Bryce Canyon has become one of our favorite photography places! And why not, with its amphitheaters filled with red, pink, orange and white hoodoos?  At sunrise, these hoodoos seem to glow, and all through the day, the colors are constantly changing. Now add all sorts of funky shapes, and who in their right mind could ever get tired of shooting them?

So, after our short stop at Zion we headed north to Bryce for two days of non-stop shooting. When I say non-stop, I mean it. We shot sunrise, sunset and at night. And, we thought we were tired after Vegas.

First up, sunset from Sunrise Point. (And yes, later we did sunrise at Sunset Point. Whoever named these had one too many at the lodge bar.)  At Bryce, Sunset tends to lack the pizazz of sunrise  as the canyon faces east and the sun sets behind you. Hence, long before the sun sets, the hoodoos are deep in shadows. However, we were blessed with nice clouds which lit up from the setting sun. Just Spectacular.

Cloud burst catches the light of the setting sun

Once the sun sets, most of the crowd leaves. The show is over, right? Or is it? After sunset, large canyons often glow with a deep rich color which we enjoyed in near solitude. This is often referred to as the blue hour as the tint changes on the sky and the rocks.

The sun set and the golden hour completed. This was shot at the beginning of the blue hour.

How about a late night shoot? Bryce Canyon is in a designated dark area and with the Milky Way overhead, we couldn’t resist.  We donned our camera packs and tripods and descended (by flashlight) deep into the canyon. We were not disappointed.

This scene looks like a battle between the cloud creature and the milk way. Who will win?

Distant storm silhouettes tree while Milky Way arches over Bryce Canyon

Sunrise never disappoints, as we love to see the light enter the canyon lighting up clusters of hoodoos – sometimes glowing and sometimes on fire. It was even fun after a real short night.

Just after the sun rose, these hoodoos were bathed in beautiful sunlight.

Young white hoodoos protected by the stately elders

As you can see, we may be exhausted from nonstop shooting, but there is no tiring of hoodoos. They are constantly changing with the light, and of course, it’s all about the light.

[Special Note: If you can see the featured image (i.e., from FaceBook post), the hoodoos look like a dragon’s face. If you would like to know the story behind the photo, please enter a comment below and Jeff will respond]