Friday, October 31, 2008

Zion National Park

I landed in Zion National Park a couple days ago and have decided to stay here for at least a week. The park is large and diverse.... I've barely scratched the surface.

One of the hallmark images in the park is the Watchman peaks with the Virgin River in the foreground. I've worked this a couple times and found some great vantage points.

Today was mostly cloudy so I decided to do some scouting and birding. By freak luck while calling songbirds, a very curious Grey Fox walked right up to me. I ran back to the car, grabbed the 500mm and went back to the same spot. I was able to call the fox back in for a few moments. This was my first time photographing the species. You can bet I'll be going back to try to get more photos of it!

All photos with EOS 1Ds mIII

Photo 1: Watchman and Virgin River
17-40mm; Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer and 2 stop hard edge ND grad;
ISO 200; 1s @ f/22


Photo 2: Watchman and Virgin River
17-40mm; Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer and a 4x6" 2 stop hard edge ND grad (handheld);
ISO 100; 8s @ f/22
Note: to get a subtle edge with the ND grad, I gently move it around in front of the lens during the exposure.


Photo 3: Grey Fox
500mm; ISO 400; 1/200s @ f/5.6; full-frame

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:07 AM

    Great photo of the fox Ethan. Sounds like you are having a great trip. Cant wait to see more.

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  2. Ethan, I check your blog every day and follow your progress with a road atlas. I keep everyone in Tobermory updated. Great photography. You are an inspiration. You must publish !!!

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  3. Anonymous10:38 AM

    Love that fox. your living your dream...again...

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  4. I like that second shot. Good stuff. I just came across your blog, and I saw that you were on a year and a half long photo trip! Geez man. I'm a month into a three month trip and I felt like I was crazy. I'm going to keep my eye on your blog and I hope to see some awesome stuff.

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  5. Great series of images. Zion is on the list and hope to make it one day. Blue Skies.

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  6. Anonymous11:37 AM

    Ethan

    I love Photo 1 of the Watchman. For the life of me, I can't figure out where your vantage point along the river was in order to get that reflection.

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  7. Thanks Ron. I took that shot just upriver from the visitor centre, adjacent to the campground. It's not the usual spot that people go to (ie. the bridge).... I just stumbled across while following the river - basically because I didn't know where I was going!
    cheers,
    Ethan

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  8. Anonymous4:42 PM

    Well, that's the mark of true talent...taking full advantage of unplanned opportunities.

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