Back from a Utah / Arizona vacation

[NLD]

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've hung around here much, but I just got back from a southwest family vacation and thought someone might be interested in seeing a few pictures.

We flew into Vegas, out of Phoenix, and spent nine nights on the trip. (No time in the cities, they were just ports of entry and exit.) We hit Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Page, Grand Canyon (south rim), and Sedona.

Still processing pics, but these are some early favorites. Coming up in chronological order...

 

[NLD]

Virgin River Gorge (not in Zion, but on the way between Vegas and Springdale):


UT-AZ-4210 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Zion:


UT-AZ-4351 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Horseback riding in Zion--this was my dd's favorite activity of the trip:


UT-AZ-4353 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Zion canyon from the Canyon Overlook Trail:


UT-AZ-4902 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

 

[NLD]

Daughter and husband on the rim trail at Bryce.... had to throw this one in the mix just because of the camera 'round dd's neck.


UT-AZ-5027 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Natural Bridge:


UT-AZ-5172 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

This was from.... I think Sunset Point, in the early morning light--a bit past sunrise:


UT-AZ-5360 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr


Will try to come back in a bit to post a few from the other places.

 

[PythonFan888]

Fantastic images! (Faved a few on flickr.)
Hope to visit Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend in the near future.

 

[NLD]

Thanks Python!

I debated about posting these here since they are not Disney, but leading up to the trip I was searching for info on national parks / landscape photography and noticed there isn't a lot on this particular board. And since quite a few people do look here for general photo tips, figured it might help someone.

I will post some observations regarding focal lengths, landscape shooting, etc in addition to the photos, probably at the end. It should be noted I am one of those folks who basically only shoots on vacations, so the commentary will be geared towards amateurs and not pro landscape photogs!

As for Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon: yeah, these were going to be highlights for me. But we hit Horseshoe Bend at a bad time of day (late afternoon--shooting right into the sun), and a flash flood in Page the week before our trip meant they weren't allowing tripods in Lower Antelope Canyon. But I'll post a couple shots so folks can see...

 

[NLD]

Continuing...

Glen Canyon Dam:


UT-AZ-5522 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Lower Antelope Canyon:


UT-AZ-5829 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr


UT-AZ-5665 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr


UT-AZ-5709 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Horseshoe Bend:

Trying my darnedest to salvage with editing, minimize the haze and sun effect, but it's still not right.... I think it's a bit too purple... anyway: the tip is to shoot it with a graduated filter and probably try mid morning instead of late afternoon, for anyone who might be going. Oh, and regarding focal length--this was 28 mm on FX (like 18 mm on crop). Obviously wider would have been better, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much did fit in the frame.


UT-AZ-5908 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

And these are the cliffs on the drive between Page and Kanab, UT (we slept in Kanab, not Page):


UT-AZ-6062 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

 

[NLD]

Dd putting her toes in the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry, AZ--on the way to Grand Canyon:


UT-AZ-6232 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

A hiker contemplating the Grand Canyon at Desert View overlook:


UT-AZ-6303 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Sunset at the Canyon... near Mather Point:


UT-AZ-6386 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Sense of scale--people at Mather Point overlook as dusk arrives:


UT-AZ-6427 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

The Canyon at dusk:


UT-AZ-6429 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

A meteor streaks across the Milky Way late at night, Perseid Meteor Shower:

(It's a rough and dirty edit to the meteor to get it to show up, in Lightroom--it's a mess if you look closely, so don't, LOL! Needs some actual Photoshop attention at some point.)


UT-AZ-6439 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

 

[NLD]

Last ones....

Airport Mesa:


UT-AZ-6586 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Slide Rock State Park (crowded but a blast for kids):


UT-AZ-6552 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

Cathedral Rock at sunset:


UT-AZ-6628 by nicole_lynn_, on Flickr

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome pics!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for posting them!!

 

[HPS3]

I thoroughly enjoyed them! Great set of photos so far. I especially love the abstract ones.

 

[mom2rtk]

Wow, one of my favorite DIS photographers in my favorite place on earth.

Gorgeous. So many gorgeous shots to choose from.

We have never gone out to Antelope Canyon, but still want to. My absolute favorite shot in that area is Horseshoe Bend. We were blessed with an overcast day so I didn't have the haze at least. And I was lucky enough to have a Tokina 11-16 in my bag at the time.

So what did you think of the hike up to Canyon Overlook Trail in Zion? We did that when Katie was 7 and I about had a heart attack over the drop offs we around us. What killed me most though was that my DSLR had just died days before at DL. So had to shoot it on a tiny point and shoot.

Did you go to Arches? That scenic drive into the back side of Moab was amazing.

I'm absolutely loving your shots. Makes me want to go schedule a trip. NOW.

And how awesome to see your daughter taking your lead with her own camera!

 

[nbaresejr]

I really enjoyed looking at your images. Some amazing stuff!

 

[boBQuincy]

Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing!

 

[Frantasmic]

Your meteor shot is great. I tried for several hours during the recent Perseids, but was out of luck. Saw some, but couldn't photograph it. I think I was still too close to the DFW area.

 

[PrincessInOz]

BEautiful pics. Thanks for sharing. I'm heading to Sedona, GC, Page and Monument Valley in September and I really enjoyed seeing your pictures.

I had planned to hit Horseshoe Bend in the morning. Thanks for confirming that this might be a good decision.

 

[My2Girls66]

Beautiful photos!

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Gorgeous shots!!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Beautiful, Nicole. Glad you shared!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Beautiful photos! We did a similar trip 2 years ago, except we went to the North Rim. I did a trip report on the "California and the West Trip Reports."

Would love to go back and do Zion again sometime and photograph Horseshoe Bend.