For a few years now, my mother-in-law has made a bit of a deal about Snow Canyon.  Her reasons?  I’m a landscape photographer and she heard it’s pretty there.  Every once in a while, she would prod me to go by asking if that’s where I went on my latest photo expedition.  So, I finally made the trek just to shut her up.  It might not sound very nice, but it’s the truth.  So what are you going to do?  Now, I present you with my latest photo expedition, which she has long been anticipating: Snow Canyon State Park in Utah.

Snow Canyon is VERY close to St. George.  In fact, it’s only a few miles outside the current town boundaries.  However, to get there, you must drive in a U shape thanks to some terrain.  So, the trip isn’t as quick as it sounds even for local residents unless they just so happen to live on that side of the terrain.

It was about the last stop on a very long but enjoyable day.  We checked out the Kanab balloon festival, drove through Zion, and ended our outdoor excursion at Snow Canyon.  I feel I really couldn’t have asked for better this time.

However, once we arrived at Snow Canyon State Park, sunset was imminent.  I had a narrow window of time to find a place to shoot before golden light would descend.  Too much delay would result in me missing the window.  Thankfully, a volunteer ranger pointed me in a good and close-by direction.  I climbed up these layers of sedimentary rock to find quite the view unfolding before my eyes.  The best part?  It was now golden hour.  It was the perfect time to shoot.

So, I wandered around for a bit until I found a pair of ephemeral pools sitting atop the formation.  Most people weren’t paying any attention to them.  However, they both had perfect mirror reflections.  I knew at once I could use them to fill a hole in my portfolio: reflections of landscape scenes in tiny (or not-so-tiny) pools of water.  I immediately set about to work.

The empty pool ended up working out better than the pool with the tree growing in it.  Also a lucky airplane contrail provided me with just what I needed for sky and reflection interest.  You wouldn’t guess there were people just behind that red ridge tossing a football, would you?  They didn’t make it easy to capture a pristine shot without people.  Still, I managed it with patience and timing.

Something else which caught my attention was a wedding photographer shooting photos for a bride and groom.  I must admit the view she was using was spectacular and probably made for beautiful wedding photos for the couple.  Once they were done and left, I used some of my last couple minutes to capitalize on the view she was using.  Now that it was free and the clouds (such as they were) were lit up, I wanted to try for that angle too.

I must admit that my mother-in-law heard correctly.  Snow Canyon is beautiful and worth a trip for me as a landscape photographer.  I came back with a couple of surprisingly amazing photos given the narrow window of time I had to work in.  Still, I was disappointed by the lack of snow in a place called Snow Canyon.  Just kidding.  I know the park was named for a family of pioneer settlers with the last name of Snow.

So, now I turn it over to you.  Was my mother-in-law right in her suggestion?  Is Snow Canyon pretty?  Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.