Bryce and Zion...a Few Pictures...

warning--the below were shot with nikon gear so if you don't like images taken by the 'other side' please ignore....at least my gear was purchased from steve beck on this site!

my wife, son and i got back from 5 days visting bryce and zion about two weeks ago. i think it was a little early for bryce, which was cold with lots of snow still on the ground which made doing some of the bigger hikes impossible. we had rain the first afternoon at zion but then two beautiful cool days. we did a lot of hiking around zion including angel's landing which my son and i did while my wife stayed at the mid-point. as others have said, angel's landing is amazing but not for the faint of heart. i think the park service should consider restricting access as it was pretty darn crowded on the climb/hike. i did stop a few times to take photos during the final ascent in order to give viewers some sense of what it was like up there. my son said he wasn't bothered by the hike, but i have to admit there were a few spots that really had me thinking!! we had a great time and would like to go back at a different time of year in order to do some hiking at bryce and to do some of the hikes we couldn't do at zion (like the slot canyons--just too much cold water in early april!).

two from bryce:

first afternoon, light wasn't great but i didn't konw what tomorrow would bring so took some shots anyway....

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Nice shots (even with a Nikon!). Bryce and Zion are amazing places and I think the snow adds to Bryce shots. I have never had the chance to take the Angel's Landing hike, but hope to this year.

Nice trip, got some good light in #2.

amazing scenery

I'm planning on taking a trip to Zion too during the summer. Would you mind recommending me what kinda lenses you found most helpful?

Good series. Those parks are high on my list of favorites, but there are so many.

g3ck0 wrote in post #10182305
I'm planning on taking a trip to Zion too during the summer. Would you mind recommending me what kinda lenses you found most helpful?

i brought my 14-24, 24-70, 70-200 and 105 macro with me. i didn't ever take out the macro, it was still too early for any flowers. the vast majority of shots were taken with the 24-70, a few with the 14-24 for a wider perspective. there really isn't a lot of wildlife to see so the 70-200 got very limited useage. the only time i really needed it was on the way down angel's landing when we saw a pair of california condors buzzing around (very cool to see them!) and guess what--i didn't bring it with me up angel's landing to save some weight!

so it depends on your attitude towards carrying glass around. i'd say for 90% of shots you don't need anything longer than 70mm, but there just might be that one time you really wish you had something longer...happy to answer any other questions you have, and if you want to see more pix let me know. it's a great place, i can't wait to go back!

Thanks for the reply! You have a 24-70 and a 14-24, I have a 10-22 and 17-55. So I'm guessing the wide angle didn't really get much use eh?

g3ck0 wrote in post #10182625
Thanks for the reply! You have a 24-70 and a 14-24, I have a 10-22 and 17-55. So I'm guessing the wide angle didn't really get much use eh?

i was shooting with a full frame camera (d3) and you are shooting with an fx so the lenses are roughly equivalent in effective coverage. i'd say i shot with the 24-70 about 80-85% of the time, with the 14-24 about 10% and the 70-200 bringing up the rear. if i had more time i probably would have used the wide angle a bit more, but i was with my wife and son and they don't like me taking too long to shoot pix!!