruby's food can be compared to a cafeteria with the option to order from their menu. Beware of the Pot Roast.

Bob Bell

David_S85 wrote:

The Bryce Lodge has better food, balanced with less variety. Dinner there requires a reservation. Breakfast and lunch are good and the price is right.

The lodge is on the left side of the access road, not far beyond the main gates to the park.

Ruby's food can be compared to a cafeteria with the option to order from their menu. Beware of the Pot Roast.

The buffet is slightly safer than the Pot Roast if you can identify everything your eating

The store at rubys has a ton of gatorade, water, and cliff bars if you need to restock.

I know this is a landscape group mostly, but there are prarie dogs, antelope, mule deer, mountain lions (cougars, pumas or whatever you call them locally) and elk and so forth to photograph.

I just went through arches, monument valley, and some other places on the way . These places really aren't that far from bryce if you want to drive around like the post shoot out crew.

BeachBill

Stef wrote:

BTW, how was Ruby's Inn? That is where we are staying.

Note that the family that owns Ruby's Inn owns *everything* you see outside the park. The family had a ranch there before the park was created and they still own all of the land outside the park's entrance. Next door to Ruby's Inn is a decent fast food place.

Pamela

Stustaff wrote:

Think Im staying at Bryce lodge. visiting so many places that im losing track!

Zion
Bryce
Lake powell
Grand Canyon
Arches
Death valley
Salt lake
ect ect
Am loving the idea of this forum ad going to have a nortebook filled with all the useful info in my camera bag.

I will be in Vegas on September 27, when are you going to be there?

Stustaff

Am in Vega itself until the 10th and then spending either two or three nights at most of the places listed so I think without looking its about 23 or 24th then driving up to yellowstone.

Stef

Thanks everyone for their input with this. Time is getting shorter (though not fast enough). I am ready to go now. I think I have it figured out, but more than likely all the plans will go out the window when I get there and I will just wing it, like normal.
I got myself some new hiking shoes and hopefully I don't kill myself out there. We are NOT hikers! But I want to take the Navajo Loop Trail, because of DavidTO's gorgeous pics. We will see how that goes. The elevation will be hard to get use to I'm sure.

Only 11 more days!

Stustaff

Have a great time! looks like I will be following about a week behind you, try not to break anything

David_S85

Have fun!
Stef, you're going to love it there. My new hiking shoes helped, but I learned they weren't all that necessary at Bryce; the public trails were easy to navigate. Zion was a different story though, so I'm glad I brought the new footware along on the trip. Have plenty of water with you -- at that altitude you'll get plenty thirsty.

Be prepared to shoot a lot of frames. Wake up before dawn a couple of the mornings, and get yourself to Bryce Point before everyone else.

You're going to have a great time there. Can't wait to see what you bring back.

Stef

Stustaff wrote:

Have a great time! looks like I will be following about a week behind you, try not to break anything

I will try, but I am not making ANY promises! (who told you I was clumsy, anyway???? )

Stef

David_S85 wrote:

Stef, you're going to love it there. My new hiking shoes helped, but I learned they weren't all that necessary at Bryce; the public trails were easy to navigate. Zion was a different story though, so I'm glad I brought the new footware along on the trip. Have plenty of water with you -- at that altitude you'll get plenty thirsty.

Be prepared to shoot a lot of frames. Wake up before dawn a couple of the mornings, and get yourself to Bryce Point before everyone else.

You're going to have a great time there. Can't wait to see what you bring back.

Thanks for the tip about the shoes. I have to start wearing them around the house to see if I will even be able to wear them at all for any amount of time. If nothing else, they are really cute, so I will keep them anyway!

As far as shooting a lot. I have 3- 1 GB cards and 1 -512 MB card. I shoot only RAW, but my D50 is only 6MP so I can get about 130 pics per card. I also have my Epson P2000 and will be taking my laptop. Sheesh.. now that I think about it.. hmmm I think maybe I am over doing it.

dancorder

Stef wrote:

Thanks for the tip about the shoes. I have to start wearing them around the house to see if I will even be able to wear them at all for any amount of time. If nothing else, they are really cute, so I will keep them anyway!

As far as shooting a lot. I have 3- 1 GB cards and 1 -512 MB card. I shoot only RAW, but my D50 is only 6MP so I can get about 130 pics per card. I also have my Epson P2000 and will be taking my laptop. Sheesh.. now that I think about it.. hmmm I think maybe I am over doing it.

For what it's worth I've been using my D50 for RAW recently and have found that the shot counter seems very pessimistic. I haven't shot too much but when I have it's been more like 200 shots to a 1GB card.

Stef

Well today is the day. I am off to Bryce not long from now. Just have to finish up my work day. I can't believe I am so excited about this. Hope to be able to share some of my pictures (if they turn out ok, I'm still kinda new to this)

Can't wait!