Postcard from Zion

This photo was taken early one morning at the Court of Patriarchs inside Zion National Park. It only shows part of the “Court,” but that is fine. Turns out this is the only shot I got this morning with any semblance of the dawn’s early light. My friend Dave, who was with me on this expedition, arrived before dawn and set up our cameras and tripods.

Dave chose a spot further down the Virgin River, while I was a little further upstream on a sandy beach. We had preselected our spots the day before. This location is difficult to find the right spot as there are a ton of trees on both sides of the river. I don’t mind the ones on the other side, as you see here, they enhance the scene. The ones on this side of the river block the view, making it difficult to see the Court in all its splendor. Shooting through trees seldom renders any quality photo.

After setting up, we patiently waited for dawn…and waited…and waited. Oh,  the sun came up right on schedule, but it was behind a cloud. Then, for one brief moment, it partially broke through just enough for me to get this shot. Then hid itself once again while I patiently wait for another breakthrough. It never happened.

Still, I like this photo with its little bit of sunlight and, of course, the setting moon sneaking into the picture. A little pink in the clouds doesn’t hurt either. Sadly, Dave came away with nothing. Such is the photographer’s life.

For those interested in the technique, I exposed this scene in 5 rapid shots, each with a slightly different aperture setting. My original plan was to use and HDR software program to combine the images, then finished the final image off in Photoshop.

But by the time I got to finally work on this image, I discovered a new technique called “Exposure Fusion.” It works the same way as HDR, but (without boring you with details), it combines the images in a different manner. My experiments show that most Exposure Fusion photos come out with a more photo-realistic image, less painterly than HDR.

I will continue to experiment with both processes and see which will win out in the long run. But right now, I am pretty excited about this new process. Stay tuned…and you be the judge.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.