I remember a Travel documentary I saw about 5 years ago on the BBC and it was asking people if they had one word to describe the Grand Canyon, what would that word be?
Most people's choice? "Awesome".
It's very true. Every time I visit the Grand Canyon I will always overhear people who wonder to the edge, take a moment to look over the vast canon and then exclaim, "Awesome". I admit that I have done the same thing.
But my favorite thing about this place is it's color. Like many of the famous wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, etc, every hour in the Grand Canyon is a different experience as it is always changing color depending on where the sun is. The colors in the Grand Canyon are incredible unique especially at the 'magic hours' for Photography. I prefer the sunrise over the sunset in the Grand Canyon. It has this magical feel to it and everyone who has braved the cold and early hour to see it will just sit in silence and watch this great event. In fact I think it's the only time the Grand Canyon's tourists are quiet!
The above photo was taken at 5.30am just before the sun was about to rise over the horizon and these beautiful purples, magentas, blues, oranges and reds came together for this incredible mix. What you see here is pretty much what I saw there. I pumped up some of the vibrancy in the photo as it wasn't as accurate as I saw at that moment.
If you are at the Grand Canyon for an overnight stay, it's a must that you get up at sun rise to witness the beauty.
This was taken with my Canon 5D mk II with a 24-70mm F/2.8L with an aperture of F/8 (anything higher else was leaving glare on the image) for 0.4 second to grab this exposure.