Grand Canyon tree

Tree against the Grand Canyon

Having walked down into Grand Canyon along the South Kaibab trail to Cedar Ridge, I was struck by the beauty of this dried out dead old tree. I sat down in front of it, leaned against a railing and tried to get as deep as I possibly could for the shot. As I framed it, I thought about getting low, about lining up the buttes with the branches, but not much else.

Only afterwards, I've discovered more and more and more things about this picture that serendipity assisted in with the composition. The way the clouds line up with the top branch. The diagonal line from the root to the branch. The size of Grand Canyon, and the beautiful view of it behind the tree, and the tree up front as a core magnet for the viewer's gaze.

The picture really only says “Look at this beautiful tree and its beautiful setting!”, but it does so with a balanced composition that combines both foreground and background for all the parts of the picture.

It remains one of my very favorite pictures ever.