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The Alter and the Pulpit in Zion National Park

The Alter and the Pulpit in Zion National Park; Ken Lund photo.
Ken Lund
Monday, November 19, 2007

To go along with this week's Zion Park History story, I thought I'd track down a cool shot from the park for the photo of the week. I like the lighting in this shot. The upper right corner is blown out, but the rest of the frame is very nice. So many shots of parks are taken in the so called "golden hours" just after the sunrise, and just before sunset. These shots are beautiful, but there is still plenty of good opportunities for great shots in the middle of the day (like this one). The trees here are all back lit brilliantly, which make them stand out quite dramatically compared with the muted and shaded cliff face in the background. I like that the subject of this shot is framed exactly in the middle. The Alter and the Pulpit are appear quite clear sandwiched between the trees and the cliff. I may be wrong, but the rock formations almost seem to be getting some type of reflected light ... the Virgin River perhaps? I'm not familiar enough with this particular location (identified by the photographer as the terminus of the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive) to say for sure.

Part of me is curious to know what this shot would look like with a majority of the upper right corner cropped out. I bet it would really help draw focus to the subject of the shot without losing its compositional value.

A very nice picture. Reminds me of scenes from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Another great spot for a Zion Canyon shot is from the top of Angel's Landing about an hour or so before sunset looking to the south. The lighting is spectacular at that time of day.

Owen Hoffman
Oak Ridge, TN 37830


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