There were few opportunities for sunrise or sunset photography along the Colorado River in October because we were in a big canyon — The Grand Canyon. Views of the sky were generally limited. And we had many cloud-free days. But midway through the second week some clouds moved in and two nights is a row featured very brief but spectacular light shows as the sun set.
We pulled into Garnet Camp, a very small one with limited level spots to place a pad and sleeping bag, but a visually very interesting site, hence one of my favorites. It was around 5 PM, and the whole camp had long since been in total shade. The sky was cloudy but the sun broke through for a few minutes shortly after we arrived. In this photo the shadow on the cliff across the river miraculously mirrors the cliff itself. Another “lucky” shot or what? I don’t know, but the light was gone a minute later.
Thirty minutes later the sky lit up for three minutes. Here are three photos I took during this brief window. The vertical one is a 4-shot panorama. All were shot with my camera on my small tripod.
The next night we camped at Galloway. I was photographing a bit of color in the clouds from near my camp site when I heard Boatman Roger yelling, “Jim, Jim, Jim”, from down by the river at the base of Galloway Canyon. Stephen, who had set up his site nearby, and I hurried down with cameras, but I left my tripod behind. When we reached Roger expecting to see a fish or something, he pointed behind us. The sun was lighting up a butte above the canyon in a spectacular fashion. I shot the two photos below handheld at ISO 800. The second is a 4-shot panorama since I left my wide angle lens at my camp site in the rush to get down to Roger. Stephen, Roger, and I were likely the only ones to witness this light show that night.
Roger was rowing his dory down the Colorado River for the 180th time. He is also a artist, glass-maker, and master of iPhone photography. He led a number of river trips that featured Dewitt Jones, including one that was devoted to photographing with the iPhone.
You can see more photos from my trip through the Grand Canyon on the pages linked to the page HERE.