Grand Falls AZ
This past weekend took me to northern AZ where I was able to pursue one of my true passions of photography, shooting landscapes. Nothing better than capturing a piece of Mother Nature looking her finest. In this case it was Grand Falls AZ.
Our trip began early Saturday morning. And by early I mean leaving the house at 3am for the trek up the hill to Flagstaff. I met up with fellow photogs Mike Olbinski, Rick Young, and Ken Peterson to carpool. The plan for the day was to start at Two Guns (an old ghost town) for sunrise shooting, then drive over to Winslow (the corner) for mid-day shooting, back to Flagstaff for pizza and beer, and then Grand Falls for sunset.
I will post pictures from Two Guns and Winslow later this week. My impatient side decided to jump straight to the Grand Falls shots. Patience has never been a virtue of mine.
The first thing you learn about traveling to Grand Falls is it is not a place you find by accident. Thank goodness for GPS. The other thing you find out is you don’t see the falls until you are right on top of them. But once you get to the edge and see them it is amazing.
There are several vantage points to shoot from which makes the Falls a nirvana for photographers. One of those points is at the bottom. Several of us decided to hike down to get a few close-ups of Mother Nature. At the bottom you get a true appreciation of how large the water falls are. It is a surreal experience as you are in a canyon facing huge waterfalls while standing on a grassy meadow. Someone mentioned it was like being in a Jurassic Park movie. I agree. You are just waiting to see a T-Rex pop out.
The only thing that didn’t quite go as planned was the sunset. We ended up with a dud. There was a little bit of red light in the sky but it never made it down into the falls. Boo Mother Nature.
This trip was simply awesome. Landscape photography is a true passion of mine and Grand Falls delivered in a big way. Getting out in the back country and seeing new things is what it is all about.
Big thanks to Mike for showing us this Arizona hidden gem.
Until next time…
Nice job Chris!
Looks like an awesome place to shoot. Great job with the processing on this one.
I could look at images from there all day long. Had a great time there, and already wanting to go back.
I like the motion in the falls as well as the crisp detailing of all the caves and shaping of the rocks by the water or wind – great shot!
Thanx everyone for the feedback.
Nice shot. The processing and detail is excellent!
I’ve always heard Arizona was beautiful! Thank you for sharing your photo’s with us! They are amazing…in fact I’m putting Arizona at the top of my list of places I’d like to go for vacation, WOW! Sunset or not, that is a BEAUTIFUL photograph!
Man! You really make me want to get into HDR photography. I came from Kristi and Jason’s blog. Now it looks to me everyone is doing HDR nowadays.
Nice photo! I want to go there too!
BTW, what camera you use to take this shot?
Hi Terence. I shoot with Canon gear. My current camera body is the 40D.
Thanx again everyone for the feedback.
Chris ~ What a beautiful picutre! I’ve add Grand Falls to my list of places to visit in AZ.
What an amazing picture!
Wow! Nice shot! what an amazing shot, It look so beautiful.
I plan to visit the Falls next month. Can you describe road conditions in the Navajo reservations? Are the roads paved, graded, or really bad for a “regular” car? Are there any signs posted to guide one to the Falls?
Hello. The roads are pretty rough for a car. You can most likely make it out there but I would go slow and would feel better if another car/truck was with me. I would also map it out with a GPS. It is not easy to find. And finally I doubt if there will be any water flowing right now. The spring time has water due to snow melt. The only other times are mainly due to our monsoon season which has not started. Hope this helps.