Photograph by Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Standing tall on the aptly named Grandeur Point, a cowboy surveys the Grand Canyon around 1935. President Theodore Roosevelt called the steep-sided gorge in Arizona “a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world.”
Whether you're camping, hiking, or searching for the perfect desktop background, it's hard to beat the pure natural beauty of the American National Parks. The star-strewn sky above the Grand Canyon at night is matched only by the sun-kissed vista during the day. For National Geographic Magazine's January cover story, kicking off a year-long exploration of the parks, photographer Stephen Wilkes didn't want to choose between day and night, so he fused the two together in a stunning series of images."To make the photos seen here, Wilkes selects a vista, sets up his camera and computer gear, and establishes a fixed camera angle. Based on sun directions, moon phases, weather, and more, he chooses an hour to start. He then continuously shoots thousands of images through day and night, in whatever conditions nature gives him," writes National Geographic's Patricia Edmonds. “I have zero control until the end of the process, when I have complete control,” Wilkes says.He blends the 50 best moments from the day into one image, according to Edmonds, to create a time vector, or the direction in which the photo fades from night to day.Learn more on the National Geographic cover story.Related:Incredible Photos by the First American Female War Correspondent Killed in ActionThe Sickest New Snapshots of the National Geographic Photo Contest'Skate the World' in Jonathan Mehring's Stunning PhotosSee the Wild Winners of National Geographic's Traveler Photo Contest
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