Layers upon layers of rock in a mile deep canyon, the Grand Canyon
Most any photo of the Grand Canyon landscape will reveal the many colorful layers of very different rocks. Billions of years of erosion and upheaval have revealed ten distinct layers. My favorite to photograph was the vishnu shist.
It seems viewers expect photos of the Grand Canyon to look like, well, the Grand Canyon. However, a great variety of reflections in the Colorado River kept me occupied. These abstract, more intimate scenes, are preferable to me over your typical landscape photography.
My first visit to the Pearl Harbor Memorial on Oahu was about 25 years ago. What is so striking to me about each visit is the large number of Japanese tourists in attendance. Many arrive by organized Japanese tour companies. I would really like to have the ability or nerve to speak to them and learn their impressions and thoughts during their visit to the site of their country’s surprise attack which killed more than 2,500 Americans. It is certainly an odd twist that anyone who visits Hawaii today quickly realizes the economic vitality of Hawaii clearly depends on the Japanese tourist.
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Sedona was our first extended stay since returning from six months in Europe. Driving across the country from the ship’s port in Fort Lauderdale to Northern California can wear a person down. Clearly it is better than sitting in a cubical struggling with a company budget on a cold, windy Chicago day, but the travel can get a bit old. We do our best to find fun places to visit along the way such as Graceland, but three weeks in Sedona, not having to move suitcases or learn new appliances and shower workings, was a welcome relief. Continue reading
Antelope Canyon Summertime
Antelope Canyon Late Fall
I recently returned from yet another trip to Lower Antelope Canyon outside of Page, Arizona. Lower Antelope is the more peaceful, more quite slot canyon compared to the overcrowded Upper Antelope Canyon where photographers literally push and shove for the best spots.
These two photos help show the difference the time of the year can make in such a place. Both were taken at about the same time of the morning on a clear day. With the summer sun more overhead the photo on the left was much more orange compared to the late fall photo on the right showing more purples.
The drive to Toroweep Overlook on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park is long and dusty. It is 58 miles of dirt road, one way. The last 6 miles require a high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle. I came across two disabled trucks. One had three of the five lug bolts sheered off and the other a blown tire. Another big problem would be to encounter someone going the opposite direction on the narrow road. I took over three hours to cover the 58 miles when the books say it should only take 2 1/2.
Sheltering Sky
I was retired for only a couple of weeks, when I saw an interesting statement on a lady’s hand bag while riding the CTA in Chicago. After memorizing as much of the saying as possible, a search of the Internet informed me it was an excerpt from a novel written by Paul Bowles, “The Sheltering Sky.”
Representing the California Condors, here is #83!
A Face Only a Mother could Love
Sing it HIGH
Sing it LOW
On the Navajo Bridge, near Lees Ferry in Arizona a couple of California Condors were seen resting on the bridge structure. This one was number 83. Each wing, top and bottom have a large number 83 banner attached. On the bird’s right wing, you can see the antenna of a radio transmitter. While the head is fairly ugly, it is certainly colorful. Representing the fighting California Condors, here is #83!
“Our Lady of the Canyon” photograph, in my Arizona Portfolio, was taken in Antelope Canyon, a small sandstone canyon carved by wind and water erosion over millions of years, located on the Navajo Reservation in Northern Arizona. This photo recently won 2nd place out of thousands of entries at the Hubbard Museum Fall Photo Contest in New Mexico. This location is known as a “slot” canyon and may only be three feet across when viewed from above, but is over 100 feet from the rim to the natural floor.
Reflected light bounces off of the canyon walls, resulting in tones from bright gold near the most intense light, to soft blues where the light is more diffused. At high noon shafts of sunlight pierce through the openings at the canyon top to the floor below. Wind blowing the sand into the canyon illuminates these sunbeams. Most often one simply sees a beautiful ray of light. But as captured in this fine art photograph, a figure of a woman wearing a headscarf and outstretched arms is very visible in the fourth photo of this sequence, “Our Lady of the Canyon.” In the actual photograph, if you look closely, you can see the streaks of sand falling. Long exposures and a tripod are required to capture the light in this canyon. Below are the photographs that led up to this once-in-a-lifetime image.