Down in the Valley, Valley so lowwwwww. Actually, this image should be titled PAIN!!! Uggh this one was really, really tough. I’ve shot from a lot of canyon tops and through arches but never from the bottom of a deep canyon. This is Zion National Park, and before you (middle right) lies the White Throne one of the features at the park.
It’s really hard to describe how insanely hard this image was to put together. It was so stinking dark down there it was crazy and the images, yikes! On a hot 90 degree evening, amping the camera to its limits, the noise was intense and the images way darker than I am accustomed to. It took weeks to make this look presentable. I have 4-5 more from that night that may never see the light of day. I fear my psyche may be shattered for good on this type of shot.
The night was quite pleasant, a scant bit of a breeze blew along the course of the small river. Bugs, which aren’t common in Utah, flitted about my face as I watched the camera progress. Mostly, however, it was intensely quiet, with just the occasional gurgle of the stream breaking the silence. It was so dark at the bottom of the canyon that it appeared the stars in the sky overhead were cut out and pasted against a sheet of black velvet. It not for the dim light of the camera LED I don’t think I would have been able to see my hand in front of my face.
So I had never tried taking images at the bottom of a deep canyon before, and I think I may never again, as my ADD for making an image look presentable may well have met its match. I hope you enjoy the effort don’t look too closely, I feel it is still 3 million edits away from meeting my usual standards.
Tech: Canon 6D, 10000 ISO, 55mm f1.4, 42 images and MAJOR pain!
