Click the images to view a larger version.

The bi-annual Prescott fair

We left San Diego early in the morning bound for a little town in Arizona by the name of Sedona. Supposedly, it's one of the nicest places to see in the United States. After driving for about seven or so hours along the smaller, more "scenic" freeways, we decided to take a break and eat in the downtown area of a pretty small town called Prescott: "Everybody's Hometown." I could feel the hot and dry Arizona air rush at me as I opened the door.

The Yavapai Count Court House

All of the people around us happened to be in quite a festive mood. That's because there's a bi-weekly festival in the town square and also because everyone was celebrating the Fourth of July weekend--the pubs were all jam packed. The town square was very nice, though. Hordes of people just sat around on the grass around the Yavapai County Court House which was built in the center of the square with a number of historic statues situated around it.

Get close. Check out the tutorial on basic macro photography.

After eating at a pretty pricy sandwich shop near the town square, we left for Sedona, which was another two hours or so of winding roads and some very tall cliffs. After passing the street where we were supposed to turn and driving to the other end of town (which didn't take very long), we turned around and finally found the resort. It wasn't really that great, except there was a pretty interesting glass chess set in the lobby. At least this place had Internet access unlike that other place I stayed at in Mexico.

People gathered to watch the sunset at the Airport Vortex Overlook.

We looked around town a little bit, but honestly it wasn't exaclty the most amazing little town or anything, although it did have its fair share of sights.

Man watching the moonrise.

One of the locals told us to go up to the Airport Vortex Overlook; aptly named because it's an overlook at the top of one of the mountains where the airport is. As for the vortex part, it supposedly sits on top of an energy vortex that's supposed to bring health to anyone who goes there. When we got up there, it was jam packed and it seemed like the whole town was there. Needless to say, most people packed up their gear once the sun set and left. Unfortunately for them, they didn't know that after sunset (twilight) is one of the best times to take pictures because the lights begin to balance out. For more information, check out the tutorial on taking night shots.

Taken after sunset. The light from the town balances with the light from the sky.

A special technique called HDR (high dynamic range) was used to make this image. It is a digital composite of 5 different images exposed for the highlights, midtones, and shadows.

Mom and dad on the trail. For harsh overhead afternoon lighting conditions, check out the tutorial on using your flash. The next day we decided to hike one of the trails in the afternoon. Of course, this was a pretty bad idea because being anywhere in Arizona on a summer afternoon isn't exactly the greatest thing in the world. Fortunately, it was actually very hard to break a sweat because the desert air was so dry. It was a relatively easy trail, but it took us quite a while to hike because we stopped a lot and looked around. The trail took us to a rock formation called Devil's Bridge, but it wasn't exactly spectacular. It was merely a sort of arch of rock that was near the side of a cliff. The trail also took us to the bottom of the bridge, so there was no way that we could cross it. Not very interesting at all. Fortunately, though, there was a nearby rock overhang where I was able to capture this panorama of the area. Sedona is surrounded by protected natural parks and forests, so it is truly breathtaking sight to see.

Mom standing by some of the archways.

You have to go upstairs to get to this botique.

Sedona is also home to a number of unique shops and the like. One of the shopping areas called Tlaquepaque is full of art galleries. The different galleries have content ranging from jewelry to paintings to blown glass to copper art. The architecture inside this shopping area is a masterpiece in itself, though. The numerous archways open up to gardens and shaded sitting areas. Some of the stores are located in entryways with trees growing in them and all in all it feels like a very unique place to be.

Mom and dad at Powell Point. I determined that this was the best place to take pictures of the canyon at sunset based on the map.

Looking up in the tower.

After a few days of walking around in Sedona, we decided that it was time to go see the Grand Canyon. We set out pretty early in the morning arrived before noon. The views were definitely very breathtaking, but also quite scary since the cliffs are so high. I'm glad that there were railings in some places, though. Well, I guess that's why they call it the Grand Canyon.

View of the cliff of Hopi Point.

The last rays of light falling inside the canyon. Note that I took a lot of time to frame this shot well because nothing is cut off in the bottom two corners and the main subject is in the top third of the frame. Learn more about basic composition.

The best shots of the Canyon are around sunset/twilight, so I didn't take too many pictures during the day. Once the sun started setting, I was running because the conditions change so fast that you have to be in the right place at the right time or you'll miss the shot. Photography is all about light, and in the studio you can control your lights, but out in nature, you just have to be at the right place at the right time, know what you are doing, and pray that everything works out. Below are two pictures of the Grand Canyon at sunset using the HDR (high dynamic range) technique of combining multiple images to increase the dynamic range of the image.

A view into the canyon as the sun sets.

View of Hopi Point from Powell Point as the sun is setting.

The light at the bottom is the bus coming to pick us up. This was a 30-second exposure with a wide angle lens.

A tomb at the grand canyon .

Unfortunately, although there was supposed to be a bus that was supposed to come and pick us up from Powell Point, none came. We waited for about an hour before we started walking back. By that time it was nearly pitch black, although we could still faintly make out the double yellow line in the middle of the road. After walking for quite a while, a bus finally picked us up, but not before I was able to capture a 30-second exposure of the stars. They were especially clear that night because the moon had not risen yet and the summer air helped out too. My focus was a little off because my lens was having some problems, but it does make the stars look a little bigger.

On the Fourth of July, we decided to go to the nearby small town of Cottonwood (also in the middle of nowhere) to see the fireworks display. Apparently it was less of a small town than Sedona so it actually had fireworks because Sedona did not. Getting out of the parking lot afterwards was a nightmare though because there was only one exit and people in Arizona like to take their sweet time.

It was pretty crowded.

The fireworks were pretty nice.

This one looks like a palm tree.

Us alongside the pilot. (I didn't take this one)

The next day we took a helicopter tour that we had gotten as a gift for listening to a timeshare sales presentation. Fortunately for us, the free 10-13 minute ride actually turned into a free 45-minute tour of the entire surrounding area because a couple had decided that they wanted to ride with us and had bought the 45-minute package. The lady at the counter just told us to keep quiet about it. Very lucky us.

A canyon from the air.

Of course, this was the first time I've ever been in a helicopter but it was actually a very smooth ride. It was definitely a very unique experience as we flew between rocks and through canyons. It's something that you'd never be able to experience in an airplane and I highly recommend everyone to try it at least once in their lifetimes. There's just absolutely nothing in the world like it.

The restaurant was situated right beside the creek. Use your flash when the background light is stronger than the foreground.

After the helicopter ride, we decided to go eat lunch at one of the restaurants, called the L'Auberge de Sedona, that Rachel Ray recommended. Apparently she had been in Sedona for one of her 40-dollar-a-day shows and this was one of the places that she had gone to so my mom was pretty obsessed with it. Honestly, we would have never gone there if Rachel Ray hadn't. On the other hand, it was a very nice little place built beside the Red Rock Creek and hidden away from view. It would be hard to find the entrance to the place if one wasn't paying close attention. Entering the area was like going to a completely different world because it was full of green trees and plants--a marked departure from the red rock and sand everywhere else.

Pineapple-mint drinks.

Kobe beef burger.

The food itself was pretty good. We were served some fancy little pineapple-mint drinks and some bread with some sort of olive-type dip as appetizers. We were pretty happy from the helicopter ride so we decided to spend a little. I had a turkey wrap, which was probably the best turkey wrap I've ever had, while my mom had the catch of the day and my dad went for the kobe beef burger, which was really good. Eating all of this stuff by the creek was a really nice way to go and the shade provided by the trees and umbrellas made the summer Arizona air a little bit more tolerable.

Being the eventful day that this was, we still weren't done. We headed off to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which apparently was extremely famous. It's a 200-foot-tall chapel that's built into the side of the mountain overlooking parts of the city. Very impressive indeed.

A street-level view of the chapel.

Mom lighting some candles and dad taking some pictures.

Just a shack...?

After that it was almost about time for the sun to start setting, so we headed out to Red Rock Creek. It was supposed to be one of the nicest places in Sedona, it definitely did not disappoint. Oddly enough, right outside of the parking lot was a giant empty field with nothing particularly interesting except for an extremely old shack that was off to the side a bit. I'm not sure why it was there or what the significance behind it was, but it seemed like a pretty interesting photographic subject and I snapped a few photos of it from a few different angles. Apparently it was a pretty popular subject because a number of other people were also walking around and taking pictures of it. Maybe it was of some sort of historical significance, but it honestly doesn't seem that important to me.

Mom sitting on an island.

A father and son walking.

All in all it seemed like a very nice place to just walk around, relax, and view some of nature. There were actually quite a few people there and I was surprised by the number of people who were actually swimming in the creek. I know they said it was clean water, but when people would jump in there'd be a giant swirl of brown that would come to the top. Clean water? Maybe, but I think I'll pass. It was just a bit too dirty for me. The rocks, however, were an excellent background and provided some particularly spectacular landscapes. There were also a number of rock islands and my mom walked across a number of dry rocks to get to one of them. The light bouncing off of the rocks created a nice soft diffuse effect and very pleasing lighting.

These rocks seriously glow. I shot this at the telephoto focal length of my zoom lens. View this tutorial for more information on focal length.

The best time, of course, was sunset. Supposedly these rocks were made out of iron rust, which gave them their reddish-orange color, but during sunset the sun hit these rocks in a way that made them positively glow. It was an amazing sight to behold. I had to work very fast during sunset to capture all of the shots that I wanted to capture because this was my last chance to see this place and I wouldn't be back. Lucky for me, it worked out and I was able to capture almost all of the shots that I had planned to capture as I walked through the area before the sun was setting. The key is just to work fast and plan ahead so you know where you'll be at what time of day. It's all about timing because you can't control nature.

Glow of the rocks captured against the trees and the creek.

The scenery changes so much at twilight. When it's dark, use these techniques to prevent blurry pictures.

The scenery during sunset was definitely very nice, but a lot of people tend to put away their cameras once the sun sets. Not very smart. If you use the right techniques, you can still get blur-free pictures after the sun is gone. The colors and scenery change completely once the sun is past the horizon and you can still capture some amazing shots of the landscape. It's absolutely baffling how different a place can look in just a few minutes because at sunset the conditions chance so quickly. That's why you have to work fast. Twilight disappears quickly too; in most places you'll have twilight for about 20 minutes and then it'll start getting really dark. Of course, once it starts to get dark, you'll need a tripod.

All in all, the trip was worth it. I enjoyed the numerous photo opportunities in such a naturally beautiful place like Sedona, and I encourage anyone who is interested in taking pictures or just seeing nature to check the place out. It has become more popular over over the recent years, but the entire surrounding area is protected forests, so it'll stay beautiful for a long time to come. Just don't go in the summer!

Copyright © 2007 Yu Jiang Tham. For questions, comments, or information about prints, please send an email to ufg@happywalr.us