I took the featured photo while visiting Zion National Park. It was an eventful day. The highlight of the visit was my early morning hike to the top of the Angels Landing trail. By midday, I was completely exhausted and I wanted to take afternoon break before going to sunset hike to Overlook Trail.
I took Zion’s shuttle bus so I could rest and enjoy the beauty of Zion Scenic Drive. When the shuttle reached Big Bend I saw the group of people standing on the side of the road and looking up and pointing somewhere.
Loc: 37.273580, -112.946646
When I looked in the same direction I spotted two tiny white dots in the middle of the vertical rock. A few moments later I recognized the team of two rock climbers slowly navigation up to the top of the mountain. I spent at least an hour sitting on the ground and watching the progress of the team. It was fascinating.
Shooting
I took 3 bracketed shots with 1EV intervals (-1, 0, +1) on a tripod standing in the middle of the Zion Scenic Drive. I knew from the beginning that I would have to use HDR photography to process this image. Even though the sky was covered with the thick clouds, making the light less dynamic, the scene still had some very dark shadows cast by tall rocks.
Deconstructing Featured Photo
Camera: Sony a6000
Lens: Sony 10-18mm
Focal Length: 44mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: F8
Shutter Speed: 1/400
Tripod: FEISOL Tournament CT-3442
