Nikon D810, 75mm, ISO 200, 1/60 sec, f/14
Here is another sunset image from Yavapi Point at Grand Canyon National Park. This image is looking towards the east; a previous post presents a sunset image looking towards the west. All of the scenic lookouts within Grand Canyon Nation al Park offer incredible compositions in multiple directions.
Given the distances between scenic overlooks, photographers are pretty much limited to a single overlook for each sunrise and sunset. During a short trip to the Grand Canyon when you might one have sunrise and one sunset, you will always wonder if you should have visited a different overlook, or how many images you left uncollected had you planned a longer visit. Even though I had three sunrises and three sunsets, I still have the feeling that there were additional images to be had.
Yavapi Point: 36.065830° -112.116872°
Nikon D810, 98mm, ISO 200, 1/20 sec, f/14.
This is a focus-stacked image from Yavapi Point in Grand Canyon National Park. It consists of four images each focused on a different part of the landscape. In this image, I focused on each of the ridge lines from front to back. In Lightroom I use the Photo -> Edit In -> Open as Layers in Photoshop command to move the four image into Photoshop. Inside Photoshop I aligned the images and then merged them into one. I then flattened the image, moved it back into Lightroom, and did some minor edits.
The sky in this image is quite boring. I could have used Photoshop’s Replace Sky feature to fix this, but I find that the foreground detail, repeated ridge lines, and shadows draw the eye away from the sky and one tends to forget the sky even exists in this image.
I do a lot of this workflow using a Loupedeck CT. The Loupedeck allows me to execute multiple commands using a single button click. As an example, instead of three mouse clicks to execute the Photo -> Edit In -> Open as Layers in Photoshop command, I do this with a single button click on my Loupedeck.
Yavapi Point: 36.066459° -112.116148°
Nikon D810, 38mm, ISO 200, 0.4 sec, f/13
Mather Point, located at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, was the first stop of my weekend. After flying into Phoenix and driving 3.5 hours, I arrived at Mather Point shortly before sunset. This is a very crowded place for sunrise and sunset.
Afterwards, I drove to my hotel in the town of Tusayan. Because this was a last-minute business trip, I did not have the required lead time to make reservations for lodging inside the park. Driving to and from my hotel added about 30 minutes to my day compared to staying in the park. This made for slightly longer days when photographing sunrises and sunsets.
While processing this image, I learned about Lightroom’s Dehaze slider. The Dehaze slider is designed to cut through haze and boost contrast and color. It works well on skies and clouds, and images like this where there is little detail on the rocks. The Dehaze slider does increase saturation, so sometimes you have to reduce the Saturation or Vibrance sliders. Click here for an excellent video that explains the Clarity, Texture, and Dehaze sliders.
Mather Point: 36.062016°, -112.107690°
