Telephoto view of layered Grand Canyon ridgelines receding into golden sunset haze, seen from Desert View.

Light Letting Go

Desert View, Grand Canyon, AZ

On my last sunset in the park, I wanted to photograph the canyon from one of the South Rim's iconic spots, Desert View. I reached for my telephoto lens and found this almost abstract composition — the golden-hour light gradually giving out from the top of the frame to the bottom, the ridges flattening into one another the longer I looked.

Nikon Z 7_2 · TAMRON 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD A057Z · 245mm · f/11 · 1/2000 · ISO 31

May 31, 2026

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More from Desert View, Grand Canyon, AZ

Wide view from Desert View, last light catching the far rim beneath a purple sky.

More from Grand Canyon

A view from inside the alcove behind Ribbon Falls, a moss-covered rock in the foreground framed by the cave mouth.A barrel cactus in the foreground above the Colorado River, with the Black Bridge and soft evening light on the canyon walls.Black-and-white photo of a mule pack train backlit by the rising sun on the South Kaibab TrailThe Grand Canyon seen from Pima Point, a shaft of sunlight on red buttes above the distant Colorado River.The Grand Canyon at blue hour from Mojave Point, last light on the red buttes fading into cool twilight.