© 2020 Romi Boon All Rights Reserved
We arrived at Monument Valley with plans to tour and photograph the valley; we were so excited! We didn’t however do our homework prior to our arrival, and were disappointed to find out the park was closed because of Covid. So, we made the most of our time here and decided to explore the area around Monument Valley instead. We chose to explore a side road that was paved to begin with, then it turned to gravel and then it turned into a forestry service road. We were alone and it felt freeing to be alone; the only car in the middle of nowhere and away from civilization. Suddenly I saw something move across the rocky desert scape, “Wild donkeys!” I said with excitement (I had never seen them before). They were a far distance away so with my camera and long lens in hand I slowly walked towards them; not knowing anything about wild donkeys, I wondered if they’d be curious about me. Then with some trepidation I wondered what would I do if they did! Quit quickly however, they ran off and I didn’t even get a single shot. We continued on and as we turned a corner, these four wild donkeys stood right in front of us! Now, knowing how skittish they are, I quietly (and quickly) got out of the truck to take aim. Initially, they were huddled together but as I approached them (ever so carefully) they backed off and stood as you see them here; just as curious about me as I was about them. I knew how very, very blessed I was for this once in a lifetime opportunity, so with that in mind, I made sure all my settings were I wanted them and held my camera steady. What I love about this photo is how perfectly lined up they are!
This is an example of a good black and white photograph; it includes the darkest darks and the lightest lights and everything in between. The color version of this photograph didn't have a lot of color variance however I noticed though, that there was a lot of contrast, so I converted it to black and white. I love compositions with lines (and there’s a lot of them here). In this shot, your eye is lead to the end of the roadway, where it disappears over the hill. Don’t you wonder where it goes and what’s over the hill?
This was my second visit to The Grand Canyon, and by far the most memorable and enjoyable. We stayed at the famous Angel’s Landing, a cliff side resort located on the south rim (near the famed peak to peak hike, Angel’s crossing), for two absolutely amazing and memorable days. We arrived at The Grand Canyon around mid afternoon and we knew the best lighting conditions would soon be upon us so we made cycling the rim a priority. Before heading out however I noticed how few cars there were in the very large parking lot, and so I recognized and counted my blessings! As we cycled, we continually stopped to take photos; I was in my glory, the views were fantastic! That evening we walked over to a neighboring restaurant (The El Tovar) and were blessed with each others company, fireside seating, a wonderful dinner and great bottle of wine too! The next morning we headed towards Hermit’s Rest (the west rim) and although we didn’t cycle it we spent the morning stopping to take photos (while the morning light was perfect). Later, we went back to the El Tovar for lunch and sat window-side, over-looking the canyon! Again, I recognized the many reasons to be thankful. Next, we then headed to the east rim and although we couldn’t go to the eastern entrance (Watchman’s tower) because it was closed, we were okay with that because we had been there before. We cycled, hiked and photographed the entire afternoon away; yet another glorious day cycling The Grand Canyon! We went into Tusayan (a community just south of the rim) for a fantastic authentic Mexican dinner and then retired early, tired and very appreciative of the two fantastic days we had at the Grand Canyon!
