Jordan hiking by the often photographed log in the upper Subway. Hiking adventure in “The Subway” Zion National Park that involves route finding, downclimbing, swimming, and rappeling on a 9 mile one-way hike from the top down the Left Fork of North Creek.
I love this hike and love shooting in this kind of environment. We spent 12 hours, hiking, swimming, downclimbing, and rappelling with lots of gear (wetsuits, helmets, climbing harnesses and hardware, food, water, dry bags, rope, and camera and lighting gear.) At least 5 of those hours were devoted to just photography. With swimming and rappelling down a waterfall we had to pay close attention to keeping your gear dry. On many of the shots we employed wireless TTL strobe lighting. With everything in dry bags, getting gear out for our shots was a labor intensive process. Even though it was in the 90’s in Zion that day, the water in the Subway is frigid and the wetsuits were a must. The slow pace worked out great as we hit the top of the Subway in the desired warm reflected light.
Jordan wading the first of very cold pools.
With Lauri and I on this trip was Brooke Bryner who used to model for us and is now an emerging family and portrait photographer near Ogden, Utah. My images of her have appeared in a few catalogs and calendars. Brooke’s younger sisters, Jordan and Madison, were great talent and assistants on this adventure. The day was a great combination of a shoot with very helpful assistants, a good workout, and a sister’s day getaway.
Three sisters having a blast on the upper Right Fork before needing a wetsuit.
Checking out some of the many mating frogs.
Jordan on the last rappel.
Jordan on the lower part of the Subway.