South Rim Entertainment

bgarland · May 26, 2014

A friend of mine and I camped on the South Rim for 3 nights last week. 2 of the 3 days were a bust due to the canyon being filled with smoke from the local Slide fire. But one day it cleared up nicely with clouds and light rain showers to add a little character. :barb

C&C are very welcome.

When all you have is smoke, go for shades of grey.

1.

Then look out the window the next morning to see the clouds and showers rolling in. GET UP & SHOOT!!

2.

3.

4.

5.

Look down a see an awesome indication of the grand time line of the canyon's life.
6.

End of the day.
7.

bgarland · May 26, 2014

BTW, when I said camping on the Rim, I really meant camping on the very edge.

R.Jay · May 26, 2014

Hi Brad, this series is absolutely stunning - the Grand Canyon is now well and truly on my 'must see' bucket list. I particularly like the glimpse of river in some of them - and #7 is my favourite. Glad to see the door of your van is pointing away from the edge

Cheers, Richard.

slpollett · May 26, 2014

Beautiful! I particularly like #5 & #7.

You were camped close to the edge!

Sherry

bgarland · May 26, 2014

Thanks Richard.

It's always a challenge trying to schedule it when there will be clouds and some showers. Many times it's just blue sky with no character for photography. I got lucky on this trip.

Here is a 400mm tele shot of those rapids down below. You could hear them roaring in the quiet morning from the rim.

bgarland · May 26, 2014

Thanks Sherry.

You can't see it well in the image but those chairs are tied with bungie cords to the trailer to keep them from blowing over the edge. The winds along the rim can get ripping sometimes.

Sometimes life on the edge is just awesome.

kdog · May 27, 2014

Beautiful shots, Brad. I'll bet you were glad you stuck around.

Fiddlestix · May 27, 2014

Hey Brad, truly stunning images. You were fortunate to have mother nature cooperate by putting on a great show for you and you did her justice!

David_S85 · May 27, 2014

First image came up and my eyes popped out of my head - they're back in now. :wow The other pics are, um, not bad either!

Seriously, that's some nice stuff.

bgarland wrote:

2 of the 3 days were a bust due to the canyon being filled with smoke from the local Slide fire. But one day it cleared up nicely with clouds and light rain showers to add a little character.

Sad, that fire area N. of Sedona. One of the best scenic hiking areas of that state has now been destroyed by the Slide fire - the West Fork in Oak Creek Canyon.

bgarland · May 27, 2014

kdog wrote: »

Beautiful shots, Brad. I'll bet you were glad you stuck around.

Thanks Joel. Yep, based on the forecast I was hoping for some rain. Mother nature came through for me.

bgarland · May 27, 2014

Fiddlestix wrote: »

Hey Brad, truly stunning images. You were fortunate to have mother nature cooperate by putting on a great show for you and you did her justice!

Thanks Stix.

bgarland · May 27, 2014

David_S85 wrote: »

First image came up and my eyes popped out of my head - they're back in now. :wow The other pics are, um, not bad either!

Seriously, that's some nice stuff.

Sad, that fire area N. of Sedona. One of the best scenic hiking areas of that state has now been destroyed by the Slide fire - the West Fork in Oak Creek Canyon.

Thanks David, I appreciate the kudos.

I agree on the West Fork being one of the beautiful spots in Arizona. I was devastated to hear it was burning. I have not seen any details on the fire intensity yet. I am hopeful that maybe the fire was not too intense and burned low under the trees. If the trees were lost in that canyon it will never be the same in my lifetime.

Stumblebum · May 27, 2014

Grand Canyon is a hard subject....especially to capture the grandness.....so I think you needed a wider lens than 24mm....the 16mm shot is better in terms of capturing grandness....nice colors there....not sure what f-stop was being used.....
The one bush on left and one bush on right in many shots.....maybe the bush on right or foreground elements on #5 on right were not there, it would be better.....even on the last one....little rock stuck in bottom right....or maybe one of them was not there....two is too many.
The idea of zooming in on a most exciting or artistic part is great and with this light, that would have landed a big score as the first shot! Which is composed brilliantly.
Chopping off the GC to pick out best part is high-end Sushi Chef skill....idea being it appears like complete composition without the sensation that it is being chopped off on both sides....
You may want to look into making first image a mono-chrome image....and tinker with highlights and see if they can be increased....maybe more masking....the crispiness is not there for me...and colored texture is bit noisy....maybe due to shadow slider being brought up etc.
Nice camper! How lucky to have so much fun! Cheers!

muddleup · May 27, 2014

love the colours and the atmosphere you've captured Brad. Envy the camper!

bgarland · May 27, 2014

Thank you sir.

FlyNavy · May 27, 2014

Excellent work! I sure hope you are not a Sleep Walker!

bgarland · May 27, 2014

muddleup wrote: »

love the colours and the atmosphere you've captured Brad. Envy the camper!

Stumblebum wrote: »

Grand Canyon is a hard subject....especially to capture the grandness.....so I think you needed a wider lens than 24mm....the 16mm shot is better in terms of capturing grandness....nice colors there....not sure what f-stop was being used.....
The one bush on left and one bush on right in many shots.....maybe the bush on right or foreground elements on #5 on right were not there, it would be better.....even on the last one....little rock stuck in bottom right....or maybe one of them was not there....two is too many.
The idea of zooming in on a most exciting or artistic part is great and with this light, that would have landed a big score as the first shot! Which is composed brilliantly.
Chopping off the GC to pick out best part is high-end Sushi Chef skill....idea being it appears like complete composition without the sensation that it is being chopped off on both sides....
You may want to look into making first image a mono-chrome image....and tinker with highlights and see if they can be increased....maybe more masking....the crispiness is not there for me...and colored texture is bit noisy....maybe due to shadow slider being brought up etc.
Nice camper! How lucky to have so much fun! Cheers!

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.

For most of the wider shots I was using my 16-35 F2.8 lens. Most of my motivation to zoom in was on capturing the rain falling with more detail than when it was pushed out shooting at 16mm. The f-stops for most of these were F13 with a few opened up to F5.6.

I also zoomed in a bit at times to purposely cut out areas that were either uninteresting or too wide a dynamic range to effectively capture.

I agree with limiting the foreground accents to one corner or lower center edge for most appealing composition.

I knew the shades of grey needed to be converted to mono-chrome. I just haven't taken the time to do that yet.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide me with your feedback. Input on our work is always very helpful.

The rest of the posted images form this trip can be seen here with the capture settings viewable under the info button: http://bgarland.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Grand-Canyon-South-Rim-2014

bgarland · May 27, 2014

FlyNavy wrote: »

Excellent work! I sure hope you are not a Sleep Walker!

Thanks. Yep, that first step would be a whopper.

byoshi · May 27, 2014

Awesome set!

Sam · May 27, 2014

Nice images! Thanks for the shots of your rolling Australian hotel. I looked that manufacturer up and that is one well built piece of equipment.

I have been looking at some small trailers and unless one gets into the really high priced models all one can find is somewhat flimsy construction and minimal suspension. Basically it's made to look nice with bells and whistles but won't take any abuse or rough roads. :cry

I may have to forgo a rolling hotel and go with a sleeping bag on the ground. :cry

May you not park too close to the edge or have too much wine at dinner.

Sam

bgarland · May 27, 2014

Thanks Sam.

Yes it was a tad pricey but your right, it's very hard to find something capable of getting into the back country that has all the comforts of home but doesn't leave parts all over the road on the way in.

I think I'll be keeping mine and enjoying it for years.

dave6253 · May 27, 2014

Beautiful shots Brad.

Is that Havasupai Point where your camper is?: I've camped at the edge there off my motorcycle. Looks familiar.

bgarland · May 27, 2014

dave6253 wrote: »

Beautiful shots Brad. Is that Havasupai Point where your camper is?: I've camped at the edge there off my motorcycle. Looks familiar.

Thanks Dave,

Yes, we don't advertise it much since it's so awesome but the good thing is the last 4 miles or so are very tight in the trees and limit what vehicles could drive in there. My friend's camper only cleared the trees by 2 inches on each side so it took a lot of very slow going to get in there without damage.

dave6253 · May 28, 2014

I was last there in September 2013. The entire road was torn up from the heavy rains a couple weeks earlier. I also had to hop a couple logs on that last 4 mile section. Yes it was awesome! Sorry I revealed the secret location. You said South Rim, though. That narrowed it down to the two points on that trail. I was all alone out there. Heavenly.

bgarland · May 28, 2014

dave6253 wrote: »

I was last there in September 2013. The entire road was torn up from the heavy rains a couple weeks earlier. I also had to hop a couple logs on that last 4 mile section. Yes it was awesome! Sorry I revealed the secret location. You said South Rim, though. That narrowed it down to the two points on that trail. I was all alone out there. Heavenly.

No worries Dave. Not much of a secret when it's the only back country accessible point on the South Rim. The road in should limit it's use.

Cavalier · May 28, 2014

Stunning shots, Brad. They are all wonderful, but #7 is especially spectacular! Grand Canyon shots frustrate many a photog...including myself. You've done a great job in capturing the grandeur and beauty of the area with some great skies.

And that is a sweet Karavan you've got there.

bgarland · May 28, 2014

Cavalier wrote: »

Stunning shots, Brad. They are all wonderful, but #7 is especially spectacular! Grand Canyon shots frustrate many a photog...including myself. You've done a great job in capturing the grandeur and beauty of the area with some great skies.

And that is a sweet Karavan you've got there.

Thanks Joe.

I too have had several opportunities that did not meet my expectations in the past. Having weather over the canyon makes all the difference in the world.

MntnKarie · June 15, 2014

Sure, Make me homesick for AZ. Lived only an hour away from
the big ditch for many years.

Some Seriously Excellent images here! 5 & 7, You may as well break
out the printer and start selling images of those ASAP. The rest are no
slouches either. FAB!

Quite spectacular! Really, thanks for sharing these.

bgarland · June 15, 2014

MntnKarie wrote: »

Sure, Make me homesick for AZ. Lived only an hour away from
the big ditch for many years.

Some Seriously Excellent images here! 5 & 7, You may as well break
out the printer and start selling images of those ASAP. The rest are no
slouches either. FAB!

Quite spectacular! Really, thanks for sharing these.

Thank you sir. :-) Luckily I just got an opportunity to display some of my images in a local gallery here in Prescott. My first, so this is pretty fun for me.

More important is getting out out on more camping trips to capture some more good stuff.

joe-bob · June 19, 2014

Great shots! I really like #1 and #7.

roaddog52 · June 24, 2014

Wow, absolutely stunning images! Sorry to hear of the fire in the Sedona area, one of my favorite places to visit.

Next time I'm down that way I am going to have to spend some time exploring the Grand Canyon area.

Thanks for posting the inspirational images.

South Rim Entertainment

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