ZI O N BRYCE. and. Where, when, and how to discover the best photography in America. Updated - March Published since 1989

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1 Updated - March Where, when, and how to discover the best photography in America Published since 1989 On this two-week trip, I watched the last of the snow melt from the valley floor. I saw the cottonwoods along the Virgin River start to turn green and the arrival of spring in Zion Canyon. One of my favorite places for nature photography is the desert canyon country of the Colorado Plateau. In Zion National Park in early April, the Virgin River runs deep with water the color of coffee with cream. The red Navajo sandstone being swept down to the Colorado River has been dissolved by winter rains and a melting snowpack, still visible on the peaks above Zion Canyon. Zion Canyon has been called Yosemite Valley in Technicolor, but there are very few similarities. Both are deep, steep-walled canyons. Yosemite was carved by glaciers. Zion is the result of a million years of erosion by a river. Cutting through two-thousand feet of an ancient, layered seabed, the Virgin River is still carving this multi-colored canyon. At this time of year, the fresh greens of spring stand out against red canyon walls. Other seasons offer the contrasts of warm autumn colors against blue skies and desert landscapes beneath blankets of winter snow. Zion can be photographed in all seasons, from panoramic landscapes to the fascinating details of tiny spring wildflowers. The lighting effects in Zion s steep-walled canyons are facinating. Sunlight bounces off the redrock walls in Zion and creates a warm, open glow that fills shadows with a magical light. In places like the Narrows of the Virgin River and the deep and narrow Refrigerator Canyon along the trail to Angels Landing, discover golden bounce-light in mid-morning and in mid-afternoon. Photographing these canyons in the middle of the day with the sun straight overhead can be disappointing. Bright sunlight illuminates deep canyon streams and fills crevices with light that overwhelms the limited range of most digital and film cameras. Virgin River below the Zion Narrows ZI O N and BRYCE

2 issue 12 - page 2 WINTER Stormy, cloud-filled skies often obscure the high mountain peaks and the rims of the canyons. The most dramatic lighting conditions in Zion appear in mid-winter. It seldom gets very cold in winter. The snow that does fall stays only a few days and melts away. Those few days after a winter storm and snowfall are a wonderful treat for a nature photographer. Early morning and late afternoon light on a clear winter day, with a few big cumulus clouds in the sky, makes the best landscape photographs. In winter, most of the park roads are kept open, except in the high northern regions of the park. Some of the park facilities and shops and motels in Springdale are closed in winter. A few campgrounds remain open for the hardy outdoor enthusiasts. Watch the weather reports and plan your winter trip for an arrival after a snow fall. Freshly-fallen snow on cactus makes a good foreground for any photograph of the canyon walls. Visible from the canyon road is an Anasazi Indian ruin on the left side of the huge alcove or blind arch just north of the turn to Weeping Rock. It is one hundred feet up a sandy incline covered with junipers and prickly pear cactus. If you make the climb and set up your tripod behind the small circular wall, you can look out over a wide bend in the river around the peak called The Organ. The trail to lower and upper Emerald Pools is icy and slippery after a snow. Solid boots with Vibram soles are necessary to climb the trail all the way to the upper pool. Look for icicles beneath the waterfalls and the seeping springs along the rim of the huge alcove. Most of the park s high country trails and some of the rim trails are closed in winter. The lower canyon trails are always accessible. SPRING The best time to discover and photograph wildflowers in Zion National Park is in April, May and June. A thousand different kinds of plants can be found in Zion at elevations above 3,800 feet, the lowest elevation in the park, to almost 9,000 feet on the summit of Horse Ranch Mountain. This variety of plant life ranges from prickly pear cactus and the datil yucca to the quaking aspen on high mountain slopes and the ponderosa pines on mesa tops and along canyon rims. On the steep talus slopes across from the Great White Throne viewpoint, find berry prickly pear cactus. Their apricot yellow blossoms are often streaked with red. The long-needle prickly pear is the berry. The short (painful) needled variety is called the plains prickly pear. The blossoms range in color from yellow to violet to orange and they bloom in May and June. Like many of the cacti that appear to have no spines, the plains prickly pear will imbed short, barbed spines that burn and can t be pulled out. Usually, you must wait for the skin (and the pain) to wear away. I wear basketball player knee pads while photographing around cactus, and I carry tweezers in my camera bag. The beautiful scarlet flowers of the claretcup cactus appear in early spring and the creamy-white flowers of the narrow-leafed Utah yucca can be found blooming at any time between April and June, depending on the elevation. The Zion daisy grows only in Zion Canyon and blooms in the spring, in the summer, and continues blooming into the autumn. The Zion daisy is found in seeps, on wet canyon walls, and in hanging gardens like the Emerald Pools area. More difficult to find are the three white petals of the sego lily, the state flower of Utah.

3 issue 12 - page 3 A few orchids grow in Zion. The helleborine is a large, purple-brown orchid that blooms in the swampy wet areas along the Gateway to the Narrows Trail. The golden columbine grows along the vertical walls above the Gateway to the Narrows Trail and is found in early summer in hanging gardens and on canyon walls. Other common species are the shooting stars, found on the Weeping Rock and the slickrock paintbrush, found just east of the highway tunnel along Clear Creek Canyon, all the way to Checkerboard Mesa. There are many species of bright red penstemon in the park, as well as orange globemallow and yellow wallflowers. While exploring the dry, sandy washes of Clear Creek Canyon, watch for the beautiful purple spider worts growing in shady spots in early summer. My favorite desert flower is the large, white blossom of the angels trumpet or sacred datura. These sweetly-scented flowers are five- to seven- inches long and are found growing along desert highways, often in the most desolate places. They are known as the moonlily because the delicate blossoms will fold and close in the heat of a mid-summer day. The sacred datura blooms from late spring through the autumn. When you first arrive in Zion, drop by the Visitor Center and watch the slide show. Pick up a trail map and look at the guide books for sale. Check the bulletin board near the door for trail conditions and the water level in the Narrows if you plan to hike upstream. SUMMER Temperatures in Zion can reach well over one hundred degrees in July and August. The Park can be crowded and uncomfortable. Frequent thundershowers keep the rivers full and keep waterfalls flowing. After a summer thunderstorm, large waterfalls drop over the rims into Zion Canyon. During drier seasons, these falls disappear. Long dark streaks of desert varnish mark the courses of waterfalls. After a warm summer rain, steam rises from the tops of canyon rims. The light-colored walls appear to be evaporating. The Emerald Pools and the many small slickrock pools in Clear Creek Canyon fill quickly and reflect the stormy skies and the red canyon walls. Avoid hiking the Narrows in late summer. Thunderstorms from mid-july through early September can cause dangerous flash floods.

4 issue 12 - page 4 AUTUMN A great time for a photo tour of Zion National Park is from late September when summer visitors have left. The arrival of autumn color depends on many factors, including late summer rains and cooler temperatures. Cottonwoods lining the Virgin River through Zion s valley floor may not begin to turn yellow until late in October or early in the month of November. Photographers arriving the last week of October and the first week of November should witness the peak of color and the most brilliant yellows. Early November color- Bob in Zion From late September through October is one of the best times to explore the Narrows. Here the Virgin River has carved a chasm two-thousand feet deep into the Markagunt Plateau. In the Narrows, the canyon is a few feet wide in many places. The soaring canyon walls of red Navajo sandstone reach straight up and spread slightly to reveal a narrow sliver of sky above. Hiking through this beautiful canyon is possible only during periods of low water, occurring in late June or early July, and from late September through October. For a fairly-easy, half-day, round-trip hike, start from the end of the Gateway to the Narrows Trail. The month of October brings great autumn color into the canyon at Zion and changes the color of the small maples growing on sandbars along the wider bends on the river. Up in the Narrows, delicately-branched maples stand in spotlights of mid-day sun against red sandstone walls, painted with the dark stripes of desert varnish reaching thousands of feet up the walls. At a different time of day, the same tree will stand in silhouette against a sunlit wall or, best of all, the glow of sunlight reflected off canyon walls above. To photograph the Narrows, start after breakfast at the Gateway to the Narrows parking lot and walk the paved path (a sidewalk) one mile to its end. This is where everyone else turns around and heads back to the car. This is where you ll start your trek. Expect to get wet. The water will feel cold at first. Your feet will soon become accustomed to it. Wear shorts or long pants and wear thick woolen socks to cushion your feet from sand and gravel that gets trapped in your shoes old running shoes or canvas sneakers will do. A swinging shoulder bag may cause you to lose your balance in the river. A fannypack may be too low and might get wet as you wade the deeper pools. Carry your camera in a sealed plastic bag in your daypack, or use something as waterproof as a hinged-top, sealed case like the hard-plastic Pelican or Tundra cases, strapped to a metal-tube pack frame with bungee cords. A roll-top, river-rafting bag with shoulder straps is also a good way to carry your gear up this river. Pack a lunch, a canteen of water, and a warm sweater for the trip back downstream. Carry a walking stick or use the extended legs of your tripod for support as you cross the shallow river on slippery rocks and pick your way upstream against the current.

5 issue 12 - page 5 In the lower part of the Narrows, the river is ankle-deep; the water is seldom over your knees. A trail sometimes follows the dry edge of the stream. Several of the deeper pools, a few miles up the canyon, may be almost waist-high even during the driest seasons. A mile-and-a-half beyond the end of the paved sidewalk, you reach the junction with the Orderville Canyon where a side stream enters from During the busy summer season, the Weeping Rock Trail is one of the most popular and the most crowded of the short and easy trails in the Park. May, June, July, and August are the busiest months in Zion. This paved, quarter-mile walkway leads up and into a deep blind arch that drips or weeps year-round. Stand under the rim of the arch. You look out into the valley through a steady downpour. Use your flash unit to illuminate and freeze the falling water drops. Set up your tripod in a dry spot, back under the rim of the alcove or well out in front, away from the spray. WEEPING ROCK There are lots of easy walks to great viewpoints in Zion, including the Zion Narrows, the Emerald Pools, the trail up to Angel s Landing and Weeping Rock. The Weeping Rock is always wet and Approaching the Narrows- Zion the east. Beyond this point is the narrowest and the deepest part of the canyon. The shorter days of autumn may not allow enough time for exploration into this part of the canyon (on a day hike). A summer trip will. In many places, the canyon widens and exposes a rocky trail along the river. You will have many opportunities to set up your tripod and camera for photographs of the red sandstone walls and the green patches of trees on the higher riverbanks. Moss below Weeping Rock - Zion supports luxuriant growth of maidenhair ferns and moss. In late spring and summer, columbines bloom at the base of the Weeping Rock. Summer thundershowers increase the flow and swell the stream below. One of my favorite places to photograph in Zion is the cascades and the reflections on the pools below the Weeping Rock.

6 issue 12 - page 6 From the parking area at the trailhead, climb down beneath the footbridge and walk upstream until you can t go any farther. Huge slabs and blocks of sandstone have fallen from the cliffs above and have created a stairstep of pools and cascades beneath a forest of water-loving cottonwood trees. In summer, reflections are green. In late autumn, they will be yellow and red. The hillsides above the trail to Weeping Rock are covered with oaks, maples and elders. At the trailhead to the Weeping Rock, there is a choice of trails. For a fairly hard climb of 850 feet, discover Hidden Canyon. There are a few tricky spots along the trail. You will find hand-holds, a cable to help you up a slippery rock incline, and stair steps cut into a rock to lead you around a mud hole or a wide spot in the stream, depending in the season. The small reflecting pools in steepwalled Hidden Canyon have brought me back to this place several times. This canyon is a water-carved gorge between Cable Mountain and a peak called The Great White Throne. A half-mile upstream from the canyon s mouth, discover a small natural arch. The soft glow of light, reflected off the red walls of Hidden Canyon, casts a beautiful color on the small maple trees. After a half-mile, the trail into the Hidden Canyon becomes more difficult to follow, it may be time to turn around. A WATERFALL Returning from the end of the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, watch your odometer and stop 6/10 of a mile after you leave the Gateway to the Narrows parking lot. Park in the third wide turn-off and walk across the road to an unmarked stream and one of my favorite places along the canyon road. Less than one-hundred feet back from the road is a small waterfall that cascades down a redrock cliff. On a rainy day, countless waterfalls drop over these canyon walls. Observation Point is two-thousand feet above this water-fall. No visible stream or waterfall drops from above. This water percolates through porous red Navajo sandstone until it reaches an impervious layer of clay shale then flows horizontally and emerges as springs and waterfalls in places like this. This wall is covered with thick, dark green blankets of velvety moss. Growing from most of the cracks and crevises are columbines, shooting stars, monkey flowers, and maidenhair ferns. The color contrasts of the reds and greens and of the sparkling highlights of the cascading stream will keep you busy for hours. The long-stemmed columbines wave and dance in the breeze beneath the splashing, cascading water. Several smaller cascades are further downstream. Avoid including the sky, and use an aperture small enough to keep the whole scene in sharp focus.

7 issue 12 - page 7 SUNRISE One of my favorite places in Zion to photograph the sunrise is an easy spot to reach but difficult to find in the dark. Check out this location the day before you plan to shoot it because you need to leave your motel or your campsite at least thirty minutes before the official time of sunrise posted on the Visitor Center bulletin board. To find this spot, drive east on Highway 9, the road through Springdale, and continue past the left turn marked Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. Continue driving east up Pine Creek Canyon, on the road toward the tunnel. Park on the left side of the road just before you cross the large stone bridge over Pine Creek. Look for the short, fairly steep trail, leading down to the edge of the stream. Look toward the west for the compositions that are possible here. Spend a little time and find the best spot for your tripod. Return to this location before sunrise, and wait for the first rays of the sun. Pick your way down the trail with a flashlight and find the spot twenty feet upstream from the bridge. As soon as there is enough light to see, choose a lens that will frame the square-topped peak of the mountain called the West Temple beneath the arch of the bridge. Watch for the reflections, and select a spot next to one of the larger pools in the stream. Pine Creek / West Temple / sunrise It might be necessary to position your tripod out in the stream while you stand on a rock. The colors of sunrise make this a better early-morning photograph than a mid-day subject. SUNSET All afternoon, long streaks of broken cirrus clouds reached from west to east. A clear patch of blue sky was open in the west, giving me time to set up my tripod on the bridge over the Virgin River. This spot is on Highway 9, near the entrance to the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. The Watchman at sunset - Zion Looking southward and downstream, the last rays of the setting sun struck the peak called The Watchman. As the sun reached the horizon, it illuminated the bottom of each cloud with a deep red-orange. The mountain peaks were on fire and the river below the bridge reflected every bit of the spectacular display. From beginning to end, the best color lasted less than ten minutes.

8 issue 12 - page 8 THE NIGHT SKY In the Watchman Campground in Zion at night, I set up my camera pointed toward the North Star with the shutter locked open. While the skies are clear and free of clouds and there is no moon, I look for foregrounds for a star trail photograph. One night a large branch of a cottonwood tree framed part of the sky. Another night, I moved up closer to the canyon wall and included the canyon rim in the composition. moon rising over Zion Canyon rim When the moon rises over the canyon rim late in the afternoon, an unusual photograph is easy to make, especially with a polarizing filter on a long telephoto lens. Find a position for your tripod beneath one of the wind-blown and twisted junipers or pines on the canyon rim to frame the rising moon. KOLOB CANYONS Late September is a good time to visit the Kolob Canyon Region of northwestern Zion. Since the area is several thousand feet higher than Zion Canyon, aspen groves along the Kolob trails turn yellow and display some of the best early color in Zion National Park. The fourteen-mile round-trip hike to Kolob Arch, the world s largest natural rock span, is a long walk for most photographers with a heavy load of gear to carry. If you are in good condition and want to photograph something that is unique, consider this side trip as an overnight hike. Autumn is the best season for this hike. Summers are too hot, and winter snows make the trails hard to find. The hike to Kolob Arch starts at Lee Pass, four miles beyond the Kolob Visitor Center. Trail maps show several ways to reach Kolob Arch. The La Verkin Creek Trail is my favorite. Wear waterproof boots to cross Timber Creek and La Verkin Creek. It is possible to reach Kolob Arch and return in one day, but the best light strikes the arch in the morning. If you prefer an easier way to explore and photograph the spectacular Kolob Finger Canyons, take the easy, two-and-a-half-mile trail up the Middle Fork of Taylor Creek. This trail starts two miles east of the Kolob Visitor Center and ends just beyond the Double Arch Alcove at a waterfall that is often dry. Photography from the side of the Kolob road is best late in the day when the setting sun lights up all these east-west facing redrock canyons. It is a forty-five mile drive from the south entrance of Zion to the Kolob Entrance at exit 40 off Interstate 15. The Kolob Road is six miles long and takes you to a high overlook at the end of the road for a panoramic shot of the whole area.

9 issue 12 - page 9 Don t miss the spectacular aspen-lined Highway 14 on the road to Cedar Breaks. Stretching forty miles over Midway Summit is one of the West s finest displays of fall color. September is also a good time to visit Cedar Breaks, a near-replica of the redrock formations of Bryce Canyon. By October, the Cedar Breaks Visitor Center is closed and the access road is often blocked by early snows. the road to Cedar Breaks Drive eastward, up through the tunnel on Highway 9 and out the eastern park entrance toward Mt. Carmel Junction. The tunnel drive climbs over a thousand feet from the valley floor. Clear Creek Canyon - Zion This road to the east follows Clear Creek Canyon for five miles through what is called slickrock country. Stop at any or all of the wide, scenic turn-offs and carry your camera gear down into the rocky bed of the dry stream. Oaks, maples, and cottonwoods along the sides of the narrow canyon are especially colorful in the autumn. The third week of October is the best time to plan a photo trip into the Clear Creek Canyon area of Zion National Park. Just west of Checkerboard Mesa is a big cottonwood that should be at the peak of its color during this time. Across the road from Checkerboard Mesa are several strange hoodoos or stone columns that take on a different character under a blanket of snow. A trip into this area during a wet season, like summer, will offer many opportunities for photographs of reflections in the slickrock pools. While you are so near, make the short side trip to photograph the Coral Pink Sand Dune State Park, a few miles south of Mt. Carmel Junction. Early morning or late afternoon light is best for photographing sand dunes. Coral Pink gets few visitors during the colder season. If you can arrive on a cold morning after a windstorm has cleared away all the footprints and tire marks, discover some fantastic dune photography. The sand is pink and turns deep red in the light of sunrise and sunset. A few miles southwest of Springdale is the small town of Rockville, with no businesses or stores, just a few blocks of tree-shaded homes. At the east end of town, turn south on Bridge Road (200 East) and drive two miles to a fork in the dirt road. Turn right at the fork and continue another two-and-a-half-miles to the ghost town of Grafton. Settled in 1861, the schoolhouse, store, houses, and outbuildings were abandoned by the early 1900s. Movie makers discovered Grafton and used it as a location for films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

10 issue 12 - page 10 Late in the day, when the sky looks promising and you don t mind driving more dirt roads, take the other turn at the fork on the road to Grafton. Keep watching the view toward the north as you drive up the hill. Soon you will be high enough (one to two miles up the road) for one of the most spectacular panoramics in this area. When the weather, the sun, and the clouds cooperate, with conditions just right, the panoramic scene northwards toward Zion Canyon is breathtaking. The main peak in the center of your view is called the West Temple. To the west are the remains of Crater Hill, the eroded cinder cone of the volcano that erupted to spew forth lava that blocked rivers and created a huge lake here a half-million years ago. Due east, and high above you, are the peaks of the Eagle Crags. Use a lens with a very wide angleof-view to take in this whole landscape. Large landscapes seldom make good photographs when flatly-lit. Strong, direct, low-angled sunlight creates shadows and highlights and gives such scenes a feeling of space. Flat, non-directional light casts no shadows and does not give shape to a subject. On overcast and cloudy days, look for smaller, more intimate details, like trees, wildflowers, rock patterns, and cascades on the river. The trees lining Zion s deep river valley are wonderful subjects for abstract patterns of nature. The softer light of an overcast day reveals the details of the deeply-textured cottonwood trees. There are no brilliant contrasts of sunlight and shadows, and the reduced ranges of light will be easier to photograph. Beneath an overcast sky, delicate, early spring leaves reflect a more neutral light and will reveal true colors, not the cold, cyan cast of a blue sky. Bryce Canyon National Park Often linked together as one destination, these national parks are geographically close but totally different. Bryce is not a canyon, but a series of amphitheatres on the eastern rim of one of the highest plateaus in the United States. Bryce does not have the great variety of terrain and plant life as Zion. Most travellers and photographers come to Bryce Canyon National Park to view and photographer the incredible and overwhelming formations of red spires, standing row upon row, descending the eastern rim of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The view from the railing along the rim of Bryce Canyon is spectacular. All of the accessible viewpoints along the fifteenmile-long road through the park offer different angles on different formations. As a photographer, your task will be easier if you consider that Bryce Canyon faces east. This is sunrise country! You should spend at least one night here at Bryce to be ready in the morning for photography. One of the best places to set up your tripod is at Sunrise Point. At 8,100 feet, this viewpoint looks out over a fantasy land of redrock pinnacles.

11 issue 12 - page 11 One of the spires is named for Queen Victoria and looks down upon the Queens Garden Trail. When the sun rises in the east, be out on Sunrise Point with your camera, a good selection of lenses, and warm clothing. The first low rays of light on the vertical columns cast long shadows. The spires begin to separate into a three-dimensional scene of alternating lights and darks. The red stone starts to glow, as if it is lit from within. Within thirty minutes, the colors will cool, the shadows will shorten, and it will be time for breakfast. Pack up your gear and head back to camp or to your motel, or walk the short trail to the restaurant at the Bryce Canyon Lodge. With midday shooting at Bryce, the overhead sun casts few shadows, and there is little contrast. Here the formations are all about the same color. They merge together and produce flat, dull, photographs in midday sunlight. Find shadows to increase the contrast of your images by walking down one of the many trails and shooting up from below. To gain a feel for the true scale of the work of erosion at Bryce, take at least a short hike. Remember that all trails lead downhill, and you ll have to climb up. For a different image, especially in afternoon light, walk down one of the trails. My favorite is the Navajo Loop Trail. Starting at Sunset Point, the trail is a-mile-and-a-half long and passes through some of the best formations in Bryce Amphitheater. The lower part of this trail passes between walls so sheer and tall that only a narrow sliver of sky is visible above. Two towering, ancient Douglas-firs grow near the bottom of this loop trail. With a wide-angle lens, shoot straight up while standing between the trees. This trail drops five-hundred feet and will take at least two hours. Much of the trail is in shade. Remember a canteen of water, especially during the summer. Hiking the trails of Bryce is not easy. Take your time. Remember that you are at an elevation of 8,000 feet, and the air is thin. You can find a variety of angles to improve your compositions if you leave the paved viewpoints along the rim. Shoot verticals as well as horizontal images. Use a tree, rock, or a person to add scale to your photographs. A polarizing filter or a graduated gray filter can improve a photograph by darkening an empty, cloudless sky. There are several wide spots along the road where short, easy trails lead down into the canyon. The flat and sandy stream bottom is beautiful in autumn, especially late October, when the vine maples and oaks are at the peak of their color. In summer, the green foliage contrasts with red stone canyon walls. Have a great trip!

12 WHEN TO ARRIVE From April through late October, visitors (except those staying at the Zion National Park Lodge) must park their cars near the new Zion Park Visitor Center and ride into Zion Canyon on a Shuttle Bus. Bring your own bike or rent a bike to avoid riding the shuttles. If you want to drive into the canyon, arrive between November and April when the road is open to traffic. WHERE TO STAY The first choice of places to stay inside these parks are the national park lodges. Zion National Park Lodge and the Bryce Canyon Lodge have restaurants and other services available and are both conveniently located. Zion Lodge has eighty rooms, forty cabins and is open all year. Bryce Canyon Lodge has seventy rooms, forty cabins and is open from May 1 to October 15. There is a good selection of motels and restaurants just outside both parks. Some of them are open year 'round. Check the Internet for information on making room and campground reservations. My life-long career in photography began at San Jose State University in After college, I enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, serving as a photographer and darkroom technician. In Germany, my skills and experience with equipment and lab work were developed and polished. I took the opportunity to photograph the beauty of nature in the Black Forest. Returning to California in 1965, I produced industrial and military training films for Raytheon Electronics and began showing my color nature prints. From 1969 through 1981, my photography was exhibited and sold in West Coast galleries. During the early 1980 s, I taught color darkroom workshops, then expanded to include field trips. Former customers, who had purchased my framed photographs, wanted to learn photography. My Pacific Image Photography Workshops offered adventures to the Pacific Coast, the Southwest deserts, national parks, Hawaii, New England, Canada, England, and the South Pacific. The workshops evolved into writing and sharing my adventures with others. Photograph America Newsletter provides information on where, when, and how to discover the best nature photography in North America. Photograph America Newsletter is published quarterly (four issues/year) by Robert Hitchman assisted by technical associate/wife, Katherine Post Office Box 86, Novato, CA All contents of this newsletter copyright Robert Hitchman Please don t make copies for your friends. This is a violation of Federal copyright laws. This newsletter survives on subscriptions.