Grand Canyon West
kdog
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Living out in the middle of nowhere in northern Arizona has its benefits. And one of them is that I've been to four different places along the Grand Canyon in the past few months.
Grand Canyon West was a bit of a surprise in several ways. Unlike the popular South Rim location which is owned by the National Park Service, Grand Canyon West is owned and operated by the Hualapai Indian Tribe and is located on their reservation. The only authorities are Indians.
Getting here requires driving down 14 miles of rugged dirt road. You can take a tour bus if you don't want to drive it. Once you arrive, you discover that the Indians are going take your money just to look at the views. You can not drive out to the viewpoints. The "packages" start at $29/person, and go over $100. Fortunately, being local residents, we got a substantial discount. But still. At least you get lunch.
Despite the costs, this is an excellent place to the view the canyon. Better than the South Rim, which is so big and open, I didn't know how to frame a shot. For me, this location was more interesting.
In the next shot you can see a natural feature that looks like an eagle, which is a sacred bird to the Hualapai. Look for it in the "V" in the upper right-hand corner of the shot.
Indians have no fear. I think they go here and pow-wow to get away from tourists. :rofl
BTW, notice the construction going on over the Indian's heads. This is going to be the Grand Canyon Skyewalk, a giant glass observation platform that will cantelever 70' over the canyon. It's an engineering marvel, and another Indian money-making venture. :deal
That's the Colorado River down there. Looks kinda muddy.
There are no guard rails anywhere, so watch your small children carefully.
Around back was the ruins of a big tram tower that I'm assuming was used to haul supplies and people up from the river. Now that would have been a ride.
If you look carefully, you can see another tram tower on the knob down below.
The construction of this must have been downright dangerous.
This path back to the "Guano Hut" was scary for me.
Looking over the edge
Some local color
That was actually the dance troup, although we didn't stick around for the dance.
The last location included a stop at the "Ranch", a recreation of a western town. Our package included a ride on this wagon. It was actually a pretty substantial ride, and we had the wagon to ourselves. I guess most folks pass on it.
I hope you enjoyed your mini-tour of Grand Canyon West.
-joel
Grand Canyon West was a bit of a surprise in several ways. Unlike the popular South Rim location which is owned by the National Park Service, Grand Canyon West is owned and operated by the Hualapai Indian Tribe and is located on their reservation. The only authorities are Indians.
Getting here requires driving down 14 miles of rugged dirt road. You can take a tour bus if you don't want to drive it. Once you arrive, you discover that the Indians are going take your money just to look at the views. You can not drive out to the viewpoints. The "packages" start at $29/person, and go over $100. Fortunately, being local residents, we got a substantial discount. But still. At least you get lunch.
Despite the costs, this is an excellent place to the view the canyon. Better than the South Rim, which is so big and open, I didn't know how to frame a shot. For me, this location was more interesting.
In the next shot you can see a natural feature that looks like an eagle, which is a sacred bird to the Hualapai. Look for it in the "V" in the upper right-hand corner of the shot.
Indians have no fear. I think they go here and pow-wow to get away from tourists. :rofl
BTW, notice the construction going on over the Indian's heads. This is going to be the Grand Canyon Skyewalk, a giant glass observation platform that will cantelever 70' over the canyon. It's an engineering marvel, and another Indian money-making venture. :deal
That's the Colorado River down there. Looks kinda muddy.
There are no guard rails anywhere, so watch your small children carefully.
Around back was the ruins of a big tram tower that I'm assuming was used to haul supplies and people up from the river. Now that would have been a ride.
If you look carefully, you can see another tram tower on the knob down below.
The construction of this must have been downright dangerous.
This path back to the "Guano Hut" was scary for me.
Looking over the edge
Some local color
That was actually the dance troup, although we didn't stick around for the dance.
The last location included a stop at the "Ranch", a recreation of a western town. Our package included a ride on this wagon. It was actually a pretty substantial ride, and we had the wagon to ourselves. I guess most folks pass on it.
I hope you enjoyed your mini-tour of Grand Canyon West.
-joel
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Comments
Looks like you fell victim to not only the Indian "tours" but also to the Canyon haze and our bright sunny skies.
I can't wait for the sky walk to be completed and photograph it. It is really going to be something. Looks like they are behind schedule though- did they give you a completion date while you were there?
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
The new date for the Skywalk opening is March 28, which is only a month away. Given the current state of construction, I have my doubts. But maybe they'll pull it off.
Let me know when you're planning on heading up there and maybe we can hook up and shoot some pictures.
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
Any critiques, good or bad, are welcome.
Thanks,
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
Love the shot of the three indian women in front of the wall. The others are interesting but in terms of landscape shots, looks like you were shooting in the middle of the day and the light looks a little flat. Dusk and dawn always seem to improve my landscape shots anyway.
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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The scenery is pretty. The light is crap -- it's mid-day light and there are no shadows, and the color is mid-day sun. It looks like hand-held photography in lots of light. Nice from a documentary perspective, but nothing that makes me say "wow!"
In that location, can you get there by sunrise or stay until sunset? Might be impossible.
The Grand Canyon is a tough beast to photograph. It's so big, but it's very, very difficult to capture it in a way that's impressive to a viewer of the photograph. I've tried in my two visits, and failed on both occasions.
Thanks, Dogwood. You're right on all accounts, mid-day and flat light. We plan on returning when the Skywalk finally opens, so maybe I'll try to catch a sunset or sunrise.
Thanks for the comments.
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
I'm glad you appreciated the post from a documentary viewpoint though. And I guess if you have a hard time photographing the GC then I I don't feel so bad.
Cheers,
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site