Mountains and Clouds off US89, Part 2
I cropped this vertical panorama to a 1×1 aspect ratio- I included both color and B&W versions because I like both, and I think they emphasize different elements of the photograph.
Clouds and Mountains off US89 (Color Panorama #3), Utah (20″x20″)
Clouds and Mountains off US89 (B&W Panorama #3), Utah (20″x20″)
Sandstone Bluffs in Zion East of Tunnel, Part 2
A stream cuts its way through crossbedding in sandstone in Zion National Park.
Stream Cutting through Crossbedding in Sandstone (B&W Panorama #1), Zion National Park, Utah (20″x40″)
Sandstone Bluffs in Zion East of Tunnel
While on a trip to Zion National Park, I hiked up an unmarked slot canyon to see a wall of petroglyphs and visit a slot canyon. The glyphs were amazing, but I was most impressed by the swooping crossbedding in the sandstone leading to towering bluffs and canyon walls.
Cross-Bedding on Sandstone (B&W Panorama #3), Zion National Park, Utah (20″x31″)
Mountains and Clouds off US89
A panorama of late winter clouds and mountains behind a structure and pond east of US89 in central Utah.
Clouds and Mountains off US89 (B&W Panorama #1), Utah (20″x81″)
Dead Tree and Sandstone
This dead tree on the sandstone looked to me like an octopus creeping across the ocean floor.
Dead Tree on Sandstone, outside Kanab, Utah (15″x22″)
Sandstone and Cross-Bedding
I love the swooping lines in cross-bedding in sandstone.
Cross-Bedding on Sandstone Bluff near Diana’s Throne (B&W Panorama #1), outside Kanab, Utah (20″x54″)
Cross-Bedding on Sandstone Bluff near Diana’s Throne (Color Panorama #1), outside Kanab, Utah (20″x54″)
Sandstone Bluff near Diana’s Throne, UT
On a work-related trip to Salt Lake City in March, I spent a couple of days between Kanab and Zion National Park exploring a few of the sandstone bluffs north of Kanab while we waited for the flash flood watches/warnings to end so we could hike into a few slot canyons. After spending several years in North Carolina, where most of the rocks are covered in vegetation, I am always impressed by the sheer cliff faces and strata exposed to the casual hiker. I included color and B&W versions of some of the sandstone.
Sandstone Bluff near Diana Throne (B&W Vertical Panorama #1), outside Kanab, Utah (24″x34″)
Sandstone Bluff near Diana Throne (Color Vertical Panorama #1), outside Kanab, Utah (24″x34″)
Clouds near Crescent Junction
I drive between Green River and Glenwood Springs a few times a year. The rest stop near Crescent Junction along I-70 provides great views of the sandstone cliffs to the north. In the summer, thunderheads build over these cliffs and provide ideal subject matter for a panorama.
Summer Clouds over Cliffs along Interstate 70, near Crescent Junction, UT (16″x65″)
Tree over Observation Point
This tree hangs over the cliff next to the trail that winds up the steep rock face to Observation Point in Zion National Park.
Tree over Zion on Approach to Observation Point, Zion National Park, Utah (16″x47″)
Light and River in the Narrows
A vertical panorama from a June trip through the Narrows in Zion National Park.
Light and River, The Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah (16″x36″)
Shadows in the Narrows of Zion
There tends to be a break from southern Utah rainfall in mid-May to June, and this is the perfect time for canyoneering in Zion and hiking The Narrows. The spring snows have mostly melted, and the water is more tolerable without a wet suit. This June I spent a day in the Echo Canyon area, then I took an overnight trip down the Narrows from Chamberlains Ranch. Here is one of my favorite panoramas from one of the thinner sections in the Narrows.
Narrows Shadow and Light, The Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah (16″x28″)
Sunset over Rockville, Utah
I stopped outside Zion National Park to camp in BLM land so I could get up early to hike the Narrows the next morning. Here is the view from our campsite looking back down valley towards Rockville and Zion along the Smithsonian Butte National Back Country Byway.
Looking Back to Zion at Sunset, outside Rockville, Utah (16″x28″)
Coral Pink Sand Dunes
This spring, I visited Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park for the first time. Unfortunately for my photography, the state allows vehicles onto the sand, so dune buggy tracks erased most of the ripples that I like to photograph. However, I still managed to find a dune or two that had mostly uninterrupted striations.
Diagonal Shadow and Ripples, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah (9″x18″)
Wind Break on the Dune, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah (12″x18″)
Spring Snow in the Wasatch Range
I spent an afternoon hiking in Big Cottonwood Canyon outside Salt Lake City, UT a few weeks ago. A spring winter storm had blanketed the steep hillsides in three feet of snow, and the white ground cover provided an ideal swath of negative space for black and white panoramas.
Ponds of Light and Shadow, Wasatch Range, UT (16″x27″)
Tracks and Shifting Light and Shadows, Wasatch Range, UT (16″x38″)
Evening Light on Frary Peak
Jagged, lichen-covered rocks and gnarled junipers line the backbone of Frary Peak on Antelope Island. As the sun sets over the Great Salt Lake, pink light reflects off the mountains and clouds in the distance.
Rocks and Juniper on Frary Peak, Antelope Island, Utah (16″x60″)
Sunset Cave, Antelope Island, Utah (12″x18″)
Winter Panoramas on Antelope Island
A partly cloudy, warm winter afternoon made for a perfect winter hike to the top of Frary Peak, Antelope Island. The sunset light was fantastic as fog and clouds surrounded Stansbury Island in the distance.
Stansbury Island and Clouds, Antelope Island, Utah (16″x50″)
Frary Peak, Grassy Hill, and Sun, Antelope Island, Utah (16″x59″)
Provo Falls
Late this summer after a spectacular day of climbing at the Good Medicine climbing area near Ruth Lake in the Uinta Mountains, we stopped to look at the Provo Falls on our way back to Salt Lake. The Provo River cuts down through the rocks as it descends rapidly from over 10,000′. I decided that a shelf sticking out into the lower falls would provide a perfect location for a panorama of the flowing water. I think this is one of my favorite panoramas from 2014.
Provo Falls, Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest, UT (16″x45″)
McPolin Farm
Earlier this fall while I was in the Salt Lake City area, I decided I wanted to photograph a barn- not just any barn, but a big, old barn. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to drive for hours to some of the more rural farms outside Salt Lake, and I’d already visited Antelope Island. After doing a bit of internet research, I found the McPolin family farm in the Park City area. Although the barn is a bit manicured, I thought it would be fun to drive up to Park City to see the building. It was a cloudy afternoon- my favorite for creating a bit of drama in the sky. I collapsed the legs on my tripod down so the camera could sit as low to the ground as possible in order to magnify the height of the structure. Yes, the photo is a bit ridiculous and dramatic (I even did a bit of burning around the edges for a vignette effect), but that is what I was going for. I took four panoramas from a variety of angles- here is my favorite.
McPolin Barn and Clouds, near Park City, UT (16″x24″)
Luke Parsons Photography 