It’s been a wild year so far for me as a landscape photographer.  The first half of the year involved all kinds of interesting trips.  I visited new places I’d never been before.  Also, I visited old haunts during times of the year which I hadn’t tried before.  Indeed, my landscape photography portfolio is swelling with beautiful new photos.  So, I decided to take things a bit leisurely for a bit.  It’s good to calm down and rest for a while.  As part of that plan, I sought out some seclusion in my now old haunt of Bryce Canyon.  Of course, I brought along my camera.

If you know where to go in Bryce Canyon, you can find seclusion and solitude.  You might be lucky and find yourself the only human(s) around.  While I wasn’t quite that lucky, I still didn’t need to worry about very many people.  I took a hike on 1 of my favorite, though vastly underappreciated, trails.  I won’t reveal which 1 so I don’t spoil it for myself and others in the know.  Still, it presents a very different view in Bryce.  You won’t see many of the towering hoodoos which make the park famous.  This is a different scene and a welcome change.

We hiked out to this gazebo which we already knew about.  Who knew that Bryce Canyon had such an installation?  I didn’t on my first hike of this trail (this time was not my first hike of the trail).  It was the perfect place to sit in solitude and to park all the gear.  It’s also not far away from another great secluded viewpoint in Bryce Canyon.  I don’t think that viewpoint has a name, but it’s excellent also.

What initially drew my attention were some shadows on some of the eroded formations in front of me.  Thanks to the slow progression of time and water on sandstone, Bryce Canyon transformed into the marvel of a landscape which it is today.  This site featured some of that erosion and the sun was hitting it just right.

Later, as the sun moved in the sky, I turned my attention to other photographic subjects.  After all, there’s plenty to shoot in the seclusion of Bryce Canyon.  I also wanted to maximize my trip out there as much as possible.

One of my last stops was that secluded view point I mentioned above.  It was certainly worth the stop.  The golden light of the setting sun still bathed the area in warmth and glow.  While up there and searching for subject matter, I happened to notice that the light fell particularly well upon a certain bristlecone pine tree sapling growing on the cliff edge.

It took some doing to position myself in such a way that I could capture the tree and exclude the dead branches surrounding it.  But I managed it somehow in spite of the fence in front of me.

Overall, it was a delightful late afternoon and evening.  I welcomed the slower pace and the change from the big and dramatic shoots I’d been doing this year.  The seclusion I knew Bryce Canyon could offer was just what we needed.