In the summer of 2011, I was able to spend a glorious morning all by myself at Cape Royal on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Its amazing how few people get up to see the sunrise, particularly in beautiful locations like the Grand Canyon. Its never easy. Staying curled up in a warm bed always makes a strong pitch. It is almost always worth it. I have seen hundreds of sunrises and can count on one hand the amount of times that I came away disappointed. That doesn't mean that I always see a great sunrise. Far from it. I do thoroughly enjoy the calm peacefulness of dawn. If the sunrise doesn't pan out, there is usually something else to be found that is beautiful in its own right. For those few days that I was disappointed, I firmly believe that I didn't look hard enough or I simply missed it.
This sunrise was the start of an amazing day. I photographed wildflowers, hummingbirds, thunderstorms and amazing landscapes. What could be better?
The North Rim was truly captivating. I enjoyed the canyon views, but what truly impressed me was the forests and meadows. I expected to see deserts when I went to the Grand Canyon. It was however, a beautiful mountain ecosystem similar to the northern Rockies. I found it to be a very intriguing juxtaposition to the desert of the inner canyon.
This image was created with a telephoto lens. Telephoto lenses will compress the scene in front of you. In this case it made the ridges of the canyon seem much closer together. It also allowed me to minimize a relatively boring sky. Tomorrow I will post the same view photographed with a wide angle lens. The contrast between the two is striking. Both images are beautiful. I will leave you to decide which one you prefer.
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