My last stop on my Utah trip was Zion National Park. A friend joined me for sunrise at Observation Point. We started our 3+ mile hike at 6am and arrived at the canyon overlook one and a half hours later, about 1/2 hour before sunrise.

After sunrise at Observation Point, we headed to the canyons on the eastern side of the park. I didn’t carry much camera gear to allow me to travel lighter. I had one lens and a tripod. To my surprise we stumbled into a wonderful area with a string of small pools of water in the rock. I didn’t realize it until I got home and looked at the photos that the pool below is shaped lake a teardrop.

Along the way, we found some interesting patterns in the sandstone.

To see more from this visit to Zion National Park, click here.

As I grow as a photographer, I enjoy the process of exploring a setting and creating an original composition. However, when I see the photos of others, and I can’t help but be influenced by this in my own composition. At other times I unknowingly fall into a great composition and later discover that the composition has been done by others already. For this next location, I didn’t know ahead of time, but I immediately recognized this as the location of other well-known photographers and their photographs. What a great location!

Most of the photos below were taken before the sun rose. The landscape reflected the pre-dawn light. The last photo was taken as the sun came over the horizon and added a warm glow to the sunward facing ridges.

To see more from these badlands and areas around Capitol Reef National Park, click here.