zion national park Subway Shelter

Larger View Available   When my solitude in the Subway of Zion ended, I decided to embrace the additional foot traffic to this iconic area of the park. I had never seen photos that showed the scale of the Subway feature, so I thought this would be interesting for viewers. f11, ISO 400, 3 image stitch.

When my solitude in the Subway of Zion ended, I decided to embrace

the additional foot traffic to this iconic area of the park. I had never seen

photos that showed the scale of the Subway feature, so I thought this

would be interesting for viewers. f11, ISO 400, 3 image stitch

Harry, it's extremely interesting! I've never been, and when I first saw images of the subway some years back, I almost thought it could be submerged or below ground, given the name. Your take here is almost like revealing the magicians trick if you will. The thing about the subway is that it would be difficult to put a new spin on it. So many angles have been presented and one might think there's nothing more to offer. Still, you have found a way! Not only did you break away from tradition by including a human form, you did so with a pano that includes the other end of the canyon. I follow your photography because I am almost assured you will give a location a fresh treatment, even one that has been treated to death. No doubt, this has more of a documentary style than the traditional shot, but it is profoundly unique. Kudos to you Harry! On a side note, I feel you should burn the sandy area at the LR to subdue it from being mildly distracting. I really hope others will take note of this fine example of photography!

I should have seen it coming. Anything I think is exceptional would surely garner a handful of 4s. Perplexing is the only word that comes to mind. Harry, don't let those "knee jerk" scores dissuade you from making more of these!

Thanks Mark - I rarely, if ever look at the ratings.  For me, an image goes into the ratings bin to increase exposure - maybe someone will seee an image there vs. the critique forum.  They are pretty meaningless - comments make the real difference.

I must admit, I was initially underwhelmed by the Subway when I finally reached it.  I thought it was a much longer section, and I too thought it was entirely underground, with the only light reflected in from that tunnel.  So much for pictures representing reality! After spending a little time in theis area, I found several compositional possibilities, but the glowing tunnel is by far the most photographed, so naturally most compositions include it.  I agree, the mystery of the Subway is minimized with this angle, hopefully my other image has more of that.  I think a darker image in general, or the surrounding walls would create more mystery in any image from this spot.  I was surprised how much light there was there, though all indirect bouncing off the walls above.  I must have been there on a "good day", as the tunnel really bounced light that day.  I needed to put on sunglasses exiting the tunnel, as the opposing wall was very bright.  I have tried to keep the glow as natural as I percieved it to be.  My only way of doing this is to check the image in the LCD after capture and compare white balance and brightness to what I see.  Pretty crude, but there may be no better way to try and repoduce lighting.  Several days later, its all memory.

Beautiful shot Harry,what an incredible place,from the previous shot i could not tell the scale of the place,here i can,the inclusion of a human makes a difference.I bet the duckshooters did not even open up the image before they dished out the 3s and 4s,let them pile up their ratings with 3s and 4s, they will have them for ever.keep the good work coming,Harry

Thanks Harry and Mark - I had thoughts of cropping off most of the sandy right area, but liked the pool feature.  I'm sure the sand is washed away on occasion and would look more like the rest of the rock.

Harry,click on the details and no and you will see who gave you the 4s,they just changed the system,it was about time

Different view, I like it.

Harry Tsappas, I see the details and then the names, but I don't see what their respective ratings were. Am I missing something?

Simple Mark,18 ratings,take out the regulars,ladies (they never rate malisiously) and the ones with comments,it leaves around seven,3 of the seven are well known abusers,the rest click on their ratings and you will see , the ones with the highest no of 3s and 4s are the guilty.Prepare yourself for a shock,some of them have given 10s of thousands and one reached over 100000 4s.try it and see,regards,Harry.... PS if you want the names of the regular abusers email me

This is outstanding Harry.  I've never been to the subway and have always wondered what this area looks like beyond the traditional comp on the left.  Now I know!  I also like how you included another photographer for scale.  Did you get any shots like this one without the photographer?  -Scott

Thanks for the views Scott- I didn't get any with out the photographer.  I was setting up, he set up, and that was it!  He wasn't moving so I decided I should try one with him in it, as it only got more busy with traffic in the Subway.  Didn't get an opportunity to the scene like this without people.  Maybe next time!  Maybe the sand on thefar right willbe gone by then, or will have filled the pools.

Thanks, Harry