LeChee

• 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.

• Henry David Thoreau.

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I think the right word to describe our first visit to Antelope Canyon is highly chaotic. On our drive there, we missed a detour and had to make up for about 30 miles, and halfway through the drive, I realized that I didn’t have my tripod with me. We still managed to reach the canyon tours location on time, but I had underestimated the popularity of the upper canyons by a large margin. These canyons are also relatively short, with multiple tour groups managing crowds of tourists.

On my second visit, I altogether avoided the upper canyon. Instead, I went to the lower antelope canyon, which is slightly more and has quite a steep access making it a less popular place to visit. Thankfully, the touring company offered assisted photo tours, and this time, I picked the right company with quite knowledgeable guides. As a result, the second time at the canyon was much more relaxing, and I came back with many keepers. I love these two slot canyons, and I am still amazed that a location like this exists. Still, after touring some other slot canyons of the southwest that are equally spectacular with a lot more privacy, I am doubtful if I will ever revisit these canyons.

As I wrote in my last post, during a recent swing out to Vegas we took a short road trip, but the weather was uncooperative and so we spent quite a...

Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona

A place i could visit every time when i'm in Page, the Lower Antelope Canyon. And although it seems the crowds are getting more and more, there are...

Areas of light and shadow create different tones of orange on the Navajo Sandstone of Lower Antelope Canyon.

Photo taken near Page, AZ (USA).

*** Explored #126 on 8/25/2011! ***

Here is another photo from Upper Antelope Canyon (I say another because there's about a million on Flickr). Page...

Must have been my 10th visit or so, this place is still amazing !

• 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.

• 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..

• 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.

• 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.

USA 2011 - Antelope Canyon

• George Bernard Shaw.

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Another shot of Lower antelope canyon and 7 shot HDR nonetheless. The light conditions at this location were extremes, we had a super bright noon sky and completely dark canyon walls. I don't know how my guide managed to stave the crowds off from the frame for that long but I am really happy how the photo came out.

Hope you all like it, thanks for visiting, have a nice day..

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...

At the end of Lower Antelope Canyon in Arizona you can see the head of a figure which could have been carved by an 11th-century romanesque sculptor...

This is probably the most photograph sandstone structure inside Lower Antelope Canyon. It is definitely the same angle as others. But because of the...

Hasdestwazi, Lower Antelope Canyon No, not central park for any Rascals fans out there...

Hasdestwazi, Lower Antelope Canyon

It can be a little bewildering walking through Antelope Canyon. This is what the way forward often looks like, in one arrangement of dizzying curves...

Antelope Canyon offers an amazing array of smooth curves. I like how this composition also break up that pattern with the debris in the central...

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USA 2011 - Antelope Canyon

• Novalis.

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Antelope Canyon, one of the toughest locations, I had to shoot. My wife had forgotten to pack the tripod and I was forced to shoot hand held. That was no problem except that canyon is very dark as only little bit of light enters through the narrow opening of the canyon top. To add more complexity the entire canyon is teaming with tourists both professional photographers and amateurs and its almost next to impossible to get a frame without someone accidently walking through the frame unless you are pointing your camera straight up.

I hope I will be able to return here soon and that this time I won’t forget my tripod.

*** Explored #23 on 3/12/2013! ***

Willie, Yan, and I had spent the night in Page, AZ and we found ourselves with half a day to kill. We arrived at...

a 6-stop HDR merged shot of sandstone inside lower antelope canyon. I used automated tool by Google Nik Software. You know I'm kinda lazy :D

Lower Antelope Canyon, near Page, Arizona, USA. The "ghost" was biting the sandstone in front of him, that's why sand was falling from the sky :-).

I decided I haven't posted enough of these shots from Antelope Canyon. This was the most amazing photographic experience I've ever had. The light had...

A chaotic array of lines and curves in Lower Antelope Canyon.

Photo taken near Page, AZ (USA).