Posted by Paul DeCesare on October 18, 2012 at 8:45 PM
OK, so I'm in Park City, UT right now, software seminar is done, and I'm heading to bed and getting up at 1am to high-tail it outta here and head down to Bryce for sunrise. The map shows me coming south on 63 and turning left on Bryce Point Rd which looks like it ends at the canyon (methinks), with a small fork at the end. Is that where I want to be, and which fork leg should I take? I'd like to get a shot of the sun just popping up and backlighting the spires and other yummy sedimentary goodies there.
Also, it looks like 63 passes by a bigger section of canyon right before the turn for Bryce Point, at least on Google Maps. Should I be stopping there ya think?
Amy advice will be much appreciate, as always. Thanks!
Posted by Karl Buiter on October 18, 2012 at 9:11 PM
Hi Paul,
Here is my quick take. I was there in August.
Taking Bryce Point Road, left or North Fork at the end, will take you to a parking lot. North of the lot is a small trail the leads up to a mostly fenced peninsula with canyon to your west, north, and east. Since the spires/hoodoos are below, you would get the high shot.
I dont know about the right or South Fork.
Yes, on the way to Bryce Point Road, you will pass several short roads that take you to Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, and generally a pedestrian upper rim trail. This is also true if head further south. Most all view points face east, except for Rainbow at the end which hooks back north and Yavimpa which faces south.
There is a Below-the-Rim trail with access at various locations.
As to which locations provide the best sunrise view, I cannot say. Hopefully others may answer before your very early departure. Nice thing is there are several 80 mph zones on the I-15 on your way down. Happy driving!
Posted by Doug Koepsel on October 18, 2012 at 9:24 PM
The right fork on the road to BrycePt would go to Paria View. For backlighting, I would be inclined to go to Sunset Point or maybe hike the rim trail a little north towards Sunrise. I think at Bryce Point, the spires would be more sidelit as the better view is more northward. Inspiration Pt would be further west than Bryce and afford more backlighting of hoodoos. jmo.
I'm late to comment, but perhaps you'll check in before leaving Park City. First, go to http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/BRCAmap1.pdf to check out a basic map of the park. Right now, The Photographer's Ephemeris has the sunrise about 15 to 20 degrees south of east. (Start by facing purely East, then rotate 15-20 degrees towards south). Technically, sunrise is 7:41 am at 102 degrees bearing.
Considering that, if you're looking for backlighting, I'd park at Sunset Point and walk the rim trail ten or fifteen minutes around the main amphitheater. That should put you into a position facing into the sun with hoodoos below you.
I'm not sure you want to be looking for backlighting, though. When I use that word, I'm working with translucent materials that light up. The hoodoos are not translucent, and you risk a wild variation in the lighting between the hoodoos and the sky. Who knows, though, it might work out great.
If you change plans and want to go for a more cross-lit scene, I'd go for Inspiration Point or Bryce point this time of year.
Oh, and google maps has the driving time between Park City and Bryce as ~5 hours, so if you leave by 1:30am you should be okay. There's not more than 10-15 minutes of walking once you park.
Later in the day, you might consider the detour going home through Oak Creek Canyon. Friend of mine was up in West Fork the other day and said that the leaves are starting there.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on October 20, 2012 at 12:37 AM
Karl/Doug/Mark, I did get to read everything early this morning, THANK YOU. The advice kept pointing to keeping it simple and just getting out to Bryce Point for a sidelit shot of the hoodoos, which is exactly what I did. Mark, I always use TPE but you posting the info for me saved me the time snd effort at that early hour, so thanks! I left Park City ay 2:30am and got to Bryce at 7am, plenty of time to set up. I shot for two hours, didn't plan on staying that long. While I was waiting for the sun to rise more and illuminate more of the canyon, I used the 70-200mm to pick out detail shots in teh canyon, even a few with the 2x TC mounted. WOW, what a great morning and amazing sight to see. And Bryce Point is just one nugget, you could spend a month shooting there. I didn't want to leave, it was like an all-you-can eat buffet of nature photography, lol.
Funny thing happened as I was pulling out the tripod and gear: there was a handful of quiet folks in the parking lot and it seemed so uncrowded and serene. And then... at 7:10am a HUGE expensive tour bus pulls up with what had to be 5 or 6 dozen foreign tourists (I think they were from Japan). All of a sudden 60+ people are swarming the lot, lol! However, they all went up to the big viewpoint which was fine. I did a right turn and went down the steps and hopped the litte fence so I could get right out to the cliff edge. There's a whole section there to shoot from as you carefully walk SE along the rim. It was a great time.
OK, got lots of processing to do (including the Zion sunset shots from the trip up to SLC on Monday), and I'll get something posted, somewhere. Too beat to do anything tonight, after I left Bryce at 9am, I shot over to Las Vegas to pick up 12 Dell servers for my stepson (he's a Windows Server sys admin) and finally got back to Phx about 6:30pm. Been up since 1am so I'm pretty numb, but excited to start looking at the RAW files tomorrow.
I can't thank you guys enough, there is no substitute for the experience on this site and the willingness to help. I basically drove right to a primo location with no panic of not knowing where to shoot from. I posted the question then went to sleep, and at 1am I had my info. Glad you spoke up about my wrong idea of going for a BL shot! Anyway, thanks again.
Discussion
5 repliesAlso, it looks like 63 passes by a bigger section of canyon right before the turn for Bryce Point, at least on Google Maps. Should I be stopping there ya think?
Amy advice will be much appreciate, as always. Thanks!
Here is my quick take. I was there in August.
Taking Bryce Point Road, left or North Fork at the end, will take you to a parking lot. North of the lot is a small trail the leads up to a mostly fenced peninsula with canyon to your west, north, and east. Since the spires/hoodoos are below, you would get the high shot.
I dont know about the right or South Fork.
Yes, on the way to Bryce Point Road, you will pass several short roads that take you to Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, and generally a pedestrian upper rim trail. This is also true if head further south. Most all view points face east, except for Rainbow at the end which hooks back north and Yavimpa which faces south.
There is a Below-the-Rim trail with access at various locations.
As to which locations provide the best sunrise view, I cannot say. Hopefully others may answer before your very early departure. Nice thing is there are several 80 mph zones on the I-15 on your way down. Happy driving!
Considering that, if you're looking for backlighting, I'd park at Sunset Point and walk the rim trail ten or fifteen minutes around the main amphitheater. That should put you into a position facing into the sun with hoodoos below you.
I'm not sure you want to be looking for backlighting, though. When I use that word, I'm working with translucent materials that light up. The hoodoos are not translucent, and you risk a wild variation in the lighting between the hoodoos and the sky. Who knows, though, it might work out great.
If you change plans and want to go for a more cross-lit scene, I'd go for Inspiration Point or Bryce point this time of year.
Good luck to you -- hope it's amazing!
Later in the day, you might consider the detour going home through Oak Creek Canyon. Friend of mine was up in West Fork the other day and said that the leaves are starting there.
Funny thing happened as I was pulling out the tripod and gear: there was a handful of quiet folks in the parking lot and it seemed so uncrowded and serene. And then... at 7:10am a HUGE expensive tour bus pulls up with what had to be 5 or 6 dozen foreign tourists (I think they were from Japan). All of a sudden 60+ people are swarming the lot, lol! However, they all went up to the big viewpoint which was fine. I did a right turn and went down the steps and hopped the litte fence so I could get right out to the cliff edge. There's a whole section there to shoot from as you carefully walk SE along the rim. It was a great time.
OK, got lots of processing to do (including the Zion sunset shots from the trip up to SLC on Monday), and I'll get something posted, somewhere. Too beat to do anything tonight, after I left Bryce at 9am, I shot over to Las Vegas to pick up 12 Dell servers for my stepson (he's a Windows Server sys admin) and finally got back to Phx about 6:30pm. Been up since 1am so I'm pretty numb, but excited to start looking at the RAW files tomorrow.
I can't thank you guys enough, there is no substitute for the experience on this site and the willingness to help. I basically drove right to a primo location with no panic of not knowing where to shoot from. I posted the question then went to sleep, and at 1am I had my info. Glad you spoke up about my wrong idea of going for a BL shot! Anyway, thanks again.