Before the Storm

The snow is supposed to arrive in northern Arizona on Tuesday night and Wednesday, which meant that this past weekend at the Grand Canyon was mainly sunny. I met with Peter C and another photographer from Phoenix, Chris. I'm waiting to return for the weather drama Wednesday and Thursday.

Sunday evening had clear skies, which allowed for a nice earth shadow. The first of the series is looking past Yaki Point and Vishnu Temple from near Mather Point.

#2 Along Pipe Creek, O'Neill Butte and Zoroaster. Two image blend for dof and exposure.

#3 Zoroaster Temple and the earth shadow,

#4 Last light on Zoroaster

#5 We started the weekend at Pima Point and stayed for some star shooting after sunset Saturday evening.

#6 Tonto Mauve- some nice patterns on the Tonto Plateau

#7 Another attempt at stars. I think the lighter glow on the right horizon is from Page

#8 Sunday morning we walked out to Yaki Point for sunrise as the shuttle bus won't allow dogs.

#9 Last one.
(Wasn't there an old Beatles song #9 that went side to side in the stereo headphones?)

Thanks for looking and letting me know which do or do not resonate with you. Specific suggestions are always welcome too.

Looks like you got some keepers here Doug. The last three are my favorites, in no particular order, but all the other ones are great as well. That comp with the first one sure showed up nicely when the light shined on it. And don't worry you didn't miss much this morning because it was clear skies and we didn't leave the campground until noon.

Nice series, Doug. I like #1 and #4 and for something a little different #6. Not a bad image in the bunch, though.

I really like #8. #1 would be my fav--but the purples there are getting out of control, as they are in #6, which is another good comp.

These are all very well done. I love the warm/cold contrast in #1, and think you should crop Tonto Mauve into a pano abstract with those great colors, texure, and lines.

Thanks for your honest comments. They are appreciated.
@Morris, I did a rotation, pano crop and more processing of Tonto Mauve and put it in ESS.
@Stan, I will see what happens if I reduce the blues in the rock in #1. You know I tend to be realist, but Tonto Mauve is an intentional push on my artistic expression.

1, 8 and 9 are my faves bc of the lighting. I would also like to see 1 with more of the bottom cropped; maybe a 2:1 ratio. As I type this I am thiinking maybe what you have is the better way. Please share what you come up with from the storm!

Nice series, Doug. I like your unique takes on the Canyon.
I think that #1 (with a lessening of the blues), 4, 6 & 8 all belong in your growing portfolio.
Tonto Mauve in particular is a very inspired image. Kudos for seeing and capturing that one is some pretty sweet light!
I like the skies in your 'starscape', but the canyon itself is a bit murky. Was this exposure taken all at the same time?
I find that shooting the landscape about a half hour or so after sunset offers the best results.

Here is #1 with 33 points of blue and 55 points of magenta removed from the rock, but not sky. Thanks for the good suggestion.

much better, Doug!

Yes, indeed!

The rework of the first image is spot on, and it happens to easily be my favorite of this set. Nice job!