Tag Archives: hoodoos

April 3, 2021 · 6:47 am

Fairyland Canyon Scenery

*Fairyland Canyon Landscape, Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)*

I’ve been working on a series of short articles for the National Parks Traveler, titled “Traveler’s Checklists.” These are bulleted lists with tips on what to do, where to go, where to stay, what to eat, etc. for national parks and other protected lands I’ve visited. I’ve finished three already (Redwood National and State Parks, Big Bend National Park, Padre Island National Park) and each one is scheduled to show up weekly on a Wednesday.

I’m now working on my 4th Checklist, which deals with Bryce Canyon National Park. I’ve already found the images I’ll use for this Checklist, but as I was perusing the files, I noticed a number of images I have never worked on and thus never posted. So, I thought I’d do a little photo editing today, in addition to writing.This image was captured during my short hike along the Fairyland Loop Trail, in Fairyland Canyon, a separate amphitheater in Bryce Canyon National Park.

My one regret is that I never completed the 8-mile loop trail – I only hiked parts of it. Someday, when I return to this national park, I’m going to make it a priority to actually finish hiking the entire damned trail. It’s a well-maintained trail, and all I need to really remember (aside from bringing camera gear) is to take plenty of water. It doesn’t matter whether it’s hot or cold out there – the dry atmosphere will suck the moisture from your body in the blink of an eye before you even realize you might be dehydrated.

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Filed under Bryce Canyon National Park, National Parks, Photography, Travel, Utah

Tagged as Fairyland Canyon, Fairyland Loop Trail, geology, hiking, hoodoos, landscape, photography, red rock, scenery, trail, where the trails take you

August 16, 2019 · 9:57 am

Sunrise Over Bryce Amphitheater

Sunrise in this national park is sublime, no matter whether it’s a sunny day, an overcast day, or an in-between kind of day.

And now, in addition to sunrises being sublime, so are night skies, since this national park has been certified an International Dark Sky Park.

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2019/08/bryce-canyon-national-park-certified-international-dark-sky-park

The park’s 20th Annual Astronomy Festival will be June 17-20, 2020. I’ve made my reservations for a room during that time. Maybe then, I’ll actually stay awake late enough to get some cool night shots, since I didn’t do that during my previous two visits (sigh). I readily admit that Bryce Canyon is one of my favorite national parks.

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Filed under Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, Canon Lens, Geology, Landscape, National Parks, Photography, Seasons, summer, sunrise, Travel

Tagged as Bryce amphitheater, Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, geology, hoodoos, landscape, morning, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, red rock, scenery, sunrise, Sunrise Point, travel, Utah

May 11, 2019 · 10:00 am

Sunrise Saturday

Upper Inspiration Point, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

No, I’m not in Bryce Canyon. I’m instead going through a few archived shots and using them to create HDR images.

For those of you who have never been to Bryce Canyon National Park, sunrises at Upper Inspiration Point are amazing. Actually, sunrises anywhere in this park are amazing. There’s Inspiration Point, and there’s *Upper* Inspiration Point, accessed via a very steep, but short hike on a very well-maintained trail a little further up along the Rim Trail from the regular Inspiration Point view area.

I used a single image and then copied it a couple of times, using different exposure settings. I then combined all those images into HDR. The reason for this is because I did not bracket my original shots (which I should probably do more often, for when I want to use HDR), and because I handheld the camera. The fence at Upper Inspiration Point is just a little too tall for me to stand on tiptoe with my tripod, trying to look through the viewfinder. There was a tall guy standing next to me with his tall tripod, and he didn’t have any problems. I did. So, instead, I handheld the camera and used the “burst method” of holding down on the shutter button for several clicks. I knew out of all those shots, at least one of them would be nice and sharp. The caveat with the burst method is that it takes up space on the memory cards, so I always bring lots of extras with me, in varying sizes of 16GB to 128GB.

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Filed under 24-70mm f2.8L II, 5DS, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, Canon Lens, HDR, Landscape, National Parks, Photography, Seasons, summer, sunrise, Travel

Tagged as 24-70mm, 5DS, Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, canyon, geology, HDR, hoodoos, landscape, landscape photography, morning, National Park, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, scenery, sunrise, Upper Inspiration Point

September 11, 2018 · 8:02 am

The Bryce Canyon Armchair Photography Guide

Every morning (even when on the road) one of the first things I do after waking up and dressing is to post a photo on the National Park Traveler’s Instagram account @national_parks_traveler. To do that, I go online to the Traveler’s site to see what photo I have in my library might fit with one or more Traveler articles. It was then that I saw my latest Armchair Photography Guide had been published. For this month, the Armchair Photography Guide features Bryce Canyon National Park. So, I posted a shot of Bryce Canyon on Instagram, and, if you want to go check out the article, itself, then just click on the photo above (and maybe check out the Traveler’s Instagram account, too, while you are at it).

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Filed under Armchair Photography Guide, Bryce Canyon National Park, Equipment, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Photography In The National Parks, Travel

Tagged as Armchair Photography Guide, Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, geology, hoodoos, landscape, landscape photography, National Park, National Parks Traveler, Photography In The National Parks, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, Utah

September 9, 2018 · 8:16 am

Splendid Isolation

It was indeed splendid isolation that day. I stood on the Rim Trail between Inspiration and Sunset Points, all by myself, feeling the breeze in my face and enjoying the vast view. It was the monsoon season and the “thunderbumpers” were moving swiftly toward my area. I knew I needed to hightail it back to the lodge, like all the other sensible people were doing, but I kept having to stop to capture a photo of the scene. I did finally make it back to the Sunset View Point just as the rain began to pummel people still out there. I jogged over to one of the cabins to stand underneath the roof of the cabin’s patio as the rain, thunder and lightning continued. Of course, I was soaking wet already, but at least I was out of the elements. It’s never a good idea to be standing in a thunderstorm because of the lightning strikes, which occur with regularity in the high, exposed altitudes.

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Filed under Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, Geology, Landscape, National Parks, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, weather

Tagged as Bryce Canyon, Canon, cloud, clouds, geology, hoodoos, July, landscape, landscape photography, monsoon, National Park, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, red rock, rim trail, stormcloud, summer, thundercloud, Utah

September 4, 2018 · 6:31 am

A Low-Key Sunrise

Here’s a low-key sunrise at Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, to help most of you start out what might be a rather low-key start to your work week after a long Labor Day weekend.

I captured this image during my July return visit to this national park. I was planning on hiking a part of the Fairyland Loop Trail down to Tower Bridge, so decided this would be a good opportunity to get there pre-dawn and photograph a summer version of sunrise. I like to re-visit favorite places in national parks during different times of the year, because the angle of the sun changes from season to season. On this particular day, however, the sunrise way to my left was hidden behind some clouds, so while the landscape and morning were both still lovely, the light from the sunrise was rather muted.

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Filed under Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, National Parks, Photography, sunrise, Travel

Tagged as Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, geology, hoodoos, July, National Park, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, summer, sunrise, Sunrise Point, trees, Utah

June 8, 2018 · 8:29 am

Nowhere To Grow But Up!

During my April visit to Bryce Canyon National Park, I used my 100-400mm lens extensively to zoom in on features of the park that might otherwise be missed or, at the very least, little noticed in the broader scheme of things. Seeing all the ways the tree life adapted in order to continue growing never ceased to amaze me – especially since the process of erosion is a constant, ongoing process and what I see now may be gone thereafter.

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Filed under Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, Canon Lens, Photography, telephoto lens, Travel

Tagged as 100-400mm, 5DSR, Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, erosion, formation, geologic, geology, hoodoo, hoodoos, National Park, photography, rock formation, sandstone, telephoto, telephoto lens, travel, Utah

May 28, 2018 · 7:37 am

Good Morning! It’s Monday!

A wide-angle view of sunrise at Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Good morning, folks! It’s Memorial Day, a day here in the U.S. when we remember those men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. It’s not only a day for reflection and thankfulness and perhaps a visit to the resting place of a loved one, but also a day to get out (if you can) and enjoy the wonders of our environment, or maybe attend a baseball, soccer or basketball game, enjoy a picnic (if the weather cooperates), or go to a movie (I hear good reviews for the new movie “Solo”).

If you are unable to have this day off, then perhaps you can console yourself by enjoying this image while drinking your morning beverage.

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Filed under Bryce Canyon National Park, Geology, Holidays, Memorial Day, National Parks, Photography, sunrise

Tagged as Bryce amphitheater, Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, geological, geology, golden, hoodoos, landscape, Memorial Day, morning, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, red rock, rock fins, spires, sunrise, travel, tree, Utah, wide angle

May 13, 2018 · 6:38 am

A Medium-Format Sunrise Over Sunset Point

It was my last day in the park, and my plan for the day was to use no other camera except the Pentax 645z. I didn’t bring this camera along with me on my Zion trip (and wished I had, in retrospect), so I made a point to really use it fully for a couple of days during my Bryce Canyon stay. Medium format is awesome, but it takes a bit of getting used to the different aspect ratio. To me, medium format photos are a bit “boxier” than SLR photos. However, medium format photos are more in keeping with magazine sizes (ahem).

As for that morning, it was superb. There were clouds to add a little texture to the sky, but not enough to hide the sun, which bathed the landscape in a saturated golden-orange glow. It was pretty gusty and downright cold, but I wore warm clothing. I also enjoyed a long chat with a fellow photographer who talked to me about what she did and the Sony mirrorless cameras she used.

The interesting thing about photographing in Bryce Canyon NP is that the formations (hoodoos, spires, towers, walls, arches, windows, etc.) are amazing, no matter what kind of light or weather is out there. The colors, though, are always somewhat different. In overcast weather, the colors of the landscape tend to be saturated but muted beige and pinkish-salmon with a bit of a blue cast. In direct sunlight during midday, the colors are definitely a deep, almost blinding, orange-gold and white-beige. When the morning or evening sunlight hits the landscape, the colors are saturated gold, red, orange, and absolutely glowing.

I sure do miss this place, right now.

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Filed under Bryce Canyon National Park, Equipment, Geology, HD PENTAX-DA645 28-45mm f/4.5 ED AW SR Lens, National Parks, Pentax 645z, Pentax Lens, Photography, sunrise, Travel

Tagged as 28-45mm, 645z, Bryce Canyon National Park, canyon, geological, geology, golden, hoodoos, medium format, National Park, Pentax, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, rim trail, rock formations, sunrise, Sunset Point, travel, Utah

May 12, 2018 · 6:50 am

Capturing Color, Pattern and Texture in your Images

Layers of sunset colors, patterns and textures at Sunset Point in Bryce National Park, Utah

Back in April, the National Parks Traveler published my latest photography article, which dealt with finding color, pattern and texture in your national park images. In the article, I described several techniques I always use when highlighting one or all three of these properties in my photos. If you want to know more about those techniques, click on the photo above to be taken to the article.

Note: The image above was captured with a Canon 5DSR and 24-70mm f2.8 lens at Sunset Point this past April, 2018

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Filed under Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, National Parks Traveler, Parks, Photography, Travel

Tagged as 24-70mm, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, Canon 5DSR, canyon, colors, geologic, geological, geology, hoodoo, hoodoos, National Park, National Parks Traveler, pattern, photography, Photography In The National Parks, photography tips, Sunset Point, texture, travel, Utah