We are on a long weekend and headed to Southern Utah and wanted opinions on the best park(s)for photographers. I know they are all very beautiful, but we can't see them all at this time. We will do a little hiking, but it is mainly for the photo ops.

It will depend a bit on weather, where you are coming from, and how much distance you want to cover.

From the south, Zion is closest and provides fantastic photo opportunities. Cedar Breaks and Cedar Mountain, a bit further north are also good, as is Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon further north and east.

Utah Hwy 12 between Hwy 89 and Torrey is, for my money, one of the most scenic drives in the world and there are many hiking and photo opportunities along it.

I have driven through Canyonlands and Capitol Reef but I am not as familiar with them. Many of the people on this board are and highly recommend them as well.

Have a great trip.

I am sure that all of the Utah parks offer excellent photo ops.

I'm only an amatuer, but my photos improved after taking courses where your photos wil be critiqued and suggestions made.

I would suggest that yo look on some of the better online photo sites (like pbase.com) and get an idea of what you like. A good part of taking a great photo is having a "good eye" to recognize the potential opportunity when it presents itself.

Well Bug (you don't mind if I call you Bug do you?), You may be asking a question that is impossible to answer. The area is a photographer's wonderland. I'll say this though.

Unless you hike into Bryce Canyon all you'll get are the classic "tourist" shots.
Zion is a stunning valley but you are always at the bottom of it and light is tricky. Again, unless you get out on the trails you'll miss the best it has to offer.
I have not (yet) been to Canyonlands so I have no comment.
From my experience, I'd have to suggest Capitol Reef. A great deal of it is visible from the roads and Fruita is interesting and provides a good contrast to the red rock beyond. Capitol Reef also has the widest variety of rock colors...there's red, green, black and even a little bluish as I recall. Here's one of my faves from Capitol Reef:

http://www.pbase.com/image/27540506

As dwooddon points out, Rt. 12 is a stunning drive and can stand alone on it's own merits.
Where you're headed it will be hard to go wrong. If you want to take a look at all the images I gathered during my introductory trip to southern Utah last Sept go here:

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_03

I hope you're not on dial-up gt;
There are lots of "snapshots" with a few "keepers mixed in.

We're headed back for a little longer trip this coming September and I'm really looking forward to it since I've upgraded from my former 2.1 MP camera to a 5MP. I've passed my 2.1MP along to my wife who is also pretty handy with a camera so we'll enjoy two perspectives instead of just mine.

If you want to see what we have planned check out my wife's Fodor's post here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=1

A bit of advice; make sure to bring along a polarizing filter and know how to use it. It can really bring out the deep blue of the sky and I also found it handy shooting pictographs. The polarizing filter takes the shine off the desert varnish and can really make the pictograpghs stand out under certain conditions like this shot (it was also taken at Capitol Reef):

http://www.pbase.com/image/21315254

Have a great trip!

I just returned from a trip to southern Utah parks and it is a sight to see. I have not gotten my pictures developed yet but there are 23 rolls waiting to do so. I think some of my favorite photo opportunities were at Bryce, specifically from inside the Canyon along the Navajo Loop/Queens Garden Trail. At Zion was able to catch several grazing deer in my photos early in the morning.

If you go to Zion/Springdale area and you appreciate nature photography, go check out a couple photo galleries in Springdale. My favorite was the Michael Fatali gallery which is right next door to the Pizza and Noodle restaurant. The other I visited was called the Plateau Light Gallery, across the street, closer to the Park entrance.

I also visited Monument Valley and am kicking myself for not sticking around about 30 minutes longer than I did. I knew the full moon was supposed to occur the day I was there but could not rearrange my schedule to spend a night there. And I guess I didn't realize how soon the moon was actually due to come up. So as we were driving away back towards Kayenta, and eventually on to Cortez, CO. here comes the most gorgeous full moon rising I have seen in a long time. It was so tempting to turn around and go back but my friend might have hurt me over that.

Back to the topic of Zion... if you plan to hike the Emerald Pools trail(s), I have to tell you I didn't think it was worth my limited time or draining energy to do the trails to the middle and upper pools. The lower one was the prettiest of all three. I only had one full day to spend and wish I would have picked a different trail. The Riverside trail and hiking the narrows for a couple hours was the highlight of my time there.

This is really a hard question because as others have mentioned all the National Parks in Utah are photographic beyond belief.

I think my favorite park for photo's has to be Arches National Park. You can get so many wonderful shots from the turn outs. Getting out and doing a little hiking can open up so many more opportunities.

I wish I had better wide angle lenses for Canyonlands Island in the Sky District.

Where ever you go....you will be taking pictures. Take lots of film or cards if it's a digital camera.

Utahtea

Are you able to see a park in a day? Granted it wouldn't be an in depth visit, but we have 3 full days so maybe we could see 3 parks? What do you think? We will be flying into either LAS or SLC depending on which parks we visit. Technically we could fly into SLC and return from LAS or in reverse.

buglady59,

There is driving time involved so I would limit the number of parks.

If you fly into SLC then I would suggest Moab, Utah. Spend the time at Arches National Park, Canyonlands, Island in the Sky District & Dead Horse State Park. Take a drive out Hwy 128 to Fisher Towers if time permits. If you have the time you could take a long way back to SLC and drive thought Capitol Reef National Park.

If you fly into Las Vegas then I would stick with Zion and Bryce and if you still feel like you have the time then drive Scenic Hwy 12 to Boulder.

I don't think I would try and push any more than that on a 3 day weekend.

Utahtea

Might I suggest you fly to Las Vagas take I-15 north for 55 miles to exit 75 and visit Valley of Fire State Park. They have a 51 site campground. Wonderful red rock formations, especially at sunset and sunrise. They also have petroglyphs if you enjoy rock art. I would then spend the rest of the time in one park. If you choose Zion you will be on park shuttle buses so you need to factor that in as well. Why rush and not see much of any thing instead of "smelling the roses" in just one park? After all you only have 72 hours to enjoy your visit.
For your next trip would suggest you get Laurent Martres excellent 2 volume set of Photographing the Southwest. Vol 1 covers southwest Utah and Colorado and Vol 2 Arizona and New Mexico.

I think Capitol Reef offers the most variety for colors. The geologic formations are more varied by far.
In addition to the sandstones, Navajo and Wingate, you have the varied colors of the Moenkopi, the Chinle and a little of the Kayenta.

Bryce is essentially one layer of weathered limestone from the Claron formation. The erosion has left some incredible fins and towers in many hues of pink, white, red, etc.
Zion is mostly the Navajo Sandstone, which makes up the Great White Throne, and the red Kayenta.

If you can use a Polarizing filter, do it. If you don't have one, get one. I am not yet into digital stuff, but with film, a polarizer saturates the color better.

I know at the Grand Canyon pictures that normally look washed out are more vivid.