Grand Canyon - Pima Point

Tax cuts ...

It would appear that the Republican tax cuts are going to pass ... what a surprise. The one thing that party can do well is give even more money to the already obscenely rich. Of course, in a few years when the deficits start to swell they will start screaming about how they have to fix that by taking more money away from the other end of the economic spectrum ... the poor and the elderly. They will leave that to the Democrats who are experts at taking things away from those demographics. It's all a scam ... you do understand that, right? It's also very unnecessary. All you need to do is read up on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) to see why. In short, taxes do not pay for government expenditures. This is something none of the congress members understands as they are almost all lawyers or doctors. They think a government should be run like a household. But a monetary sovereign (a government that controls it's money supply) doesn't have to work like a household. It prints money! No household does that unless they have an illegal printing press in the basement (but that's another story). Sovereign governments can print as much money as they need. I know ... but what about inflation? Well, excess money doesn't lead to inflation ... the last few years of rampant quantitative easing proves that. A lack of things to buy is what causes inflation. But we are awash in things to buy ... just visit a local WalMart or look at the massive warehouses being built everywhere by Amazon and others. We also have a huge oversupply of autos that are unsold and waiting for someone to find the money to buy them. Inflation won't happen as long as there are things to buy. And we need infrastructure investments ... to the tune of 3+ trillion dollars so that also applies to paying wages and buying things to fix the broken roads and bridges. The government could turn on the presses tomorrow and run them day and night for years without causing any inflation. But they won't because that would rob the bankers of their cut of the very lucrative money market where the government borrows money. We could, literally, eliminate the deficit by printing 20 1 trillion dollar platinum coins and drawing against them to buy back all those government bonds we've sold over the years. Without generating any inflation. But don't hold your breath waiting for our incompetent elected officials to fix the problem. No gona happen ... ever! Too much money to be made.

Grand Canyon - Pima Point

As always, my first stop during this last cycle was Grand Canyon. I find that this park sets the tone for my trip and it was certainly true this time. For the first time I found the campground full and was forced to leave the park after only one day. There is no overnight parking except in the established campgrounds so I was forced to leave. They are very strict about this rule. This bad start was an omen that overshadowed my entire trip. I got some very nice images along the way but the trip itself was one bad thing after another. Anyway, to salvage my trip to the canyon I wanted to get one good panorama before I drove south. I took the red line bus out to Pima Point which is about a far west as one can go on established roads and went to setup on the rim. I've never seen an overlook so overrun with people. They were everywhere, even hanging off the rim. I had to elbow my way through so I could get out on the very edge to take my traditional pano. I found a nice rock outcrop where I was alone and, for the most part, out beyond the crowds. I did catch some people in the very edge of the pano but was able to clip them out of the finished image. It was a beautiful evening with just enough clouds to get a nice sunset. What I got is below.

I have one thing that happens at least once during each cycle. I get antsy and finish shooting before the action is finished. If you've watched a lot of sunsets you know that there is a certain process to how the light ebbs. There's the anticipation as the sun approaches the horizon followed by the first big burst of color. Shutters are going like crazy trying to capture this phase.Then there's the inevitable lull where the clouds go gray and the scene gets very boring. That's the time when most people gather up their gear and exit stage left. The patient pro knows there's likely to be more and he waits. Eventually, if the cloud conditions are just right, there's a second, even more spectacular color burst that lasts only a short while. That's when the sun breaks under the clouds and illuminates the bottoms with very intense red light. Over time this fades and you enter the blue period where the sky slowly darkens from light blue to dark blue to black. You can get some very spectacular shots during this second surge but, as I said before, you have to be patient. Well, being the first day of the cycle, I forgot this cardinal rule and broke my setup when the gray period came. And I was horrified to be standing at the bus stop when the sky lit up bright red again. It was too late to run back to the rim and setup so I could only watch as an amazing picture came and went, unrecorded. But this is a time to be very careful, especially around the rim, as accidents can happen when you are flustered and in a hurry. In the rush to setup you can make a mistake and get dead. So I just reminded myself, once again, to wait until the scene if 100% over before breaking my setup. Someday I'll remember this before I make a mistake.

This is a composite picture made from 80 separate images. I took bracketed sequences of 5 images each for a total of 16 blocks. Each block was run through Photomatix to give me an HDR image and then stitched together in Photoshop to produce the final panorama. There's a lot of work in this image as the tonal variation across the HDR blocks was very broad and I had to do a lot of cleanup. Some people think panoramas are easy ... just take your pictures and stitch them together. That's rarely all that happens. Panos can get very messy and it takes a trained eye and a lot of patience to fix all the problems. But the result is truly spectacular ... don't you think?

Pima Point - Grand Canyon 24mm,f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

There was this bear...

Yellowstone has been on my wish list since I started this whole process several years ago. Not only is it the oldest national park in the world but it is also among the most spectacular. They've got just about everything ... wild animals, spectacular scenery, geothermal features out the wazoo (over 10,000) ... there's something for everyone. I'd been intending to go there earlier in the trip but was told that the park was mostly closed due to heavy snow so it would have been a waste of time and money to try getting there. But I had time at the end of the trip so I made the 1000 mile drive from Albuquerque to the park in the middle of May. Spent over a week in Grand Teton and Yellowstone and it was worth every minute I invested. I could have easily spent another week and still not visited all the areas. I took almost 3000 images in that week, almost half of all the images I took for the whole trip. It was amazing and made the cycle worth the effort. Had I not gone I would have written off the entire trip as a waste.

One of the attractions is the big animals. They have buffalo, elk, moose, bear, wolves, coyotes ... in abundance. I was in Mammoth Hot Springs for 5 days and almost every day there was a large herd of buffalo living in the center of town. I also ran into them on the road several times, so close I could have rolled down my window and stroked their flanks. Not a good idea of course because buffalo are know for their hair trigger tempers and they can destroy a car in a heartbeat. Also ran into several bears including a mother and her cub that took up residence on the side of the road and disrupted traffic for several days. It's almost comical to watch people when they see bears. They slam on the brakes and pull off the road, oblivious to traffic and anything else around them. They will literally chase a bear with their cameras trying to get a shot. Of course, only an idiot chases a bear and there are "accidents" every year between people and bears ... the bear almost always wins unfortunately. Also, unfortunately, quite a few bears are killed or injured by cars driving too fast on the road. There's a reason why the speed limits are 35-45 mph on roads that look like they can easily handle 60. It's all about the animals.

Anyway, the last day in Yellowstone I wanted to take a sunrise at Yellowstone Lake. That required me to get up really early, like 4 am, and drive down past Old Faithful to a town called West Thumb which is on the lake. Coming down the hill above town I see a good spot to set up my camera so I hang a quick u-turn and park off the road. Set up the tripod and camera and start shooting. After a few minutes I hear loud billowing coming from the valley below but don't think anything off it. Figure it's a moose or buffalo. Keep shooting when suddenly, there's a loud crashing noise and a medium size black bear, probably a female, comes blasting out of the trees not 50 feet from me and goes barreling across the road and down the slope on the other side. Not even sure she saw me but she was definitely in a big hurry to get somewhere. I guess I should have had a "holy shit" moment but I can't say I was really too excited. Heart rate barely changed and other than being startled by all the noise I had almost no reaction. Since the bear was between me and my truck I'm not sure what I could have done other than start yelling like crazy and flapping my coat. I would have used my tripod to keep the bear at bay so I could maneuver to my truck but that would have been the extent of my efforts. Had the bear really wanted to attack me I wouldn't have been able to do much. But man, that was definitely one of the biggest rushes I had. Definitely an interesting way to end my trip. Only wish I'd been able to point the camera and get a picture. Now that would have been something to capture!

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

One of the attractions in Yellowstone is the "Grand Canyon". Not nearly as large as the one in Arizona it is still pretty spectacular. The Yellowstone River has, over millions of years, carved a nice ditch through the soft rock which is several hundred feet deep and very impressive. I was there in the late afternoon and, fortunately, the place was pretty much deserted so I was able to set up my tripod and get a good panorama. I really like the drama it captures, of the darkening sky and the cliffs and the river far below. This is a pretty standard process, HDR in Photomatix, blending in Photoshop and finishing in Lightroom. All I can say if, if you have some extra time on your hands, please make a trip to the Northwest corner of Wyoming and spend some time exploring Grand Teton and Yellowstone. You won't be disappointed.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone - 24mm,f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Grand Canyon Yaki Point Storm

It's Been a Wonderful Trip ... NOT

As most of you know by now, I spend part of my year in Crimea. A few years ago, just after the Maidan disaster in Ukraine and after the corrupt president, Viktor Yanukovitch left the country, Russia came to Crimea and basically took us from Ukraine. There was a referendum but no one the west accepted the result. Despite this contention, Russia annexed Crimea in the spring of 2014. The west responded with crippling sanctions that cut the Crimea off from all international banking including Visa/MasterCard, Western Union and SWIFT. But, until this last trip I was always able to access my accounts in my financial advisor (who shall remain hidden as I don't want any trouble). Not so this time. I found I was locked out from all my accounts, unable to use my ATM card even for purchases in the US and unable to do anything in my IRA. I got home with a few bucks in my pocket and a big itch in my trigger finger. I went to my advisor's local office and they told me that due to my being in Crimea and actually "living" there they had the right to essentially confiscate my money and there was nothing I could do about it. The conditions for returning the money were horrendous to say the least and a circular firing squad with no resolution.

The big instigator of this problem is a little known US office called the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC for short). OFAC monitors and enforces all the sanctions on all the countries presently in the US doghouse. That includes North Korea, Cuba (still), half the Middle East, other assorted bad boys and Crimea. OFAC sets the rules for any financial transactions that transpire between the US and the sanctioned country. No two situations are the same. But, and it's a big but, my financial advisor wanted to apply the same rules to all sanctions and wanted to apply the most draconian rules to all of them. Now I know, from personal experience, that the OFAC sanctions on Crimea allow me access to my money when I'm not in Crimea and also allow me to transfer money to my family for personal expenses. Only business and 'charitable contributions' are not allowed. I tried, for 4 days, to get this across to my advisor but he refused to comply or even talk to OFAC for guidance. He held that it was within his right to enforce rules that were more stringent than the OFAC guidelines and there was nothing I could do. His instructions were so ludicrous that I won't even repeat them here but the essence was my wife and daughter had to leave Crimea. Not going to happen in my lifetime so the money was trapped. In desperation, I sent an email to OFAC explaining the situation and requesting their help in solving the problem. They came back with the same stipulations I outlined above. I gave this email to my advisor and waited. It took 2 days for them to get in touch with OFAC and get told, rather forcefully I'm understand, to cut out the crap and give me access to my money. That they did and I'm in the process of moving all my assets to another location. So pox on my financial advisor for being a total jerk. If you're nice to me I might even tell you who it was. One of the big boys I'm afraid.

Grand Canyon Yaki Point Storm

After 5 days of beating my head against a brick wall I finally got my money. I was exhausted and needed someplace that would lift my spirits. That place is and will always be the Grand Canyon. I have a few friends there and I love the beauty and serenity of the canyon. So I packed up all my gear and headed west. Due to the El Nino warming, the weather in the West has been a lot wetter and somewhat colder. Last year it was very dry but this trip we had lots of rain and cold winds. Didn't matter really. It was just great to be there. I visited some old photo sites and found a whole new look due to the clouds. One such place was Yaki Point, a few miles to the east of the main encampment. This is a beautiful overlook and the heavy clouds gave it a very different feel. I shot this during the daytime but the image is still very dramatic because the sun is being filtered by all the cover. I like it very much and hope you do too.

Grand Canyon Yaki Point - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

North Rim Sunrise

New Gear for the Trip

I have a fairly short list for the new gear I'm getting this time out. I've decided I really need a second camera body as I spent $200 getting my sensor cleaned twice during cycle #1 due to the dirt that got inside during lens changes. Even being very careful it's almost impossible to keep dirt from entering the body. Images taken during the last few weeks of my trip looked like they had chicken pox with all the black shadows. It's very time consuming to fix them (in Lightroom) and I always worry about degrading my images while trying to fix the problem.

Anyway, I found a great deal on a Canon 6D at B&H which combines the camera body with a Canon Pixma 100 photo printer at a price less then the camera body alone. I'm not really too excited about the printer yet (it's the razor while the blades ... ink and paper ... are the real cost items) but it'll come in handy if I want to print some small (12x18 is max size I think) samples for proofing my processing and for handing out to prospective clients for my much larger prints. I actually save $250 with the combination which is almost 20%. I'm also getting a super wide fast lens (Rokinon 14mm f/2.8) for astrophotography and some miscellaneous items for my computer. Not a lot of money but will help me get the job done.

North Rim Sunrise

I spent 2 days on the Grand Canyon's north rim at the end of Cycle #1. Slept in my truck in the parking lot of the lodge as there was no room and it's very expensive. Not even a campground site could be found. The north rim is only open during the summer (starting May 15th) and early fall. Too bad as I suspect the canyon is amazingly beautiful when it snows there. There are ways around the closure but they entail a very dangerous dirt road which I'm not inclined to attempt with my little Nissan pickup.

I wanted to get a sunrise shot so managed to drag my nearly dead body out and wandered to an overlook near the lodge. I was the first person there but soon others managed to make the trek to see the sun break on the canyon's eastern edge. As I've stated before, sunrises are spiritually different than sunsets. The air is dead calm and cool. The birds put on a great show, singing to greet the new day. It's such a wonderful feeling to wait and watch the world come alive.

Grand Canyon NR sunrise - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Grand Canyon North Rim Sunset

Getting those Amazing Shots...

I get the most horrified looks sometimes when I set up my rig to take these amazing panoramas. As I edge closer and closer to the abyss people's eyes start to get larger and their facial expressions are of genuine fear. "You're going there?" they often ask as I carry my camera and tripod across the rocks and stand at the edge looking down into a 1000 foot drop. "It's what I do!" is my usual answer but that does little to assuage their fears. "I'd never do that" has rung in my ears more often than I can remember. But, to get the really spectacular images one has to take chances ... to go where no one has gone before. Otherwise it's just another photo like thousands (or sometimes millions) that came before and will come after. That's not me ... not even close to me. I want to bring home something unique so I go to the edge. Not that I'm careless ... I'm very careful and respectful as I approach the edge. I make sure, when possible, that the space is cleared of stray rocks and loose dirt and I never stand up or play around. I'm almost always on my knees and keep my weight leaning backwards. I often hook my tablet to the camera so I can view the sensor output from a safe distance and make adjustments without having to lean out over the edge as I rotate the camera to the extreme angles. I always hold the tripod to make sure the camera is stable and I'm not forced to grab the gear in case it starts to fall. I try to be a careful as I possible can be and, so far, that's been enough.

To give you an idea of my typical vantage point, look at the picture below. It's from the Grand Canyon and shows my tripod at the edge. One inch further and there's a long drop to the valley below. But also note that the tripod is not fully extended so I can stay low. This is for safety and also because it allows me to position the camera closer to the edge and thus to shoot more vertically as I sweep the camera through the angles for the panorama. If you look at my last post, from Horseshoe Bend, the bottom center of the image looks straight down. The camera was positioned on a very small ledge of rock jutting out into the canyon. There's no other way to get that kind of photo except by being right there on the edge. Although it looks dangerous, in most situations, it's not ... if one is very careful and aware.

On the Edge at Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon North Rim Sunset

As an example of what I discussed above, this is an image taken on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Take the road from the hotel, turn right at the fork and go as far as you can. Don't let the burn area discourage you although it's interesting in it's own right. Lots of dead trees. Just keep going until you can't go anymore. There's a large overlook just beyond the parking lot and a picnic area (designated as a place for large parties ... weddings, birthdays ... can you imagine having a wedding where a drunken guest could just walk off the edge? Scary thought for sure). The vantage point is just beyond this picnic grove and places you 1000 feet above the valley floor. It was an interesting day ... I'd seen heavy rain earlier which was a blessing as it washed away some of the junk that was obscuring the canyon. I hung around the parking lot for most of the afternoon and wandered out to this location just before sundown. I always like to get there an hour or so before the main event as it gives me time to scout the location and to get in the correct mindset. I got one of those questions from a young couple sitting a respectful distance from the edge and gave them one of my pat answers. I think they were more than a bit disturbed because they soon stood and wandered away. Guess the thought of watching someone stumble over the edge didn't sit well with them. Oh well.

As the sun sets, I start my cycle. Camera in portrait orientation and my 16-35 f/4 set to 16 mm for maximum coverage. F-stop is usually set at f/18 for maximum depth of field (I don't worry about diffraction too much ... depth of field is most important). Camera set to make a bracketed series (3-5 images per set). Shoot, rotate camera so I get at least 1/3 coverage between adjacent groupings (have screen set with 1/3 grid so I can easily judge rotation), then shoot again. When I complete the first sweep, adjust camera angle down until I can see bottom of canyon in view screen, go back to the starting angle and repeat the series. I usually get between 60 and 90 photos before I'm done. And sometimes I'll do this multiple times if I think the sunset is getting better. I usually stop when the bracketed shots are hitting the 30 second wall meaning I'm out of time and the sequence is no longer accurate. This is always well after sundown and I'm shooting the orange halo and often seeing the earth's shadow to the east (you see it in this photo as the bluish ting just above the horizon on the left side). I then use my standard technique of Photomatix to combine the brackets and then into Photoshop to create the panorama followed by Lightroom for cropping and final color adjustments. And the result ... breathtaking as always.

Grand Canyon North Rim - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Grand Canyon Sunset from Desert View

The New Cameras...

It's been a big year for some of the camera manufacturers. They've been busy pushing the envelop with new sensors and new bodies plus more than a few new and exciting lenses. Canon fired the first shot with the 5DS(R) cameras containing a mind boggling 50 megapixel sensor. The photos are amazing and I think many serious Canon shooters have already made the transition. However, the sensor does have some serious noise issues (as do all Canon sensors) and the files are very large. This is a tripod only camera for in-studio use and for dedicated landscape photographers who are comfortable with that. Not good for action and, seriously, only outputs HD video ... when many in the world are already shooting 4K resolution. Hope that's just a software issue and not a limitation on the hardware because Canon, who really pioneered video from DSLR cameras, is now behind the 8 ball on that score. Then came Sigma ... yes, Sigma ... who are creating a whole new line of lenses called the ART series and these are really good glass. I think they just introduced a new zoom but the primes are truly amazing. I'm looking at the 24mm f/1.4 for astro work and it's as good as the much more expensive Canon offering. At less than $900 it's a real bargain. On my wish list as I write this. Then Sony came out with the new A7R ii and it too is an amazing camera. A forest of new features including 5-axis in-camera stabilization, 399 cross focus points so the camera can track action, a new back-lit sensor that is very low noise and sensitive and has 42 megapixels and 14 stops of dynamic range at low ISO. Almost ... and I say that with great hesitation ... almost a perfect camera. But there are increasing reports of overheating when recording 4K in-camera video (4.2.0 which isn't great but a first for a mirrorless camera none the less and 4.2.2 to an external recorder). Not a good thing if you plan to use this camera as a backup or primary when recording interviews or other long time sequences. Seems the problem is so bad the camera shuts down after 15-20 minutes even in a cool environment. If I was primarily planning to shoot video I'd bypass this camera but I'm not ... I'm shooting high resolution, high dynamic range stills mostly so I don't think this is an issue for me. So, as I type this the A7R ii is on my wish list too. It's not cheap ... only a few hundred below the Canon 5DS so I'll be selecting based on performance and how clean the images are. Oh ... and Sony has a lossless compression in the mix so that's also an issue. Why, I wonder, would they go to all the trouble of developing this amazing sensor and then crap all over it with a lousy compression algorithm? Rumor has it they've been listening to the wailing and are working on a new software fix to give users the option of getting the 14 bit RAW right from the sensor as an option. I hope so. Even if it slows down the shooting speed a bit. Please, give us the RAW data ... we can handle it.

Grand Canyon Sunset from Desert View

As you enter the south rim of the Grand Canyon on Rt. 64 there's a campground called Desert View. In the early days they constructed an observation tower on the rim so you could see the Colorado River deep in the canyon. It's a much quieter place than Grand Canyon City further to the west and the views are even more spectacular. I spent several days there, capturing sunsets and the amazing beauty of the canyon. This image was taken from a vantage point to the east of the tower and shows the river and red bluffs in beautiful detail. This is, of course, an HDR panorama. If you haven't been to Desert View, I strongly encourage you to make a stop the next time you're in the area. You won't be disappointed.

Grand Canyon Sunset - 16mm(1.6 crop), f/18, HDR, ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Grand Canyon North Rim Storm

Flush the Summer Goodbye...

It's been a bummer summer here in Crimea. I was really looking forward to spending at least part of this summer on the Black Sea with the family but that appears to have gone in the proverbial crapper. We've had zero good days this month so far and it's already 2/3 done. It's either too cold and/or the wind is too strong making the beach uncomfortable. And this year the bus company that provides transportation to the beach changed from a very nice VW bus with comfortable seats to this POS Bogdon municipal bus that overheats and is exceedingly uncomfortable to endure for the hour+ it takes to get there. Add to that the insult of raising the price 33% and you've got a good formula for not ginning up the excitement needed to make the trip. So we've been a grand total of once so far and it doesn't look to get any better going forward. No one is happy about this but there's not much we can do to fix it. Just grouse and bitch and hope, against hope, that it gets better soon.

Grand Canyon North Rim Storm

My last stop on this cycle was at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a roll of the dice so to speak as I knew the camp grounds and even the cabins would be booked full and then some. They also have a policy of no 'overnight camping' which is a polite way of saying ... no sleeping in your car or RV in the parking lots or overlooks. I decided to challenge that position and slept in my truck for 2 nights in the parking lot at the lodge. No one bothered me but I think that's probably from oversight more than anything else. The single ranger had other things to worry about than people sleeping in their cars. So I got away with a slight transgression.

On my second day I went out to Royal point which is the eastern most overlook. It's near the spot where the Colorado enters the main canyon. It was a very hot day so I found a shady spot not too far from the bathrooms, ate my lunch and settled back to await the evening. Around mid-afternoon the sky darkened and it started to rain. As any photographer knows, rain is a good thing as it creates drama. Mundane scenes suddenly become interesting and photogenic. I had already selected a nice overlook to visit in this event so I drove as quickly as possible there and set up the camera. The result was a very pleasant surprise and I have now processed the files for your enjoyment.

Grand Canyon North Rim Storm - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY NC 4.0

Grand Canyon North Rim Sunset

The 8 hour rule...

I was in California much of the last 2 months of my trip and got to know most of the rest areas along I5 and elsewhere. For the most part they are clean (except the mess outside of Lassen) and safe for the weary traveler. However, they have this ridiculous rule ... you can't stay more than 8 hours out of 24. I understand why ... to a point. They don't want someone living in the rest area. That's what I heard from one snarky cleaning guy as I set up my computer on a picnic table under some big redwood trees up north. I suggested perhaps he was slightly outside his job description and that I had no intention of 'living' in his little kingdom but I did expect some courteous from him. I was a customer and deserved to be treated as such. He crawled away after that but it still made me mad. I used their roads and paid an obscene amount for gas (up to $1 more per gallon than surrounding states) so I indirectly paid part of his salary. When it's very hot and your ride is struggling in the heat you want to pull over and maybe find some shade until the sun get lower in the sky and it cools off some. Or you're tired and want to find a place to cook dinner and sleep ... well 8 hours isn't really enough to do that. But, once the rule exists, there's always someone who feels compelled to enforce it literally. So, when the state trooper would cruise through the area every hour and give you that hard stare you knew it was time to move on ... even if you weren't really ready. It was an insult to a traveler in their state and dangerous. So ... please ... whoever wrote that rule (and similar rules in several other states ... I'm looking at you AZ), back off some ... OK. Make it an unwritten rule ... no one can actually 'live' in a rest area but enforce it with compassion. Is that too much to ask?

Grand Canyon North Rim Sunset

I was heading toward Albuquerque and the cycle's end but wanted to make one last stop. I drove up I15 through Las Vegas and dropped down toward the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It's a very different experience than the south rim. 2500 feet higher, more forested and cooler. And, quite frankly, the canyon looks and feels different. The place was full and then some so I wound up sleeping in the parking lot of the Grand Canyon Lodge for 2 nights but I really wanted to finish this cycle on a high note. On the second day I went out to Cape Royal, a 17 mile drive from the Lodge, and spent the day scouting all the vistas along the drive. There were many but only one, the group picnic area at Cape Royal, gave me a reasonable shot at seeing the actual sunset. So, as I always do, I hung around throughout the long afternoon and, as sunset approached, made my way to the chosen spot. It was a shear cliff, at least 1000 feet straight down, but gave me the vantage point I wanted. I got the usual stares and the obligatory "you're going out there?" question as I set up my equipment and waited for the perfect moment. This time mother nature smiled on me and provided a really beautiful ending to her day. So, enjoy the view ...

Grand Canyon North Rim - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Grand Canyon ... one more time

It's Still Raining...

Day three of the unusual rain pattern that seems to be stuck over the canyon. Last night was very uncomfortable as the wind blew and the rain came and went throughout my night's sleep. Woke early and lay there thinking how wonderful it will be when I get a bit lower (presently at around 7000') and find some warm, dry air. That happens later today after I finish this post and visit a local gallery that may be interested in my stuff. Keep your fingers crossed that they want to work together ...

Not the smartest move...

As I was waiting for the library here at the park headquarters to open, an older woman came limping in requesting help. Turns out she had been through major surgery a month ago and her doctor had said it was OK for her to travel. Don't think she told him her mode of travel ... an old van which was her bedroom and everything else. Last night she went through a very miserable time as the cold weather finally got to her. The park rangers suggested, rather forcefully, that she go to the clinic here and see someone. Not sure if she did but I hope so as she was in pretty bad shape. Certainly not well enough to undertake the long drive back to the east coast. I feel for her as I've spent more than a few mights freezing my a** off but I'm in reasonable shape and have the gear to survive a really cold night. I wish her luck as she tries to get home.

The Canyon ... one more time

We've had some miserable weather here in Grand Canyon as I'm sure you know from my previous notes. Rain, cold and wind have made the last couple of days pretty miserable. As you also know, bad weather is the best event a photographer can ever hope for. Just before and certainly after a major storm the air is very clear and the clouds provide all the drama one can ever want. Well, on Saturday we had a big rain that broke, fortunately, in late afternoon so, by the time I got to the canyon rim, much of the fury was spent and only the dark clouds remained. This time I set up on a rock outcropping east of the visitor's center because, quite frankly, I was exhausted and had no desire to ride a bus back and forth to some remote location (especially after dark) and freeze while the event unfolded. I was quite surprised when I found a very nice spot, with a big rock sticking well out away from the surrounding rim and right over a large side canyon. As you may have surmised by now, my pictures get most dramatic when there's a very deep plunge near the bottom center. Well, we got that and then some with this picture. I'll let you enjoy and then come back with the details (which you probably know by heart by now).

Grand Canyon from Mather Point - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 200,license CC BY-NC 4.0

This is a 5 exposure bracket. Again I went through Photomatix to get the tonemapped images and then, because my sensor is still crapped up, into Photoshop to do some cleanup. I then took the collected images back into Photoshop to merge into a cylindrical panorama. Cropping and final color correction was performed in Lightroom. Hope you enjoy and please comment. I really want to know what you think.

Raindrops

Tragedy at Grand Canyon

It happens every year I'm told. Someone fell from the canyon edge last Thursday. 400 feet and the end was his death. There's no way for the park service to limit access to the often steep drops that are all over the canyon. They have long walks that traverse the edge and it's very easy to walk out onto a protruding rock and wonder at the beauty. One false step and there's no way to return. I spend lots of time on these outcroppings as my panoramas require shots down into the depths of the canyon. But I'm very careful, always looking where my feet are and what the condition of the ground is. There are small rocks and loose dirt so you have to be exceedingly careful. Tragedy can and does happen here and all one can do is be very aware of the place you're occupying. My condolences to the family of this victim. It is a warning but rarely heeded...

Raindrops...

I'm sure you've grown tired of these sweeping panoramas of Grand Canyon and want something else. Me too quite frankly. It's fun (and challenging) to get the images and takes a fair bit of processing (and some luck) to get the spectacular results but repetition can be boring. So today something a bit different. It rained yesterday in Grand Canyon. Of late that's a rare thing. Big thunderclouds swept the canyon and we got quite a downpour. I was sitting in my truck, watching the raindrops course down the window and decided to take out my camera and see what happened. I had the 16-35mm on so depth of field is always hard to shorten but I moved right up to the glass and set the f-stop at 4. Even close up this lens gives amazing clarity. I had the camera set for a bracketed shot so there was plenty of material to work with. I ran the images through Photomatix and, as is my custom, worked with the black and white points plus strength until I was happy. Then into Lightroom for some final tweaking. I like the result ... don't you?

Raindrops - 24mm(1.6 crop),f/4,HDR,ISO 100 ,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Grand Canyon - One More Time

Sorry About Not Keeping the Google Map up to Date

Living in a tent and depending on spotty Internet access really puts a crimp in my blogging style. When I was in Zion National Park a while back I had to drive 20 km to find a good connection. Here in Grand Canyon there's really only one connection that's not an arm and a leg to access ... at the library in the park admin building. So every morning I lug my laptop (sans battery which has swollen so big it no longer fits in the space allotted) there and plug in. The connection is dirt slow but it's all they have so I'm grateful. So, I have to make choices and the Google map is low on my priority list at this point since my following is a bit slim right now. Once I get in better shape with a loyal group of companions I'll do better.

Grand Canyon for the Last Time ... for a While

I'm leaving the main part of Grand Canyon to explore an area close to the entrance ... Desert View. They have a primitive campground there and not much else. But it's a different part of the park and I'll get different views to admire and capture. So bear with me for this last image. I took this at a place called Yaki Point which lies just to the east of Grand Canyon City. I crawled out on a large rock formation away from the crowds who came to watch the sunset and waited patiently for the main event. You can usually judge a sunset (or sunrise) by the clouds floating around and how clear the air is. Last night there were some very nice clouds, in about the right place and the canyon air has been exceptionally clear the last few days. So I expected it would be at least nice and perhaps spectacular. But ... there's always a but isn't there ... as the sun approached the horizon a band of clouds appeared in just the wrong place and obscured it's progress. So, instead of a fiery sky I got some backlit clouds and a bit of red but nothing to really get excited about. Since I was there anyway I took a sequence. 5 photos per view this time because of the strong contrast between the sky and the deep canyon. The processing is pretty standard so I'll not bore you with those details.

Grand Canyon from Yaki Point - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

I'm reasonably satisfied with this picture given the sun's bad behavior but it could use a bit of touchup in Photoshop. Because my Wacom tablet died I'm not really able to do that right now. I've been told the new tablet is on its way so I'll pick it up next weekend. When I get time, I'll go back to this image and make the necessary adjustments. When that's done I put it here again.

Grand Canyon Sunrise

Grand Canyon Sunrise

Woke up very early this morning so figured I might as well drag my sorry bones out of the warm bag and go see what a Grand Canyon sunrise looks like. Took the camera of course. It was very cold at the visitor's center and I froze waiting for the sun to peek over the horizon. Brain wasn't working all that well so I didn't get a full 2 row panorama like I usually do. The bottom was truncated and I was basically limited to the top row. Nice colors but the canyon came out a bit dark. Because of generator restrictions and my dead Wacom tablet I'm not really able to effectively use Photoshop to correct such problems. But I've been told the truck cap is ready end of next week and I've already ordered a replacement tablet and the wireless kit so connectors won't break anymore. Let's keep our fingers crossed this one lasts a bit longer than a few weeks.

Grand Canyon Sunrise - 16mm (1.6 crop), f/11, various exposures, ISO 100
license CC BY-NC 4.0

Usual treatment so I'll just let you admire the view.

Grand Canyon

Generator Hours...

There's no electricity in national park campgrounds. Private places usually offer the option for power but it must be a 'thing' with the park service to make camping as natural and primitive as possible. So, when in these situations, I fire up my little Honda generator and process the day's images without external help. However, the park service, again for unknown reasons, has this really irritating generator runtime policy. 2 hours in the morning (usually around sunrise) and 2 hours in the evening (usually around sunset). So, you can only run your generator during those hours when you should, if you're a serious photographer, be out shooting. Not sure of the logic but I'm convinced, somewhere in the deep bowels of the bureaucracy, there's a little guy slaving away at these types of problems and arriving at solutions that satisfy everyone ... right?

Grand Canyon ... round one

I spent much of yesterday scouting the 'red route', a bus trip that runs from Grand Canyon City to a place called "Hermit's Rest' about 25 miles to the east. In the old days this was a vacation resort for people who wanted to get away from it all. They took a special train from ... Phoenix? ... and then a long buggy ride to this location. The lodge still stands but is now a souvenir stand and snack bar. Anyway, along this road there are numerous stops where one can view the canyon. Unfortunately, the park service is always worried about people getting too close to the edge so they have erected barriers to keep us out of harm's way. However, us resourceful photogs know how to get around this and I did. Found a lovely little spot with a large granite  protrusion where I could set up my equipment and get really good views of the canyon and sunset. Once I'd decided on the place, I just had to make the time. Left my campsite (went back to rest and get my equipment) around 5:30 and arrived an hour later. There were some kids taking selfies on 'my spot' but they soon disappeared and, for a few moments, I had the place all to myself. But good places attract good photographers and soon Adam Schallau (www.adamschallau.com) and a few students arrived to join me for a wonderful evening of shooting and talking photography. Adam specializes in landscapes and is often seen in the pages of Arizona magazine and others. He was teaching a fellow from India the finer points of shooting the canyon. I learned a lot just listening to the banter as they worked the scene.

I complained a while back about Zion and it's horrible orientation ... well Grand Canyon runs east to west and is perfect for sunrise and sunset images. As the sun goes down the shadows create the most interesting shapes on the mounts and valleys of the canyon. The colors are beyond spectacular. During the day the canyon is OK but grand colors aren't really it's specialty when the sun is most intense. But during the golden hours it puts on it's finest party dress and dances a riot of earth tones and sky blues. But why should I explain this when an image speaks so much better...

Grand Canyon from Powell Monument - 16mm (1.6 crop), f/11,various exposures, ISO 100
license CC BY-NC 4.0

You're pretty familiar with the drill by now. Bracketed exposure of 3 images, 2 ev apart. Tried a wider aperture this time (f/11) to speed up the process a bit and bring down diffraction. Then Photomatix for minimal adjustment, mostly blacks and whites plus some strength and then into Photoshop to create the cylindrical panorama. Like a previous pano, Photoshop screwed up the crop so I took the image as a TIF into Lightroom to crop and apply finishing touches. Not bad don't you think?

Now, before I leave, notice one thing ... to the left you have the majestic sunset while, to the right you have the earth's shadow cast above the horizon. When this works out right you get intense blues just at the horizon with pinks and reds above. Did I do it right?