Canyon Wall and Reflections. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A vertical canyon wall is reflected in the Utah canyon stream.

A small group of photographers spent a couple days exploring this canyon, walking in from its wide mouth and soon being surrounded by tall sandstone cliffs and cut off from the outside world. On the first day it was quite cold and we faced the challenge of wind — which created some big challenges when photographing in the shadowed depths of the canyon. We had some success, but a few days later we decided to return and try for a day with less wind.

In this canyon I recognized a lesson that I suppose I already knew subconsciously. As we worked out way downstream we were balancing the distance we could travel against the amount of time we spend on each subject and calculating our necessary turn-around time if we were to exit the canyon in daylight. But it is hard to stop exploring such a place, and more that once we would round a bend, see another section of canyon come into view, and say, “just this one more section.” Then we’d reach the next bend, feel the need to explore it, catch a glimpse of what was around the next bend and, well, you get the idea. If I recall correctly, this was the final bend at which we realized that we had to reverse course. It was a lovely spot, extremely still and quiet, with the small stream flowing gently past the bottom of a very large and rugged cliff in deep shadows.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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