By Ted Grussing
… perched above Casner Mountain on an awesome day with visibility over 100 miles … the subtleties of light and shadow spilling over the beautiful formations in Sycamore Canyon, out into the Perkinsville area, over a low range and across the Chino Valley into the Bradshaw Mountains on the horizon. The headwaters of the Verde River are up there somewhere. Perkinsville is where you travel on the Verde Canyon Railroad out of Clarkdale and it is out in the lighter area beyond the canyon and on the left end of it. the light area above and to the right of that is a concrete plant I think.
Follow the far rim of the Colorado Plateau up to the right and you will pass west of Bill Williams Mountain and arrive in Ashfork on I-40 … follow the inside of the canyon to the left and in about 12 miles you will arrive at the confluence of of Sycamore Creek and the Verde River, which after its trip north bends to the east and south through Cottonwood, the S end of the Verde Valley, eastward and turning south past Camp Verde, arriving first at Horseshoe Lake NE of Phoenix.The green plateau in the foreground is the western part of Casner Mountain and if you look close you can see the power transmission lines near the rim. These bring power from the north down into the Clarkdale area.
Inside the canyon, just below center image, lies my favorite formation in the canyon and were I about 500 feet higher and to the S a bit, looking north, the formation appears to be the letter “S” Need things like that so I don’t get lost 🙂 Traveling up the canyon to the right you eventually end up at the top of the canyon N and to the W of here on the plateau and you go by some nice lakes on the W side of the canyon. The top of the canyon is fairly close to the top of the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon … maybe a few miles.
In this photo you are looking to the west south west.
I had a beautiful day today and hope you did also … another one is underway now and another chance to get it right and if not, at least to enjoy it and try. Smile, keep breathing and live whilst you are here.
Cheers,
Ted
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
