In this amazing split second moment of time, Travis Roe captured a bolt of lighting striking the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
The once in a lifetime photograph was shot last year but recently surfaced after Roe submitted the image to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The U.S. Department of the Interior revealed Travis Roe's amazing entry to the contest and became one of the most liked and viewed photographs they have ever released. The agency recently became a web hit with its incredible photos, gaining over 40,000 followers on it's Instagram page in the process.
Via The Daily Mail
Awesome freekin image full stop. Even without the lightning, it was pretty good.
without lightning it would be super underexposed... but ya it's pretty amazing with lightening.
Lighting makes everything better :)
not exactly once in a lifetime... Arizona monsooon season is July-Aug bringing powerful storms over the Canyon almost every day, but a great shot nonetheless!
never been to the grand canyon, does it slope to the right like that, or is it just the photo?
I too find it a bit slopey.
Judging by the coulds and the top plateau it might be a bit off horizon or it could just be that THIS is the actual horizon and it gives out a freakish effect.
That section forms the eastern rim of the canyon, so it's a pretty sharp drop from there eastward to the high desert of the hopi and Navajo tribal lands. Look up Desertview Watchtower on Google Earth and you can see it clearly.
The tower is vertical, so I suspect the land does indeed slope like that. I was wondering the same thing.
I don't see it. I would never pick this image a part if I ran across it on the web. I would have even click it and thought that this was so close to being a real winner. But since it is posted here on Fstoppers as an "incredible image" I will. Too much black foreground, unlevel, weird highlight tool looking clouds, fake looking lightning that is too white, composition doesn't work for me with the structure on the right to tight to the edge.
The lighting from the lightning in the canyon is very cool and the being in the right place at the right time to capture something like this is also incredible.
http://www.travisdewitz.com/photography-projects
I think this a good example of a great "lucky" shot.
I had a chance to picture something similar in Malaysia during Chinese New Year.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yale_studio/
After some further digging, this contest by a govt agency is the typical Right Grab...
By entering, entrants (parent/legal guardian if entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence) grant a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual license to the Sponsor, Administrator and Federal Recreation Agencies to edit, adapt, make derivative works from, broadcast, publish and otherwise use any or all of the descriptions and/or photograph(s) submitted, and may use them for advertising, promotional and/or any other purpose in any and all media now or hereafter devised worldwide in perpetuity without additional compensation, notification or permission, unless prohibited by law. By entering this Contest, entrants (parent/legal guardian if entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence) agree to have their submitted photograph(s) used and displayed, either singularly or in combination with others and in any size, on the Sponsor’s and/or Administrator’s website and on the websites, social media, and print materials of the Sponsor and/or Administrator without any fee or other form of compensation due at any time for so long as desired by the Sponsor and Administrator. Credits, descriptions or titles, if any, used with the photograph(s) are in the Sponsor’s and Administrator’s sole discretion. In the event that ownership of any photograph(s) submitted is challenged in any manner by any person, Sponsor and Administrator may disqualify that photograph(s) and will discontinue use of the photograph(s).
I just wasted 5 mins of my life looking thru this picture, then deciding that I don't like it, reading thru the article and thru the comments and wasted another 30 sec posting this comment.