Backpacker Magazine – June 2011

National Parks: Grand Canyon

Discover surprising solitude and endless vistas on an easy-access multiday trip between rim and river.

by: Michael Lanza

Tags:
• National Parks
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• Grand Canyon National Park
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• Arizona
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• Destinations
|

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GRAND PHOTOGRAPHY
Take pictures as spectacular and memorable as the canyon itself.

For most photographers, the Grand Canyon is equal parts inspiring and intimidating. Its scale tempts you to shoot only sweeping vistas, but such a strategy can yield unsatisfying images that fail to convey the canyon's tremendous depth. Follow this sequence:

1. Shoot early or late in the day, when shadows give the canyon its most three-dimensional quality.

2. Use an ultra-wide zoom, like a digital 10-20mm, to capture good depth-of-field in the background.

3. Think about your foreground as much as the background. Get low and up close to a visually appealing subject, like a blooming prickly-pear cactus or a creek spilling over a red-rock ledge.

4. Frame your shot to include a striking formation in the distant background and some sky--but place the horizon in the upper third of your image.

5. Shoot at f/16 or higher to keep both foreground and background in focus.



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