It's a grand old canyon - a pictorial

It's really easy to believe you are a great photographer after a trip to the Grand Canyon. Practically everywhere you go has some awe-inspiring scene. Just point-and-click and you come home with some magical shot. Susan Sontag said in her book, On Photography, that men go on vacations and hunt for pictures to keep themselves busy. O.K. I'll admit it. It's true. But the worse thing is to come back with lousy pictures.

So here is the story of my Grand Canyon safari. We attended a conference in Phoenix and then took a few days to head up north to the Grand Canyon. It was February which has some advantages and disadvantages. The first is the park is practically empty because it is off-season. No buses, no mobs of tourists, free access via car to all points of interest. The disadvantage: wow, was it cold! The temperature dropped down to near zero at night. Many of the paths and stairs were covered with ice.

They say if you have to see one scenic site in your lifetime then you must see the Grand Canyon. I have to agree. It's beautiful but silent as if it doesn't need to say a word.

Here are a few of my favorites picts:

I love the swirling line along the ridge. The velvet color along with the snowy accents. This was a mid-day shot with lots of cloud cover.

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Here we have a bit more sunlight. Notice how the color of the river is bluer than the previous shot.

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The range of color continues to impress. These formations came out red and gold but in the distance you see velvets, greys, tans.

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I love looking down on the trees instead of up at them.

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These golden-bronze formations were caused by water deterioration over thousands of years. No, I'm not a geologist but I did read the tourbook before we arrived.

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This was taken from a helicopter. Full sunlight brought out a fantastic array of reds, golds, and browns. It seems the colors will change all day depending on the daylight. You could shoot the same scene at different times a day and each will look different.

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Here's a look inside a building built back in the 1930's. The mural at the top is by local tribesmen.

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This is the obligatory husband-wife shot. Thank goodness we got this one. Mary and I went to the Great Wall of China last year and then walked in opposite directions. She and my sister went one way and Nathan and I went another. We didn't see each other for hours and then met at the bus. So we have no happy couple picture at the Wall. This time I made sure we didn't miss out.

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Yes, honey, it's a long way down. Move a little closer would ya?

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This is my Leonardo DiCaprio "I'm king of the world" imitation. Actually my butt and hands are frozen to the pipe.

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You meet some strange people along the road. Actually this is Wayne who works with me at IdeaStar and this was taken at a rest stop along the road from Phoenix.

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All images shot with a Canon A80 digital camera.

All text and photos Copyright 2004 James D. Fisher.
All Rights Reserved.