12/21/2010, Tues // Grand Canyon National Park:
These pictures were taken during my trip from Bowling Green, OH to Concord, CA on Dec., 2010. We only stopped at the Grand Canyon for two hours or so. It was great to be back to see this spectacular park again. This is the South Rim of the park, and I believe I was at the West Rim last year (see pictures here), but I am not entirely sure whether it's west or north.
The sky was overcast--great for photographing, but there was a little too much cloud for including the sky with the frames. The contrast was fantastic--not too much shadow like last time in certain parts. The only thing is that we only stopped for couple minutes at each spots (we only visited like four spots), and of course, the lighting was "as is", which means I was not able, or did not have time, to experiment with it at all - it should be the major part of photographing at the Grand Canyon, where you get all these layers of rocks, and the interplays of changing light and shadow...
Composition was really hard because we are mostly looking at the exact same view with just slight variations in perspective. In scenery photography, many fail to emphasize the subjects, but instead, include too much detail. In other words, trying to cram everything into a frame is not an effective way of photographing scenery. I usually try to focus on specific things to bring out in a composition, but this time, I wanted to challenge myself to use my wide angle lens more often.
I used my 17-40mm a lot, and tried to continue experimenting with bringing out texture/lines and creating layers to maintain interest. The wide angle lens is great for exaggerating the foreground--in this case, the subject--to create a dynamic perspective.
If we had more time, I would definitely use my 70-200mm a lot more because the light was just so even and perfect! I could really zoom in and look for some interesting patterns.
The sky was overcast--great for photographing, but there was a little too much cloud for including the sky with the frames. The contrast was fantastic--not too much shadow like last time in certain parts. The only thing is that we only stopped for couple minutes at each spots (we only visited like four spots), and of course, the lighting was "as is", which means I was not able, or did not have time, to experiment with it at all - it should be the major part of photographing at the Grand Canyon, where you get all these layers of rocks, and the interplays of changing light and shadow...
Composition was really hard because we are mostly looking at the exact same view with just slight variations in perspective. In scenery photography, many fail to emphasize the subjects, but instead, include too much detail. In other words, trying to cram everything into a frame is not an effective way of photographing scenery. I usually try to focus on specific things to bring out in a composition, but this time, I wanted to challenge myself to use my wide angle lens more often.
I used my 17-40mm a lot, and tried to continue experimenting with bringing out texture/lines and creating layers to maintain interest. The wide angle lens is great for exaggerating the foreground--in this case, the subject--to create a dynamic perspective.
If we had more time, I would definitely use my 70-200mm a lot more because the light was just so even and perfect! I could really zoom in and look for some interesting patterns.
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