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Utah...! So much.. so which one do I visit first

dogstarnyc

Member
A simple question but a tough one to answer...

I will be shooting (work) close to Salt lake City in mid May but then I'll have three days to myself.. where do I go...?

Bryce
Zion
Canyonlands

tough call... I for one thought God gave most of the worlds natural beauty to Brazil... but Utah...! Mmmm it's a close call.

Seriously, if anyone can advise a little it would be a great help, I'm trying to avoid 'shuttle bus trips' to overshot hotspots, more interested in car/hike a trail and shoot then back to hotel/motel/lodge for a cold beer.

Many thanks in advance.

Steve
 

woodyspedden

New member
I go to Arches and Canyonlands twice per year (I am less than 300 miles away) and I truly never tire of photographing there. If you have not been there, you owe it to yourself to go.

Zion is spectacular as is the Grand Escalante staircase but memorable images are (in my opinion) harder to come by.

Hope this helps

Woody
 

jlm

Workshop Member
if you go to zion, go to an outfitter at the perimeter town and do the one day trip up the virgin river, conditions permitting it is outstanding photgraphically. the requirements are water sandals and neoprene booties and a walking stick...you will be wading and don't need a guide. go up river for an hour or two. spectacular scenery
 

Lars

Active member
I'd say Zion is a must if you haven't been there. Skip the rest of Utah on this trip, get a motel room near the west entrance and take your time to explore Zion. The rest of Utah will still be there for your next trip.

I'll second jlm's comment about the Narrows (in Zion where the Virgin river turns into a slot canyon). You have vertical walls a thousand feet high on both sides, while wading in the river. One of my strongest memories from Utah. Possibly too much water in May though?

The hike up to Angel's landing is interesting, and if you continue up the west side the landscape at 6000 feet is spectacular. There are lots of other hikes of course.
 
D

ddk

Guest
A simple question but a tough one to answer...

I will be shooting (work) close to Salt lake City in mid May but then I'll have three days to myself.. where do I go...?

Bryce
Zion
Canyonlands

tough call... I for one thought God gave most of the worlds natural beauty to Brazil... but Utah...! Mmmm it's a close call.

Seriously, if anyone can advise a little it would be a great help, I'm trying to avoid 'shuttle bus trips' to overshot hotspots, more interested in car/hike a trail and shoot then back to hotel/motel/lodge for a cold beer.

Many thanks in advance.

Steve
It depends, in reality you do can both Zion and Bryce Canyon in those 3 days, they're only an hour and 15 minutes driving apart and its an easy drive. But if your intention is seeing only one then I'd go for Bryce Canyon, which is my personal favorite NP. There are no shuttles here, no masses, no waiting on lines, just great hikes in truly "MAGICAL!!!" landscapes, and photo opps galore.

Zion is beautiful and something that you should see at some point but its going to be busy now and I think the shuttles have already started which means lines, wasted time on the shuttles and many of the hikes are just too crowded imo. Sure nothing is as bad as Yosemite but Zion was pretty busy when I was the last too.

I haven't been to Canyonlands yet, it seems that last 5 times we went to the area we decided to remain at Bryce instead of moving anywhere else. What I heard it that they're pretty busy during the high season which is starting now.

Enjoy!!
 

woodyspedden

New member
I'd say Zion is a must if you haven't been there. Skip the rest of Utah on this trip, get a motel room near the west entrance and take your time to explore Zion. The rest of Utah will still be there for your next trip.

I'll second jlm's comment about the Narrows (in Zion where the Virgin river turns into a slot canyon). You have vertical walls a thousand feet high on both sides, while wading in the river. One of my strongest memories from Utah. Possibly too much water in May though?

The hike up to Angel's landing is interesting, and if you continue up the west side the landscape at 6000 feet is spectacular. There are lots of other hikes of course.
I agree with the comments here about Zion and the wading trip. My only reason for proposing Arches instead is the three day limit. It takes some real time to get to the areas you want to photograph so three days may not be enough.

Anyway, none of the areas considered are anything but spectacular so hardly a loser in the bunch.

Woody
 

dogstarnyc

Member
Thanks so much fella's for all your generous info and advice...

I got back on Sunday and I shot some stuff along I-80 (what a road) as I had a fashion shoot at the Bonneville Salt Flats last Tuesday, then I did Bryce, dusk and dawn (ish) then eventually a bit of Zion, I was put off by the shuttle thing a bit. We drove back up to Salt Lake via the '89 rather than on I -15 again great views and shots...

What I did re affirm though was how I like to shoot, I like to 'find a picture' rather than have it presented to me so Zion was probably the least 'interesting' from that point, I do need to go there in the late winter or late autumn... 'pre' or post' shuttle.

The people of Utah made me feel very welcome, I think it's America's most diverse state in terms of different landscapes (topography) so I will be back... as someone bigger than me once said.

I'll have some images up in a week or so, currently editing and retouching the fashion shoot...

Steve
 

Don Libby

Well-known member
Steve - I might be mistaken however I think Zion has gone totally "green" meaning no matter when you go you're forced to take the shuttles. Bryce on the otherhand is a park you can either drive or be driven in all the time.

Don
 

DonWeston

Subscriber Member
Did both Zion and Bryce last fall, at that time cars were still passable, but during in season like now, maybe busses are a must. I have been to all these before, it most definitely does NOT get tiring. Like others have said, there are no bad choices here. Bryce is also a favorite of mine of the four, the most different scenery and it is tangible in ways that say the Grand Canyon are not to most. Enjoy, it is a beautiful area to live and shoot in, always jealous. If you go to Bryce, it can be very chilly, due to altitude any time of yr in early a.m. so bring appropriate clothing, later in day, not so much....
 

jlm

Workshop Member
i liked the busses at zion...no pokey cars or motorhomes to avoid, they run frequently and you get to gawk around instead of driving
 

dogstarnyc

Member
Update...

just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who offered me their advice and experiences, Utah is and was probably the most diverse state I've visited and hopefully I got to show some of that.

I wasn't really looking for the obvious postcard shot but like most of us, I did want to take pictures that gave viewers a unique slice of the beehive state... All that in a week plus a fashion shoot...! Nope but definitely a work in progress....

I've put the loosely edited road trip images up online here http://www.stevebrickles.com/utah2

This was also my first play with SlideshowPro within Lightroom.

A more serious and condensed edit is here on my fine art site: http://www.brickles.org

The fashion images on the Saltflats are here: http://www.stevebrickles.com/bonnieville

I had a great time thanks to my friend Aimee and the models at TMG in Salt Lake.

Funnily enough I was least inspired by Zion... probably because the world and his dog was there, Bryce is everything good and great about the American National Parks system but for me the real treat, as you'll see in the images, was finding shots along the way, those 'road movie' shots that are irreplaceable, unique and truly yours.

Sometimes I think us photographers need a challenge, we don't always like to just walk up to a scene and nail it first click.... we like to suffer a bit first !

Anyway, thanks for all the tips, help and advice.....

I hope you like the pictures.

Steve
 

dogstarnyc

Member
BTW...

If anyone wants to know the route we took for the shots on the road, PM or email me and I'm happy to share.

S
 
D

ddk

Guest
Glad you enjoyed Bryce, I feel the same way about Zion. You have some wonderful images of your trip, thanks for sharing.
 

dogstarnyc

Member
David,

I think Zion was unfortunate for me as it was at the end of the trip and it needs more time and planning to get up there and get the best out of it, also maybe earlier in the year.

Eleanor, I have Capitol down for my next trip along with more time in Zion...

Thanks guys.

S
 

dogstarnyc

Member
eleanor,

Just seem you images of Brasil and Peru, wonderful...! I lived in Rio for almost 6 yrs and traveled a lot there and spent quite some time in Peru... so thanks for the instant 'hit' of South America... Which favela in Brasil did you visit...?

Steve
 

eleanorbrown

New member
Steve you won't be disappointed with Capitol Reef and you won't see crowds there either! Take all the back roads the park offers and absolutely don't miss the Burr Trail road out of Boulder all the way to the eastern boundary of the park. The switchbacks on the Burr Trail are easy to drive and offer spectacular scenery you won't see anywhere else!!! There is also a 4 wheel drive road going north at the top of the switchbacks that goes along the top of the Waterpocket fold with some amazing chances for photography. The Burr Trail east of Boulder is amazing.

In Brazil and Peru we were in the Salvador, Brazil and Cusco, Peru areas and visited some favelas there. I was moved to tears seeing the poverty conditions. I about lost it walking past a puppy laying on the ground dying. Another time, my husband and I, walking along on the permitter of the historic town in Salvador were followed by 3 young men (I was carrying my Canon 1Ds). Only thing that saved us was, as we walked by the Naval Station, a guard with a rifle came to our defense and the men disbursed. Interesting trip...I don't like to see the tourist stuff, but like to see how people really live. eleanor

eleanor,

Just seem you images of Brasil and Peru, wonderful...! I lived in Rio for almost 6 yrs and traveled a lot there and spent quite some time in Peru... so thanks for the instant 'hit' of South America... Which favela in Brasil did you visit...?

Steve
 

dogstarnyc

Member
Thanks for the tip Eleanor. As for Brasil, well it does look bad but believe me it's only very localised, the area in Salvador is called Pelourinho, and it's the only great bit, the rest of the city is a bit of a toilet I found. however the people, the history and culture more than make up for that. carnival in Salvador is totally different to Rio... Bahia is a great state and the mountain shots I took here http://www.brickles.org/chapada are inland from Salvador (9 hr bus ride or 2 hr flight).

You'd love it, not a dead dog or trio of muggers anywhere... bit like NYC versus AZ, UT etc... :)

S
 

eleanorbrown

New member
These images are from Brazil???!! I would have never guessed it! Looks like utah for sure. They are gorgeous. What did you shoot these with?? Really wonderful landscapes. Thanks for the link. Eleanor

Thanks for the tip Eleanor. As for Brasil, well it does look bad but believe me it's only very localised, the area in Salvador is called Pelourinho, and it's the only great bit, the rest of the city is a bit of a toilet I found. however the people, the history and culture more than make up for that. carnival in Salvador is totally different to Rio... Bahia is a great state and the mountain shots I took here http://www.brickles.org/chapada are inland from Salvador (9 hr bus ride or 2 hr flight).

You'd love it, not a dead dog or trio of muggers anywhere... bit like NYC versus AZ, UT etc... :)

S
 
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