Tag Archives: Grand Canyon

Friday

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Grand Canyon 5616

It’s Friday, and you know what that means, we’re going to have a brand new show! And if there are any of you out there that watched the Mickey Mouse Club show as religiously as we did then you know that the phrase “And you know what that means, we’re going to have a brand new show” was actually said on Tuesday and it was “And you know what that means, we’re going to have a special guest”. Then they’d bring out somebody to do something goofy and we all thought it was the neatest thing we had ever seen and we called our friends to see if they were watching it too. They always were. But that doesn’t fit in with what I want to say today so I changed it. I can do that because I am the Overlord of this site and I can pretty much do whatever I want to.

Friday is always kind of a lost day where you go through the motions but you’ve got the weekend off and your heart isn’t in it. You’re not sure what you’re going to do, you have no big plans really, but you don’t want to waste it. After all Monday is just a couple days away. Maybe you’ll have some people over and just hang out. It would be a good time as Aunt Pheeb and Uncle Skid haven’t got out of the hospital yet. So you could have kind of a drama free day. Everybody knows what happens when Aunt Pheeb and Uncle Skid get wind of a party.

The reason they’re in the hospital is Uncle Skid heard that there was an all you can eat Crawfish boil down at Big Leg Kathy’s Shrimp Shack out on Hwy 11 and there was a $40 prize for whoever could eat the most crawfish in an hour. He talked Aunt Pheeb into going along with him and since Aunt Pheeb had been into the gin since about quarter to seven that morning she was game. Uncle Skid thought that if they both entered and won they’d win $80 bucks and that would go a long way towards getting the boot off the Skylark so they wouldn’t have to walk when they down to Ruby’s for cigarettes.

Uncle Skid had a cunning plan to win. It seemed like a sure thing and once he explained it to Pheeb they thought they had this thing knocked. Being Skid he was already trying to figure out how he could skim a little off the top of that $40 bucks so that Pheeb wouldn’t know and he could buy that cool Eight Ball spinner for his steering wheel he’d had his eye on for months. They could still pay off the parking tickets and get the Skylark out of hock. All they had to do was win.

The way everybody with any sense ate crawfish was you grabbed one, bit the head off, sucked out the rest of it from the shell, and then threw the shell at your neighbor. This has been the excepted practice for generations. Uncle Skid, using what small amount of animal cunning he had, noticed that this took about 5-7 seconds. His plan, and this is where the brilliance comes in, was to bypass all that mechanical stuff of shucking and sucking, and just eat the whole thing shell and all. And if you didn’t have to chew that was even better yet.

Well, that was three weeks ago and they may get out of the hospital the end of this week. The 40 bucks are gone. Skid didn’t read the flyer right and missed where it said ‘whoever’, singular, not plural, eats the most etc. so the most they could win was $40, and the hospital took that before they’d even let them sit in the emergency room waiting area. It didn’t matter how loud Aunt Pheeb moaned or tried to get at the receptionist they were going to wait. Security was there, they’d had these two in here before.

It seems that when you ingest over 14 lbs. of crawfish shells it does stuff to your lower alimentary track. It all bunches up like, and forms a ball about the size of a small cat. Apparently Nature does not have a system to take care of this naturally. The staff there at Our Sisters of Eternal Misery hospital have a wall of miracles they call it, where they post the dumbest things live people have done to themselves and/or each other and this little episode is posted right up there at the top. There were Doctors, Nurses, Residents, Interns, Candy Stripers spitting milk clear across the cafeteria tables when they heard what happened.

Pheeb swears she’s going to lobotomize Skip with a bread knife and a cantaloupe baller when they get out. Skid is worried that the Skylark is now at the impound lot and he’s going to have to come up with not only the parking ticket money but now the impound fees and they’re going to be walking to Ruby’s for cigarettes for the rest of their lives.

So there it is then. Have the party now before they get out and maybe it will be one that doesn’t involve police and paramedics and the guys from Power and Lights having to re-string the neighbors electrical lines because Skid leaned that aluminum ladder against them so he could crawl up there and look over the hedge at the guys wife. We all know how that turned out.

And if a party doesn’t float your boat why not drop in at the Grand Canyon and take in the sights. It’s pretty there, mostly quiet and since the Skylark is out of commission Uncle Skid and Aunt Pheeb won’t be dropping in.

Gold Rush

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GoldRush0297Grand Canyon                                  click to enlarge

When it comes, as in the image above, you know that things will be better as the soothing light of morning works its magic and drives away all of the nights demons. As the new day dawns everything takes on a new look, there is rejuvenation, hope for the future and the possibility of a fresh start. Every morning is a rebirth and the possibilities are endless. Here’s to the new day.

High Noon

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HighNoon1046-1056Grand Canyon                                                            click to enlarge

There is lots of conversation in the photo world about when is the best time to take pictures. Some folks are fanatics about only shooting in the magic hours around sunrise and sunset. They make up rules and write articles about how you can’t take pictures any other time because the light has to be just perfect and that only happens during that narrow time period when most people are still asleep or eating dinner.

I take a lot of my images during the magic hours myself, but if you only shoot then that leaves an awfully large part of the day left where you’re pretty unproductive, and being one who occasionally chooses to not follow the rules I’ve discovered that you can shoot pictures any time you want to. I paid a lot of money for this camera and it needs to have its shutter clicking on a regular basis to justify that expenditure. Granted if you’re not careful and hide behind a bush while you’re doing it the photo police will come and arrest you for unauthorized mid-day shooting, but I’m willing to take that chance.

This shot of the Grand Canyon was taken at high noon, a time when every good, rule following  photographer should be having lunch, camera placed well away from your grasp in case the uncontrollable urge to snap a picture over takes you. I chose to take this image directly in front of a large crowd of shooters ,their eyes wide and their mouths open in gasping disbelief, some even averting their eyes unable to believe what they were seeing, because I’ve discovered one of the great secrets of photo making. You can take pictures whenever you want to. That’s right, just hold your camera up to your face and press the shutter. And if the Photo police approach you and begin their tirade, just calmly  look at them and say “Back Off tyrants or I’ll shoot you.” then hold your camera up to take their picture.

You’ll see them scurry back to the shadows, hands over their faces, terrified that you will steal their souls and they’ll be forever captured in the harsh light of the noon day sun. This is good because it leaves you plenty of room to walk around and shoot without stumbling over another photographer.

The idea of shooting only when the light is perfect came about because a long time ago when people wore watches and used pay phones, cameras weren’t adjustable. I know, weird right, but they didn’t have all the knobs and buttons and now menus on them that we have today. And film was expensive and the development of that film was even more expensive, so when your pictures came back and they were ugly you were discouraged. Then someone wrote an article about finding light at the bewitching hours at the front and end of the day and if you shot then you brought your percentage of keepable pictures way up. Many ugly pictures at an expensive rate of cost shooting during the day versus many more keepable pictures if you only shoot at the times you’re supposed to, voilà a rule is born.

But now cameras are magic. They can do anything. You want to stare into the sun and take its picture, you can do that. ( I don’t recommend that but you can if you’re dumb enough to try stuff you read about on the internet) If you want to sit up all night long in the freezing cold and take hundreds of pictures so you can make pictures of star trails you can do that too. You can even, Warning! Heresy alert !!!, take pictures during the day when the light isn’t perfect. Now remember, if this is new to you or you have a low risk type of personality, start very slow. Stick around 15 or 20 minutes after the morning golden hours are over and take a picture, just one, then look at it later in the day when your heart has stopped racing and see how it turned out.

Some of you will be taking shots at high noon before you can blink your eyes a hundred times. For those of you that can’t tolerate high rates of stress in your lives, it’s okay, don’t even try this. Remember there is no crying in photography and also remember there isn’t much bad in photography. And most importantly we won’t judge you. Well some of us might but so what. The worst that can happen is you’ll get to use your delete button. Happy shooting.

Lights Along The Rim

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NightLife6579Night Lights  South Rim  Grand Canyon                     click to enlarge

It was a dark and stormy night. The wind blew through the mizzen mast like a banshee of old. The boiling heaving seas were determined to sink this ship and all who sailed on her. Wait, wait, wait, stop, that’s another story entirely. Let’s begin again.

It was a cold, crystal clear, Christmas eve and I was hiking back to the lodge on the South rim of the Grand Canyon after spending the late afternoon shooting the light as the shadows settled into the canyon depths and slowly crept up the canyon walls. The sunset seemed late in arriving but that was only  because it was cold and seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours and the sunset was oblivious to creature comforts especially mine.

The sunset arrived as it had to of course, but the gamble of getting the exceptional shot didn’t pay off as it was just a standard, only average gorgeous sunset. Then it was over and soon replaced by the clear indigo blue night sky in all of its glory. There was no moon as I began my trek back to the lodge, and my eyes had to adjust to the darkness which meant walking the trail by the light of the stars.

I rounded a bend and came across this vantage point and what appeared across the canyon was this most beautiful magical scene. The lights of the visitor center and El Tovar Lodge shone like diamonds. It was as if someone had dropped a necklace of stars upon the edge of the canyon and if anything man-made could add to the beauty of these natural surroundings it was this brilliant display.

The fact that I had another mile and a half to trudge in the dark before I could get warm and have dinner melted away. I didn’t even care that I had all this heavy stuff to carry back. I didn’t get my exceptional shot of the fading sunset but it was replaced by this unforgettable view of the lights along the rim. It was a most special Christmas eve and I have it secure in my memory banks forever, or as long as they last anyway. If they begin to fade I have this image to remind me of the night on edge of the Grand Canyon, walking by starlight and seeing one of the most beautiful sights I have ever been privileged to photograph.

Isis Revisited

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IsisRevisited0543Isis   Grand Canyon                                                    click to enlarge

Isis has always been one of my favorite features in the grand Canyon and not just because I can recognize it amongst all the other rocks out there. There’s some magnetic quality about it that catches your attention and is always a prominent feature in your view of the canyon.

I just recently found out that in ancient mythology she was known as a friend to slaves, sinners and artisans which kind of bummed me out after realizing what company that put me in. Then I discovered that she also listened to the prayers of the wealthy, aristocrats and rulers and that brightened up my day some. At least I had the possibility to hang with some of the better folks.

It would appear that those fun-loving Egyptian gods and goddesses had some quirky social behaviors, what with brother marrying sister, having animal heads instead of regular faces and being able to bring back the dead if they felt like it. But then who are we to judge. I mean have you watched TV lately. Seems like that Egyptian bunch didn’t corner the market on weird.

It’s difficult to catch the goddess in a bad light but she really shines when the light is perfect. And the light is rarely bad when you’re at the canyon. I think it’s time to pay homage to the queen again so I’ll be out on the edge at Yavapai Point visiting my girl. Wave if you see me so I’ll know who you are.

Monday Morning Sunrise

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MondayMorningSunrise0297click to enlarge

Sunrise in the Canyon. Does it matter that it’s a Monday when you can see this as the start of your day. When your week looks like it might be a replay of WWll and it would take herculean effort on your part just to yell at the neighbor because his dog has been rooting around in your begonias again, you always have the Canyon.

Standing on the abyss, feeling the bite of the cool early morning air, hearing the sound of a raven calling for its mate come up out of the depths, watching as the sun begins the daily unveiling of the shapes and colors of this magnificent place makes everything else seem trivial. Yeah I know, you got to get the kids off to school, there’s appointments to keep, the pressure’s starting but here at the edge of the canyon its quiet, and you can breathe. Take a moment, fill that place where you go to for calmness, the day will still be there when you get back.

Purple Haze

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PurpleHaze1442click to enlarge

Can light really do this? Produce color like this? The camera says it can. This was taken after the sun went down and it was nearly dark on December 5th around 6:30pm.The magic hour is over and it is rapidly getting very dark. Dark enough that it makes you happy that the guard rails next to the edge are there. Although it looks light enough in the picture that is misleading because the sensor in the camera, that little square wafer of wisdom we photographers like to call the Wowser place, sees light differently than our eyes do. To attempt to explain the difference I spoke to our resident eye-guy, Kanye Seeme, an opticians assistant from Nigeria who is doing field work here at the Institute while he is hiding out from his government, I mean on sabbatical. In a nutshell, here is the gist of his explanation. “Well the eye you know, is in the front part of your head, entitling you to see forward and blah, blah, blah, blah, don’t bang into,  blah, blah, blah, massive rupture, blah, blah, look out, blah, can’t put back in, blah, blah, blah, so that is why we see very good.”

I don’t know about you but I for one, think we’re all good with that explanation. I believe that what we can take from all this, is, that eyes are good, seeing is good, color is good, the Grand Canyon is good, and unfortunately Nigerian optician’s assistants are bad. So then, four goods, one bad. Good trumps bad. Let’s go to the Grand Canyon then and see what all the colors about.