Sunbeams in the Grand Canyon

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When I saw this shot of the sunbeams in the Grand Canyon it immediately screamed black and white to me. Which is a good thing as I’m a huge fan of black and white photography. 

Sunbeams in the Grand Canyon Paint the Walls

Back in July I did a day trip to the Grand Canyon with my buddy Bryan Snider. The hope of the trip was to photograph some storm action across the Canyon. Notice the keyword there being hope. It’s a 4 hour trip up to the Canyon from Phoenix so no matter what good stuff is going on there is no guarantee that it will still be there.

As we made our way up towards the Canyon, the storms around Phoenix were popping off like crazy. Needless to say there was a temptation to hold off on the Canyon and chase here at home. But in the end we decided to risk the reward of Canyon storms against guaranteed  valley storm action.

Funny things happen sometimes when you gamble. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win, sometimes you do both. 🙂 As we made our way up there the weather begin to dissipate on the radar. Of course that’s not always the end of the world as storm can redevelop. On this day they wouldn’t, but we still won. We had some amazing light make its way into the Canyon. It’s not everyday you get to photograph sunbeams in the Grand Canyon.

When you wager with Mother Nature you have to be ready for anything. She may reward you with a Grand Canyon sunset, a storm, or she may send you home without anything. What’s nice is that the payoff can be quite handsome when you win. Photographers are always chasing the light and when we catch it, oh boy!

Until next time…