North Rim Rainbow, Take 2

If you didn't know I was neurotic, this will clear things up.

I originally posted a version of this picture on December 20, 2012. I
got several nice comments about it, and I agree it is a nice picture.

But...

It suffered from one of the rookie HDR mistakes, the "Horizon Halo".
If you look on the left of the picture where the land meets the sky ,
mysteriously the sky is brighter near the ground even though the sun
is behind me. This is an artifact of the way HDR works.

Anyway it has been bugging me ever since then, so I finally redid the
picture. I hope this one is as well received as the last. I also put
up each of the exposures used to create the HDR image.

The original HDR. Notice the "Horizon Halo"



Lowest exposure. Notice how the horizon on the left appears.

Second exposure. One stop higher (shutter open twice as long as first).

Third exposure. One stop higher (shutter open twice as long as second).

Fourth exposure. One stop higher (shutter open twice as long as third).

Fifth exposure. One stop higher (shutter open twice as long as fourth).

South Rim Sunset

Yes, it really does turn blue when the sun goes down.

North Rim Sunset

Over 90% of the 5,000,000 annual visitors to Grand Canyon go to the
South Rim. Those that make it to North Rim do not necessarily get a
better view of the canyon, but they are the only people who get to see
the Kaibab Squirrels, who only exist in a 20 mile by 40 mile area near
the North Rim Lodge.

North Rim Rainbow

Summer in Grand Canyon means monsoons. These storms appear as a
single cloud formation and move in quickly, dump buckets of rain, then
just as quickly disappear. The end result is a wonderful mixture of
light and shadows and colors that take your breath away.

Frozen Fountain

In case you were wondering if it was cold here.

Snow on the Lake

It snowed in Stavanger!  The locals claim it doesn't snow very much, but I think that is a very relative judgement.

Reflections

I like the radial reflections combined with the palm trees. This is
taken from our hotel room in La Jolla (San Diego) during our trip at Thanksgiving.

Moon Setting On Isosceles

I walked for 5 hours in the hail to get over the pass and down to this lake. The skies cleared and I was able to get this picture of the moon setting.  On the map, the lake is northeast of the lake labeled 11388.  I was camped on the north shore.

Palisade Basin With Rain Coming

Approximate location in Google Earth

North Palisade from Knapsack Pass

At 14,248 ft North Palisade is the third highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada Range and the fourth highest in California.

Dusy Basin from Knapsack Pass

Looking west from Knapsack Pass Dusy Basin descends rapidly to Le Conte Canyon below.  Both the John Muir Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail pass through Le Conte Canyon.

Aperature Peak at Sunset

It sure looks different from Dusy Basin than it does from Bishop Lake.

Isosceles and Mount Winchell

Unnamed Ridge

Knapsack Pass is to the left of the peak on the left.  Giraud Peak is to the right of the peak on the right.  This section made the best skyline.

Camped Near Isosceles

Knapsack Pass

North Palisade from Dusy Basin

Mount Winchell and North Palisade from Dusy Basin.  The Peak in the middle is Thunderbolt Peak, which is a subsidiary peak of North Palisade.  Apparently in order to qualify as a mountain in the US, a peak has to have 300 feet of topographic prominence.

Dividing Ridge

This series of peaks makes up a ridge that defines the border between the Bishop Creek valley on the right and Dusy Basin on the left.

Last Look at Bishop Creek

Bishop Creek runs out of Bishop Lake through Saddlerock Lake, Long Lake and eventually back to South Lake. The peak in the center is Hurd Peak.

Approximate location in Google Earth.

Sunrise on Mt. Goode