On the river ... The Grand Canyon expedition
After all the years, all the planning and scouting the practical payoff was finally at hand. Offering an opportunity such as this is both exciting and frightening. It's at once both a rare opportunity to do photography in a setting designed specifically for that intent but it's also a difficult wilderness experience for some at the same time. My headline has always been "this trip is not for everyone, it's not designed to be."
In reality it's an 8 day wilderness experience with 24 hours of possible exposure to sun, rain, heat, cold, wind and water per day. Temperatures can vary drastically but mostly we deal with heat and blowing sand along with very cold water from the river. It's a rafting expedition meaning an open boat with mostly unprotected contact with the rapids we encounter. In most years this is fun and the water cools the sometimes mid day 100 + degree air. However, the Grand Canyon makes it's own weather and is unpredictable which may translate into cold, and suddenly. Facilities for daily needs are dealt with as one might expect in a wilderness setting, adequate for our needs and self contained if not all that esthetically pleasing at times.
All of this is usually overshadowed by the photographic possibilities that present themselves as we travel. The inconvenience of wilderness travel seem to drift into not much more than a normal part of everyday life once on "River Time." River time is the life below the rim, not to be confused with "Rim Time" which is what we left behind to do this. Once a routine is established the groups become closer, working together both photographically and in developing team work with the small part we play in the actual rafting housekeeping.
We are now pretty much free to do what we came for. Photography! The rules of landscape photography don't change here, rather they are reinforced by the very subject we came to shoot. Nature! On river time we find that we are awake each morning just before dawn. The days are long and if one did have a time piece this would mean something on the order of 4:30 AM since Arizona does not observe daylight saving time. 
We try and make camp each night in a place that will allow both photographic opportunity for sunset and sunrise and close proximity to our early light shoot location of choice the next day. Again, foresight, planning and prior experience are key. Coffee and breakfast follow first light and then the morning launch.
Shooting from the raft itself was not suggested until the advent of image stabilized lenses and the digital SLR a few years ago. Prior to that the dim light of early and late day were just to hard to overcome, as well as the contrast range of film, even with a fast ISO. I have a couple of frames from those years but the ratio and cost made it undesirable.
Today is a different story. After one gets use to what the river has to offer and how the boatman and raft react to it, and the one's comfort level with the use of very expensive photo equipment in this situation, results can be very good. It is a unique perspective and as I like to mention to my expedition participants, up until now I've never been able to plant a tripod in the middle of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon!
Our photo gear is contained in a Lowepro Dry Zone 100 backpack which I provide as a gift for the participants. The soft backpack eliminates the need for big and heavy waterproof cases. These case visibility problems and of no use when hiking.
While not a perfect solution to our very specific needs, it does provide us with what is needed most, that being protection from the elements. It also makes it possible to have gear at our ready in all situations, both on the boat and off. Our tripods are secured together in dry bags and are easily available for the side canyon hikes as well as when we are in camp. Some use the outfitter provided ammo can for other photographic needs such as film, back up camera bodies and batteries. These are also available at all times. Simply, we have access to photo gear 24 hours a day! 
The side canyons are the life blood of the Grand Canyon. Knowing which and where offer the most yield for the time allowable is another part of this special expedition. I'm always amazed at other boats roaring past places that I think are must photograph areas. Then again, different approaches for different intent make it clear that what we are doing is all the more unique and special. Just a few feet or sometimes a mile or so, the side canyons open to photo opportunities unimaginable. Getting there in the right light is everything in photography and in this huge setting it's made all the more difficult.
One quickly realizes that both mentally and photographically you only get one chance at the ring. The river and canyon behind you are now history. What you got, you got. What you didn't, you didn't . You are forced to move on! This aspect is at the very heart of our special workshop and expedition. We ask that we be allowed the time needed to work. There is no point in being there if we can't work it. We ask the flexibility to make up the time used later or even bypass a tentative opportunity for the one now in front of us. Without this option, I don't think this expedition works at all.
The small group works to our advantage also. Many places do not work well with tripods and photographers trying to do the same thing at the same time. With prior knowledge of the places we can work in teams even when we do encounter large groups of people from other boats or backpacking, that are coming and going in some of the more popular places.
Most non photographic groups move very quickly and leave our area allowing us a chance to make our images. This non rushed atmosphere also makes it possible for me to work with the participants and for them to work in groups also. A group of people with the same discipline and dedication to a single goal work well together. The more days into the expedition, the more this seems to be true.
There are no designated trails in the Grand Canyon as such, excluding of course the major arteries leading from the rim and the interconnecting system in the some areas. Instead what has developed over time is foot beds made by the over 22,000 people a year that run the river. This seems like a lot but it's remarkable how isolated and alone you feel once there. These paths take you sometimes easily and sometimes with a little effort to most of the close at hand photographic locations. It's possible with more time to do many more locations further from the river but in our 8 days we cover most of the highlights and some of the hidden treasures as well. As with most landscape photography, the quiet light of early morning and late afternoon hold the most quality time, however weather makes the intensity of light and changes in the weather is most desirable.
Each trip seems to get shorter in duration. While they are the same in length every year and we do some of the same locations both out of necessity and photographic value, however the time seems to fly faster each succeeding voyage. 
Perhaps it's the desire to never leave this fascinating and beautiful place or it's just the familiarity. Being at easy in such an uneasy place gives the time to celebrate and enjoy it. Perhaps it's that time that seems so short. The fact is that we have such a short time to witness the billions of years in the planet's history so brilliantly put on display here like nowhere else!
What most all the expeditions have had in common is what makes them unique. It's the pursuit of the image, the team work of the participants to achieve this and the most important element of all, the beginning and development of friendships among people that like and do landscape photography. In this case, in a place only reached by the culmination of a 25 year dream of mine.
More about the images of the expedition.
Want to contribute to our website?
Your comments are always welcome. f8andbethere@cableone.net