LA, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and Las Vegas

[Julio1fer]

Whenever we can, our wedding anniversary (41 years now!) is celebrated with a trip, long or short depending on available time and funds. This year we tackled the Grand Canyon, which we had wanted to visit for decades.

When we finally decided to go, space in planes was already very scarce. We booked the last two economy seats, in the last row (a.k.a. "Guardians of the Toilet") to Los Angeles and planned the trip.

From LA we drove a rental car to Boulder City, visited Hoover Dam, then went on to the Grand Canyon South Rim. On our way back to LA we hit Las Vegas for a day and a half. I got my lifelong wish of driving a bit of Route 66. About 1300 miles round trip in the rental car.

I am sure that many of you in the forum have been in these places, but for me it was a trip in a lifetime.

Photo equipment: I took the Canon G12, which is my only digital camera. On the film side there was a lot of soul-searching. In other trips I usually take a 35mm SLR with a wide lens for cityscapes. But after reading a lot about the Canyon, I decided that a normal focal distance could be best. In the end I took a Retina IIIc (because of that Xenon lens) and the Minolta Autocord, for medium format. All film was black and white (no C-41 processing or kits are available here).

I only used film in Hoover Dam and In the Canyon. LA and Las Vegas was G12 only because of portability considerations; my bag was 5 pounds, weather was warm, and I was not on assignment but on vacation. As an aside, I had set the wrong white balance in the G12 (for flash) and only got to correct it at the end of the trip.

In the Canyon there was a lot of very serious digital equipment on tripods, besides the typical cellphone tourist. My Autocord got a lot of attention from older fellows and it was a good conversation starter.

Los Angeles surprised me; I had expected a boring place. I could not make Freestyle, which was in the wish list, because of a huge traffic jam. We did not gamble in Las Vegas, but had a good time there. My wife ransacked the stores!

In these trips, I tend to take too many pictures and think less about each one, which does not help on quality. In any case here is a a slideshow with a selection. Some film results below.

Hoover Dam





Grand Canyon







About 1/3 central crop in the Retina IIIc, a condor made a good subject. Beutler gives grain, even on Pan F+.



With hindsight, three cameras is too much. But I do not complain, I'd rather do it again with all the lessons learned!

Thanks for looking.

[PFMcFarland]

Beautiful shots, Julio, especially getting two condors in one frame. I spent a week in Las Vegas once, and never got to head out to the dam or the desert. I'll have to rectify that situation if I ever go back there. Now I'll go check out the slideshow.

PF

ps: The slideshow was excellent! They look a bit better on Photobucket.

[GrahamS]

Superb images, Julio. It's difficult to say whether I prefer the B&W or the colour shots of the canyon. The B&W probably have the vote. LA & Vegas just demand colour and you have some very classy images. Bravo!

[jamesmck]

Julio, I enjoyed the outstanding images in the slideshow and your nice description of the trip here. The B&W images of the canyon and Hoover Dam are superb. A trip to remember.

[Martolod]

ditto to what james said.
they are grand images(no pun intended) i would be proud to hang those on the wall

did you use a skiylight or uv haze filter on the camera?

[OpenWater]

All good, but I especially like the first one. Reminds me of Ansel Adam's industrial period. I'm glad you had a good time!

[Julio1fer]

Thanks for the kind comments! Indeed we had a good time.

I used no filters in Grand Canyon. A polarizer or a yellow would have been handy, to cut haze and equalize the sky. Some people recommend a graded ND filter for the Canyon. I got no interesting skies so I limited myself to the canyon tones, shapes and shadows which were more than enough. You get the feeling that you could spend a lifetime shooting the Grand Canyon and not even scratch the surface of it, be it in color or B&W.

Lessons learned for the Canyon. Go with a single camera so you can concentrate on pictures instead of on shuffling equipment around. Well, maybe a backup body just in case. There will be good photo opportunities for each focal length, so do not worry too much about equipment. Limit weight to a very comfortable set and take your time.

Best time for pictures is IMHO about one to two hours before sunset or after dawn; sunset and dawn might be fine to watch, but not for pictures; dynamic range is too much. Walk the rim, do not limit yourself to the standard observation places (which are all nice of course but often crowded). The eastern side (Desert View) is worth going the 30 or so miles.

I was astonished at the Retina Xenon lens performance; at f/8 with Pan F+ it is way sharper than my Epson V600. The Autocord lens is fine, but not in the same class (the larger negative compensates somewhat).

Las Vegas Strip is an incredible place for night street photography. Best place I've ever been for that sport.

[jamesmck]

Lessons learned for the Canyon. Go with a single camera so you can concentrate on pictures instead of on shuffling equipment around. Well, maybe a backup body just in case. There will be good photo opportunities for each focal length, so do not worry too much about equipment. Limit weight to a very comfortable set and take your time.

I could not agree more, for any tourism.