Grand Canyon Heat Part 1

Grand Canyon Light Show

Back in July, a group of fellow photographers and I ventured into the summer heat and headed for the remote Toroweap Overlook on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The South Rim is nice and easy to get to, but for a photographer, the crowds of people can drive you insane trying to get a shot without someone standing in it. The remote, undeveloped North Rim is much more difficult to get to but a vast improvement in terms of crowd control. The 3 hour drive over rough, rock strewn dirt roads deters all but the most dedicated.

Count myself and the other eight photographers as some of those dedicated few. Over the course of the three days we spent out there, we saw less than 10 other folks who weren't part of our group. The road had a lot to do with it but so did the heat. The mercury rose upwards of 113 degrees while we were there. With that kind of heat to contend with, we woke early to shoot the sunrise and quickly retreated to the shade of a pop-up canopy to drink water and wait out the day's heat. After a quick dinner, we would emerge from the safety of the canopy once more to shoot the sunset and enjoy the cool evening breezes. That is if you can call 95 degree wind a cool breeze!

The image to the right, Grand Canyon Light Show, was taken mid-afternoon on our first day on the rim. Mid-morning through mid-afternoon aren't typical times to shoot landscape images as the light isn't as sweet as it is during the "Magic Hour." But in this instance, I really enjoyed the play of the light through the clouds and the shadows cast down into the canyon. Those shadows and the play between light and dark through the canyon would not have been possible in late afternoon Magic Hour. Rules were made to be broken!

Toroweap Sunset

With camp set up and dinner eaten, the group made our way to the overlook to prepare for sunset. It's a short walk from the approved campground to the actual overlook but there is a vast difference in the view. Toroweap Overlook juts out into the canyon, providing unabated views to the east and west. Rock formation crown the overlook, offering interesting foregrounds and the 3,000 foot drop to the canyon floor brings death-defying excitement to nearly every step. I've never been a fan of heights, that is to say I'm positively scared to death of them, but even I had to inch myself to the edge just to peer over and look straight down.

This image, looking west into the sunset from high above the canyon is easily one of my favorite all time photos. It took a little extra work to "save" it because I didn't capture the image as well as I could have, but the time spent was well worth the effort to recreate this moody sunset of a fascinating place.

More images from the trip to follow soon...