Getting Away From It All

I have now learned that heading to a National Park like Zions is not necessarily getting away from anything. I guess on the one hand, I was away from home. And internet and cell service. At least, I was. But on the other hand, instead of being surrounded by friends and family and neighbors, I found myself surrounded by thousands of other people, 90% of them the fit and tan hikers who were there for the millionth time and knew all the paths and did them all in their short-shorts and bikini tops. (I am fairly certain the park rangers who drive the trams really love their jobs.)

All in all it was a good trip, a memory builder. The kids got to spend time with their cousins, Rob got to spend time with his siblings, and I got to take hundreds of pictures of the faces in the mountains. Because we had little kids who were not big fans of the 95+ degree weather or hiking in it, we didn't do long hikes. We went to the Emerald Pools. Which, um, well, I didn't even bother taking a picture of them, they looked like stagnant water. The waterfalls that fed them and the rocks the kids could climb on to stand in the waterfalls was much more interesting and pretty.

Odd story with this picture here. I was trying to capture one of the waterfalls in the distance, but my lens is just the one that came with my camera, so it doesn't have the uber powerfullly super fantastic zoom that the guy standing next to me had. I noticed his camera was the same model as mine, and I also noticed that every time he pushed the button, his camera would take three pictures. So I asked him if he'd set his camera to automatically bracket. (I learned about bracketing in my photography class. It means going up two stops and down two stops from the center area to make sure you get the best exposure. Often what the camera thinks the right exposure is, isn't.) I haven't yet figured out how to set my camera to bracket automatically, and I wondered if he had. I don't think he knew what I was asking him, though. He went off on a very passionate verbal essay on why photographers should always shoot in P mode because the automatic settings were just blech (he seriously gagged and shuddered) And then he'd shoot a series of pictures then look at his camera and tell me what settings he'd used. I thanked him for his advice and went on my way, catching up to my party. I wasn't sure what he'd say or if he'd even hear me if I told him I shot on M mode so I had to make all of my adjustments manually. Or if he'd make gagging noises and shudder again.

The point of my story? That there are all kinds of people in the park that are more than happy to share their expertise on cameras, parenting, families, family size, fitness, and nature. One doesn't go to a National Park to "Get Away." You go to see squirrels and fabulous scenery and spend time with the people you came with in brain meltingly hot weather.