Zion National Park, Utah. Part IV

"The towering trees are my cathedral wherein the shimmering streams of sunlight dance through the branches and leaves with an effect akin to stain glass in motion.  I sit on a pew of  stone or clay or grass and listen to a choir of birds sing with the sound of running water and the soft gentle breeze as it moves through the landscape.  And I hear the sermon of  God in nature."
-Andrew Kliss

 I don't remember writing the above quote quite so eloquently to a friend of mine that went on a Mormon missionary journey to England shortly after we graduated from high school. I wasn't a practicing Christian at the time - if I could have even been counted as a nonpracticing one back then.

In a recent correspondence, Roger sent me that snippet from a  letter I wrote him while he was still in England. Upon reading it now, it has even more meaning, and with it a deeper appreciation of nature today than when I wrote it 40+ years ago.

Why did God create such beauty and majesty? In order to point us in His direction, for who can ignore a majestic, or tranquil, or breathtaking, or heart palpitating view and not wonder who is the Artist behind the creation?

This is the last post for photos I've taken over the past seven years since earnestly going digital in 2006.

There are so many other places that beckon, especially the southwest. When I retire soon, the possibilities and opportunities of visiting and capturing on "film" these wonderful, majestic, iconic, and inspiring venues will certainly afford me avenues with which to fulfill this wanderlust that burns a hole in my heart. Hopefully, finances won't char too deep a burn in my pocket! I've kind of put it aside for now due to shoulder surgery some months back, and the subsequent slow process of recovery afterwards, plus a lot of time has been spent these past months in scanning and archiving family photos.

I was thinking of posting some of these family photos that go waaaaaay back until the present, but I love and respect you all too much to put you through such agony and misery. As I start getting back out into the world of photography, several things are on the subjects plate:

• Getting more involved in street photography, especially with black and white in mind.

• Local wildlife photography. There are many opportunities in and around easy driving distance from where I live in San Marcos, California. Insects, birds, sea animals, to name a few. Not only those, but there are the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Parks (formally known as Wild Animal Park) where photos ops abound for the more exotic species.

• Seascapes. Haven't done much at all in that realm. There's a plethora of camera candy all the way from San Diego to Laguna Beach and beyond.

 If there is a tremendous groundswell of demand for family photos, I will oblige, but seriously, it's rather doubtful such a thing will happen.

I thank God for making creation so beautiful and magnificent! Without His speaking it as such into existence, life would be so dull and drab.

HDR photo of Lower Emerald Pool grotto. The Emerald Pools Trail takes one to Lower, Middle, and Upper Pools. The trail to the lower pool is relatively easy to access. There are some elevation gains and drops, but it is paved with asphalt. The rest of the pool photos are of Lower Emerald.

Shot with a 10.5mm fisheye lens. Quite a different perspective of the same grotto.

The Watchman standing guard over the Virgin River. The sun has just set behind the canyon walls and buttes, casting a blush upon the cheeks of The Watchman.

Thank you all for your kind words and support throughout all of my digital photography endeavors, and for family and friends freely offering their manifest love, support, and friendships.

I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. This is a photo taken of the family in 1990 on a camping trip up at White Rock Lake, north of Lake Tahoe.

Front row: my oldest daughter Sarah and Son Eric.
Second row: daughter Anna, my wife at the time Laurie, and myself holding Daniel, a good friend of mine's son.

Ciao for now!

Sincerely,
-Andrew (Andy) Kliss

Zion National Park, Utah. Part III

"Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution."

-Ansel Adams


 It's been a while since my last post. I've been very busy scanning and digitally archiving family photos for the past six months while having the luxury of a large chunk of relatively uninterrupted time in order to accomplish it in. Crunch time is here. Within the next week or two, I will know what path my work future will go down. If I go back to work, well, there goes the requisite blocks of time needed in order to finish archiving within a relatively short amount of time. I'm almost there! Only a couple of dozen or so more to go... As Bill D. Cat would say in the now defunct Opus and Bloom County cartoon strips: "ACK!"

These photos were taken in the upper elevations of Zion along Zion Park Blvd. that zigzags up and towards the east where one can eventually hit the highway that goes past Bryce Canyon. Zion Park Blvd. is known for its long tunnel cut out of the surrounding rock in one section. This is an interesting section of the park with a much different feel with regards to the massive, all encompassing, and seemingly confining walls of the canyon below it.

This upper elevation area is home to a myriad of naturally sculpted bonsai trees. Most of them are pines, with occasional western maples and a few stunted cottonwoods interspersed here and there as bonsias.

The western maples in this area can give some stupendous fall color, sporting shades of orange, and all the way into deep and bright reds. These maples are scattered about the landscape, and are few and far between. Remove from your mind the thought of groves of them as are found in the eastern regions of our country.

This little pine has to be the most photographed tree in all of Zion National Park. Shot using HDR.

Found this piece of dead wood to my liking, especially against the hues of the rock it's perched upon.

 

Just outside the east entrance to the park as one is heading towards Bryce, is a souvenir/gift/food stop shop that caters to those passing through. Outside sits an old (I think '56 or '57 Chevy truck) dripping with character. I proceeded to take a whole series of photos of it from all sorts of angles and perspectives. Using HDR seemed to lend an even greater sense of character to the photos posted of it. 

Zion National Park, Utah. Part II

"Alas! how little does the memory of these human inhabitants enhance the beauty of the landscape!"

-Henry David Thoreau

Pardon me. In the last blog, I stated that those photos were taken in the fall of 2011. They were taken in the fall of 2010, but hey, who's counting? These photos are a mix of 2009 and 2010 trips.

When one first enters the canyon, a sense of better things to come pervades the atmosphere. The striated walls begin relatively low, getting steeper and more dramatic as one travels deeper into it. At the end of the road (Zion Canyon Scenic Drive), it enters into an area known as the Temple of Sinawava. This is the terminus, ending in a parking lot where one can park and hike up the Narrows Trail.

On the way up to Angel's Landing and approximately half way up to the top is a nice viewpoint one can stop, rest, and enjoy the scenery. This HDR photo was taken towards the end of the afternoon, looking down into Zion Canyon with the Virgin River coursing through it... and no, I didn't climb the chain all the way to the top of Angel's Landing. I didn't want the opportunity to manifest itself of  potentially becoming a fallen angel. Did make it to the flat point just after Walter's Wiggles at the base of the chain path, though. The bottom part of Angel's Landing Trail can be seen in the lower, right hand area of the photo.

The Virgin River during the first week of November.

 

Both 2009 and 2010 were particularly good years for fall color in the canyon.

Plopped right in the middle of the Temple of Sinawava are two huge monoliths named The Pulpit. Impressive they are, especially in the context of their location and placement in the temple area. The photo above utilizes HDR.