International VR Photographers Association (IVRPA)
Summit in Sedona, Arizona
October 25-30, 2004
The IVRPA (formerly the IQTVRA) held a Summit in Sedona for VR photographers to exchange experience and learn to improve their craft. This was the third annual conference following successful summits in Denver and Washington, DC.
I arrived a few days before the summit to tour the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona. This was my first visit and although I have seen many images and videos, it is one place that must be experienced in person. In most places there are no guard rails so you can walk right up to an unprotected ledge to look down hundreds or thousands of feet. This produces an alternating sensation of exhilaration and panic. It is definitely one of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen. This series of images was taken starting at the East entrance to the park with stops along the way ending at El Tovar.
An optional trip was organized by the Summit team to take a Jeep tour to a panoramic site in the desert near Sedona called Mystic View.
The Chapel of the Holy Cross is built into the red rocks on the South side of Twin Buttes on Chapel Road not far from Sedona. Late in the day after the summit I drove to the chapel to take this series of panoramas. The chapel was designed by Margaret Brunswig Staude, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1956-1957.
Located South of Sedona, Bell Rock State Park features a red rock formation that resembles a large bell from a distance. You can walk to the rock from a parking area using a mile and a half long trail. I took this series immediately after visiting the Chapel of the Holy Cross in the early evening of October 30, 2004.
