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Monday, 6 May 2013

US TRIP 2013: GRAND CANYON

I've just had my annual vacation in the US, and this is the first of my photo-sets from that trip. As always, I met up with Joanne in Newark, New Jersey, then we flew out to Las Vegas via Denver. We picked up our hire car in Vegas and then drove south into Arizona before heading east along the old Route 66. Although it was actually the last place we visited before returning to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon was the highlight of the trip, so I'm posting it first. Last time Joanne and I visited  GC, we took a bus trip from Vegas, which took so long to get there, we only had about 30 minutes at the actual canyon, and even that was cut short by a snowstorm. This time we stopped in the wonderful town of Williams, a quintessential Route 66 town, and caught the train to GC, which gave us about three hours before returning, the weather was also much better this time!!. There was entertainment aboard the train, including a Native American folk singer and a train stick-up by outlaws!! Professional photographers say the best time to photograph Grand Canyon is either early morning or late afternoon/evening, when the sun is low and the shadows are deeper, giving greater contrast. Unfortunately, we were stuck with the high middle-of-the-day sun, and also rather hazy conditions, so I had to do something which I don't normally do: some editing of my shots after I got home. I had to do quite a bit of adjustment of brightness and contrast, and then add in some saturation to bring up the colours again. I'm going to post some of my fave photos here, then you can view the whole set as a Flickr slideshow, best viewed in 'fullscreen' mode.

 1) Grand Canyon   Grand Canyon 1

2) Hopi House
Hopi House 1

3) Grand Canyon 
Grand Canyon 8

4) Petrified Wood, close-up.
Petrified Wood 2

5) Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon 10

6) Ground Squirrel
Ground Squirrel 1

7) Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon 13

8) Grand Canyon Railroad.
Canyon Train

FLICKR SLIDESHOW:
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31 comments:

  1. Unknown6 May 2013 at 19:49

    Very very nice. Thanks for sharing. Left a couple of comments on flickr. We have a road trip planned in about a week. Going to Sheridan, Wy so Russ can go to a leather forum. Then if weather holds and my legs are Ok with the travel, then maybe a whirl wind Yellowstone, Jackson hole, etc.

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    1. MitchyLR7 May 2013 at 07:56

      Thanks Lynda, I appreciate the comments on Flickr too. I hope you get the chance to go to Yellowstone, it's supposed to be beautiful there. Once NP I've not yet visited myself.

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  2. Unknown6 May 2013 at 19:52

    Russ just looked at your photos too, he enjoyed also

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  3. Sofia6 May 2013 at 21:14

    I enjoyed the trip with you, and that little fellow. :)
    Many many super shots in your slideshow. thanks Mitch

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    1. MitchyLR7 May 2013 at 07:57

      Thanks Sophie. Yes, those ground-squirrels are very cute.

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  4. Terri D7 May 2013 at 01:29

    Just breathtakingly beautiful! Wow.

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    1. MitchyLR7 May 2013 at 07:58

      Photos, even professional ones (which mine are not!!), don't do the place justice. You really have to see it for yourself.

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  5. Belita Isabel Janeira7 May 2013 at 02:10

    I was really pleased to go on this fabulous tour. Thanks, Mitch, for sharing on here, some of the beauties of Nature you could enjoy during your trip.

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    1. MitchyLR7 May 2013 at 07:59

      I'm glad you enjoyed it Belita. Thanks also for your many comments on Flickr :-))

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  6. Pat Gerber-Relf7 May 2013 at 18:18

    Very impressive photos - you really made the most of what you saw. I will now hop over to flikr as the side show does not seem to be working on this site.

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    1. MitchyLR7 May 2013 at 18:31

      Thanks Pat :-))

      That's odd, the slideshow was working ok earlier. I'll try to fix it.

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  7. Pat Gerber-Relf7 May 2013 at 18:56

    Not your problem Mitch, just noticed that the server at Flickr was not working. Now everything fine and I could see your great unique photos That visit was well worth it.

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    1. MitchyLR7 May 2013 at 19:00

      Thanks for letting me know, Pat. Glad you enjoyed the photos :-))

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  8. Fatos C7 May 2013 at 21:59

    Wellcome back Mitch , good that you enjoyed your trip , I wish many more returns.
    Thanks for sharing your photos .

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  9. Barry7 May 2013 at 22:34

    these are wonderful mate so glad you had a great time love the video as well;)

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    1. MitchyLR7 May 2013 at 23:55

      Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed them :-))

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  10. kathyinozarks8 May 2013 at 02:16

    glad you had an awesome trip-great photos

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  11. Forgetmenot5258 May 2013 at 11:43

    Hi Mitch, I really like the Hopi house but not to sure what it actually is. Also like the petrified wood, neverthought it would be such a nice pink. Just wondering what editing software you use?

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    1. MitchyLR8 May 2013 at 18:45

      Hi Loretta. Hopi House was built in 1905 as part of the plans to develop the South Rim of the Grand Canyon as a tourist attraction. It is accurately based on true Hopi native-American designs. It is now used as an outlet for the wares of many of the local Native Americans. Their pottery and jewellery is absolutely beautiful.

      I was surprised by the colours in the petrified wood, too. I'd never seen any like that before. I didn't do any adjustments to the photo of the petrified wood. The only shots I did any editing on were the shots of the actual canyon itself. For that I used a combination of Olympus software that came with my camera, and Picasa.

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  12. benni 8 May 2013 at 14:42

    You really captured the depth and majesty of the Grand Canyon, one of only a few places that lives up to its hype. I, too, am fascinated by the petrified wood, especially the rosy bit. I hope you gave the squirrels a few morsels for posing so well. I will try to view the other pictures on the other computer.

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    1. MitchyLR8 May 2013 at 18:49

      Hi Benni. Feeding of the squirrels is discouraged by the park rangers, for two reasons.....firstly to avoid people getting a bite which get badly infected (or rabid maybe?)....and also to ensure they do not become 'domesticated'.

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  13. Tom8 May 2013 at 14:57

    Hi, Benni here. Your GC shots were awesome. I also liked the Hopi paintings and the colorful characters. But to see the depth of the GC - wow. It looks like it goes on forever and down forever as well. Nice petrified wood shots - fascinating.

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    1. MitchyLR8 May 2013 at 18:51

      Glad you enjoyed them :-)) It's a fantastic place, no photo can really do it justice, it has to be seen in person to really appreciate it.

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  14. Heather9 May 2013 at 04:27

    fabulous pictures Mitch, glad you had another great visit!

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  15. nomadtraveller15 May 2013 at 15:16

    Route 66 is still on my bucket list. Nice collection of canyon pics, Mitch.

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    1. MitchyLR15 May 2013 at 15:46

      Thanks Neil :-)) You are advised to 'get your kicks', there are some fabulous places to see along the old Route 66.

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  16. Unknown18 May 2013 at 19:39

    Finally made it ! Great photos Mitch. I dare say it's only when you get there that you can really appreciate the scale of the canyon. After years of never tampering with my photos I've been posting images on Instagram and really going to town with the filters. Still take 'proper' photos of course.

    I will look at your other set in the next day or two.

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    1. MitchyLR19 May 2013 at 00:11

      Thanks Charlie :-)) Yes, you are correct....you can only really appreciate the scale and beauty of such places by seeing them for yourself. I don't think photos can ever do justice to them, no matter amateur or professional.

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