Grand Canyon National Park, AZ 20160521-IMG_6633.jpg Before retiring, I worked as a park ranger for the National Park Service. Each permanent NPS employee takes two weeks of training, called Fundamentals, at the Grand Canyon. It is an impressive place to take training, but the schedule doesn't leave much time to actually explore the Canyon or even look at it as rangers and other staff spend most of their time in an Albright Training Center classroom and when we were in the field we were working. Certainly there wasn’t much time for photography and for this photographer it was sometimes difficult to concentrate knowing that just a few hundred yards away was one of the world's great scenic wonders.

Each day after training, I'd rush out of those confining classrooms, grab a camera and run to the rim to find places to shoot. Sometimes I'd hop in the car and drive up or down the canyon to look for photo opportunities. Usually, I didn't get to the rim until the sun was setting, but the light every evening was glorious. Shadows would stretch from the peaks and slowly fill the valleys. So gorgeous, so many opportunities.

On this night, I was tired—really tired--and despite the grandeur that spread out in all directions I was struggling to find inspiration. I stood there casting about for a new idea or a unique perspective without finding anything. The sun was setting and clouds were moving in. The light became very soft and I was despairing about getting anything that would illustrate the enormity of the landscape, which even when you are there is difficult to comprehend. 

Then I noticed these hikers sitting on a pinnacle. Often adding something of known size helps a viewer better understand scale. In addition, I noticed a single beam of light coming through the clouds just above the rim and streaming into the canyon. It was edging its way up the pinnacle and I began to imagine the hikers lit by that beam of golden light set against the pastel colors of a canyon in shadow. I could also see the many layers of crenullated ridges in the background. There wasn't going to be much time to set up and I wasn't in the right place for the composition I was imagining. It would be a race to get into position and there was always a chance that the sunbeam wouldn't hit the hikers anyway, but I had to try.

I snapped on a 70-200 zoom, shouldered my pack, and jogged west rapidly along the rim while occasionally looking back to see where the light was and where I needed to be. It was further than I expected, but I got to a good spot just as the sunlight spotlighted the hikers. I spun around, dropped to my knees and shot 14 photos before the light faded away and the canyon slipped into the darkness. Most of the photos were blurred due to the slow shutter speed, but this one was sharp and, as luck would have it, it was the best one of the bunch.

I like mixing dialectics, those characteristics that seem opposed to each other and this photo has several of them. I like the warm light on the hikers contrasting with the cool light of the canyon walls, the brightness of the hikers and the dimness of the canyon walls, the smallness of the hikers with the massive character of the Canyon.

One viewer on my Facebook page observed that it is very difficult to capture the enormity of the Canyon, but he added that this photo does it as good as any he had ever seen. High praise.