Scouts Landing Zion National Park

[flechtight]

On the way to Angels Landing Zion National Park Utah.

I had too much depth of field which made for a very busy scene, so I applied a Gussin Blur and desaturated the background to bring out the real subject along with a contrast curve and high pass filter.

[Brownbear]

beautiful image...

[Donald]

beautiful image...

It is indeed.

A terrific composition. The tree stump mirrors the lines and textures of the mountains (or should that be the other way around!?). That dead pine at teh back right balances up the image beautifully. The light is great. The sky adds the mood and atmosphere.

A beautifully crafted image.

[flechtight]

Thanks Christina and Donald, my only regret is I had only 1 1/4 days there, so I opt for a spectacular hike up to Angels Landing but left hardly anymore time to explore. next year, 4-5 days I think

[Ken Curtis]

Hi Jon. Hope you don't mind, but I have a contradictory opinion.

What is it that you wanted us to see? If the tree stump is what you wanted us to see, then I agree with Donald that the dead pine at the back balances the composition. But I think the mountains in the center and on the left side are distractions. You could crop them off and make a vertically oriented image of the stump and dead pine. I like that composition.

If you wanted us to see the mountains, then the blurriness prevents the viewer from studying the details, and the tree stump is too large of a foreground object since it pulls the eye away from the mountains.

Sorry if this sounds negative. I think it is important to listen to multiple opinions and take away whatever you find helpful and ignore the rest. You found a good location to photograph, and possibly cropping differently or repositioning yourself would have helped. I do like the combination of colors and the sky. To me, your image is almost there.

[flechtight]

Thanks Ken, all CC is welcome

[Nancy Moran G]

I can't critique as I still new, but that is gorgeous !
I did that hike and it is exhilarating! For those that do not know, the trail reaches the peak just to the left of stump. Follow the greenery up to Angles Landing. You climb that last part with chain holds, and 5 or so folks have died there in last few years.
It was really a 'wow' moment in my life. I am definitely going back
Thanks for the memory!
Nancy

[flechtight]

Thanks Nancy, glad you enjoyed. I enjoyed it with probably 10 people scattered across the landing. Nothing like the summer months.

[rpcrowe]

The Zion NP is a spectacular area as are many other areas in the State of Utah. Many photographers, especially those from Europe and the U.S. East Coast don't realize the distances you must drive to fully cover Zion and the related areas and therefore devote too short of a time for that coverage.

If photography is of prime importance and if your time is short, I would expect that severely limiting your choices of areas to cover would enhance the coverage of those areas.

This is especially true since the time of day is extremely critical in shooting our Desert Southwest. Vistas which seem flat and uninteresting at mid-day can become magically beautiful in the early morning or the late afternoon. But, there are also deep canyons which only receive light at mid-day. Of course, the time of year is also a critical factor not only regarding light and weather but regarding the crowds of tourists that inundate the area during July and August ....

This book is a great guide to times and places to shoot in Southern Utah:
http://www.amazon.com/Photographing-...ah+photography

[SpiderBob]

Nice shot Jon. I like what you have done. I need to take heed to some of your methods.