Elves Chasm, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40mm f/4L, 10 sec @ f/18, ISO 100
Narrow canyons that intersect the main Colorado river are common in the Grand Canyon. But not all are as stunning as the views in Elves Chasm, which spills streaming water into a series of cascading pools, laden with green mosses and delicate ferns. Even on a sunny day, the narrow walls of the canyon block out most of the sun, and in this case, that proved helpful for photography. I wanted that classic, creamy look to the water, which I achieved by using a polarizing filter to reduce some of the light, and set the ISO to 50. That resulted in a 10 second exposure, which was long enough to make the water blurry and convey a peaceful tone to the scene – as if it does not have one already.
