Two iconic features of Zion National Park-the Virgin River and the Watchman. Zion is my favorite place to be in fall, and on this day I was wandering around on a beautiful warm autumn afternoon. I took a few shots of this scene, then walked on. 8 minutes later I returned and the sunlight was hitting the cottonwoods just right, lighting them up and showing their gorgeous colors. I used a polarizer to bring out the sky and would have liked to do a long exposure but there was too much wind! Maybe next time. Gear: Canon 5D MkIII, 24-105mm lens, tripod, polarizer. Settings: f22, 1/10 sec, ISO 100.