Zion National Park is an amazing natural resource and hiking the Narrows and seeing the canyon walls glow in beautiful reflected light is an experience that is hard to put into words.
If you haven’t been there, Zion National Park in southern Utah is a must stop on your national park bucket list. There is such a wide variety of landscapes available you could spend a month there and feel like you’re just scratching the surface. The park is dominated by the Virgin river that makes its way through numerous slot canyons and hiking/wading this river as it goes through a section called the Narrows is a popular activity. It’s also the only way to get to many of the incredible views that are waiting for the more adventurous souls that want to photograph this canyon.
Most of the Narrows requires wading the Virgin river as the canyon walls go straight up with nothing but river from wall to wall. There are sections where you can walk on dry land for a bit but then it’s back to the water for many of the other stretches of the river. Some of the wading is waist deep so wearing chest waders or a dry suit is highly recommended. If you go in the Fall for the color change then you’ll definitely want waders or a dry suit. This gear is available for rent if you don’t want to purchase it. You’ll also want a backpack to carry your gear and several dry bags for your equipment and any other items you want to take on the hike. If you slip and fall you don’t want your camera in the water. Dry bags are a must. Trekking poles are also key especially if you have a load of gear on your back. The footing in the river can be slippery and having trekking poles in each hand really helps your stability. Karen and I had waded the Narrows on our second or third day in the park and towards the end of the hike I noticed this large boulder in the river right before we turned around and headed back out. I made a mental note to come back to this spot another day when the light was better.
Good landscape images have three characteristics: good light, good composition, and the right moment. The Zion Narrows has all three elements if you plan ahead and make sure you’re in the right place at the right time. At certain times of the day when the sky is clear of clouds, the sun hits the canyon walls just right and warm, reflected light bounces all around. This causes many of the canyon walls to take on a beautiful orange glow like the image above. Some photographers call this magic light and it’s not boosted in Photoshop to be something artificial. If you catch the glow at its peak, it really is a sight to behold. This glow satisfies both the good light and the right moment requirements. Now you just have to get the right composition.
On the second hike up the Narrows I made sure to get back to this rock in time for the glow. It is quite a ways up river so it took awhile to get there. I didn’t have much time to set up. From a composition perspective, I wanted to position the large boulder in front of the alcove in the background plus I wanted some of the sand bar and rocks visible in the foreground. Not too much foreground but just enough to give the image some depth. I played around with vertical and horizontal compositions and ultimately chose vertical since the glow was confined to the alcove. In hindsight I wished I had also looked at some compositions while standing in the river rather than just the sand bar but the glow didn’t last long enough to do that. That’s the moment aspect of the three requirements. A good landscape photograph has some element of transition going on in it. A fleeting moment where the scene is transitioning from one state to another. In this case the glow begins, gets stronger and then is gone. You’re either there at the right time to witness it or you miss the shot. This same scene without the glow, the moment, isn’t nearly as interesting. On this day the glow came on quite strong and the alcove lit up with an incredible orange light. If you’re not careful you can just stand there marveling at the scene and forget to take the picture. That wouldn’t be a total loss as you would have still experienced the event. Fortunately I made a couple of images before the glow faded away.
Much of landscape photography is standing in front of an interesting subject and waiting for the light to be right or for a moment to happen that will turn the photograph from being OK to being great. Rarely does this just happen by chance. Usually it takes some scouting ahead of time to know what the light does at different times of the day and then planning your photo shoot to be there when a moment occurs. Whether that’s changing weather or fabulous back lit clouds or a special glow inside a slot canyon. Increase your chances of success by doing a little planning and then be prepared to wait for nature to put on a show. Just remember to press the shutter when it does.
