Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 14 – Sunset Clouds and Canyon

Sunset Clouds and Canyon 1

The light in the canyon was dim, but the clouds kept changing and I continued to snap photos, capturing the changing clouds and light.

Sunset Clouds and Canyon 2
Sunset Clouds and Canyon 3
Near Sunset

As it got nearer sunset time, reflected light from the clouds, brightened the canyon and gave it a warm glow.  The photo above has the best of the sunset light during this shoot.

Clouds and Moon over Grand Canyon

The moon rose, while we were here, but it was completely obscured by the clouds, until it was high in the sky.  It is barely visible in this image near the upper right of center.  Click on the image to get a better view on Flickr (best viewed on a large screen).

Cloudy Sunset, iPhone Photo

While waiting and watching the sky, I walked around, capturing a few images with my iPhone.

iPhone Panorama, GC NR Overlook

This wraps up my July, 2021 visit to the Grand Canyon North Rim.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 13 – Sunset Clouds and Canyon

Cloudy Evening

[I accidentally published this prematurely about a month ago before the draft was fully complete, so I’m republishing this with the final updates]

We shot at this location one morning and decided to try here at sunset on our final day in the park.  It was heavily overcast, but we could see some breaks in the clouds, so we hoped to get some good light as the sun set behind us.

Clouds and Canyon 1
Clouds and Canyon 2

As we waited for sunset, I captured numerous photos of the clouds over the canyon as the light varied from dim to less dim.

Cloudy Canyon 1
Clouds and Canyon 2
Clouds over Grand Canyon
Sunset Clouds 1

The clouds above the distant horizon finally began to glow dimly in the late day light.

Sunset Clouds 2
Sunset Clouds and Canyon

In the final image for this post, the clouds were brighter and reflecting light into the canyon, bringing out more detail in the canyon.

To be continued,

Ken

 

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 12 – Roosevelt Point

Prior to going to our selected view point for sunset photos, we stopped by Roosevelt Point again.  We had scouted this area on a previous day.  Today we hiked the trail as far as it was safe to go, this time with our DSLR and gear.

Roosevelt Point

Those with acrophobia or anyone not sure footed should not go here.

As is apparent in these photos, it was mostly cloudy with some breaks in the clouds in the distance.

Roosevelt Point and Photographer

When I was shooting here, I was thinking the first image, with its wider view across the canyon, was going to be my best shot, but now I think the second one is the better of these two.

Final sunset shoot, coming up,

Ken

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 11 – Marble Canyon Views

We arrived at a national forest primitive camping area in the mid-day to early afternoon, where there were views across the canyon to Marble Canyon in the distance.

Marble Canyon View
Cloud Shadows

There is a trailhead here and we hike a short distance along the trail, down a steep slope then up a steep slope, to check out other views across the canyon.

Clouds and Canyon
Cloudy Afternoon
Get the Shot
Marble Canyon Distant View

Until next time,

Ken.

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 10 – Trees and Clouds

After our morning shoot, we drove around to explore the local area, getting to a couple of places with overviews of Marble Canyon in the distance.  At one of these areas I photographed a couple of interesting trees with the cloudy sky and/or the canyon in the background.

Tree and Clouds, Original Color Version

This lopsided tree was easily isolated against the cloudy sky.

Tree and Clouds, Black and White Version

I think the black and white version of this image is more dramatic.

Enduring

I captured several compositions of this deformed or broken tree with the clouds and canyon in the background.

Deformed Tree, Canyon and Clouds 1
Deformed Tree, Canyon and Clouds 2, Vertical Shot.

I like the third image (vertical) of the deformed tree best, with the first (horizontal) a close second.

Until next time,

Ken

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 9

Morning Clouds

The photos in this post are from the final morning of this visit to the North Rim.

Photographing A Grand View
Morning View
Morning Canyon and Clouds
Rocky View Point
Focused Walk

Next up, more exploration and Marble Canyon Views.

Until then,

Ken

 

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 8

Storm Over The Canyon

At the outward end of our hike, we scrambled onto boulders for good views of the canyon and the distant storm.

Boulders, Canyon and Storm Clouds

The best view into the canyon was in one direction, so I shot in that direction, towards the distant storm, varying the foreground and the horizontal and vertical angles, experimenting with compositional variations with the same general view of the canyon.

Canyon and Storm

I used the portion of the canyon immediately below the view point as a leading line towards the main canyon and the storm in the distance.

Canyon, Canyon Rim and Storm
Canyon and Storm
Approaching Storm
Boulders, Canyon and Storm
Stormy Outlook
Dark Canyon
Distant Storm
Storm’s A Coming

Unlike those that are naturally artistic, I often do not immediately see “the composition” that I want.  I enjoy trying different compositions and I’m often surprised at how I perceive the results, after having time to review and edit the photos.   Often, the images I like the best are not the ones that others favor, which may be an indication of my natural bent towards seeing things in a more scientifically curious way,  rather than in an artistic manner.

As always, readers comments and opinions are welcome,

Ken

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 7

View from a Trail

The longest hike we did while at the Grand Canyon North Rim was one that generally followed along the canyon rim, but was mostly in forest with occasional good views of the canyon.

View from a trail
Clouds over the Canyon

The first three images contain the same canyon features with varying compositions and view points.

Intimate Moment

The tree leaning into another reminded me of a couple sharing this grand view.

Clouds and Canyon

The sky was mostly cloudy, as was typical during our visit, and the canyon was hazy.

Along the Trail
Near a Trail
Storm over the Canyon

Again today, there was a storm in the distance and rain threatened to catch us on the trail.

Storm Couds
Trees, Canyon and Storm Clouds

I will continue with more photos from this hike in a subsequent post.

Ken

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 6

Storm Clouds and Canyon 1

We did not get to see golden hour sunset light on this shoot, but the distant storm and the heavy clouds approaching were good photographic subjects.

Storm Clouds and Canyon 2

At the risk of being monotonous, I will post a number of images with the main emphasis upon the storm clouds over the Grand Canyon.

Storm Clouds and Canyon 3
Storm Clouds and Canyon 4
Storm Clouds and Canyon 5

Images 3 and 4 are my favorites of this series, impressive clouds over a magnificent canyon.  There were occasional lightening bolts in the distant storm, but I was not fortunate enough to capture any of the sporadic lightening in my shots.

Until next time,

Ken

 

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 5

Quintet, iPhone Photo

We were at another of the major overlooks at the Grand Canyon North Rim for sunset photography.  We had our prepared dinner meal in the parking area prior to hiking to the overlook.  As I was sitting on a rock in the shade of a large tree, having a sandwich, I noticed these five pine cones at my feet.  They were arranged as shown in the photo.  I do not know if these were arrange by nature or if someone did this.  Anyway, since it was such a nice arrangement, I photographed it with my iPhone.

Distant Storm

There were already a few photographers at the overlook, claiming their spot, and numerous tourists, but it was not really crowded, so we were able to find places to set up to wait and hope for good sunset light over the canyon.

It was cloudy and we could see a storm on the opposite side of the canyon.  While waiting and watching the clouds and light changing.  I made numerous images of the canyon with the storm clouds.  I again had some problem with choosing foregrounds for this vast canyon.  I think the image above might have the best foreground of the images that I got on this shoot.

Storm Clouds and Canyon

In the image above, I’m using the dry drainage as a (weak) leading line into the image and a small portions of a rock ledge as foreground.

Storm Clouds and Canyon

Rotating a little to the left, I included much of the nearby canyon wall in an image.  The canyon wall curves into the image pointing towards the distant storm.

Storm Clouds and Canyon

Rotating to the right, I still have the dry drainage in the bottom left, leading towards the storm clouds and the calmer sky on the right with the nearer features of the canyon in the. foreground.

Anticipation

I used a small bush on the rock ledge at the view point as a foreground.  My motive for calling this image “Anticipation” is that little bush that I can imagine looking forward to getting some rain from the approaching storm.

Light above the Darkness

Zooming out I was able to  include more of the sky.  The sunlight is illuminating the upper portion of the storm clouds, while it is dark below.  This is my favorite image from this shoot.  Be sure to click on it to view on Flickr and on a larger screen to get a better appreciation of the the scene.  (All of these images are best viewed on a large screen.  Not all of the images in this post are on Flickr.  Those that are, have embedded links that will take you to the image on Flickr.

This seems like a good place to end this post.  I have more images of the heavy clouds approaching our location that I will include in the next post.

Until then,

Ken