Grand Canyon Monsoon

Gallery: LandscapePosted August 18, 20111,090 views49 comments

We had quite the run of good luck at the Grand Canyon with rainbows three nights in a row! This one was from our first night just as the sun was dropping below the horizon. The clouds were wicked and the rainbow and orange glow made for quite the show! Shot from Bright Angel Point.

Canon 5DMkII, 24-70mm @ 51mm, 0.5 sec. at f/22, ISO 800, tripod, polarizer

Comments

49 comments

Comment posted by Jake Case on August 18, 2011 at 10:27 PM

Great light, composition and capture of an amazing moment! Everything looks good except the some over-saturation in the rainbow is causing some clipping. Pull down the sat a ways and this is a masterpiece!

Registered on December 13, 2010, 38 Posts, 167 Comments

Comment posted by Jared Atencio on August 18, 2011 at 10:34 PM

Geez Phil, you really scored on your last GC excursion! Love the drama here and the light on the far canyon wall. I'd prefer just a bit more opened up in the shadows and agree that the saturation is just a little heavy, but these are both pretty minor points.

Registered on June 23, 2009, 21 Posts, 422 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Rhodus on August 18, 2011 at 10:51 PM

No critique from me ... I'm just enjoying this one. Great moment and I'm sure an unforgetable experience.

Registered on November 16, 2003, 157 Posts, 3326 Comments

Comment posted by Yiming Hu on August 18, 2011 at 11:04 PM

Incredible image, Phil. Double rainbows, killer clouds, and gorgeous lights inside the Canyon - what an experience!

Why did you use F22 and ISO800?

Registered on April 28, 2011, 38 Posts, 733 Comments

Comment posted by David Cobb on August 18, 2011 at 11:10 PM

Beautiful light over and in the canyon Phillip, I love how the sky has blues and reds in it that play off of each other.

Registered on December 14, 2007, 312 Posts, 3243 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on August 18, 2011 at 11:16 PM

Incredible image filled with doom and gloom balanced by a rainbow. Of course I wasn't there so I can't say for sure what the colors were like but it looks a touch oversaturated to me (or perhaps it was just good processing that lead to such a cool/grey cloud cover and orange glow.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Kennon on August 18, 2011 at 11:27 PM

Fantastic light, Phillip. The clouds are great also.

Registered on August 20, 2005, 6 Posts, 132 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on August 18, 2011 at 11:47 PM

Stunning image Philip! Must have been something to witness in person! Love the double rainbow!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Kennedy on August 18, 2011 at 11:49 PM

Excellent Phillip! Very dramatic image. Incredible colors and light.

Registered on March 9, 2009, 79 Posts, 676 Comments

Comment posted by Jeff Hackett on August 19, 2011 at 12:02 AM

Uh.. AWESOME! This would be a dream shot if it were mine.

Registered on March 13, 2006, 65 Posts, 1119 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on August 19, 2011 at 12:11 AM

Incredible, awesome drama Phil. That light and the colors are spectacular. Gorgeous.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Goldwasser on August 19, 2011 at 12:21 AM

That's just too cool!

Registered on May 10, 2009, 127 Posts, 970 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on August 19, 2011 at 12:24 AM

Awesome

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on August 19, 2011 at 12:31 AM

Very special. Love the textured clouds on top a lot too.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Art Escobado on August 19, 2011 at 1:13 AM

That's a great moment captured.

Registered on January 7, 2007, 0 Posts, 775 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on August 19, 2011 at 1:39 AM

Phillip:
Simply fabulous.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Kory Lidstrom on August 19, 2011 at 1:57 AM

Epic light in this one. Nice!

Registered on November 19, 2008, 49 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Giovanni Russello on August 19, 2011 at 2:03 AM

Cool! I really like this one. Finally a picture of the GC with dramatic weather!

gio

Registered on January 21, 2007, 95 Posts, 1617 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on August 19, 2011 at 2:37 AM

Holy crap! This is a stunner. Congrats on the EP and now this? Are you kidding me?

Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments

Comment posted by Svein-Frode on August 19, 2011 at 2:50 AM

WOW! Impressive display of weather!

Registered on November 13, 2003, 9 Posts, 277 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on August 19, 2011 at 3:44 AM

Well that doesnt suck. Way to be there :)

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Winnie Ho on August 19, 2011 at 5:37 AM

That's actually a double rainbow isn't it? The glow contrasting with the cool sky above is really intriguing - what an awesome moment, beautifully captured!

Registered on January 6, 2008, 93 Posts, 1788 Comments

Comment posted by Pedro Bento on August 19, 2011 at 9:00 AM

What a moment

Registered on September 2, 2007, 45 Posts, 761 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on August 19, 2011 at 9:13 AM

The sky is incredible--not the worlds best rainbow, but the light on the far rim is killer. I have to say, this isnt anywhere near as strong compositionally as the EP shot, i think the fg elements here are distracting--but the subject is so amazing that it doesnt matter that much!

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Dorin Bofan on August 19, 2011 at 9:35 AM

Never seen anything like that and looking at your image is already overwhelming, so I can only imagine what an amazing experience must have been to actually be there. Incredible image, Phillip!

Registered on April 30, 2007, 122 Posts, 3086 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on August 19, 2011 at 9:50 AM

Killer shot Phillip - great light and mood, and those clouds really make the scene.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Mitch Erwin on August 19, 2011 at 10:35 AM

I'll add my atta boy!

Registered on April 24, 2006, 98 Posts, 656 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on August 19, 2011 at 11:36 AM

This is dripping with drama, Phillip. The sky and light are both outstanding as is the double rainbow.

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Shantikara Valuska on August 19, 2011 at 12:16 PM

Incredible, very dramatic shot. It's even better than your previous one! I love it!
(I also wonder about the specs.)

Registered on July 25, 2011, 38 Posts, 451 Comments

Comment posted by Kartik Venkatarama on August 19, 2011 at 1:55 PM

Great image, though I do think it would be even more powerful if about half the bluish clouds were cropped off so that there is more emphasis on the interesting f/g and colorful sky.

Registered on July 27, 2007, 197 Posts, 830 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on August 19, 2011 at 2:03 PM

What a spectacular light! This kind of scene is every landscape photographer's dream. Congrats! I love it as is. I only wonder why you decided to shoot at f/22, sacrificing IQ with a high ISO. f/11-16 would have been a better choice IMO.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Butch Lama on August 19, 2011 at 2:36 PM

What a spectacular show of mother nature you have witness & captured... Visually stunning

Registered on July 23, 2010, 42 Posts, 316 Comments

Comment posted by Shawn Thompson on August 19, 2011 at 3:43 PM

YOWZA!!!

Registered on July 20, 2011, 22 Posts, 102 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on August 19, 2011 at 4:08 PM

Just Beautiful!! The light, color and mood are fantastic. Excellent work Phillip.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Phillip Noll on August 19, 2011 at 6:00 PM

Thanks for all the feedback!!

As far as specs, this is a little embarrassing

..........earlier in the day I was shooting wildflowers hand held and needed the ISO 800 to get a fast enough shutter speed for a sharp image. When I arrived at Bright Angle Point the storm and light show was already in full swing so I was running down the path to get to a place where I could get a halfway decent composition. There were many people already there and there isn't a lot of space at this particular overlook so my choices were rather limited. The drama was unfolding very quickly and I grabbed my camera and started shooting away. I chose f/22 because I was trying to get some foreground elements in focus and thought I needed the depth of field f/22 would provide. I was so caught up in the moment and the light was changing so rapidly that I completely forgot about the aperture and ISO (I usually shoot at 100). I was madly changing lenses and shooting different comps and exposures and just never remembered to change the ISO back to 100. I was a bit angry with myself, when I realized I was still shooting at 800 but by then the show was over.

So I'll have to make due with what I have which is still pretty good. These days my photo expeditions are few and far between so whenever I'm out there I'm a bit rusty. Oh well, enough excuses! The last thing I will say is.........D'oh!

Registered on November 17, 2003, 207 Posts, 1083 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on August 19, 2011 at 6:04 PM

Fantastic storm light and drama Phillip. Love the mix of the warm and cool colors.

BTW - Been there did that with forgetting to change the ISO......

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Koveh Tavakkol on August 19, 2011 at 6:39 PM

Very dramatic scene. I agree on the saturation changes and you have a great one here.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 41 Posts, 608 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on August 19, 2011 at 6:52 PM

Just incredible, what a beautiful image!

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Jonathan Heywood on August 19, 2011 at 7:37 PM

Great shot of some awesome light.

Registered on February 22, 2010, 18 Posts, 87 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on August 20, 2011 at 5:11 PM

Phil,

I think this gets awfully close to be put in the "epic" GC category! Oh, and I just noticed the double-rainbow too! What a great moment in time over the Grand Canyon. They sky is just unbelievable.

Now I haven't read the comments so I don't know if this has been mentioned, but for me, I would crop or do something to reduce or eliminate the presence of the rock feature at the bottom. It's just in the position of being either not enough, or too much inclusion. The tree is dark enough that it doesn't detract, nor add to the scene. I don't think you would lose much by cropping the bottom.

It's still a killer image. Must have been quite a site to witness.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Shantikara Valuska on August 20, 2011 at 5:18 PM

Yeap, those settings... Very familiar story.

You don't have to feel embarrassed, though. At least you got an amazing shot!

Registered on July 25, 2011, 38 Posts, 451 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce Omori on August 20, 2011 at 5:51 PM

Awesome capture, Phillip!! Love the rich colors and the dramatic sky. Epic!!!

Registered on December 6, 2010, 6 Posts, 175 Comments

Comment posted by Michael J Greene, on August 21, 2011 at 2:41 AM

Amazing image Phillip. I love the overall processing, look, and feel. Congratulations.

Michael

Registered on June 18, 2009, 86 Posts, 2317 Comments

Comment posted by James Fougère on August 21, 2011 at 4:09 PM

Talk about being in the right place at the right time

I would crop the light rock on the bottom as well

IMO

Well done !!

Registered on October 25, 2010, 41 Posts, 831 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on August 21, 2011 at 6:24 PM

Whoa, how fortunate for you to be there for that! Incredible color and light!

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Russell Colletta on August 21, 2011 at 9:44 PM

Yup, good luck indeed, but luck comes to those who are skillful and prepared. You obviously combined all those qualities very well. Nice image.

Registered on October 31, 2009, 114 Posts, 1008 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on August 21, 2011 at 9:46 PM

Stunning! Powerful! Amazing! One has to wonder if maybe the higher ISO helped you capture the dark foreground better? This is just an incredible image regardless of the settings.