I’ve been looking to add a few more autumn photos to my portfolio for a while.  Sadly, Pocatello has a rather small window for getting those kinds of photos in.  I either drop everything during the season and go colored-leaf hunting with my camera or I miss the window.  Thankfully, there are other options and I took one of those chances this year.  Here’s what I captured.

While visiting with family, we decided that we wanted to take a trip out to the southern Utah national parks again.  We even managed to squeeze in a trip for my sister to see the parks for the first time, or at least portions she hadn’t seen before.

I went prepared with my camera since I never know when something amazing will happen right in front of my eyes.  Thus I’d rather be prepared with it and get nothing than see something perfectly photogenic and lose out because I don’t have my camera with me.  It gets heavy sometimes, but it’s worth it.  This time was no exception.

Our first stop was Bryce Point up at Bryce Canyon.  It was wonderful to see that huge panoramic view of the hoodoo-filled canyon again.  What was even more interesting was the fact that I walked out of there with some more beautiful photos of the landscape there.

This shot looks like a painting to me.  The framing with the trees and the intense clouds in the sky over the very orange landscape are simply breathtaking.  Another interesting vista was a close-up of the many hoodoo spires below me from the cliff-face.

Our next stop was the next closest national park with Zion.  Since we had the time and we had the interest, and my sister still needed to see that park for herself, we made an afternoon trip of it.

While there, I noticed that we arrived during the soft and beautiful light of golden hour.  There would not be time for me to get very many photos in with that magic light glowing unless I acted fast.  Thanks to the popularity of the park and the the traffic, it was packed for November, there wasn’t much a window for me.  Still I made the best of it that I could.

Having tackled the traditional and very popular shot of this mountain landscape from the bridge, I decided that I wanted a different angle on it to see what I thought.  It also helped that the light was lingering on the cliff face so I could attempt the shot.  It works for me.  The dramatic sky color was an added bonus.

I really wanted to tackle some autumn leaves.  My portfolio has been shy of those kinds of photos so that’s what I was aiming for on this trip.  Thankfully, this national park is at a low enough elevation and latitude that the leaves stay on the trees much longer than in Idaho.  Here’s what I found along the way.

The sunset over the landscape was dramatic and lingering.  It gave me plenty of time to try photos with the clouds lit up like the sky was on fire.  The colors of the leaves played right into that warm color palette as did the red sandstone of the cliff walls.

Getting the kinds of landscape photography which I’ve been seeking is all about being in the right place at the right time.  This means the right time of year and the right time of day as well.  When all those pieces come together, the landscape photography I can create is simply magic.