Lately, we’ve finally received some long overdue snow in the area.  Several inches of snow dumped on us.  We could really use that water come springtime.  However, the newly fallen snow offers more than simply the next growing season’s irrigation.  It also offers landscape photography opportunities.  So, I pulled out my camera and made the trip to Bryce Canyon right before another snowstorm descended.  Check out what I came back with.

Thanks to the volume of snow, I didn’t dare try for some of the open trails.  My elbow still smarts a bit from my fall a few weeks ago.  Others were just that brave but I opted to stay on the rim of the canyon instead.

I found the moodiness of the storm rolling in added a very different feel to the canyon than my usual bright and cheery-looking landscape photos.  I don’t often attempt moody landscape photos.  They don’t often work out for me.  However, I might try them out every so often just to do something different.

I wanted to try Thor’s Hammer in the only obviously different season I could: winter.  The hoodoo looks the same in spring, summer, and autumn.  It’s only during winter when I may display the scene differently.  Knowing exactly where to go while still restricting myself to the rim, I made my way towards Thor’s Hammer.

The trick is standing exactly where the hammer hoodoo stands out from the surrounding red sandstone rocks.  Otherwise we simply lose it in the background of similarly-colored red.  Even the snow can’t differentiate the hoodoo from the red background.  So, I found the right place to stand where the hoodoo appears in between the fins of rock surrounding it.

After I took the closeup shots I wanted, I took a step back and surveyed the scene.  I realized that I could capture the wider view of the canyon, and include Thor’s Hammer, into a Bryce Canyon snowstorm panorama.  All I had to do was to find the right place to stand.

I know for a fact I wasn’t the only person with eyes on the snowy Thor’s Hammer that day.  I saw no less than 3 other photographers on the trail and a couple at the rim as well.  What can I say?  Great minds often think alike.  Still, I don’t believe any of the others took a panorama of the view.  I’m probably the only photographer who did so that day.  However, I didn’t stay long.  As you can see for yourself, the storm was mere minutes away from rolling in and I didn’t want to be caught in it on the way home.

So, what do you think of my moody Bryce Canyon snowstorm photos?  Should I continue moody landscape photography?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below.