Navajo Loop Trail (Utah)

The day I visited the Bryce Canyon National Park I had two goals in mind. First, to hike down to the amphitheater, the bottom part of the canyon. Second, I wanted to photograph the famous Wall Street switchbacks. Wall Street is the series of steep hiking switchbacks that pass through the narrow canyon, surrounded by hoodoos.

Navajo Loop Trail (Utah) 1
Wall Street – Looking Down.

Before visiting Wall Street in Bryce, I did not think much about the origin of its name. But when I reached the bottom of the switchbacks and looked up, I experienced the feelings comparable to the ones I had when I visited the narrow streets of lower Manhattan surrounded by skyscrapers, for the first time.

Navajo Loop Trail (Utah) 2
Wall Street – Looking Up.

The featured photo highlights the very beginning of the Navajo Loop Trail that leads to the Wall Street switchbacks. 

Navajo Loop Trail (Utah) 3
USA. Utah. Bryce Canyon
Loc: 37.622371, -112.165180

Shooting

For a day-long hike, I brought with me only one lens, Sony 16-70mm. And for the entire day, I felt it was not wide enough because of the vastness of the surroundings.

Editing & Processing

It was a single RAW processing workflow. 

Lightroom (80%)

First, I used the Crop Overlay and the Transform Panel to fix the vertical distortion and to straighten up the capture. 

I used the process I outlined in the article: How to Straighten a Photo in Lightroom. Next, I used the Natural preset from my Landscape Preset Collection as the base for Lightroom Rapid Editing. Then I used TOOLKIT to boost the Contrast and the Clarity.

The Lightroom Preset Editing Formula: Natural (9, 12, 16, 32)

Photoshop (20%)

In Photoshop, I used the Clone Tool to remove 3 hikers from the composition and cleaned up the debris in the foreground.

Finally, I boosted the details and reduced noise.
Plugins: DeNoise (noise reduction), Topaz Detail (local contrast boost).

Total Time: 10min

Before & After Transformation

by Viktor Elizarov
I am a travel photographer and educator from Montreal, Canada, and a founder of PhotoTraces. I travel around the world and share my experiences here. Feel free to check my Travel Portfolio and download Free Lightroom Presets.

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