Bryce Canyon Sunrise - (Not A Bird) Favorites #1

July 2015, Nikon D610, 16-35mm f/4

Click on image for a larger view.

This trip to Bryce Canyon was my first non-birding photo outing after we bought our condo in Colorado. All the campground spaces in the park were taken and I set up my two person tent in a commercial campground outside the park. Only a few spaces were available. The ground where spaces were available had about a 30 deg. slope and it was a long walk to the restroom. It was very cloudy every day. I returned later that year, was able to get a space in the campground inside the park close to the restrooms, the ground was level and every day was cloudless. Guess which trip yielded the best photos.  

Despite the magnificent scenery, after these two trips I decided sleeping in a tent surrounded by mosquitos is No Country for Old Men. 

David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.