Grand canyon magic

Gallery: LandscapePosted November 28, 2011367 views21 comments

Here's an image from my canyonlands of the southwest trip, ironically, the best photos I took were not in canyonlands national park, but the grand canyon. At least I think so. The trip had a pretty consistent theme of heavy winds, and even when I got back to Arizona it had followed. This is a blend of six images for DOF and to maintain a decent exposure. Each frame was shot at 5 second exposures and an aperture of f/22 (I know thats a bit extreme for blending for DOF but this was before I took some notes on the process). Stacked grad ND filters and a lot of wind and dust which made for some pretty intense light. In the large version you can see cliffs far off in the distance lit up on the horizon. I've seen my fair share of incredible light, but to see it over the grand canyon is something special. It was amazing to see the rim just explode with color. Comments and critiques appreciated.

Canon 7d
Canon 17-40mm @ 17mm
f/22
5 sec
ISO 100
stacked 3 stop and 2 stop grad ND filters
tripod
remote

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Joshua Hardin on November 28, 2011 at 7:54 PM

You can tell this was a windy day in the canyon. You used that to your advantage. The low angle of the sun created some nice beams through the hazy air and this image has some great drama as a result. I like the glow on the right edge too!

Registered on July 29, 2006, 40 Posts, 414 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 28, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Thanks Joshua, there's a reason I wasn't shooting at the edge haha. In the opposite direction there were plenty of light beams breaking through the canyon.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Taylor Reed on November 28, 2011 at 8:40 PM

Sweet light! You don't see many skies like this at the grand canyon. That light on the edge is especially nice, I almost wish I could see more of that.

Registered on February 18, 2010, 26 Posts, 556 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on November 28, 2011 at 9:09 PM

WHAT? no CHOLLA?

Seriously, that's some sublime light there Peter! Large version is pretty awesome!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 28, 2011 at 9:27 PM

Thanks Taylor it sure was a sight to see and a way to finish off a trip that didn't yield too many good opportunities. Joe, there are no cholla's in this one finally, and also no David's either

Thank you though!

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on November 28, 2011 at 9:34 PM

Beautiful light and color!! You captured some wonderful conditions here, Peter. I love that glowing light on the right side canyon wall.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on November 28, 2011 at 10:04 PM

The light and comp really capture the magic of Grand Canyon.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 28, 2011 at 10:18 PM

Thank you Nick and Tony. This hardly translates into what actually took place, but I'm sure glad I was able to capture it. It is a really special place for me.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on November 28, 2011 at 10:43 PM

Haha, sorry PETER, kinda out of it today...above typo fixed...

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 28, 2011 at 10:46 PM

Haha no worries Joe

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on November 29, 2011 at 2:39 AM

Sick light and nice capture. :) woohooo!

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 29, 2011 at 6:25 AM

Thank you Aaron!

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on November 29, 2011 at 11:03 AM

This sure is expansive. Great colors and drama in the sky. A tighter crop of the right side might be an interesting comp as well, especially with the river winding through and the lit up canyon. Gerat job with the lighting and blends.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on November 29, 2011 at 12:54 PM

Really nicely done. I like the way you've emphasized the glow on the rim by not processing the depths of the canyon too brightly.

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on November 29, 2011 at 9:48 PM

Peter,

Gorgeous light can make all the difference, just like it is here. What a wonderful moment of light and I think you did very well to capture not only the light, but a nicely crafted landscape composition as well. I imagine with a longer zoom you might also have some additional images that zero in on the canyon and the streaking light... but this one as presented is excellent. No nits.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on November 29, 2011 at 10:14 PM

Really sweet light and a great composition. I really like this image.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 30, 2011 at 12:33 AM

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Lon, I would have done so if I had a medium telephoto lens at the time, I just recently picked one up so I'm itching to get back to the canyon to work on more intimate scenes hopefully this winter.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Roane on November 30, 2011 at 6:23 PM

This came out very well, Peter! the light is amazing and the comp very good. You did really well on the processing also.
Not sure why you would need to blend exposures for dof if you are using f/22, a focal length of 17, and this camera-to-subject distance. Focusing approximately at the hyperfocal distance should have given you more than enough dof for this scene at those settings.

Registered on December 12, 2008, 213 Posts, 2226 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 30, 2011 at 7:07 PM

Thanks Doug, I was just trying some new techniques I began learning at the time. More than anything the blend was to get as much of that light on the rim. It's amazing how fast that light transformed and how quickly it dissipated. With each 5 second exposure and 6 image blend your basically seeing the 30 seconds the light painted the rim.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on December 1, 2011 at 11:19 AM

Peter, I like the purple/blue/red colors you got this sunset, especially the light on the east rim with the beams leading to it. Were you able to get more of the east rim? You have framed the river curve nicely. With the left tree, the light at the top and along the left edge looks funky. Also, with the larger pinyon on the right, its left edges look "burned" as I would expect them to have caught light and be brighter.

Wonder what GC will be like this weekend with the storm coming through.

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on December 1, 2011 at 12:50 PM

Thanks Doug. I didn't get more of the east rim in the shots mainly because I didn't want to much of that gravel in the bottom right corner to take away from the overall scene. That light on the left was really intense in one of the shots, it was a massive light beam that took up that entire left side due to the heavy amount of dust in the air. I don't know about that right pinyon, probably just from the processing. I'm hoping to get up there after the storm this weekend if I have the time. Don't know how much accumulation there will be, but it's supposed to snow for almost 3 straight days I heard.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments