Milky Way from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

More from our first night at the Grand Canyon National Park / Visit Grand Canyon: This is a merge of 6 different shots taken from Yavapai Point taken at 12:54am. The Moon is very low on the horizon behind me, so it's still casting a bit of light into the canyon. In an effort to keep this photo less wide, I used a panorama mode that gave it more of a fish-eye look. At first, I didn't like it, but it's grown on me. Details: ISO2500, 20-seconds and f2.8 with a Canon 5D4 and a Rokinon 14mm lens. 6 shots combined in the laziest way possible, using Lightroom's panorama merge.

Milky Way from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

This photo was taken early the morning of June 10, 2019 from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, near the Yavapai Geology Museum at the Grand Canyon National Park. That's my Celestial Buddies "Our Precious Planet" Earth plushie, hanging out on the bench, accompanying me to enjoy the view.

Milky Way from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

More from our first night at the Grand Canyon National Park / Visit Grand Canyon: this is by far the easiest Milky Way photo I've ever taken, just because the skies are truly dark. And, I did very little to this image in post-production. The light is from a flashlight I used to paint the foreground a bit. The road is Desert View Drive or Route 64, which leads to Desert View Watchtower and the east entrance to the park. The canyon is actually just on the other side of the rock wall to the left, and the lights in the distance on the left are from the bus station at the South Kaibab Trailhead. This photo was taken at 1:53am on June 10, 2019. Details: ISO2500, 25-seconds, f2.8 with a Canon 5D4 and a Rokinon 14mm lens.

Milky Way from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

So, for the bookend of the photos from our trip, I'll close with some of my favorite (non-family) shots from the trip, the Milky Way from Desert View Watchtower. These shots were taken around 1am Tuesday, June 11. Although it was a bit cloudy, the views were just amazing, with the Milky Way very visible to the naked eye.

This is probably my favorite image from the trip, a 4 shot panorama capturing most of the Milky Way. It was a bit cloudier than I would have preferred, but the shot worked out rather well. The lights on the horizon are most likely from Tuba City, about 33 miles away. They sort of give the little mesa a crown of lights. The Moon is bright in the sky behind the camera, hence the brightly lit canyon walls (and the shadows). Details: ISO2500, 20-seconds, f2.8 with a Canon 5D4.