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01-03-2016, 11:30 PM - 1 Like   #1
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The Purely Pentax Grand Canyon Tribute

All around the world are great National Parks, I believe the greatest of all is Grand Canyon.
Many Pentaxians have visited and photographed this magnificent place; just as many have noted that it is not the easiest place to photograph either. The ever changeing light, dust, rain, cloud and crowds along with fleeting visits where the f8 & be there factor is either walking with you resulting in magnificence captured or you are left wondering.

So, come on Pentaxians of the world, let us pay our tribute, the Purely Pentax way, to Grand Canyon by posting our shots in this thread. Tell us a bit about your visit for intending visitors, how you got there, where you stayed, how you moved about the park, any particular vantage points and so on.

It is intended to make this the first of a series paying tribute to National Parks around the world....but lets see how well this one goes first.



I will post a few of the North Rim to get things started, but shots from either rim, or indeed the the middle, are welcome. I will add a few comments at the bottom.


This is beautifully said by President Roosevelt

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We/I have visited Grand Canyon on five seperate occasions, the first being to the Sth Rim when photography was no more than a travelogue for me, and in film, but that started the love affair I have with this place.
The above shots are from the NORTH Rim side, we stayed in the Motel part of the Lodge, a 10-15 minute walk (depending on your adaptation to the altitude) to the Lodge itself. The Lodge has a dining room, which is worth at least one visit and a cafeteria if the budget is tighter. Prices, imho, are reasonable. On another visit we had a cabin, which was closer to the Lodge, but more expensive.
North Rim is only open for certain times so check the NPS website for details, due to being snowed in.
To book accommodation you need to be patient and understand how the booking system works, to a first time visitor it will appear to be booked out a long way in advance, which is largely true, but cancellations happen daily and if you are patient, and in the case of Southern hemisphere readers, prepared to get up in the early hours (in other words working with US business hours) you can get bookings at relatively short notice. More on that later.

The one thing I highly, strongly, reccommend is to stay in the Park itself ; accommodation is offered outside the park but you will waste a lot of time driving to and from. PM me if you are planning on going and would like any more info.
We travel to Grand Canyon, North or South by road after flying into Las Vegas, to either side it is a 3.5 - 4+ hour trip from Las Vegas, but allow more time than that because you will stop at Hoover Dam and other places along the way. Vegas is a must see destination, best visited between Monday and Thursday, avoiding the weekend when prices soar. We have stayed at the Sahara (now gone), Flamingo, Stratosphere, Excalibur, Paris and Hilton and a Hyatt (near Hard Rock Hotel & Casino) behind the strip. You can spend a lot more, but we found these to be fine.


Last edited by Mallee Boy; 10-03-2016 at 10:23 PM. Reason: corrections
01-04-2016, 03:04 AM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mallee Boy Quote
All around the world are great National Parks, I believe the greatest of all is the Grand Canyon.
Many Pentaxians have visited and photographed this magnificent place; just as many have noted that it is not the easiest place to photograph either. The ever changeing light, dust, rain, cloud and crowds along with fleeting visits where the f8 & be there factor is either walking with you resulting in magnificence captured or you are left wondering.

So, come on Pentaxians of the world, let us pay our tribute, the Purely Pentax way, to the Grand Canyon by posting our shots in this thread. Tell us a bit about your visit for intending visitors, how you got there, where you stayed, how you moved about the park, any particular vantage points and so on.

It is intended to make this the first of a series paying tribute to National Parks around the world....but lets see how well this one goes first.



I will post a few of the North Rim to get things started, but shots from either rim, or indeed the the middle, are welcome. I will add a few comments at the bottom.


This is beautifully said by President Roosevelt

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We/I have visited the Grand Canyon on five seperate occasions, the first being to the Sth Rim when photography was no more than a travelogue for me, and in film, but that started the love affair I have with this place.
The above shots are from the NORTH Rim side, we stayed in the Motel part of the Lodge, a 10-15 minute walk (depending on your adaptation to the altitude) to the Lodge itself. The Lodge has a dining room, which is worth at least one visit and a cafeteria if the budget is tighter. Prices, imho, are reasonable. On another visit we had a cabin, which was closer to the Lodge, but more expensive.
North Rim is only open for certain times so check the NPS webite for details, due to being snowed in.
To book accommodation you need to be patient and understand how the booking system works, to a first time visitor it will appear to be booked out a long way in advance, which is largely true, but cancellations happen daily and if you are patient, and in the case of Southern hemisphere readers, prepared to get up in the early hours (in other words working with US business hours) you can get bookings at relatively short notice. More on that later.

The one thing I highly, strongly, reccommend is to stay in the Park itself ; accommodation is offered outside the park but you will waste a lot of time driving to and from. PM me if you are planning on going and would like any more info.
We travel to Grand Canyon, North or South by road after flying into Las Vegas, to either side it is a 3.5 - 4+ hour trip from Las Vegas, but allow more time than that because you will stop at Hoover Dam and other places along the way. Vegas is a must see destination, best visited between Monday and Thursday, avoiding the weekend when prices soar. We have stayed at the Sahara (now gone), Flamingo, Stratosphere, Excalibur, Paris and Hilton and a Hyatt (near Hard Rock Hotel & Casino) behind the strip. You can spend a lot more, but we found these to be fine.
Grant.
What a great idea. Ill have to have a look at what i have. Those shots would look great blown up on a wall.

Cheers. Keith
01-04-2016, 04:37 AM   #3
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I will dig and see what I have from my one visit. I stayed outside the park (south rim) and found driving in/out no big deal. It is hard to get parking in the lots if you don't know what to do, but skipping the first lots and not trying to get parking in the most heavily used areas and walking or riding the tram is easy. I strongly recommend the Kaibab Trail over Bright Angel if you want to take a short hike for scenery - it is relatively tame up to the point where the trail turns and sharply descends and that point is breathtaking. http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/SouthKaibabTrail.pdf
01-04-2016, 04:46 AM - 1 Like   #4
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This is an absolutely wonderful idea for a thread!! So, here is my contribution - adapted from a number of previous posts using three cameras K5, K100D and the Q at the Canyon. Stringing things all together, does make a better post (as opposed to the prior separate posts I did at the time).....
____________________________________

About 2 1/2 years ago, on a whim, at the last minute (literally 1.30 in the afternoon) I tossed everything in the truck and drove 3.5 hours up to the Grand Canyon (south rim, east end) to catch the sunset. It was a really nice drive, even through the heavy rain storm on the way up to Flagstaff. It has been raining, lots of clouds up there, and on the webcam the canyon was clear (90 miles of visibility) with some white puffy clouds, so I left - stopping for gas on the way. I got there at 5.30 pm - with a 6.55 pm sunset. Substantially cooler (60) than down in the valley (104 when I left), breezy and spitting rain.

Pulled out my tripod and head, selected my lenses, loaded by backpack and went out to the rim, setup and started shooting with my K5. In 50 shots (pretty much all bracketed) I had gone through all 3 of my K5 batteries. One I knew that I just recharged a week ago. [Note - it turned out that in my K5 the mirror motor went kupt, and was sucking the batteries dry....] So, I decided to go back to the truck and drive up to the next scenic view a couple of miles up the road. I pulled out my Q and tripod and went shooting. Then I remembered that I had brought the case with my K100 and I had new AA batteries along with it.

Swapped cameras - tried to move the L Bracket from the K5 on the K100 (the door was too large with the shutter release cable attached), so I just made due, with the base plate.

I wound up shooting all 3 bodies across 2 hours at sunset. The lighting conditions were constantly changing and the images represent this. However, in processing the shots last evening and this morning, several things stand out. The resolution and refined quality of the K5 is wonderful. The K100 even at 6MP - but with its CCD sensor captures a wonderful scene. I had not really shot with the K100 a lot over the last 4-5 or so years, and it is an excellent camera in its own right. It would be nice to shoot them side by side and see the difference - same view, same light, same lens - but that is too much like shooting a brick wall. This was done somewhat out of necessity since I ran out of charged batteries and both the Q and the K100 performed more than admirably.

Some K5 shots

So, at 5.30 with some pretty nice light, the K5 did what it does so well. Great definition and resolution, excellent color. [Side note - I was trying to capture large stitched panos, and some HDR with the K5 and things did not go the way it was intended with the batteries] The light was very muted and the sun was just starting to break out under the clouds. It was spitting rain with a breeze, and even with a lens hood, I kept having to wipe the rain drops off with a lens cloth. Then I ran out of battery juice.

This was intended to be (and I think that it was) a stitched set of 3 images bracketed (5 frames +/- 2ev) taken at 6pm. It was spitting rain, and I lost a number of shots with a rain drop hitting the lens. I think I caught one here, but decided to use it (the flare off to the right hand side). The light changes rapidly, and along with the clouds and weather, plus some fog in the canyon - every minute is very different. This is looking directly west from the far eastern edge of the canyon.



Shots from the Q

Drove to the next scenic outlook and started shooting with the Q. The Q really surprised me with the 02 lens at telephoto end. This was the shot that I had always wanted - with the K5 - all the resolution and definition, using the the old glass that I have been acquiring. So, after checking the shot on the rear screen, I remembered that I had brought the K100 along and I always have a new pack of AA's with it.



With the K100D
So, I went back to the truck, selected the 150mm fumbled around a bit, trying to remember how to shoot with the K100 (single wheel), and found that the 150 was way too much lens, for what I wanted. Went back to the truck (20 feet - and still spitting rain) to get the 85mm, but the sun came out under the clouds and lit up the ridge behind me, so I popped on the Zeiss 25mm, scurried back to shoot this.



Somehow the bold vivid colors really suits the CCD sensor on the K100. The pixels are large, fat, low noise and just soak up the light. The Q on the other hand, with the relatively small sensor, did extremely well, but with loosing the light, it was probably at its limit. In post processing, the imaging noise was starting to come through, but I am extremely happy with what I was able to capture.

Here is the last set before leaving - in the dark. K100 3 bracketed (HDR) and stacked - very little light.



This is a stitched set of 3 bracketed images using the K100. It was 7.15 pm and the sun had just set and twilight was going fast. This is looking to the north with a ridge to the east that caught the last bit of sun. It was darker that what you might have thought, but the K100 captured everything quite nicely.



So there you have it! A spur of the moment epic Arizona road trip. Just tossed everything I had in the truck and drove. As it turns out, I needed every bit of equipment that I brought with me in a very unexpected way. I have been meaning to do this again, but business travel has just killed my down time. But Retirement is coming up fast.....

The next week I took the K5 in to the vet (CRIS) under warranty and got it fixed.

I need to do this trip again - with my K5IIs and my current lens set. I would like to see what I can capture with my K5 and K5IIs doing my best at this wonderful Grand Canyon!!!!

Note - One of the things I had intended to use was my 28mm Shift lens to shift down into the canyon a bit more. All of that was side tracked. So, that is one of the things I want to really do and use - to see how that would come out with a shifted perspective. The other is to handle the light much better - with shooting into the sun with the very wide dynamic range in the Canyon. There are so many opportunities and situations there to challenge the photographer in trying to capture just small portion of what the canyon has to offer.

Also, it is really funny that in all of this - the K100 came shining through in the pinch. It is really difficult to beat this body - even with its age. Just a fantastic little camera. Still, tons of potential.




Last edited by interested_observer; 01-04-2016 at 04:55 AM.
01-04-2016, 02:49 PM   #5
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Thanks for contributing gentlemen, much appreciated.
Look forward to seeing what you decide to post Keith.
Uncle V : Likewise. The beauty of staying in the Park is that your car is already parked and its always a short stroll to the shuttle bus system.
I_O: That K100D has done you proud, great shots .

A word on South Rim accommodation. We have stayed at Maswik Lodge and Yuvapai Lodge....both very similar, set back from the rim and both feature a large cafeteria style dining room. Pricing is very reasonable and access to the shuttle bus system is easy, so the car doesn't have to move from its park until you want to travel beyond the reach of the shuttles....which you will. Have also stayed at Thunderbird Lodge, getting more expensive but situated close to the rim.
The favourite though is a Bright Angel Rimside cabin, these rustic cabins, some with ensuite, some without, just enhance the whole Grand Canyon experience....one of our lasting memories is from our first trip to GC South where we had one of these cabins, and after dark, we sat on the wall of the rim, enjoying a glass of red and listening to the sounds of the canyon. Another couple, complete strangers, spied us and came down from a neighbouring cabin to join us, commenting that it looked too good not to do.
I will put up more info on the South Rim later.
01-04-2016, 04:32 PM   #6
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Since the park closes so late I just tended to park once and stay until late and then leave. The hotel was a bed to me - that's about it. But the cabin idea is appealing - but not when you are there by yourself. I was on business and added 4 days to my trip to make this work. I could not plan it either - it just came about by accident so I grabbed at whatever I could find. The one benefit I found from being outside the park was that it was cheaper to eat outside the park. I did have some nice meals in the park also.
01-04-2016, 04:35 PM - 1 Like   #7
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Grand Canyon

We have lucky enough to have been to South Rim twice. In May 2010 and May 2013. First time had good weather. 2nd time not so good. Lots of smoke from fires. Love the place. We were told to watch the sunset there and stay for few minutes after the sun has gone down. Well worth it as the sun shone up through the canyon bringing out the colors. This one in 2010. K0D
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Favourite part for us was probably hopping on the shuttle bus and going out to Yaki Point. Amazing. Every corner we walked around was a completely different scene. We were the only ones there and never gave it a thought that Yogi or a big pussy might be watching us.

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Me waving out from the point.

Desert View end of Grand Canyon.
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---------- Post added 01-05-2016 at 09:38 AM ----------

Whoops. Pics not in order but you get the idea i hope hehehe.

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01-04-2016, 05:00 PM   #8
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Mate...you never dis-appoint.
Magnifence captured.
01-04-2016, 08:35 PM - 2 Likes   #9
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It's "Grand Canyon", not "The Grand Canyon". Just sayin'...

Been several times, but only once down a trail. This is Bright Angel trail, probably the most popular.



Starts off easy enough, though if that seated guy slips forward he's dead.








A helpful hint.








Not wanting to get rammed, I just faced away from him to be non-threatening...


A little crack.


1-1/2 Mile House. If you have small kids with you, this is where you should turn around.


Emergency?


For something like $150, you can ride a mule down. 200 lb weight limit. Not camera friendly because you need to be able to hold on with two hands.


3 Mile House on the right. Cottonwood Indian Garden campground in the middle background. You still have to go past it on the little trail to the left to Plateau Point to even see the river.


This poor guy was carrying his pack as well as his friend's pack.


The round thermometer under the roof indicated 81 F.


Spent about 20 minutes "resting", then headed up.







It was just about 6 hours round trip. I was gassed.

Last edited by SpecialK; 01-05-2016 at 06:46 PM.
01-04-2016, 09:00 PM   #10
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Apologies for the "The"...hopefully all have been corrected.

Great shots, had planned on doing that one day, but it's not going to happen now. Fantastic experience.
01-04-2016, 09:27 PM   #11
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I'm sick. I can't locate my pictures at all. My backup drive doesn't have them. I'm hoping some old cd rom backups have them. Sigh.
01-04-2016, 09:59 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by UncleVanya Quote
I'm sick. I can't locate my pictures at all. My backup drive doesn't have them. I'm hoping some old cd rom backups have them. Sigh.
Hope you find them!

A few more... The Kolb studio is essentially the Bright Angel trail start.


You will need a reservation.


There is a train from Williams.


Mather Point is probably the most visited and recognized viewpoint.


Named for this guy.


Mather Pt view.


Yavapai Pt.


There is a shuttle for the western viewpoints - no cars allowed.


Maricopa Pt.


Powell Pt view. John Powell was a US soldier, geologist, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He is famous for the 1869 Powell Geographic Expedition, a three-month river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers, including the first known passage by Europeans through Grand Canyon. Oh, and he only had one arm...


Hard to see the Orphan mine.


Mohave Pt. There's the river!


Bucky O'Neill cabin. He was a sheriff, newspaper editor, miner, politician, gambler and lawyer. He later became a captain in Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and died in battle.


El Tovar hotel, formerly a Harvey House.


Hopi museum.


Train station.


Nearby airport for a heli ride.

Last edited by SpecialK; 04-06-2016 at 07:37 PM.
01-04-2016, 11:01 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by UncleVanya Quote
I'm sick. I can't locate my pictures at all. My backup drive doesn't have them. I'm hoping some old cd rom backups have them. Sigh.
They'll turn up, generally do when your looking for something else.
01-05-2016, 01:52 AM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mallee Boy Quote
Mate...you never dis-appoint.
Magnifence captured.
Thank you Grant. I try.

Keith
01-05-2016, 04:06 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by SpecialK Quote
200 lbs weight limit
Oh dear that's me on foot then.
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