We decided to spend the late afternoon / sunset at Hopi and Powell points – some of my favorite locations for sunset at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon during the warmer months. It was interesting to note that sunset from this part of the Rim during the Winter (when this image was taken) was actually quite anticlimactic – that is, the sun set behind the South Rim, and the broad shadow of the rim slowly enveloping the canyon as the afternoon/evening progresses. In the summer, with the sun setting along the length of the canyon, a much more interesting interplay of light and shadow occurs over the canyon at sunset. We both agreed that this sunset was much less interesting than the wonderful scattered showers we had been capturing over the Canyon during much of the day.
I found this tree west of Hopi Point an irresistible as a subject for a photo – the light was quite rich, and brought out a wonderful texture to the wood. The moon rising in the background only added to the depth of the image. Of course, depth of field was extremely important here, and I carefully focused to the hyperfocal distance and stopped down an extra stop to ensure focus throughout the image. The subject of this image is definitely the poetic motion of the dead tree through the photograph – with only a hint of the Grand Canyon toward the bottom of the photograph to give the tree perspective and placement. Canon 10D, 17-40L, 1/180 sec f/13, manual focus.