South Rim with a Newbie

My brother, believe it or not, had never been to the Grand Canyon.  Greg, Tom and I gave him a full day tour.  We started in the middle, rode the bus towards Hermit's Rest, returned to Angel Lodge for lunch and then drove to the Watchtower.  Lots of stops.  Lots more fun.  The Canyon was not quite as hazy as it has been all summer.  But, as the humidity increased during the day, the haze increased right along with it.  Steve loved our 'big ditch'.  Hope you enjoy our photos.

Tom's version.

Carol's version.

If you look away from the Canyon you still get 'eye' treats.

This is just before the Golden Hour.  See below for the later shot.

This trip was the first in which I made it inside the Watchtower.  Check out the story of this fabulous building.  We all tried our best to capture the beauty, the grandeur, the story.  Sorry, but you just have to go and take the narrow steps up to the third level.  Steve tried getting a fisheye shot by holding it up high in the very middle of the first level.  He gets a view all the way to the top.

HA!  Steve got a bit interpretive here.  But, the site can do this to your mind!

First level taken with a 14-24mm Nikkor f/2.8.  Set at 14mm.

This is the second level looking down and then up at the third level.

We had one very full day of shooting.  The Canyon never ceases to both inspire me and frustrate me.  Steve had a good time and got in some serious time with his new Canon 5DS.  That camera is exceedingly impressive and Steve was delighted with the results he got.  Thanks for sharing our trip.

South Rim Again

Yep, we went back.  We will again!  We started at Mather Point, rode the bus to the Village for lunch and then got back in the car and headed to the east end of the South Rim to the Watchtower.  Our goal, again, was to capture some golden sun on the tower. Of course, we stopped along the way.  We hope you enjoy our fun.

From the Village.

A three image pano taken looking northeast from the Watchtower.

Another northeast shot.

Steps up the Watchtower.  You can go in, go up the stairs and get some very different views from the inside and top of the tower.

The Gift Shop and Cafe at the Watchtower.  You can get a pretty good bowl of chili with chopped onions and cheese and a side of bread for $3.75!  Hours are 8 to 8.

As we stood within inches of each other on the edge of the canyon with each of our 'black noses' pointed in the same direction, we laughed at the comment that all of our shots would look alike.  Yet, that is the way it was all day.  Personally, I felt a tremendous amount of support among good friends.  I also felt that being in each other's presence contributed to our effort to capture the best images.  The following photos are testimony to how many ways scene can be interpreted by any photographer.  The light changed very quickly, lens and setting selections varied and then there is the post processing . . .

I can hardly wait to go back!

East South Rim

When I think of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon I think of Grand Canyon Village, a shuttle bus and views that I have seen before.  I have never been to the east end, the road to Cameron, the road less traveled.  The road that passes by the famous and iconic Watchtower.  Along that road there are pullouts, views that have a different angle than the crowded pullouts on the western side and then, there is the final crown, the Watchtower.  Tom and I, along with grandson, Anden, met up with Greg in Williams to drive to the Watchtower.  Goal, a great Golden Hour, or lots of spectacular lightning, or maybe even stay for a Milky Way.  One out of three is pretty good!!

The Canyon was filled with haze.  There are some controlled burns in the area, lots of humidity and a strong enough wind to blow around some dust!  I want to go back to some of those pullouts on better days!

One of several rapids that are enjoyed by river rafters.  Beyond this one is Hance Rapids.  Not a single one of my shots were usable.  With the right lens and some patience I bet it would be fun to capture a group going through one of them.

This is supposed to be Duck Rock.  Must say, though, that it is not as impressive as the Duck Rock in the Chiricahua National Monument.

This is as good as the Golden Hour got!

I guess I need to see it walk like a duck before I am convinced this is a duck (rock).

Anden's capture of that Duck!!

That may be Vishnu Temple in the upper left . . . 

Greg must have gotten tired of the gray haze.  He looked around and found awesome details.

Anden shows us how 'uncrowded' the pull-outs are.  Not too bad really.  He also caught me taking my first shot before heading down a path for a different view.  He is not allowed to take photos of Grandma.  But, cars are a different matter.  Clever kid!!

Storms just kept building up.  Fortunately, we were able to stay out of them and photograph lightning from a safe distance (statement added for mom).

We took a side trip off the road to the Watchtower.  We were looking for Hull Cabin, an off the road cabin that apparently you can actually rent from the Forest Service.  The cabin was in very poor light, but the barn off to the side looked interesting.

All from this trip.  I can hardly wait to go back.  I want to spend a whole bunch more time around the Watchtower.  We did not have enough time to take some walks to see best placement for getting storms, stars and have those shots include the Watchtower.  You can also go into the tower and photograph from the top!  I checked the weather for this weekend and I would go if I could.  Thinking about going, check out Tusayan for a place to stay as it is close and will be nice to stay there if you are late leaving the tower area.  Thanks for joining us. We had fun.