Zion National Park
The 4.5 hour drive from Salt Lake City international airport is a very interesting drive. It involves driving along Route 15, a truly incredible experience. Along the way (at 90mph. Yes, traffic moves at 90mph, even the 18 wheelers). We drove through an incredible rainstorm, lightning was striking the ground all around us and visibility was at a minimum, but the path cleared and soon tumbleweed was drifting across the asphalt.

Kolob Canyons
Canon 5D Mark III
1/60 sec | f/7.1 | ISO 50 | 50mm Panoramic | May 6th, 2017 | 6.02 pm
The first stop on our National Park Road Trip in Utah was Kolob Canyons, which is a sector of Zion National Park. We arrived at 4:58 pm only to find the Visitor Center closing at 5:00 pm! Luckily, we made it in, bought a season pass for $80.00 which gives us access to any National Park for the next year, and then we were on our way to a fantastic week. This first picture was taken as a panorama after a short .5-mile hike. The light is very circuitous along the facade of the mountain which makes late afternoon images thrive in contrast. We had to leave this location quickly in order to make it to another location for sunset.

Roads of Kolob Canyons
Canon 5D Mark III
1/800 sec | f/4.5 | ISO 320 | 15mm | May 6th, 2017 | 6.37 pm
Roads in the national parks are very hilly and curvy. This road in particular caught my attention because of the color. The sandstone red blends in with the surroundings and therefore creates a seemingly natural look. It really adds to the experience because feeling as away from civilization makes it very relaxing.

Somewhere along Rt. 9
Canon 5D Mark III
1/500 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 125 | 80mm Panoramic | May 6th, 2017 | 7.13 pm
The never-ending roads wind through the vast landscape of Utah. The tall peaks grab the last of the minutes of light reflecting a golden glow.

Canyon Junction Sunset
Canon 5D Mark III
1/10 sec | f/7.1 | ISO 50 | 50mm | May 6th, 2017 | 8.23 pm
The never-ending roads wind through the vast landscape of Utah. The tall peaks grab the last of the minutes of light reflecting a golden glow.

Milky Way over The Watchman
Canon 5D Mark III
30 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 6400 | 15mm | May 7th, 2017 | 5.17 am
Astrophotography is one of my favorite parts of photography. You never know what you’re going to get until the screen lights up with the picture you just took. This one was taken behind the Zion History Museum, we (Dad & Myself) navigated through the darkness to find a composition that “worked”…somewhat. I would’ve liked not to have the lights and trees in the foreground of this image, but not being able to see really made it difficult to find another composition. This was really our only chance on the trip to get a milky way picture because the moon phase was between 90% and 100% brightness the rest of the week. Luckily, for this shot, the moon had set before the sun rose giving us an opportunity to shoot this magnificent location. The mountain in this image is the same as sunset image, Watchman Mountain.

Towers of the Virgin
Canon 5D Mark III
1/6 sec | f/14 | ISO 50 | 120mm Panoramic | May 7th, 2017 | 6.51 am
The Towers of the Virgin is a very cool place for sunset. It’s right behind the Zion History Museum and has a plethora of photographers in the morning. The light seeps in the cracks and down the façade of the mountain creating an amazing glow.

Behind the Scenes: Towers of the Virgin
RX100 III
1/80 sec | f/3.5 | ISO 50 | 24mm | May 7th, 2017 | 6.48 am

Zion National Park - Free Shuttle
Canon 5D Mark III
1/125 sec | f/5.0 | ISO 320 | 15mm | May 7th, 2017 | 9.10 am
Cars are not allow to drive into Zion National Park because the acoustics of the narrows would echo the sound and the beauty of the park would be ruined. Instead, a shuttle runs in and out of the park, and it's fantastic! I thought it was going to be a pain to have to take a shuttle, but it ended up being so much better than driving. There is no fighting for parking, and after a long hike up the narrows, it's nice to not have to drive.

Zion Narrows
Canon 5D Mark II
4 seconds | f/5.0 | ISO 320 | 50mm | May 7th, 2017 | 9.27 am
I normally don't love black and white landscape images, they seem to never grab my attention unless they have lots of contrast. I like this image because of the rapid water and the bright sky create a mirror around the canyon. Although this isn't deep in the narrows (they were closed due to spring water runoff) it still captures the tall cliffs and running water.

Canyon Overlook
Canon 5D Mark III
1/100 sec | f/9.0 | ISO 50 | 15mm | May 7th, 2017 | 3.09 pm
Sunrise at Bryce Canyon is meant to be. The canyon faces east which is where the sun happens to rise every morning, 365 days out of the year! This was the coldest I was on the trip, it was about 0˚C (32 ˚F). I’m happy I got a good shot or else I would’ve stood out in the cold for nothing!

Zion Slants
Canon 5D Mark III
1/40 sec | f/9.0 | ISO 50 | 105mm | May 7th, 2017 | 3.14 pm
This image is so interesting to me because of movement of the stone. It slants left to right and it makes such a cool image. The colors of this are also very vibrant and make it very pleasing to look at.
Bryce Canyon National Park
The 2 hour drive from Zion National park to Bryce Canyon is truly incredible. In a matter of miles, the landscape changes from mountainous flat and forested to desert. Although, Route 12, is miles (no pun) better. Route 12 happens a little later, on the way to Capitol Reef.

Bryce Canyon Hoodoos
Canon 5D Mark III
1/50 sec | f/22 | ISO 50 | 19mm | May 8th, 2017 | 6.38 am
Sunrise at Bryce Canyon is meant to be. The canyon faces east which is where the sun happens to rise every morning, 365 days out of the year! This was the coldest I was on the trip, it was about 0˚C (32 ˚F). I’m happy I got a good shot or else I would’ve stood out in the cold for nothing!
This section has not been completed yet. Please check back for more pictures from my Utah Trip!

Pine Tree
Canon 5D Mark III
1/400 sec | f/5.0 | ISO 50 | 50mm | May 8th, 2017 | 10.08 am
Trees grow on top of the ground, not in the ground. I'm not really sure why that it, but it loots so cool! This is one of those pictures where I was just walking along and grabbed a snapshot!

Thor's Hammer
Canon 5D Mark III
1/320 sec | f/7.1 | ISO 50 | 20mm | May 8th, 2017 | 11.30 am
The Navajo loop and Queen trail are two great trails to hike when at Bryce Canyon. They bring you down into the heart of the canyon and you get to experience the bright orange and red hoodoos all around you. This is Thor's hammer. Although it takes a trained eye to see the hammer, it's still a cool scene to see the 3 different landscapes: Hoodoos, Pine Trees, and Mountains, all in one image.

Tiered Towers
Canon 5D Mark III
1/200 sec | f/8.0 | ISO 50 | 93mm | May 8th, 2017 | 1.57 pm
I had trouble naming this image, mainly because I couldn't think how to describe the Hoodoos! They look so interesting all I could think of is a tier. This was taken at an altitude of 9000 ft, the highest I've ever been. We could definitely feel a shortness of breath at such a high altitude, and we were surprised how cool it was, only about 60 degrees that day!

Mossy Falls
Canon 5D Mark III
30 sec | f/9.0 | ISO 50 | 95mm | May 8th, 2017 | 3.32 pm
On a trip like this, there is so much to see, yet so little time. Everywhere we went, fellow travelers were telling us to go to other places. This was one of those! At lunch, our waiter told us about "Mossy Falls." So after a quite bite at the lodge, we headed off the mossy falls. The water was murky, but it matched the landscape, and I love how this image works. The sparse bushes on the hill create a great contrast.

Mossy Falls: Behind the Camera
RX100 III
1/320 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 125 | 50mm | May 8th, 2017 | 3.32 pm

Route 12
Canon 5D Mark III
1/320 sec | f/5.0 | ISO 50 | 30mm | May 9th, 2017 | 10.26 am
Endless. That's what the roads are. Endless. You can go mile after mile without seeing any cars. In fact, there are more cows than cars in Utah! (Maybe not, it just felt that way) This is on Route 12, a truly incredible road. It goes above 9600ft at one point, and through flats that show the curvature of the earth. Driving between parks was much more enjoyable than I thought.
Capitol Reef National Park
The 2.5 hour drive from Bryce Canyon National Park to Capitol Reef is a very weird drive. The drive along the famous Route 12 includes many incredible adventures. Climbing a mountain to 9,000 ft and seeing snow was unexpected, and almost hitting cows along the way was peculiar, but you get used to it. Enjoy my pictures from Capitol Reef!

UT-24 - Entering Capitol Reef
Canon 5D Mark III
1/400 sec | f/14 | ISO 320 | 50mm Panoramic | May 9th, 2017 | 1.32 pm
I love this style of image. Road in the middle, beautiful scenery in the background. This one was taken just after entering Capitol Reef National Park. There are no cars on the roads, so it is very easy to grab pictures like this. I particularly like how the slants in the rocks are constant throughout the whole image, it really is fantastic! Compare this image to the previous one. This is three hours of driving after the previous, what a difference in scenery!

Winding Roads
Canon 5D Mark III
1/100 sec | f/8.0 | ISO 50 | 25mm | May 9th, 2017 | 1.48 pm
It was silent. This is the least visited park of the five we traveled to on our trip. The small amount of tourists made this location very enjoyable. It truly was us and the land. I like this image because of the leading line the road creates towards the mountains.

Fruita Barn
Canon 5D Mark III
30 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 50 | 50mm | May 9th, 2017 | 6.17 pm
This is one of my favorite images from the trip. I have this printed out in my home. I love the wall of color the rock facade provides. It's bright, and contrasty. And the subtlety of the barn and leading road create a very well balanced image. This image required the removal of some cars using photoshop, which was a very involved process, as I like my images to be as non-photoshopped as possible.

Capitol Gorge
Canon 5D Mark III
1/640 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 320 | 50mm | May 9th, 2017 | 7.08 pm
Driving in Utah is quite an incredible experience as I have mentioned before. This road is no exception. Tucked on the bottom most part of the paved road in Capitol Reef is Capitol Gorge, a truly remarkable drive in a slot canyon. Fallen rocks line the side of the dirt road, and beautiful images wait around each and every winding corner of this 2 mile road. This image was taken hanging outside of the window of our car.
Canyonlands National Park
Closely located to Arches National Park, we stayed in the hotel for 3 nights to explore both parks. It's approximately 45 minutes to Canyonlands from Moab, and we took this journey on at 3:00am to get the most iconic shot of any Utah National Park.

Mesa Arch
Canon 5D Mark III
1/60 sec | f/14 | ISO 50 | 15mm | May 11th, 2017 | 6.26 am
I knew before taking this image that it was going to be perfect. I researched for months how to take this. I've spent years perfecting my composition skills and editing skills. This image took every skill I had and tested it. I had to wake up at 3am to make it to the location early, and ensure I had the best spot (look below to see all the photographers there). This image took me many hours to edit to perfection, I had to use High Dynamic Range in order to get the light balanced throughout the whole image.

Photographers at Mesa Arch
Sony RX100 III
1/30 sec | f/1.8 | ISO 125 | 24mm | May 11th, 2017 | 6.04 am
Lots and lots of photographers all searching for the perfect shot. All I know, I got the perfect shot because I was dedicated and wanted to get it.

Mesa Arch
Canon 5D Mark III
1/80 sec | f/14 | ISO 50 | 30mm Panoramic | May 11th, 2017 | 6.43 am
This is a technically complicated image. It consists of about 50 images combined together. It uses HDR and Panoramic styles meaning I took 5 identical images at 5 different exposures, then panned a little and repeated. It was tedious, but necessary to create this 40MP monster of an image.
Arches National Park
Arches National Park is a huge park. It can take up to an hour to drive from one end to the other, especially when there is traffic....There are many sights to see along the drive in Arches, I guarantee you will never be bored.

Delicate Arch
Canon 5D Mark III
1/640 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 320 | 70mm | May 10th, 2017 | 3.44 pm
The hike to Delicate Arch is no easy one, but thousands of people do it each and every day. Parking is a nightmare, and most importantly photography is a nightmare once you get there. This image is a composite of about 30 different images. I took pictures every 5 seconds for about 2.5 minutes and then stitched them all together in photoshop so that no people appeared in a, what can be considered "cliche" image. I enjoyed seeing this monument, however. It is one of the most recognizable sights of Utah, and it was definitely worth going to see.

Island in the Sky
Canon 5D Mark III
1/200 sec | f/9.0 | ISO 50 | 93mm | May 11th, 2017 | 10.36 am
This outlook was very peaceful, and relaxing after a long week hiking and searching for amazing photographs. This 90MP panoramic image is the largest panoramic I've ever taken to date. Panoramic require a tripod, and this was no exception. Check out the photo below to see what my view with my camera was!

Behind the Scene: Island in the Sky
Sony RX100 III
1/800 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 125 | 24mm | May 11th, 2017 | 10.43 am

Balanced Rock
Canon 5D Mark III
30 sec | f/11 | ISO 50 | 70mm | May 12th, 2017 | 2.52 pm
It looks impossible, but the rock truly is balanced. This long exposure blends the silky clouds with the bright rocks of Arches National Park. This is yet another cool sight in Utah. Although this rock will not be balanced forever, it sure is a cool sight while it sits there!

La Sal Mountains
Canon 5D Mark III
1/60 sec | f/3.5 | ISO 400 | 200mm Panoramic | May 12th, 2017 | 8.32 pm
The La Sal Mountains catch the last light of the day and produce incredible colors. The snow capped tops help define the edge of the mountains, while the landscape of Arches National Park helps warm the scene. I love the change in colors from the bottom to the top of this image.

North Window
Canon 5D Mark III
1/60 sec | f/3.5 | ISO 400 | 200mm Panoramic | May 13th, 2017 | 6.26 pm
The final day of our adventure only yielded one image. The windows and cascading sun on it's facade create a bright, and very interesting image. I had to photoshop people out of this image, but I wont tell you where they were. There were only 2 other photographers there that morning, I was very surprised how underpopulated this location was, because it creates a very cool image. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay for the whole sunrise, because I had to catch a flight. But this image, I am very happy with.