“Water seeping out of the Navajo sandstone creates tranquil springs and the unique “hanging gardens” for which Zion is famous, full of ferns, wildflowers, and mosses.”
ISO 250, 1/6 sec at f/22
Here are three exposures of the same scene.
ISO 250, 1/4 sec at f/22
Click on an image for a closer view.
ISO 250, 1/13 sec at f/22
Can you spot the foot path?
Here is a gallery of the three photographs, to flip back and forth. the primary difference is the exposure within the shadow under the projecting cliff face.
ISO 250, 1/6 sec at f/22
ISO 250, 1/4 sec at f/22
ISO 250, 1/13 sec at f/22
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Wandering Zion canyon I spied three visitors seemingly trying their luck on the cliff edge, where the water drops.
ISO 250, 1/8 sec at f/22
Look closely and the rope barrier can be picked out. Can you see the three figures? Click on the image for a larger view.
Captured with a Kodak DCS Pro SLE/c dslr and a Canon lens EF 200 mm 1:2.8 L II stabilized with the Manfrotto Studio Tripod model 475 and the 468 Hydrostatic ball head. This series explores the possibility of the iconic “Lone Pine.”
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
From this angle the Pinyon Pine is backed by Checkerboard Mesa slickrock.
ISO 250 1/800 sec at f/2.8
For humans travelling on foot this weather worn sandstone is anything but slippery, If we wore iron horseshoes the sense of slippery, or slick, rock becomes apparent. It was ranchers mounted on horses who coined the name slickrock.
For this shot we approached Zion National Park from the east, via route 9, past Checkerboard Mesa.
Captured with a Kodak DCS Pro SLE/c dslr and a Canon lens EF 200 mm 1:2.8 L II stabilized with the Manfrotto Studio Tripod model 475 and the 468 Hydrostatic ball head. This series explores the possibility of the iconic “Lone Pine.”
Here is a gallery of the four Lone Pine images.
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
What is a Lone Pine without the sky? This specimen somewhat less gnarled than numbers 1 and 2. Here we see more of the beetling crag, layered up sediment of eons.
ISO 250 1/400 sec at f/4.0
For this shot we approached Zion National Park from the east, via route 9, past Checkerboard Mesa. Our lodging was to the east, probably the Best Western in Mt. Carmel on Rt 89. Meaning there were four opportunities for capturing memorable East Zion images over two days.
Captured with a Kodak DCS Pro SLE/c dslr and a Canon lens EF 200 mm 1:2.8 L II stabilized with the Manfrotto Studio Tripod model 475 and the 468 Hydrostatic ball head. This series explores the possibility of the iconic “Lone Pine.”
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Here is the same gnarled pinyon pine of the previous post, with a sky centered exposure revealing the silhouetted wonder.
ISO 250 1/1000 sec at f/7.1
Captured with a Kodak DCS Pro SLE/c dslr and a Canon lens EF 200 mm 1:2.8 L II stabilized with the Manfrotto Studio Tripod model 475 and the 468 Hydrostatic ball head. This series explores the possibility of the iconic “Lone Pine.”
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
The eastern approach Zion Canyon is a national park unto itself, route 9 passes through otherworldly landscapes.
ISO 250 1/1000 sec at f/2.8
Captured with a Kodak DCS Pro SLE/c dslr and a Canon lens EF 200 mm 1:2.8 L II stabilized with the Manfrotto Studio Tripod model 475 and the 468 Hydrostatic ball head. This series explores the possibility of the iconis “Lone Pine.” Here the tortured existence of this organism is rendered plain.
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Rainwater from distant thunderstorms on the vast Colorado Plateau emerge from a cliff wall, Zion Canyon. The fall will last for a few hours, we bore lucky witness as do my images shared below.
1/15 sec at f/8.0 ISO 160
Captured with a Kodak DCS Pro SLE/c dslr and a Canon lens EF 200 mm 1:2.8 L II stabilized with the Manfrotto Studio Tripod model 475 and the 468 Hydrostatic ball head. I prefer the details of misting water at the widest lens aperture, focus is clear throughout the plane, excepting some foreground brush.
1/125 sec at f/2.8 ISO 160
Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
See my May Woody Peony postings for background on this peony variety.
These photographs were taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dslr and the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens stabilized with the Manfrotto BeFree Carbon Fiber tripod with ball head.
The morning breezes of May caused me to “up” ISO to 1600 for a faster shutter speed at higher f-stop.
ISO 1600 f32 1/6 sec
Taking full advantage of the macro lens, the higher ISO helped to maintain sharper focus on the highlighted feature, in this case the stamens.
ISO 1600 f5.6 1/400 sec
A gallery of macros with various settings and aspects of the bloom.
ISO 1600 f32 1/6 sec
ISO 100 f32. 1/6 sec
ISO 1600 f5.6 1/320 sec
ISO 1600 f5.6 1/400 sec
Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Gulls, an omnipresent element of any beach stroll. Pestiferous, abounding and incessant the gull is simple to deal with. Keep any and all foodstuffs under wraps.
Conversely, for those who adore a crowd of raucous opportunists simply pull out the food and offer it to the air. There is more about this photograph at this post, “Lady Feeding Gulls, Cocoa Beach Dawn.”
Click any photograph for a larger view.
Beach Walking
Pam and I developed a habit of hanging out in Florida during Finger Lakes Winters when the gorges are closed for safety and even walking the streets is perilous, stray black ice encounters abound. We trade icy falls for beach walks.
It is natural to become inured to the flight of gulls along the shore. For all my carting along the Sony Alpha 700 with a variable lens ( 18 – 200 mm) there is not a single photograph of a gull in flight. Yet, I have my eye on them until my blindness was lifted by a peculiar individual. It seemed to be a white gull, yet it had a watchful eye.
Gliding shoreline parallel with head down, how could I have mistaken it for a gull?
Osprey occupy an environmental niche along 700,000+ shoreline miles worldwide as a single species Pandion haliaetus. A unique bird with its own family, Pandionidae, and genus, Pandion, some experts recognize sub-species in geographic regions. Ours is the Western Osprey.
The following photograph is of a wing shape very different from the gull.
Osprey Stalking Behavior
IPhone 8 always in my pocket, I captured this clip of an Osprey stalking fish in the Atlantic Ocean surf. You will have a better viewing experience by clicking on the title of the embedded YouTube, then click on the Full Screen icon at the lower right.
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Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
“It is difficult / to get the news from poems / yet men die miserably every day / for lack / of what is found there.” Asphodel that Greeny Flower WC Williams
Here is a Sunny Sunday reader assignment. Which handling of this woody peony blossom do you prefer? Please leave your preferences in the comments section with details of your reasoning. Thank you!!
These photographs were taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dslr, new for me as of 2020, and the Canon EF 50 mm f/1.2L USM lens stabilized with the Manfrotto BeFree Carbon Fiber tripod with ball head. This setup allowed me to fiddle with camera settings, here you see a variation in the width of the shutter diaphragm opening, or F-stop. The smaller the opening (higher F-stop) less light is let through to the image sensor, longer exposure time (allowing the subject to move, as in the morning breeze) offset by greater depth of field, more of which provides sharp focus as the subject elements are further from the lens.
In this first photograph, the F-stop is moderately high. The entire blossom and plant are in focus, the background moderately blurred though still recognizable.
ISO 200 1/6 sec f/16
For the second photograph F-stop is low, opening up the shutter diaphragm, allowing more light in for a faster shutter release, less time for the morning breeze to rise up and ruin the shot. The beautiful background blurring, bokeh, is a feature of this 50 mm lens. At the same time, at F/4.0 the shutter diaphragm is not wide open. The blossom is entirely in focus, many plant leaves and the other blossom, to left, are out of focus. This places emphasis on the primary subject of the photograph while providing a feel for the surroundings.
ISO 200 1/100 sec F/4.0
Here are the same photographs, click on one to open a gallery for you to flip back and forth to compare.
ISO 200 1/6 sec f/16
ISO 200 1/100 sec F/4.0
Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 