When my friend and I first arrived at Zion the weather forecast was showing snow. Our first day was spent scouting our upcoming photo shoots and doing some hiking. Last year’s trip to Zion in winter we were treated to some warm weather. This year temps were below freezing for most of our time in the park. We had possible snow conditions, so we knew we would want to concentrate on some of our favorite shooting spots.

On the first snow day we practically had the entire park to ourselves. We were driving through the upper portion of Zion and only saw a handful of cars for most of the morning. It was a winter wonderland for sure and we made the most of it. We explored the entire park as if we were seeing it for the first time. Everything looked different and scenes that I would normally walk away from kept my interest. Snow has a way of cleaning the scene, it is as if everything looks fresh and new. I had to keep a lens cloth in my pocket as the snow seemed to come in at every direction. At one point it was a near white out-but only for a short window.

It was a blast creating each one of these images. I was so inspired by the snow and maybe some of them are “you had to be there” shots but I still love them all. Many of the scenes we shot repeatedly in different light and weather conditions. These are all from the valley floor. I have a bunch from the upper portion of Zion that I’ll share later.

I used my Sony 7R III camera and the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 FE lens and the Sony 24-105mm lens for all of these images.