Grand and ‘Gorge’ous

Corporate, editorial, and travel photographer, Rajat Ghosh travels across the globe, photographing and filming, promoting adventure tourism and conserving nature trails through workshops and photography. Currently in Arizona, USA, leading a nature photography tour, the instructor and one of the directors of the travel group Meinfernweh, gives us a peek into some of his work from the Grand Canyon. The first day of his tour was a dud, in spite of a weather check, he tells us. “We camped 10 miles out of the South Rim and at 5.30 am, I was at the canyon for an early morning sunrise session. Well, no dice, it was a grey morning with very strong winds. I did manage to get a few images, but it lacked my vision of how I saw the Grand Canyon in my mind’s eye,” he says, “The next day, 30 minutes before the sunrise, which is the time that most dramatic skies are to be seen, sunrises follow, and I was not disappointed. While most cameras were trained on the sunrise, the real magic unfolded on the canyon as the sun rose and changed the colours of the rocks.”

OH, DEER!

A few silhouette images were all that seemed interesting as I prepared for the Sun to break free at some point in the day. It only got worse and started to rain. At 4.30 pm, 90 minutes before the sunset, I was ready to give up and head back to the camp, but a deer held up traffic; they are all over the place, with tourists stopping and waiting for them to sun themselves and cross the road, both co-existing peacefully.

DESERT VISTA POINT

What was the point of waiting in this traffic that was going to back up? Luckily, mine was the last car on my side of the road, so I zoomed back and went to an amazing image at the Grand Vista. I drove 15 miles from South Rim towards the Desert Vista Point, and what do you know! There it was... an amazing sunset, worthy of panoramas to encompass the vast valley. The image needed 18 images to be stiched together into the panorama to bring to life the majestic view.

DESERT VIEW WATCHTOWER

Resting on the rim of the Canyon, the structure, also called the Indian Watchtower, reflects the architecture of the ancient Puebloans’ watchtower in the Four Corners Region. From the top, you will get a view of more than 100 miles across the great wide open. In 1956, there was a mid-air collision at this very place, resulting in the death of more than 100 people. The site of this crash was declared as a national historic landmark.

BLUE JAYBIRD

The canyon is home to the Grand Canyon National Park, where you can find as many as 450 different species of birds. This blue jaybird was fluttering around the canyon. Like most bird photography, sitting quietly over a period of time, and not moving at all, helps make the birds comfortable, resulting in interesting compositions.

SOUTH RIM VISITOR’S CENTER

This grand view from the South Rim Visitor’s Center goes on to prove that the gorge looks majestic from any side of the vast expanse. And on a cloudy day, we do get some interesting compositions. Nature is just so amazing and having patience is a virtue. This image was shot at 11.45 am, almost midday where traditional photographers will tell you good photographs are not possible, but then that’s not always true as you can see.

COLORADO RIVER

While the Grand Canyon is an amazing and iconic landscape, the Colorado River, which flows 1,450 miles cutting through the canyon, carries with it, boulders and trees and carves out its course, taking all with it. The part of Colorado we see here in a classic “S Curve”. Its composition has actually reached the tectonic plate and no further erosion is possible by this river as it attempts to cut its way.