Upper Antelope Canyon

(inspired by Brad Eide's photo). The bear is one of the formations in Upper Antelope Canyon that the guides will point out to visitors. I visited Upper Antelope twice and paid the premium for the photographic tour. First time I had a guide named "Milo" and he was fantastic, finding good spots for everyone to photograph and keeping other tourists at bay. It was in May and it resulted in a good picture of the light beam. The Bear was taken on the second visit, when even more tourists seemed to get packed into the canyon, (a real moneymaker for the local operators). The guide this time was completely hopeless as she simply pointed out a few formations, piled us into the most crowded part of the canyon and then proceeded to enjoy the outside sun. Photographing "up" was the only option and this was my best result.

Earlier lightbeam photo: www.flickr.com/photos/adelheids-pictures/16189207799/in/a...

• Zhuangzi

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Another shot from Antelope Canyon. I think this is about the last decent shot from my last trip and I just can’t wait to visit Page again. I am not sure if there is any town in America that gives you so much photography potential and such a sense of the west. For a person who grew up in a tropical climate, this is such a different world altogether.

On a different note I am so grateful that my pics are getting such exposure these days and so thankful for all the wonderful encouragement and visits.

• Hans Christian Andersen.

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My initial interest in photography was the byproduct of interest in the technical aspect of the craft. I still remember visiting our local photo lab with my dad and watching him go over the negatives with the technician. I would have given anything to be able to talk the way my dad was talking with the technician. But as I grew older, I lost my fascination with photography, and there way too many things that I thought was worth the pursuit.

My second brush with photography happened during a period when I was traveling a lot. I had the opportunity to visit some fantastic locations, and I often wished that I had a camera with me. In a way, it was a desire to catalog my travels correctly, and when I moved to the US later, the interest in photography stayed strong and led to the purchase of my first digital camera.

From a cataloging perspective, moving to the western part of the US was a real blessing. Everywhere we looked, we saw landscape settings that were genuinely alien to me. Deserts, slot canyons, rugged coastlines where the mountains dropped into the sea, it was all an explorer’s dream. But then came this nagging feeling, an annoying thought that I couldn’t shake. Why was I taking photos of these beautiful locations? It's not like they are not well documented. I struggled with this question a lot and gave it a lot of thought, now I think I have my answer.

I believe cataloging is still a big part of my photography, but I am not cataloging the locations, I am documenting what they made me feel. Once I had that clarity, I knew what I wanted with photography. It was not to make a living out of it or to brag about the fantastic adventures we have had. But it was to feel. The photographs that I take and the processing I have done on them is for only one reason, and it was to convey the grandeur, the calm, the vastness, the peace, and the loneliness we experienced.

• Arthur Koestler.

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Sand falls at Upper Antelope Canyon, Navajo Nation. This was one of the hardest shots I have ever taken, the guide we had was blocking the tourist from walking into the frames and I had a broken plastic tripod to rest the camera and hope for the best regarding camera shake. I actually took about 5 shots of the falls and of that I got three without any shake and even though they were all high ISO, in post prod I was able to get decent enough shots. I wanted to convert them to B&W using NIK software just t see the effects and I fell in love with the look of this one.

Hope everyone likes its and enjoyed the first weekend of 2014..

• Alfred Lord Tennyson.

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Another shot from the stunningly beautiful Antelope Canyon. The one thing which I noticed while I was here was commercialized the operation of the Canyon has gotten. They just dump you into a truck which takes you all the way upto the mouth of the canyon and then herd you through the Canyon while you are tumbling around with your camera and tripod and others walking through your frame. The only thing which was bearable was the funny guides. I didn’t even think its worth while spending extra on a photo tour as I did because you are essentially getting the same tour.

I hope to do a tour of the Lower Antelope Canyon next time as its much less crowded and to remember to bring my tripod. Thanks for visiting hope you enjoy the shot…