Toroweap - Tuweep (please forgive my monitor problem on this one)

Well after some very fine help from many members here on finding this place and tips about how to get there (and not get stuck) I WENT! (PHOTOS BELOW)

I found this statement to be true:

"A trip to Tuweep is not for everyone, but for those who do not mind driving for 2.5 - 5 hours on a washboard dirt, tire ripping, primitive road to the very edge of the Grand Canyon, Tuweep is magnificent! Although think again if you have a fear of heights. Toroweap Point is the lowest viewpoint in the Grand Canyon, but the 3000' (the height of El Capitan in Yosemite) sheer unfenced cliff gives even those with no fear of heights an uneasy feeling when they step out to the edge to see the Colorado River flowing straight below."

It took me 5 hours with my camper to get there (it just beat the tar out of my vehicle) and going up one rugged steep upgrade I almost lost my camper as the chains came loose and it slid half way out of the bed!

But arduously, I finally arrived at this magnificent isolated spot for 3 solid days of solitude, sun, and photos.

Boring blue skies dominated all but one sunrise shoot, where all heck broke loose with the wild blood red sky! Of about 875 images taken at Toroweap over 3 days (scouting and hiking tens of miles ourund the rim to find every possible vantage point) I think 2 may end up making the cut.

Both images were shot using a 3 stop Sing Ray Darryl Benson Reverse Grad (smartly recommended to me by Marc Adamus) to try to control the massive dynamic range of the sky and the canyon.

This is the sheerest spot on the Grand Canyon, and National Geographic claims it to be one of the most beautiful spots on the earth. I would have to agree. It is one of those spots that you could sit for days and still be amazed and entertained.

Two evening shoots I just sat singing with my guitar (U2) a bottle of wine, a cigar, and my cable release in hand. I don't usually shoot so casually, but there were no clouds in the sky, so I thought I'd at least enjoy life!

I came home healed and reinvigorated about life, and this work.

Hope you enjoy.





















Edited by mark70x70 on Mar 28, 2008 at 06:16 PM GMT

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Edited by mark70x70 on Mar 27, 2008 at 03:27 PM GMT

Getting there

These are awesome. The view must have been incredible. Sounds like the camper didn't suffer in vain! I have done worse to cars, so I'd say this is in my future

sweet!! Awsome work Mark. The sky in the 2nd one looks a little baked

Sunny Sra wrote:
sweet!! Awsome work Mark. The sky in the 2nd one looks a little baked

I thought so too, so I have omitted it. I'm going to have to try to re process that one soon. Thanks bro.

Wow, Mark. That first shot really shows the beauty of the Canyon. Magnificent photograph!

Sharon

That's a very lovely image!
It looks like an illustration than a photo to me.
Were you trying to get that type of effect?

cheers

Vin

Juh-heeeez-us! Amazing. We live in a 38 ft motorhome, and we ain't making
that trip. congratulations, however, on your daring. So where are the rest
of the images? This one's got color out of a dream.

Art
www.artsdigitalphoto.com

Well, I'd say that one good sunrise was worth the effort.

I feel the white specs in the cliffs - oversharpened rocks? - detract from the image.
Probably just JPEG compression "enhancements".

Did you hike down to the river ?

The first one is a really interesting capture. Did you stack filters or just use the reverse 3 stop? The second doesn't show on my screen for some reason. In any case it sure looks like a lovely trip and something to look into for my fall trip.

Jim

Awesome!

Anyone else there at all?

nice work Mark , i like the road images too

J

Pretty wild shots, they seem a little too much like paintings to me due to the super high contrast, if that's the effect you were after you certainly succeeded! Otherwise I might have gone a little easier on the contrast. Passed the turn off to there a couple days ago, I'll have to pay a visit one day - maybe we can get a meet up to work out sometime as I'm moving to Pasadena in Sept.

I went to Tuweep way back in 98, it was incredibly cool. Thanks for the shots.

sounds like a fantastic journey, would love to hear and see more from this series.


justin

Great stuff, Mark. I enjoyed the trip pics almost as much as the sunrise!

Barry

You caught a great morning but the shot seems so overprocessed that it has a plasticy feel to me. And the top left corner appears to be going green.

Wonderful scene and capture, Mark.

I must agree with Don. At the time of day this was made there is so little light left in the canyon that it is very dark down there, and you really can't see the cliffs anymore The pp used to extract visible detail there was extreme enough to give it that look. If you have an earlier shot from the same tripod position, image blending would render a more realistic look.

epeorusjim wrote:
The first one is a really interesting capture. Did you stack filters or just use the reverse 3 stop? The second doesn't show on my screen for some reason. In any case it sure looks like a lovely trip and something to look into for my fall trip.

Jim

I just used a 3 stop reverse.


floris wrote:
Pretty wild shots, they seem a little too much like paintings to me due to the super high contrast, if that's the effect you were after you certainly succeeded! Otherwise I might have gone a little easier on the contrast. Passed the turn off to there a couple days ago, I'll have to pay a visit one day - maybe we can get a meet up to work out sometime as I'm moving to Pasadena in Sept.

That would be great Floris. Look forward to it.

I figured it out. Monitor problems.

Edited by mark70x70 on Mar 28, 2008 at 06:18 PM GMT

Well, that looks just like the kind of road I LOVE to do in my Tacoma. I don't have any fancy camper, just a shell but we're pretty comfortable back there. Thanks for adding another location destination to my list.

Nice morning and I'd love to see a repost when they are corrected. It seems a little bizzare to my eyes from the contrast in the cliffs or something. I see a bit too much detail and then that detail is sharpened too much.... definitely a shot worth working up again !!

This looks a little different than when I first saw it -- I think the change is for the better. This one looks great. Colorful and vivid, but not overprocessed. Looking at that great sky makes my shooting finger all twitchy. You must have about had a heart attack when that red explosion of color showed up.

Compositionally I think it's great, beyond that the exposure has been pushed outside of what looks natural and pleasing to my eye.