P3D Grand Canyon

["Dory, Thomas S" <thomas.s.dory@xxxxxxxxx>]

Linda Nygren was asking about taking stereo images of the Grand Canyon
 around the time of the NSA Y2K convention in Mesa, AZ. She mentioned 
that the road to the North Rim was not open in April. 

The park service does not open the North Rim road in April because there 
can still be snow covering the road. At 8000 feet above sea level, the 
North Rim is about 1000 feet higher than the South Rim. The North Rim 
has very few visitors compared to the South Rim partly because the North 
Rim is not open all year and partly because it is harder to get to. 

Driving up from Phoenix, you easily reach the South Rim. To drive to the 
North Rim, allow an extra day of driving. There are no bridges across the 
main part of the Grand Canyon (there is a foot bridge at the bottom if you 
want to hike down, walk across the bridge then hike up the North side) and 
so you must drive around it. This is an additional 215 miles over 2 lane 
roads. (Remember how long it took to get anywhere before super highways 
were common?)

The canyon runs roughly East to West. On both the North and South sides 
are areas where you can walk out and look up and down the canyon. Sunsets 
are great from both rims. Lighting changes rapidly during sunset. Most of 
the canyon is already in the dark when the top is in sunset mode. But this
contrast can make for some dramatic shots. So come early and take a lot of 
pictures.

To keep this in a 3D content; in order to get the best stereo effect, you 
will need a fairly large lens separation. I have had some luck with about 
30-40 feet. This usually means using two cameras! :-). The Grand Canyon 
tends to look like a painted backdrop with just a normal lens separation 
such as found on a Realist.


tom d.


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