The Grand Canyon Images Contest is a well-known occasion each year. Our guests submit various forms of art with a chance to become the feature image on the AzRA seasonal holiday card. We print approximately 2000 copies of the card and distribute this gorgeous thank you to guests, partners, vendors and friends within the industry. The Grand Prize Winner also receives a $500 credit off of a future Grand Canyon raft adventure with AzRA.
Kim Grandfield takes the 2016 winning photo.
The 2016 Images of Grand Canyon Contest winner is Kim Grandfield (his campfire photo features above). Kim is from Livermore, CA, and joined AzRA on Current Adventures raft-supported kayak trip in 2016. We asked him, “What was your inspiration for this photo?” He tells us that he takes his adventure photography very seriously. Kim likes to keep an eye out to catch moments that deviate away from the stereotypical whitewater shots that many other adventure photographers seek. He and his comrades sat around the fire on the last evening of the trip. The guides sat the ambiance with a few stories and one guide strums a little tune on the guitar. Kim was suddenly inspired by the fire and the shadows in this emotional moment and grabbed his camera.
Photography Skills
While somewhat of an opportunistic moment presented itself for Kim to capitalize on this phenomenal piece of time, we give kudos to his photography skills too. He tells us that he takes his images in camera raw (as opposed to jpg); which means they require a little processing before displaying. He likes to use Adobe Lightroom for this purpose. However, this photo was naturally amazing and only needed a few small adjustments to polish it up. Kim used a Canon 6D, EF 24-70 4L lens set at 24mm, 2 seconds, F4.0, ISO 1600 (and a tripod).
Kim plans to use his prize toward a trip in the future. He doesn’t have a reservation yet, but wishes to work it into his travel plans soon.
Would you like to submit a photo to the next Grand Canyon Images Contest? If so, check our blog for details about the next opportunity!
Read Rules and Regulations for the 2017 Images of Grand Canyon Contest.
A Big Congratulations to our 2016 Runner Up’s:
Ronen Yaari
Tom Coates
Thomas Zierlinger
4 Comments. Leave new
do the submissions need to be from the 2017 season?
Thanks for asking. While we encourage guests from the current year to post pictures from their trip, we accept photos from all years.
I was told, no fires in the grand canyon. So what is up with the fire?
Yes, in general, there are no campfires allowed in the Grand Canyon along the river. The gathering of firewood is prohibited most months of the year by the National Park Service. Therefore, river trips must pack along firewood in order to have a fire at camp. We can create room on the rafts to pack along a little bit of firewood in the shoulder season when fires make most sense. No one wants to sit round a campfire in the middle of June!