Pictured: Daredevil photographer leaps over Grand Canyon to take perfect photo



AS any photographer will tell you, getting the very best pictures can be risky.

But this man appears to have taken the art of reckless dedication to new heights.

Perched on a rock column half a mile above the Grand Canyon, he had clearly found the perfect vantage point to record the spectacular Arizona sunset.

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Leap of faith: A dare-devil photographer mid-air as he jumps between two Grand Canyon rocks

Indeed his position was so precarious that he, rather than the setting sun, soon became the centre of attention for other tourists.

But onlookers realised how he had actually reached the rock column only when the time came for him to pack up and go home.

In what appears to have been a death- defying stunt, recorded on camera by a Dutch tourist, the photographer bundled up his gear, tucked it under his left arm and leapt the 8ft void separating him from the main land mass at The Grand Viewpoint on the canyon's South Rim.



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Stunning: The photographer, with a bag filled with empty beer cans, takes pictures of the amazing scenery before leaping

For added effect, the spectators reported, he was wearing flip-flops.

The observers held their breath as he jumped. . . and just managed to get a single foot and hand-hold on the other side. He scrambled for several seconds, they said, before reaching safety.

Earlier, they had watched him relaxing and drinking a six-pack of beer as he waited on the rock column for the sun to go down.

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Sequence: Poised to jump, the daredevil springs from the outcrop, clutching his bag and wearing only flipflops, before leaping over the mile-high ravine, and just managing to land on a narrow ledge and grip the side of the second rock

The man who took the pictures, marketing consultant Hans van de Vorst, 47, said: 'When we arrived he was just taking in the scenery and people were discussing how he managed to get on there in the first place. Nobody even bothered with the sunset - everyone's eyes were on this man as they wondered how he was going to get off the rock.

'He looked really relaxed and casually stood up before jumping across the gap. There was complete silence as he packed his things up and then a few gasps when he jumped.

'He didn't grab the rock properly the first time and slipped back about 50cm before clinging on to it. Even then he didn't look fazed.'

Mr van de Vorst has posted his pictures on the internet in an attempt to track down the mystery daredevil.

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Pinnacle: where he placed his tripod



