As the scene might suggest, this was not taken at the more-often-photographed location of the Grand Canyon. This was taken from Toroweap -- a less-traveled, less-accessible view of the rim. There had been a fire in nearby Fredonia, and the air quality was rather low. Accordingly, the colors were tremendously blue from the severe amount of scattering; thus, the decision to switch to black and white.
Technical info:
Two-image left/right mosaic taken with a Leaf Aptus-II 12, resulting in a 100-something megapixel image.
It is difficult to capture the feeling and actual beauty of The Grand Canyon. It is a place that everyone should visit at some point in their life. This is a nice shot. I would love to see this in color.