I found it difficult to capture the full beauty of the Grand Canyon. In the morning, when the sun first hits the canyon walls, the colors begin to warm up.

ISO 100, 20 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 seconds

However, as the sun rises, the sunlight totally washes out the colors of the canyons. I didn’t find any midday photos that came out well straight from the camera. Sure, I could tweak the saturation and contrast in Photoshop, but what’s the fun in that?

ISO 100, 28 mm, f/4, 1/30 seconds

Towards sunset, the sky took on a surreal palette with a purple and pink ribbon running along the horizon. This image is straight from the camera. Outside of resizing the photo, I have not touched it otherwise. The tower at Desert View is in the background.

ISO 100, 32 mm, f/8, 20 seconds

30 minutes later, the pink ribbon had vanished from the horizon and it was definitely dark. The purple canyon walls evoke a calmer and cooler mood than the more typical red rocks seen during the day.