Shooting Sunrise at Bryce Canyon

A Lesson in Letting Go

Going on photography trips with friends has many perks—one of them definitely being accountability. Would I really get up an hour before sunrise by myself and stand on top of a canyon in the freezing cold, waiting for the first rays of light? Absolutely not. What gets me out of bed for that kind of plan isn’t motivation or discipline—it’s the simple fact that I don’t want to let down my fellow travelers. Sure, I know I’ll be happy about it later, but “later” means nothing to me at 4 a.m.

On a recent trip to Zion National Park, we decided to also stop at Bryce Canyon for some sunrise photos. Honestly, I don’t really remember how we decided, it was probably suggested at some point without thinking it through and then no one dared to say no it. So here we were: tired, cold and grumpy, packing up our gear after 4 hours of sleep. And yet, once we made it from the warm cabin into the car and started driving, I was all in. Still tired, sure—but it felt exciting and adventurous to get onto the empty road, lined by a thick layer of fog. There were no street lights, and the few houses we passed hadn’t woken up yet. It was quiet and eerie, like we weren’t supposed to be out in the world—like we’d snuck into an off-limits part of the planet and had to be quiet not to get caught.

GSW69ii sw | Kodak Portra 400

When we walked up to the edge of Bryce Canyon and I caught my first glimpse into it, the landscape was still wrapped in blue twilight. Only the snow-covered parts broke through the darkness with a soft white glow. We hiked uphill a bit and found our spot—perfectly overlooking nature’s spectacle—waiting for the sun to make its entrance stage left. I’m getting dramatic, because frankly, this scene was dramatic. The spiky rock formations in the belly of the canyon looked like a battlefield frozen in time. Meanwhile, the soft sunlight lining the horizon promised peace, warmth, and calm.

When the first rays finally made it over the top of the mountain to our right, we all exclaimed in excitement—and probably also in relief, because we were freezing and couldn’t wait to get our shots and jump back into the car. The sun quite literally spilled over the mountain and slowly but surely filled the canyon with warm light, completely transforming the mood. All eeriness was instantly washed away.

GSW69ii sw | Kodak Portra 400

It was truly a magical moment, and I was hitting the shutter like crazy. I had set up my Hasselblad 500cm, loaded with Ektar, on my tripod with the plan to fill the frame on my 6x6 shots. I was hoping to find some nice layers or unique compositions of the rock formations—to photograph Bryce Canyon a little differently than the usual landscape photographer.

However, I quickly got the sense that my plan wasn’t quite working out. So, I caved and grabbed the GSW690ii super-wide with Portra 400 to capture the full vastness of the canyon, like everyone else. While I was a little bummed my original plan didn’t work out, I’m glad I accepted the failure and switched to the GSW690ii. There simply wasn’t enough foreground for me to play with compositions, which meant I was left with too tight of an image—and a square crop of a landscape that’s known and loved for its scale. Plus, it turned out the Hasselblad roll came back with light leaks in the bottom left corner. For the sake of the argument, here are some of those shots:

Hasselblad 500cm | Kodak Ektar 100

As frustrating as it is when I don’t manage to take the shots I envisioned in my head, it’s just as satisfying to capture the feeling of a moment. Watching the sun hit the rocks almost one by one, making its way through the maze of the canyon while the morning fog still lingered in the valleys, was a truly magical view. The beauty of the moment lay in the grandness of the scenery—the warm, orange color that suddenly spanned across our view—and I’m so happy I decided, last minute, to ditch my original plan and instead capture the vastness that captivated me in the moment.

GSW69ii | Kodak Portra 400

So I guess if there’s a moral to this story: Hold yourself accountable to your early morning plans (or bring friends who will), but don’t be afraid to switch up your shooting plans once you're out there.

In the end, was it worth it to get up in the middle of the night and trade the warm bed with a freezing winter morning on the top of a mountain?

For the passionate landscape photographers out there, I would say most certainly, yes. Bryce Canyon is definitely one of the more photogenic Canyons I’ve seen, especially on a winter morning, like this, with snow still sprinkled over the rocks.

For me, the photos I ended up with, I don’t particularly love as photographs, however I do love them for the memories they captured: The adventure, I’ll remember driving out at dawn and the experience of watching the sunrise in awe. So I would say it wasn’t worth it for the shots, but it was worth it for the experience of shooting.

And honestly, that’s quite often my main reason for bringing my camera.

Thanks for reading,

Birgit