Morning light begins to filter into Lower Antelope Canyon outside Page, AZ
On June 6th, I began making another long drive en-route to Page, AZ to check out a few destinations on the bucket list. After rooming in Page, AZ for the night I woke up and headed to Lower Antelope Canyon just outside Page, AZ to take part in a guided tour through the canyon. It was brutally hot on this day and over the next few days which meant I had to pick some early morning times for photography. I ended up photographing this canyon on two separate occasions over the next couple of days. I took my first tour on June 7th and also on June 8th I returned once again to polish up some shots from the previous tour. I must say this is one of coolest places to see and you leave with a mesmerizing feeling after hiking in this canyon. I'm really not sure how to describe it, but many like myself tend to come out of the canyon feeling the same experience. As for photography, I shot all these photos with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 II L lens. To capture high-quality images you must have a fast wide-angle lens in this canyon to capture the amazing formations along the canyon walls and a camera with great low-light performance. It was a tough task dealing with the tour crowds, extreme heat, and being forced to shoot handheld in a low-light environment. With that being said, I feel like I managed pretty well with the results I was able to achieve. I've added another large assortment of photos from two separate guided tours below:
"The underworld"
One of my favorites!
A painted landscape!
Incredible light and incredible formations in every direction!
"You be the artist!"
"And I'll chase your voice through the dark; fix my eyes on the unexpected, in the wonder of your shadow step"
Looking up from another world!
"We'll run wild, we'll be glowing in the dark"
"Waves"
Crazy mix of colors...
You feel like you are in Egyptian times in this canyon!
"Captivated in the dark"
It's a tough hike with very little space in spots!
"Masterpiece"
On fire with color...
"Walk like an Egyptian"
An astonishing place!
"Shadowplay"
"Light awakens the underground"
Nature formed these canyon formations from flash floods!
"A hole in the heart of the canyon"
"Pillars of sandstone"
The sun's location at different times of day in the canyon will lead to quite different results!
Canyon formations can provide their own artwork!
"A different world"
A light beam sneaks into the canyon!
"Stairway to heaven"
It was quite sandy down in the canyon...
"Spinning"
"A window through the soul"
The ups and downs of nature!
"There's a light that you give me when I’m in shadow"
Absolutely amazing!
The vertical shots were just as good!
The light that comes through...
"Curves"
I was quite happy I took two tours since it allowed myself to get more creative!
An arch!
More hiking deeper into the canyon...
"Magic light"
"Crest of waves"
Sometimes you have to go vertical!
Neat stuff!
"Fading light"
Photography tip: Hang close to the tour guide and stay in front of everyone in the tour...
I don't think I've spent as much time in my life photographing canyons as I did on these two days!
Beautiful art!
"The balance between dark and light"
"Canyon on fire"
Simply amazing works of art by nature!
Claustrophobia?
"Enchanted"
Keep heading into the light!
Shadows turn to light around the corner...
The balance of light!
"Tight corners"
Another view of the underworld!
More great color!
One last shot as I finish up my couple days of photography in Lower Antelope Canyon
These were a couple exciting days of photography at Lower Antelope Canyon and it's quite an awesome place to be able to tour. I completely understand why more and more people are visiting this canyon from around the world after a couple days of photography in the canyon. On June 8th, I also visited Upper Antelope Canyon to photograph that canyon as well and I'll add another future post in the coming days from that morning as well.
