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Horseshoe Bend - Colorado
Horseshoe Bend
by Maurizio Fontana

USA 2011 - Colorado River

Horseshoe Bend after Sunset
Horseshoe Bend
by Yi Jiang

Horseshoe Bend is a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, Arizona, in the United States. Horseshoe Bend is located 5 miles (8.0 km) downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, about 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Page.

This world is but a canvas to our imagination…
Yavapai Point
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Henry David Thoreau.

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Another shot of Yavapai Point at sunset. This time I used my wide angle lens for getting the shot. This was one location at the Grand Canyon where I reached before everybody else and had the location all to myself to set the camera up for the sunset. Of course it got filled up a soon as sunset was happening but I had all the time in the world to change lenses and take photos at my leisurely pace.

Hope you all enjoy the shots, thanks for visiting…

Grand Canyon
Mather Point
by Matteo Rinaldi

Scatti realizzati durante l'ultimo viaggio in America con www.viaggifotografici.biz

It is more rewarding to be complicit with scarcity than excess...
Mohave Point
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Will Oldham.

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I took this shot while we were at Yaki Point for sunrise. I believe this guy is a professional rock climber as he was hanging out way too close to edges of the cliffs to get his shots. I so band wanted to see the shots he had taken but we had to get back to the visitor center to start driving. I took this shot while waiting for the bus. Just amazed to see him crouching by the cliff to get that view.

Navajo Bridge
Navajo Bridge
by David ruiz luna

Navajo Bridge crosses the Colorado River's Marble Canyon near Lee's Ferry in the US state of Arizona carrying U.S. Route 89A. Spanning Marble Canyon, the bridge carries northbound travelers to southern Utah and to the Arizona Strip, the otherwise inaccessible portion of Arizona north of the Colorado River, which includes the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

September 2016

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E X P L O R E. : Jul 15, 2021 #17

Grand Canyon
Mather Point
by Matteo Rinaldi

Scatti realizzati durante l'ultimo viaggio in America con www.viaggifotografici.biz

Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you…
Grandview Point
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Walt Whitman.

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Today’s picture is a panorama stitch of the Grand Canyon from somewhere in the east rim. We had really cloudy day and very soft diffused light which kind of softened the colors and contrast of the canyon but the details are still amazing to me.

Thanks for visiting hope you all are having a great week..

two bridges
Navajo Bridge
by David ruiz luna

Navajo Bridge crosses the Colorado River's Marble Canyon near Lee's Ferry in the US state of Arizona carrying U.S. Route 89A. Spanning Marble Canyon, the bridge carries northbound travelers to southern Utah and to the Arizona Strip, the otherwise inaccessible portion of Arizona north of the Colorado River, which includes the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

September 2016

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Layers of Light
Pima Point
by David Hamments

.... sunset pano in the Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

"North Rim" Grand Canyon NP AZ *
North Rim Grand Canyon
by Dominic Nessi
  • The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).[5]

The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the preservation of the Grand Canyon area and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

"Day Slowly Fading" North Rim Grand Canyon NP AZ
North Rim Grand Canyon
by Dominic Nessi
  • The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).[5]

The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the preservation of the Grand Canyon area and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

Ci avviciniamo alla Monument Valley
Ci avviciniamo alla Monument Valley
by Matteo Rinaldi

Scatti realizzati durante l'ultimo viaggio attraverso i parchi Americani con www.viaggifotografici.biz

© www.matteorinaldi.it

Multiple Sunbeams
Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page, AZ.

**Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.

© All rights...

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Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid…
Lower Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Franklin P. Jones.

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Another shot from lower antelope canyon at page, AZ. this is one of my favorite shot from the trip as it has a clear representation of all the texture on the canyon walls. This one was taken pointing straight up from where we were standing and there was no sky visible. One of the challenges of shooting in a V shaped canyon is shooting straight up as there is simply not enough to room for even to stretch your tripod out. Thanks for visiting and have a nice day.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started...[explored]
Lower Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Mark Twain.

Another interesting formation from Antelope canyon. This has to be a photographers heaven, everywhere one looks its interesting shapes and play of light. Just one thing missing is being alone with no one to walk into your frames and I think you can literally take thousands of amazing shots here.

Hope you all like it. Have a nice Sunday..

Love can consign us to hell or to paradise, but it always takes us somewhere…
Lower Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Paulo Coelho.

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Posting images of slot canyons, especially from Antelope slot canyons, always gives me a lot of engagement on social media. So much that I consider them cheat posts. I suspect the dramatic changes in light and color grades create a visual impact even as thumbnails that they attract a large audience. This remarkable play of light and shadows, while impressive to behold, was challenging for me to master. When I first visited a slot canyon, I solely relied on HDR photography to capture the scene. While images looked good, it felt like something was missing. As I spent more time looking at slot canyon images, both mine and other talented artists, one thing became clear. It’s the shadows that make these images click. That’s why the HDR images looked ordinary, as they often by default lift the shadows. It also meant that I had to get it close in camera rather than relying on post-processing.

Here are a few strategies that helped me. First, Avoid the sky as much as possible in compositions as the light difference is too much to make sense in a slot canyon image. There are exceptions, but it is better to shoot the sky separately and blend it in later in those scenarios. Secondly, pick your bright areas carefully and balance them with the shadow areas. ETTR or exposing to the right is super helpful here, I often meter at the brightest spot in a scene and push setting until the highlights clip. A quick tip: You can usually push your raw images a little more than what your camera histogram suggests. And the last tip is to white balance correctly, have a grey card or a microfiber cleaning cloth with you, and get the correct white balance. Because the light is limited in a slot canyon, even the best cameras struggle to judge white balance correctly, and it’s hard to get it right in post-processing; at least, that’s my experience. On the other hand, the difference is extraordinary when you get the colors right in a slot canyon. And there it is, all my tips for shooting in a slot canyon.

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature…
Lower Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Socrates.

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Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you “The Tunnel” from lower antelope canyon. This is an impressive formation, especially when you get to shoot it without anyone walking through your frame. It felt like the canyon came to an abrupt end when we first came across it but after you pass through the tunnel the canyon opens up again and all was well.

Unlike the upper canyon which has a wider base the V shaped lower canyon is tough to negotiate especially with a camera bag and a tripod with you. I really love the way this one turned out. Thanks for visiting have a nice day.

The Bear, Antelope Canyon, Arizona
Upper Antelope Canyon
by Adelheid Smitt

(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...

Powell Point
Sunset at Powell Point
by Yi Jiang

Grand Canyon, AZ

Lady Wind
Lower Antelope Canyon

When people ask where my favorite place to travel is they’re often surprised when I don’t answer “abroad” and instead tell them the Southwest might...

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I had to live in the desert before I could understand the full value of grass in a green ditch…
Lower Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Ella Maillart.

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I have professed my love for slot canyons countless times in many a Flickr posts. During our life on the west coast, both my wife and I have explored a food number of slot canyons. Each turned out to be unique in its geological features as well as the mood and drama they reveal in photographs. Of all the slot canyon that we have visited in the American southwest, the lower antelope canyon is my absolute favorite. Its less of a tourist trap than the short upper canyon but provides some equally intense compositions.

I was lucky enough to get a much-coveted photo tour of the canyon, the first time we visited. I also lucked out in getting a fantastic tour guide, Armando. Who gladly dipped into his bag of tricks, to keep the other visitors occupied while I enjoyed the luxury of time composing my images. I believe my overall experience at the canyon had a lot to do with the reason why it’s my favorite slot canyon that I ever visited. Here is another beautiful view of the stunning lower antelope canyon.

The supernatural is the natural not yet understood…
Lower Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Elbert Hubbard.

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This shot was taken at Lower Antelope Canyon during our last trip to Page, Arizona. My guide pointed out this formation to me which he nicknamed “wave”. You basically has to take the shot pointing the camera straight up to the sky and the light range is so varied, the only way to get anywhere near a good exposure is to use HDR. I am glad I had enough time to make this shot.

Thanks for visiting, have a great day.

Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud…
Lower Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Maya Angelou.

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Another shot from Lower Antelope Canyon. This location is just after you enter into the canyon and is the widest point once you are inside the canyon. My guide and I did the hike in reverse order so we navigated the narrow paths early on and it was a nice relief for my sore muscles to get to this wide open expanse before climbing three set of stairs to get out of the canyon. Trust me it’s not easy hiking this canyon with a camera bag and a d800 on a tripod even if it’s a carbon fiber unit. But it was an awesome hike and I can’t wait to explore more slot canyons of south western Utah.

Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears...
Upper Antelope Canyon Sand Falls
by Sandeep Thomas
  • 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..

Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley...
Lower Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Theodore Roethke.

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Since the day I first experienced it, deserts fascinated me. The fact that they seem so barren, so devoid of features on the surface, adds to the attraction. But deserts are full of surprises, from slot canyons that appear as a crack in the ground to hidden rivers badlands formations that last for miles.

One of the desert spots that hold a special place in my heart is the lower Antelope slot canyon. I was skeptical of taking a photography tour after my lackluster experience at the upper canyon photo tour. But I knew I would shell out the extra cash when I learned that they only allow tripods in with a photo tour. Our tour guide's name was Armando, and he turned out to be the genuine surprise of our whole lower antelope canyon experience. Unlike many of the guides there, Diego was an aspiring photog in training, so he had useful insights on compositions available. I enjoyed getting a second opinion on some of the frames. Now it is not a secret that both the antelope canyons are a bit of a tourist trap, and it is tough to take the time to set up an image when crowds of people are trying to navigate a space constricted canyon. Where he became invaluable is during the actual shoot, whenever we found a good composition, he would buy me time by entertaining the crowd. He offered to take photos for them, played his flute to give me precious seconds without offending the masses.

So when I heard about the news that photo tours are ending in Antelope canyon by 2020, I remembered the great visit we had with Armando. I am a bit conflicted that the photo tours are ending. I went on two photo tours, enjoyed one, and was underwhelmed by the other. Still, I felt the photo tours made the place famous and slowed down the traffic a bit, but I do feel for the people who get blocked every time a photog decides to set up an image. The reason I am not worried about is that in the last few years, we learned that the southwest I littered with slot canyons. I learned that we have enjoyed exploring these often empty locations as opposed to the crazy rush of Antelope Canyon. So my advice for fellow photographers would be to be adventurous, and to do a bit of research, there are tone of slot canyons all around the southwest if you are willing to look.

There's time enough, but none to spare…
Lower Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • Charles W. Chesnutt.

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On the third day of our Grand Canyon Trip we visited the beautiful little town of Page Arizona and the famous Antelope Canyon. The day started out real bad as the alarm didn’t go off and we were late. Coupled with that there was a lot of fog and we had to drive extremely slowly due to very low visibility. Then half way to the trip my wife told me that we forgot to pack the tripod, which in a low light location like a slot canyon makes it impossible to shoot. To say I was mad would be an understatement.

Anyways we reached the tour area I asked the guide if I could rent a tripod somewhere and he gave a plastic tripod which could no way holdup the heavy D800. I decided to make the best of a situation and used it but I only managed very few shots without camera shake. The Canyon itself was mind blowing though and I am sure I will be back, better prepared the next time.

Life comes from the earth and life returns to the earth...[explored]
Upper Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • 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.

Grand Canyon storm
Moran Point
by Maurizio Fontana

USA 2011 - Grand Canyon

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers…
Upper Antelope Canyon
by Sandeep Thomas
  • 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…

Lake Powell
Lake Powell
by Kari Siren

stitched panorama

Sunset at Powell Point
Sunset at Powell Point
by Yi Jiang

Grand Canyon, AZ

DSC_0798-Pano.jpg
Navajo Bridge
by David Hamments

Navajo Bridge pano, crossing the Colorado River near Lee's Ferry, Arizona.

Thanks to all Phoide contributors to Coconino County!
Most notably Sandeep Thomas, Andrey Sulitskiy, Maurizio Fontana, Matteo Rinaldi, Dominic Nessi, David Hamments, Yi Jiang and Jorge Císcar.