* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #892 / Revived #112 on 2025 05 21*

When we toured through some bits of the S-W USA around 14 years ago, Zion NP was on our checklist of parks to visit and enjoy. I remember that we stayed in a cute bungalow. On the evening of our arrival, Els and I did a nice hike through a Canyon while our children enjoyed some downtime.

On the next day, we did a hike all together to something called Emerald Pools.

When that did not feel like quite enough for me, I followed up with another hike (this time solo) to Angels Landing.
(I say solo, but I mean "without the rest of the family" - the walk was anything but "solo" because all the people doing that same hike (one of the "High Five") were like a trail of ants going up and down again. I just checked online to see whether I did not mix up Parks and Hikes, because we covered a lot of ground on that trip, and I see that nowadays, Angels Landing requires a permit. Not so back then.)

Zion NP definitely was one of the highlights of our trip (for me).
A superb variation of landscapes, vegetation and just beauty.

Your image encapsulates all of that - very beautiful; I don't miss clouds).

It immediately triggers a desire to go back out there, but maybe not in the next few years.
We'll "make do" with similar landscapes in Europe for now.

(A close resemblance to this particular mesa formation is Stac Pollaidh in Scotland near Ullapool.
(affectionately called "Stac Polly")
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stac_Pollaidh)

[quote="@RoelHendrickx"]

It immediately triggers a desire to go back out there, but maybe not in the next few years.
We'll "make do" with similar landscapes in Europe for now.

I understand you, Roel.
As Europeans, we are currently not welcome friends in the USA.

Washington Monument through World War II memorial

Washington Monument from Lincoln Memorial

This is one of the saddest things I have ever read here.

I know we are not supposed to use this site for any political agendas. But this makes me want to cry.

Kumsal, whatever insanity is currently playing out - and God knows, most of us are not of its making - you are welcome in my country.

Rich

Agree with Rich. Most of us are not a part of the nefarious nonsense in the halls of power. A lot of us US citizens don't feel welcome here either. I understand being reluctant to visit. But it is so sad. As an option I'd suggest our neighbor Canada as an option. They have incredible landscapes and sensible tourism policies.

Photos of the windswept and dramatic wedding on that rocky coast would have been interesting enough but you found a way to give us the photographers too! That doubled the interest. Fascinating.

I didn't get to see Neist Point. It was on my itinerary as a Must See, and we tried. But a storm held us up, then we made a wrong turn, and we realized it would be dark before we got there. So we sadly turned back and settled for exploring an old churchyard and ruined chapel we found along the way back.

Australia must be full of quirky cool stuff like this. I like the tilt in this photo. It shows off the weirdness of the VW's construction and the architecture of the building behind it quite well. Never let anyone talk you into leveling this one.

Peaceful scene of smooth well protected waters filled with sleek boats ready for the season. The rich blues and contrasting whites are lovely but would be very amenable to black and white conversion. Nice shot.

The colors and shapes have great appeal, especially if the word "cake" strikes a chord for the viewer. I'm curious about your choices of focus and framing - why you decided to bisect the upper cone and the straw container, and why you selected such a narrow area of focus. It seems to work, though I cannot venture an explanation for why it works. Just does.

A dedicated fisherman will fish in almost any kind of weather. He's young, looks intent and serious, has dressed for the occasion. I like the recurring triangular shapes in this image. The orange-ish utility pole is a bit of a distraction to me. If it were mine, which it's not, I might: desaturate the oranges to make it less of a magnet, or crop down a bit to eliminate some of it, or even convert to monochrome, which would suit the mood of the scene. Nice catch. (Hope the fisherman caught something too!)

These photos have a greater richness than phone images do. I find this in my own shots over and over. While I love the ease of using my iPhone, and it has all the latest bells and whistles, it can't match my much older camera for what I call depth though that may not be the right term.

Yes, these are nice. My favorite is this one, perhaps shot through window glass, with the flowers in focus and everything else OOF. It is artistic, it has mood, it holds story, but allows the viewer to determine what that story is.

Quite elegant images of these monuments. You've managed to show them with minimal tourist interference. Using distance as a separator gives the images an "official portrait" look that is missing in so many shots of DC. Well done.

We didn't hike to Emerald Pools this visit but did last time. We have never done Angel's Landing or the Subway, and our day of attacking those two hikes may be past. We focused on the eastern side that we barely saw last time, and the Kolob unit, which we had never seen. Zion, like all the red-rock parks and monuments, is pretty amazing in its formations. ( There's also some good rock art there if you know where to look. ) It's interesting how similarities to Scotland turn up over here. You found them in Utah, and I've seen them in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

Thanks Rich. It was definitely not quiet in the valley, but almost empty in Kolob Canyon and the eastern unit. Good shape? Naw, old and decrepit, I just find easy trails.

Thanks Minniev.

I didn't make any conscious decisions about composition when grabbing this shot. I was up on my toes, looking over the glass counter (which held the tubs of ice cream), being jostled by a small crowd there.

I was in aperture priority, wide open and this is what I got. Then I was fumbling for my wallet to buy treats for my grand kids. I really liked the colors when I saw the file later and left the straws and partial cone in view as a "lead-in."

My favorite type of cone is the "cake," which we called "plain cone" when I was a kid, eons ago.

Rich

More Neist Point probably in tomorrow’s edition!
I’m in Croatia now but will try to start our thread just as usual.

Many varied shades :)

Abrupt