Grand Canyon Jumper

Grand Canyon Photographer

Here is a case of a photographer photographing another photographer.


The following pictures were taken by Hans van de Vorst from the Netherlands at the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The descriptions are his own. The identity of the photographer in the photos is unknown.
                     

 was simply stunned seeing this guy standing on this solitary rock in the Grand Canyon. The canyon's depth is 900 meters here. The rock on the right is next to the canyon and safe. Watching this guy on his thong sandals, with a camera and a tripod I asked myself 3 questions:
1. How did he climb that rock?
2. Why not take that sunset picture from that rock to the right, which is perfectly safe?
3. How will he get back?


After the sun set behind the canyon's horizon he packed his things (having only one hand available) and prepared himself for the jump. This took about 2 minutes. At that point he had the full attention of the crowd.              











This is the point of no return. After that, he jumped on his thong sandals... The canyon's depth is 900 meters (3,000 feet) here.


           


Now you can see that the adjacent rock is higher so he tried to land lower, which is quite steep and tried to use his one hand to grab the rock.


                   


We've come to the end of this story. Look carefully at the photographer. He has a camera, a tripod and also a plastic bag, all on his shoulder or in his left hand. Only his right hand is available to grab the rock and the weight of his stuff is a problem. He lands low on his flip flops, both his right hand and right foot slip away..


At that moment I take this shot. He pushes his body against the rock. He waits for a few seconds, throws his stuff on the rock, climbs and walks away.  Presumably to a bathroom to change his shorts.



____________________


FROM SNOPES.COM:

One common technique employed by stage magicians in pulling off convincing illusions is to show only part of something, suggest the whole, then take advantage of the human mind's tendency to fill in the blanks. For example, a magician might announce that he is holding a knife and show the audience a blade sticking out of his clenched fist, knowing full well that onlookers will naturally assume the knife�s handle is inside his hand (when, in fact, the knife has no handle at all).

That's the principle at work in the images displayed above (taken by photographer Hans van de Vorst), which seemingly show another photographer making a foolhardy, death-defying leap across two Grand Canyon outcroppings - wearing only sandals on his feet, and clutching his photographic gear in one hand! The key to the illusion is what the viewer doesn't see (thereby leading him to make inaccurate assumptions about the whole).

The area shown is a popular photographic spot in the Grand Canyon, for the very reason demonstrated above: if a photographer frames his picture just right, he can make it appear that his subject is leaping across a yawning chasm where the slightest misstep will seemingly result in the risk-taker's plummeting hundreds (if not thousands) of feet to certain death on the canyon floor below. What one doesn�t see in these kinds of close shots is the connecting ledge just beneath the two rock formations, revealing that the jumper who misses his mark risks falling only a short ways, not plunging "900 meters":



Although the leap still has an element of danger to it, a reasonably careful jumper primarily risks some bruises or maybe a broken arm or leg, not a plunge into the depths of the Grand Canyon.