Zion National Park is a mystical place, full of remarkably strange formations cut from the earth over millions of years. I love flying around this area and finding different views of this otherworldly place.
I lensed this view while flying and chasing the tail end of a snowstorm, it was freezing cold at altitude, especially shooting through an open cockpit window in the airplane. I was at an altitude of 8,500 feet (2,590 m) heading to the north by northeast. If you open the image full screen you can see clearly see the trees in the snow in the immediate foreground. This gives a true sense of scale for the size of the area in this photograph.
Be sure to watch the ambient film below!
This remarkable physical feature we now call Zion Canyon is located on the southern part of the Markagunt Plateau where it is deeply dissected by the Virgin River and its tributaries. Erosion has left deep canyons (slot-like in many places), soaring cliffs, and huge monoliths. Though strikingly beautiful, this is a harsh and incredibly rugged environment.
The Anasazi people inhabited Zion from approximately 1,500 to 800 years ago, leaving behind abandoned cliff houses and rock art throughout the park and when settlers arrived in 1858, the Paiute Indians occupied the canyon. Originally this was known by the First Nations Southern Paiute tribes as either “Mukuntuweap” meaning “straight canyon”, or “ I-oo-Gune” meaning "like an arrow quiver". Accounts vary historically and it is unknown for certain as it has been lost to history.
I created an ambient film which shows the full length of Zion which I shot while flying in a level altitude alongside the western edge of the park while shooting out the side of the aircraft as I passed the formations. The result is a very long straight line panoramic image which I have put to original music. Please use speakers or headphones for full effect.
I hope you enjoy this.
This is from my project "Where Eagles Fly"
About The Project
Where Eagles Fly - The American Wilderness Expedition is my personal mission to introduce people to these amazing locations that surround us. I am piloting a bush plane while exploring and filming throughout the remote back-country areas of North America to raise awareness of the 47% of the USA and 90% of Canada that remain unpopulated wilderness.
About The Author
My name is Zedekiah Morse and I'm a Bush Pilot, Photographer, Explorer and Filmmaker. I live in the Rocky Mountains and devote my time and resources to exploring as much of the world as I can by air. If you wish to watch a short film detailing how I do my work and this project, go here.
If you like what you see here upvote and resteemit so that others may experience these wondrous places.
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Thanks for your support and Yehaw!!
Hi @skypilot Incredible view! You certainly know how to combine your passion and profession all together to make it a working killer combo. Great images and loved stills (panorama's?) in the clip.
Thanks, and great article you posted on copyright! Yes that is a straight line panoramic image made with 44 60 mpx images taken by flying in a straight and level position for the entire length of the park. This give an unusual effect of "passing by" the scene. Glad you like it!
Yummy photo! It reminds me of a frosted snicker-doodle cookie! The whole state of Utah is amazing to me - the formations are from under-the-sea or a whole new world. I've loved every trip I've taken there which has always been by auto. Such a treat to see it so clearly from the air.
Amazed! Thank you for your hard work. The panorama is very breathtaking. I am still wondering how this was collected and converted into a panorama where there is no apparent parallax.
Thanks so much for checking it out. I made that by flying in a straight line parallel to the scene while taking a picture over a metered time for 44 images which I stitched together. And because it is being shot one image after another over both time and distance (space) and not from a center point there is no parallax effect to deal with. Pretty cool eh? It would be quite difficult to do this on the ground. And frankly it took a lot of practice and planning to do it from the air. By the way, out of the many times I have shown this image to even my more technically adept camera op friends, you are the first to notice the non-parallax aspect of this .... very cool and thanks for that!
Amazing! I have no idea how on earth (!) you manage to carry out this procedure all by yourself up there. What an epic effort you are making to bring these places into our hearts and homes... <3
Very Good Photo. Thanks For Share~
Amazing picture thank you
Looks like a painting :)
you always get the best picture, because you always take pictures in the air, a lot of people who take beautiful pictures, but they just magambil pictures from the earth, not like your picture from the air always.
success always for you @skypilot.
Thanks Jason, I hope people like it.
that's for sure, very many very many people love this beauty.
Oh. My. Word! What a sight!! The photo is just so unbelievably beautiful that I wish I could see your video, which isn't working for me right now... I will definitely check back later and see if it functions then... Thank you for sharing! Jay
Hey thanks Jay, let me know if it worked for you,
Yay! I can see it now - and it's AMAZING! What an astounding, incredible thing you are doing, my friend. My heart feels huge after viewing your video - I can only begin to imagine what that experience must be like for you in the flesh...Resteeming! <3
The photo is stunning. I really enjoyed the video too. I like when you add these features to your blog. It adds another dimension to your work.
Thanks! All of this is practice for me to make my project better so I really do appreciate the response it generates. Lots more to come!
I always see a very great picture, the success of your portrait from the air. I really like every post you @skypilot
Love that you use 'lensed' as a verb for taking photos. Never seen that before. Gonna have to use that one!
LOL I am repeatedly told that is not proper grammar, but heh, I am from Tennessee and live in the Rocky Mountains so I reckon lensed is right for me.
Not proper grammar? What a load of crap. It's called being unique. Own it!
Beautiful sight in the photo!. The panoramic view is one of a kind! It looks like a paint to me, which by the end, seems like if I were watching a movie 'till its end. @skypilot, we, readers, are blessed by being able to appreciate all these wonders captured through the lens of your camera. Thank you!
That is a very thoughtful and kind comment and I thank you so much. yehaw!