Zion, Canyonlands and Arches NP's.

Looks like you caught some nice light! Thanks for sharing.

Outstanding images and, as Tony says, fabulous light!

Jim

Hey Douglas,

Great work, as usual. You got a great shot of Mesa Arch in particular. Were you fortunate to be the only one there? Your angle is really good...and much better than the one I got in November.

James

thanks all,

James, not so lucky as to be the only ones. When we arrived, there were two others there set up about 30 feet from the arch with wide angle lenses. Not sure why they were so far back, they were capturing all the dirty footprints in the snow and none of the layering you get from shooting through the arch. I gave them time to take a few shots then moved in to get mine. I have one similar to yours too. It's not a bad angle...

nicely done!

I dont know how to properly ask this without it sounding bad, so i'll just ask, do you have anything you can show us thats unique or original? I'm asking not because I dont like what you posted but because I have been to all the those places and seen them printed 100 times over, but seldom see anything else. I have always wanted to see original images from that part of the country and i'm not there enough to put my self to the challange - though i wish i were.

I know it's fun to shoot the icons and for stock you should own it, and you do have some stellar images, but would you mind posting a few that come from your own unique perspective?

you do such a nice job with the iconic images i'd just like to see what you can do with the not so usual stuff.

Thanks Doug!



Tony

I doubt I could bring back an original image from many of these places, they have been photographed many, many times over. To get something truly original, I would need to spend days hiking and exploring these areas. Even areas hard to get to like the subway have been shot to death.

It is far easier to get what you request from an area I visit often and has a lot more area to explore such as this



Places like this have been done

Hey Douglas,

Beautiful images - both of them. Tony's question is an interesting one. How do you make a well known landscape truly different? Particularly if you only have 10 days to visit? Chanthee and I are working on our new website (not the often spoken of but elusive new NWP forum software, but our business site) and finding 15 shots of Yellowstone/Grand Teton (where I am truly most at home) that are unique and exciting has been tough. Really tough...and I have been going there for nearly 15 years.

Tony, do you feel you have been able to do this in Glacier (which is, while very well documented, perhaps a bit less than many of the other parks)?

James

Realizing these areas have been shot many times over was the reason we went during winter and snow. We were hoping to capture something at least a little different. The North Window shot was done before sunrise because I hadn't seen any like the one above from that area. I also havent seen many shots of the Watchman during winter with the dark storm/snow clouds you get during that season. Most are done in spring and fall, I thought my shot was a bit different than the others. True it is from the same view point, but at least an attempt was made to get it looking a little more original

Hey Douglas,

I 100% hear you and agree with you. I think the shot is really nice. Tony's point about trying to re-shoot these places though brings up several good questions. Personally, I LIKE going for the iconic shot every once in a while and attempting to put my own spin on it. Going in the winter was your spin - and totally cool. The question then is what else can we do? Is going and getting the iconic shot enough? For those of us who are doing this for fun - I think it is. For those who are looking to make a living out of this and have to go out every day and provide something different, it may not be.