This winter has not delivered much in the way of snow. So, when the skies finally dumped some, I took advantage of it. However, it didn’t last long in the lower elevations. But the higher elevations keep snow much longer. I anticipated that. What I didn’t anticipate was the wintertime dramatic skies which punctuated my latest landscape photo shoot. I found dramatic skies and dramatic sunsets over Bryce Canyon. So, I thought I’d share.
I couldn’t understand why I felt like another trip out to Bryce Canyon, except for the fact that it’s close and I had other reasons I don’t wish to discuss. Still, I felt that Bryce Point was the place to go. I’ve learned to just go with it. So, we made our way out there.
While still driving into the park, I happened to notice a sun dog in the sky. I amused myself with watching it for a while and wondering if it would follow us into the park. I’ve chased rainbows into the park before, why not a sun dog? Surprisingly, it did follow us. We could still see it very well from Bryce Point. However, it did switch visible sides over the course of the drive in. Since I discovered I could shoot the sun dog (or parhelion) from over the canyon, I immediately set up for it.
Shooting into the sun is a risk. In fact, it’s a huge risk. However, if you know what you’re doing, it need not turn into a disaster. Thankfully, the dramatic clouds overhead provided just the shade I needed. I also brought the neutral density filters which compensated for the overly bright skies and overly dark landscape.
During my overview of the area, I ran into another photographer equally scoping out the scene. He brought his wife along. We all got to talking while waiting for sunset. We all enjoyed the conversation. However, once sunset arrived, we both got busy with our cameras. We had both dramatic skies and a dramatic sunset over Bryce Canyon. We couldn’t resist.
As the sun was setting, I was at no loss for subject matter. In fact, I felt like I had an ADD moment. With so many prospects, I couldn’t focus on any one for very long. I had about 270° of options. So, when I finally turned back around to the sun itself, I found a surprise. The dramatic skies and the sunset combined together with the landscape for a beautiful scene. All I needed was a sunburst. Thanks to my lack of focus, I had seconds to set up and take a photo. I managed to take 1 before the sun moved and set too far for the sunburst. Thankfully, that 1 photo was all I needed. What a risk though.
After the sun descended below the level of the horizon, I took the time to look at the scene again. I really loved the dramatic skies which the sunset provided. Bryce Canyon looks amazing with the dramatic skies and the dramatic sunsets. The scene in front of me combined all those elements together. I simply had to take a panorama of it.
After the color of golden hour faded, I found myself getting very cold. Temperatures drop rapidly after sundown. I didn’t bring all my cold weather gear out to the point with me. So, I didn’t want to stand out there any longer than necessary.
I encountered some interesting panorama stitching errors when combining this photo together. When set on automatic, the photo stitched together looking like an upside down mushroom. I needed to change the stitching method. Once I did so, I finally ended up with the properly proportioned panorama I wanted.
This ended up being one of the more fun landscape photo shoots I’ve had lately. I really enjoyed conversing with that couple. I also enjoyed the beautiful scene I happened to photograph. It was a great day.
