Right at the turnoff onto Hwy 64 we saw some nice classic cars sitting outside of the Grand Canyon Inn so since we had some extra time we decided to snap some photos

Here is a beautiful Thunderbird grouped in with the collection. The neon lights and a flash being held low and to the right provided unique lighting.

Here was an old Chevy police wagon. I believe this was modeled after a 1940's Chicago police car

Beautfiul 29' Ford that was probably the highlight of the collection. I think Gil also liked this car a lot

There was also this Army keep from I believe the Korean War out front. I played around with lighting in this photo as the image on the left the flash was mounted on the camera while the image on the right the flash was handheld from the right of the vehicle

We finally made it to the Grand Canyon about an hour later and setup up at Mather Point. There was a full moon that morning so there were no star shots like I was hoping but there were beautiful shots of the Canyon lit up under the moonlight

A random shot I liked of the full moon peeking through a tree

Just a bit north of where we were setup there was a pretty cool rock formation that was the base of a popular lookout point

Peeking through another tree shows a bit of light coming over the southern edge of the Mather point lookout

The first bit of color in the sky over the canyon

Used the 300mm lens to get this shot of a silohuetted mountains with wispy clouds in the sky

Mather point lookout with a beautiful pink and blue in the sky

Low lying trees provide a cool foreground for a shot of Mather point. Also a cool rock formation at the leading edge of the point

The sun begining to peek over the canyon

The sun glistening through a tree

Another steep canyon face South of Mather point

Some early risers at the lookout with the canyon as a backdrop

A tree lined walkway leading from the Mather Point lookout to the parking lot

After a couple hours at Mather point we drover down the road a bit to Bright Angel trail for a different view. Gil let me borrow a 10mm wide angle lens that I immediately liked. It provided some unqiue shots

There was a fire burning near by that caused the canyon to fill with a light smoky haze. It provided interesting light

Like I have mentioned before I love multiple layers in my shots. A low tree and the walkway wall provided layers to the canyon background

The steep canyon wall on the west end of Angel trail

I broke out the wide angle lens again for some more shots

After coming out of breakfast I noticed this squirrel enjoying the breath taking views

A final few shots from the Grand Canyon. It was interesting in the short few hours we were there we had met and talked to people from as far away as Japan, Norway, Netherlands & Australia. It makes you realize how lucky I am to have such a natural wonder basically in my back yard

After making the three and a half hour drive from the Grand Canyon we arrived in Monument Valley. This was a treat because it was the first time I have visited this amazing place

A wide shot of the three buttes from next to the visitors center

Isolated shot of the West Mitten Butte

Here is Merrick Butte

East Mitten Butte

Gil posing for a shot in front of the two mitten buttes

Shot of two of the buttes from the valley floor

Here is a couple shots of Spearhead Mesa

Here is a shot I took from the drivers seat. I think this was right before I got stuck in some soft sand. Luckily I had a random piece of plywood in the back of the truck and used it to get traction so I could get out. Lesson is always carry random stuff in you truck, it may bail you out.

A Shot I really thought was cool of a man riding through the valley on horseback

A rock formation I thought was really neat looking.

A pack of wild dogs that were roaming around came right up to the track but seemed friendly enough

A couple more shots as we drove around

One of the coolest things that we saw driving through Monument Valley was a pair of wild horses roaming around. Horses are majestic creatures and it really made for a awesome shot with the mountains in the background