This morning was the first sunrise in Zion.  For a canyon that runs north-south, sunrise can be a bit of a challenge.  So Checkerboard Mesa was selected as the sunrise location because it is near the east entrance.

Now, Checkerboard Mesa is located in a place where the canyon still runs north-south in spite of its close proximity to the east entrance.  This means there was a lot of very wonderful open shade light that lasted for well over an hour after sunrise.  In fact the whole morning shoot was about open shade, autumn colors and an occasional back lit subject.

Sunlight eventually warmed the top of the Checkerboard but the foreground remained in cool, soft light.  The effect was very pleasing and calming.

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I’m getting some use from the G11 here in Zion National Park.  I was out shooting all morning and the surprises continue.

For example, the control dial on the back of the camera, well, I expected it to work by pressing up, down, left and right (which it does).  I didn’t expect it to rotate like its bigger dSLR cousins.  But it does and what a pleasant surprise that was.  It didn’t take long to get into the habit of spinning the dial instead of repeatedly pressing the direction buttons.

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I’m here in Southwest Utah for the next several days and just before coming out I picked up the grand new Canon PowerShot G11.  (I was on the waiting list at Calumet.)  Now I’m actually getting a chance to use it and find out jus what this camera can do.

I didn’t do any research, no product comparison, didn’t even check the published or anticipated specs.  When Canon announced it I put my name on the list.  The only thing I cared about was that its predecessors had rave reviews from photographer friends of mine (some of them even dedicated Nikon people) and the fact that it shoots RAW.  So everything about this camera was new to me and I didn’t know it yet but I was in for some surprises.

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