Photo Tips USA – Bryce Canyon NP

„… and into the park and up and through the timber past the Lodge and to the River, where stand in setting sun looking out and down upon the least overwhelming, dizzy, and least massive of the lot – but perhaps the most astounding – a million wind-blown pinnacles of salmon pink and fiery white all fused together like stick candy – all suggestive of a childs fantasy of heaven and beyond the open semi-green and semi-desert plain – and lime-white and scrub dotted mountains …“
Thomas Wolfe, A Western Journal

• Altitude 2000-2766 m (6,560-9,075 ft)
• On average, 2.4 million visitors per year
• Main visiting month is August

How, Where, What

Candy canes and lollipops, a bowl full of candy, glowing, as if lit from within, yet only illuminated by the morning sun. This is how the Bryce Amphitheater presents itself to the surprised onlooker. However, the name may mislead one, as Native Americans have already discovered that Bryce is not a canyon in the traditional sense. The park’s main attraction is a series of four large and 12 smaller amphitheaters that erosion has carved into the eastern side of the long Paunsaugunt Plateau. The Claron limestone of the Pink Cliffs, sculpted by wind and water with unending patience and variation, reveals itself in these amphitheaters as columns, walls, natural bridges, round arches, and windows collectively known as hoodoos. The imagination knows no bounds, and people often believe they recognize people or animals in these forms. Physical weathering, which shapes the rock through direct forces such as frost weathering and plant roots, is the decisive factor here. Every ten years, the canyon shrinks at the rim by about 5 cm (2 in) – furiously fast by geological standards – and when it’s very quiet early in the morning, you can hear the little stones crack and trickle. The abundant colors are due to the oxidation of the chemicals in the rock, triggered by the acids in the rainwater; the red and yellow hues are due to iron, the blues and purples to manganese. Ponderosa pines, firs, spruces, ancient bristlecone pines, and dense upland meadows cover the plateau, and its remoteness makes it one of the quietest places in all of America. The high air quality, along with the absence of distracting light sources in the area, provides excellent opportunities for stargazing and related photography.

Directions

Bryce Canyon is easily accessible at the west end of Rt-12, with a 29 km (18 mi) park road accessing viewpoints on the protected southern portion of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The park is always open, and there are 2 campgrounds (no hook-ups for RVs, first come-first served) and the historic Bryce Canyon Lodge available for overnight stays. Just outside is Ruby’s Inn Campground and Motel. There, you can rent cars and arrange sightseeing flights by helicopter or airplane.

Within the park, you have the option to navigate in your own vehicle or, for a less stressful option, use the free shuttle buses during the day. The Bryce Canyon Shuttle runs through the park every 15 minutes from the end of May to the end of September, from 08:00 to 20:00. The bus stops at the following points:

Bryce Canyon City Shuttle Station – Old Bryce Town – Best Western Grand – Best Western Ruby´s Inn – Ruby´s Campground – National Park Visitor Center – Sunset Campground – Bryce Point – Sunset Campground – Sunset Point – Bryce Lodge – Sunrise Point – Visitor Center – Ruby´s Campground – Shuttle Station

Geographical orientation and the most photogenic times of day

Bryce Canyon is not a park for late-risers. The eastward orientation of the hoodoo formations necessitates an early wake-up, as morning light particularly illuminates them. A wonderful purple hue often precedes sunrise, reflecting on the formations. In the late afternoon, the sun is once again at the right angle to let the red of the cliffs glow and cast shadows to give depth to the images. Sunset, on the other hand, is not recommended because the plateau then shields the canyons from the sun. Midday, or the hours before and after, is a good time to photograph the cliffs from below, from one of the hiking trails, against a mostly bright blue sky.

Bryce Canyon in the seasons

The weather in spring and fall is very varied. It can bring both snow and sunshine and 21° C (70 °F) during the day. Summer temperatures are around 26° C (79 °F) during the day and down to 4° C (39 °F) at night. July is usually the warmest month. In late summer, thunderstorms are frequent in the afternoon, dramatizing the contrasts with beautiful cloud formations. In winter, cold fronts from Alaska can make it to the heights of the Colorado Plateau and bring temperatures as low as -30° C (-22 °F). Winter night temperatures are generally below 0° C (32 °F). You should always anticipate snowfall between October and April. March is the month with the most snow. The white splendor then contrasts wonderfully with the red rocks. Due to the high altitude, the sun remains intense all year round, so it’s crucial to always wear sunscreen and a hat. Clothing should be adapted to the changing temperatures and the sometimes sharp wind, the onion-skin principle is advisable.

Photographic specialties

Best include foreground objects, such as trees or rock edges, in the picture to help the images have greater depth and thus make the dimensions of the amphitheaters clear.

Motifs along the park road

Only signposted in the direction of the Visitor Center, Fairyland Canyon is the first viewpoint after passing the park boundary. Since it does not offer a view of the Bryce Amphitheater, it is frequented by few visitors but is nonetheless worth a visit. After a short descent into the interior of the limestone formations, there are good close-up opportunities in the often dramatic twilight. Despite the eastward view, higher parts of the landscape block the view, making it an unsuitable location for sunrise photography. Looking northeast is the prominent formation of the Sinking Ship. Take your time and take a few steps around the parking lot. There are many interestingly grown trees along the rift edge of the canyon that you can include in the image to promote depth. And they also do well as framing picture elements. Shots of such trees with exposed roots or fallen rocks also illustrate the steady progression of erosion. A particularly photogenic pine tree, its roots almost completely exposed by erosion, can be found at the end of the northern cliff edge. To reach it, follow the stalemate trail above the Fairyland Loop Trail.

The Fairyland Loop Trail is a hiking trail that descends into the canyon via the Fairyland Trail and, passing formations such as Chinese Wall, Tower Bridge, Oastlers Castle, and Boat Mesa, ascends again to the fault edge near Sunrise Point (8 km / 5 mi). From here, you can return to Fairyland Point via the Rim Trail (5 km / 3 mi). Due to the total length of 13 km (8.1 mi) and the elevation gain of 265 m (870 ft), you would be doing the trail an injustice if you planned less than 6 hours for it. This low-traffic trail gets you closer to the hoodoo formations than any other in the park.

Sunrise Point is high enough to experience the sun rising above the horizon. Regrettably, its name also confirms this, resulting in a consistent morning crowd. For really good pictures of the event, however, the foreground is missing, and so only the view into the amphitheater on the right offers some good overviews or tele motives. – You are simply too high up to effectively include the formations or trees in the picture.

At Sunrise Point begins the Queens Garden Trail, the easiest, most colorful, and photogenic hike into the canyon (2,9 km / 1.8 mi round trip, elevation gain 98 m / 320 ft, 1.5 hrs). The trail features several tunnels carved into the rocks, providing a unique backdrop for your photos. The formation at the end of the trail resembles Queen Victoria, which gave it its name. Between Sunrise and Sunset Points, the plateau edge slopes steeper than 45° in some places, making hoodoo formations less likely to occur there. These diagonal erosion lines are easily condensed into an abstract view from mid-elevation. On the way down, the lower formations appear like sand dunes because of their soft lines and color gradients. Wildflowers thrive in shady spots. The cool light before sunrise best highlights the lonely position of Bristlecone Pines on a slight rise at the junction with the Peek-a-boo Loop Trail. If you combine Queens Garden and Navajo Loop Trails, make good use of the light by starting at Sunrise Point in the morning and climbing back up through Wall Street at noon.

Sunset Point has the very best location in the park and the most spectacular views north to Sunrise Point as well as south to Bryce Point and the multicolored formation crowd below. It is excellent for capturing the late afternoon light preceding sunset with a focal length of around 200 mm on the Wallstreet, Cathedral and Organ formations. Contrary to its name, Sunset Point is a tip for sunrise, as it has a perfect view of the formations bathing in first light to the east and is usually quite empty at this time.

The Navajo Loop Trail (2,4 km / 1.5 mi round trip, 159 m / 520 ft elevation gain, 2 hours) starting at Sunset Point is short enough to walk it once early in the morning and a second time at midday to catch Wall Street in its best light. The halfway point to Thor’s Hammer is also very well lit in the afternoon. Downhill, out of the fifth switchback, you can pick up the slender rock spire of The Sentinel straight ahead in the light of the morning or evening sun. To the left is a mighty rock face, The Wall, with a few openings along its edges where you can refract the sun’s rays or frame the terrain behind it well. Just a few steps further downhill, you’ll be in a good position to shoot Thor’s Hammer at sunrise. Be in position before sunrise to catch the sun as it begins its journey through the day behind the rectilinear monolith. To prevent excessive contrast before the sun reaches its upper edge, narrow your perspective using a light telephoto lens and focus your exposure towards the foreground. Close the aperture as soon as the sun peeks a finger’s width above the rock and continue to orient the exposure to the foreground. This will give you a properly exposed monolith crowned by a jagged sun star. You can also hold back the sky with a two-stop graduated gray filter to give the shot something mystical.

Exact contrast metering, as well as exposure series in 1/3 f/stops, help the analog photographer narrow down the subjectively correct exposure. Of course, his digital colleague can also use this technique, but in theory, he has an advantage as he doesn’t have to worry about exact values. A quick series of shots between overexposure and underexposure, which are later combined on the computer into a quasi-High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI), makes life easier for him („quasi“ because it is almost always saved in 8-bit, so only 256 brightness levels are available for each color channel). However, to store the actually available brightness range, as real HDR images do, more bits, i.e., more brightness levels, are necessary). Use a tripod for this purpose. You should achieve under- and overexposure by extending or shortening the exposure time, not by stopping up or down. The latter also alters the depth of field, a rarely desired effect. If the subject is moving too much or if you don’t have a tripod with you, the following trick also helps when developing the image in RAW: Develop once on the highlights and once on the shadows, so that you have two images that have detail in each area. The image processing program then combines both to create a single image with the desired characteristics.

Find a spot in the middle of the narrow switchbacks that now follow, and wait as the drifting clouds cast shadows and alternate between direct and indirect light. The view down is more dramatic than in the opposite direction. Once at the bottom, take a left around the corner to Twin Bridges, two small natural rock bridges. A little further on, you have a good view from below into the Silent City. From this vantage point, it’s pleasing to observe the numerous pointed-end turrets, which the imagination can identify as rabbit ears, monkeys, crocodiles, owls, dogs, and various other creatures, or simply as infinitely different-shaped rock peaks. Around the corner to the right, the narrow gorge of Wall Street continues. The towering walls here come within 6 meters of each other, and the light falling steeply from above helps illuminate them dramatically. At their lower end, two exceptionally photogenic Douglas firs rise steeply into the sky between the canyon walls, necessitating a focal length of approximately 28 mm and a low shooting position. Once you’ve made the following steep climb through the narrow passage, you can catch your breath a bit. Through the opening in the rock wall to your left, you have a good view from the same height of Silent City’s many pointed formations. A light telephoto best compresses them in the soft morning light.

You can explore the central Bryce Amphitheater extensively on a not too strenuous half-day hike (10,3 km / 6.4 mi). Start at Sunset Point on the Navajo Trail, which takes you 1,5 km (1 mi) down into the hoodoos. Then complete the 5,6 km (3.5 mi) Peek-a-boo Loop Trail before beginning the return trip to the Rim via the 2,4 km (1.5 mi) Queens Garden Trail. From Sunrise Point, it’s then only 800 m back to Sunset Point (elevation gain 164 m / 538 ft). A second variation (11 km / 6.8 mi) takes you from Bryce Point via the Under-the-Rim Trail (2,4 km), the eastern half of the Peek-a-boo Trail (2,4 km) and the Queens Garden Trail (2,4 km / 1.5 mi) to Sunrise Point. Back to Bryce Point is 3,8 km (2.4 mi) via the Rim Trail (elevation gain 249 m / 817 ft). The Rim Trail between Fairyland Point and Bryce Point is easy to walk and has somewhat steeper sections only on its southern half. It measures 8,6 km (5.3 mi).

Inspiration Point has three viewing floors. From the lower two, you have a nice view of the Silent City formation; the upper one looks towards Bryce Point. It is also high enough to watch the sunset in the west. You should be here before the sun is too high and the northern part is in shadow again, so just after sunrise.

Bryce Point is an excellent location for observing the early morning sidelight on the formations of the central amphitheater. For this wonderful scene, focal lengths around 35 mm are suitable for overviews, and 180 mm and up are suitable for details. Also good to observe is the horizontal and vertical succession of layers and colors. Depending on cloud cover, the light is good in summer until 08:00 or 08:30. From up here, you can see The Grottos in the west. In The Grottos, you can observe the various light conditions throughout the day. When the sun is low, they stand out like a sharp relief; when the sky is overcast, they are seemingly non-existent.

Paria View is the last viewpoint in the row along the amphitheaters. The view from here is across Paria Valley, but it offers little of photographic interest. In the morning, the best light for looking down the valley is at the far end of the trail.

The panoramic view from the following Farview Point is best when the sun is low. The view down to the densely forested foothills of the plateau is undramatic due to the lack of conducive lighting in the morning or late afternoon.

Natural Bridge is actually the wrong name for this viewpoint, as the formation is actually an Arch. The difference? Rock bridges are created by water flowing through them; rock arches are created by the erosive power inherent in wind and rain. Natural Bridge is among the best viewpoints on this part of the parkway. 24 to 28mm of focal length effectively captures the rock arch at any time of day.

At Aqua Canyon, you will see two large, solitary hoodoos on the right.

Ponderosa Canyon View provides the effective setting for a spectacular sunrise or sunset but is „just panoramic“ with little growing for active foreground composition.

Rainbow Point is located slightly to the north, behind a bend in the road. At the far left end of the viewpoint is The Poodle formation, with a formation resembling a lion’s head to the right. Due to its elevation, it is the second viewpoint from which you can watch the sunset. The views are panoramic but appear flat and empty without an accentuating foreground. The recognizable rock formations are small and unspectacular compared to those of the great amphitheaters.

Rainbow Point is connected to Yovimpa Point by the Bristlecone Loop Trail (1,6 km / 1 mi roundtrip, 31 m / 102 ft elevation gain, 1 hour), which passes partly through evergreen trees and partly close to the cliff edge, offering dramatic views. The dead wood to the right and left of the trail, especially the large roots, make for great still life. The pale gray wood contrasts well with a blue sky and the green of the vegetation. Near the cliff edge stand the finest specimens of the ancient Bristlecones, the oldest near the cliff top at 1,600 years old, from where you have spectacular views of the Dixie Nat.`l Forest, Navajo Mountain, and the Kaibab Plateau toward the Grand Canyon North Rim.

Bristlecone Pines are among the oldest living plants on earth. Some specimens in California’s White Mountains are as old as 6,000 years. In the cool blue light of early morning, their distorted shapes and smoothly polished roots provide a wonderful subject for close-up photography (for sunrise timing, the drive from Ruby’s Inn takes about 30 minutes). Out here on the clifftop, a stiff wind often blows, calling for a jacket, a tripod, and a dose of patience.

Yovimpa Point is the southernmost point on the plateau and offers panoramic views to the east, south, and west, making it a good vantage point for sunrise as well. It is the highest point on the Pink Cliffs at 2800 m (9,186 ft) and offers distant views to New Mexico under good conditions. Looking southwest, you can follow the entire course of the Grand Staircase.

If you can’t or don’t want to get any new insights from the viewpoints, you can take the Under-the-Rim-Trail. Over 35 km / 22 mi (altitude difference 750 m / 2,460 ft) it leads from Bryce Point in the upper third of the park to Rainbow Point at the south end always below the rim. On this trail, you can make easy day trips and, thanks to the eight campsites along the way, also longer trips. Individual sections can be accessed from the Sheep Creek Trail Parking Area, Swamp Canyon Viewpoint, Whiteman Trail Parking Area, and the Ponderosa Canyon Overlook. Remember to carry enough water – at least two liters per person – on all hikes at all times.

Minimum program and daily schedule

Spend at least half a day exploring Bryce Canyon, beginning with the sunrise at Bryce Amphitheater. Walk the Navajo Loop Trail after this. A full day’s program should begin with sunrise at Sunset Point and Bryce Point. This will be followed by a hike along the Navajo Trail and a drive along Scenic Drive to Rainbow Point. In the afternoon, you can explore part of the Rim Trail before the program ends with sunset again at Sunset Point.

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