This photograph is taken at Temple of Sinawava, Zion National Park. For those of you who have visited Zion National Park, this is located at the end of scenic drive at the mouth of Zion Narrows. Over the last couple of years, I have visited the Park around Christmas time. I have really enjoyed the park during this time of the year as it’s not crowded and you feel as if you have the entire park to yourself.
The pictured waterfall is ephemeral and is typically dry around winter months. However, the Virgin River watershed experienced heavy rainfall just before Christmas. In fact, the Park Service had closed and evacuated the Zion National Park couple of days prior to my visit. But this act of Mother Nature had fed water to numerous waterfalls throughout the park (most I have seen during my 10+ trips to Zion NP in last seven years).
It again rained on Boxing Day (the morning I took this picture). The rain and the low hanging clouds gave another dimension to the already spectacular Zion Canyon. When I drove through the Park that morning it looked like the picturesque sceneries from the movie Lord of the Rings.
I had already scouted the place from where I wanted to make this picture. The rain had saturated the color of the rocks along the banks of Virgin River and the sandstone cliffs. Everything was there for me to make a great picture of this incredible scene…except because of the rain it was difficult to keep my lens dry. After several trial and errors…and wiping my lens after each click…I finally got this shot.
I may have spent more than couple of hours making pictures that morning. I was so soaked by the mystic scenery that I never realized that I was actually soaked by the cold December rain. Bad weather = Good pictures. Enough said…
Below are some more snaps from that morning. Enjoy!
