South Rim #1

No clouds, but I still wanted to capture the beautiful ruggedness of the

Grand Canyon. It's terribly hazy at sunrise, but an hour or so later much of

that clears, and there are still some shadows to give depth to the scene.

How much sky to include was always a question. I was limited to 100mm

(about a 78mm equivalent in 35mm terms) for my wide shots, and would

have liked to get a bit more foreground. Any comments and suggestions

would be appreciated. Thanks.

I like the clarity of this one better than in #1, but now there's almost too much contrast, isn't there?  And I understand why you want some blue, as in #1.  I've been to the North Rim & South Rim once on separate trips.  The Grand Canyon is awesome, but it so difficult to photograph and come away with something better than what's stored in MY memory. 

Jeff, thanks for the comment.  I think the G.C. is very difficult to photograph, especially with nothing but a blue sky.  Stormy or snowy weather would offer much better opportunities, I believe.  I was looking for compositions that might elevate the photo just a bit beyond an "I was there" kind of shot, but I don't know if I succeeded.

I agree that it is difficult to capture the magnificence of a place like the GC. I spent two weeks floating it in 2010 and have only one image I consider to be worthy of hanging on the wall. I am floating it again in August and I think I will leave the Nikon home and just take the waterproof camera for action shots in the rapids. Not having a professional grade camera with me wherever I go can increase my level of joy towards my surroundings....but just once in awhile. I do after all just like to take pictures even when my instinct tells me I may just have taken a "snap".

Stephen,

Thanks so much for your suggestion on my Red Rocks b/w conversion shot.  I've adjusted the contrast (as much as I am able with Picasa) and posted that with my comment.

I'm looking forward to visiting the Grand Canyon as well and was intrigued to see this shot.  I guess I've thought about the canyon having multiple ridges like this shot shows.

A beautiful view and a very nice contrast. A perfect timing for the light. 

Cheers.

I was limited to 100mm (about a 78mm equivalent in 35mm terms) for my wide shots, and would have liked to get a bit more foreground. Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated.

On a 2nd shot, tilt your camera  down and make sure you overlap about 33% with the first image. Based on Photoshop CS5 which I have, then it is a matter to use the panoramic feature to create a single image based on the two you took. I forgot to tell you to switch to manual exposure to make sure there is no variance in the exposure between the two images. Hope that helps.