Antelope Canyon – the magic of light

I recently had the opportunity to visit Utah, Arizona and Nevada with Rodney S Braun Adventure Tours. One of the absolute hilights of this trip was visiting Antelope Canyon. I had heard of it’s beauty – and seen other peoples images, but nothing prepared me for the awe-inspiring event that was about to take place.

We had arrived in Lake Powell, just east of Page, Arizona, and pulled into a strip mall parking lot where we were going to meet our guide. We were met by a gentleman by the name of Malcom who seemed very nice – and all piled into the tour vehicle, and off we went to the Canyon.

Antelope Canyon is located in Navajo territory – and the only way to access the canyon is to sign up for a tour. As we bounced along in the covered back of a truck – we were passing these enormous mounds of sandstone that looked just like the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin – with it’s natural gradations looking like wrinkles folding over and over and over again. The countryside is so amazingly beautiful – that the drive goes by very quickly, and before we know it we have reached the Canyon.

When we arrived at The Upper Canyon (our destination), there were rows and rows of tour vehicles… patrons already inside the canyon – but no sign of anyone. Malcolm told us that we were going to start half way through the canyon – while the next couple of tours got underway – and then double back to the beginning where we could have a little more uninterrupted time.

The canyon from the outside didn’t look like anything terribly special. Don’t get me wrong, it was a really cool looking crack in a rock face, but nothing like what we encountered when we entered the canyon.

A slot canyon is a narrow canyon that has been formed by millions of years of wind and rushing water flowing through the sandstone, carving it’s way through to the other side. This particular slot canyon is approximately 660 feet long, 3.2 to 9.8 feet wide and up to 164 feet deep (at it’s deepest point). The Upper Canyon has a couple of large “rooms” – which are larger areas than the narrow passageways, and it got its name from the pronghorn antelopes that used to run wild in this area.

The path meanders, side to side through awe inspiring rock faces that change colour as the light bounces back and forth from the sky down through the canyon, and we are faced with some of the most stunning vistas we have ever seen. The patterns on the walls echo a long past meandering stream that has wound its way through solid rock to create this magical, unforgettable place.

There are many, many images out there of Antelope Canyon. It has been in countless magazines (including National Geographic), has may books written about it – and down there especially – you will find it on postcards, posters, and various other merchandise! One of the things that I find the most interesting about Antelope Canyon is that it is not uncommon to have similarly composed images – but in completely different coulours. I never realized that this was actually a trick of the light (not necessarily the photographer) – and that depending on your time of day, and season – the walls are ACTUALLY different colours! That means you could row up the 11 of us in our group to take the exact same shot – and I’m sure that our shots would be totally different. Yes compositionally they may be similar – but the light bounces around so much – that your angle is everything, so your image could be totally different than the person standing next to you!

As we are standing there – awe-struck, and taking pictures we hear this sound… Our guide Malcolm has leaned into a small alcove, and started to sing. Very quietly at first, and as the canyon begins to pick up the echo he gets louder and louder. He is singing in his native tongue, Navajo, and once he is done he tells that this was a song for travelers, wishing a safe journey and good fortune – we are simply entranced.

Malcolm was incredibly knowledgeable about the area – and the rock formations – and was excellent at controlling the traffic moving through the passageway. In some areas the passage is only 3 feet wide – large tours can make it quite difficult to navigate the passageways (as you are going in both directions through the narrow passages) – never mind take photographs, but Malcolm would show us where all of the famous shots were taken from – and then control traffic to let us take the iconic shots (or simply shots of our choosing) without a cavern of people in the foreground.

Once we were finished in the Upper Canyon – he gave us the opportunity to visit a smaller canyon off to the side where there were no other people walking around – and allegedly that is where Brittany Spears filmed her “Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” video. While we were walking around, Malcolm started to sing again – and man can he belt out a tune!

For me Antelope Canyon was truly one of the highlights of the week-long trip (although everywhere we went was absolutely amazing) and I would highly encourage you to go check it out for yourself. If you are going – there are a couple things I would suggest:

1. Leave your Camera Bag at the hotel – some areas of the canyon are quite narrow – and the more you have to carry the harder it is to maneuver and get around the people moving in the opposite direction.

2. Have a large plastic bag to cover your camera when you are not using it – the wind can kick up pretty quickly, and sand get everywhere! I am still cleaning sand out of my camera – but it was well worth it!! Some people choose to have the bag attached to their camera to protect all the joins – if you choose to do this – just make sure that you are still able to adjust your settings and see clearly through the lens.

3. Stick to one lens. Changing lenses will gather more dust in places you really don’t want it. Bring a wide angle and enjoy! (If you do feel the need to bring more than one lens – bring a large plastic bag that you are able to change lenses IN – to try to minimalize the sand that gets in your camera).

4. Bring a can of compressed air – so when you get back to the car you can clean out your camera right away.

5. Remember – there are no “facilities” at the canyon itself. Go to the bathroom before you get in the tour vehicle.

6. If you are likely to get thirsty – bring a bottle of water – BUT remember #5 – there are no washrooms, so don’t drink too much water on your tour.

7. Shoot multiple exposures – with the light bouncing around so much – it is a really good idea to shoot many different exposures. I would recommend shooting a little on the dark side to avoid blowing out the highlights (the sky at the top and sunlight hitting the sand) in contrast to the darker areas where the sun is muted by being reflected over and over again. Try different things – experiment – you may be surprised with some of the magic that happens.

8. It is cooler in the cavern than the outside and can get quite dark in places as there is no artificial light in the canyon. Just make sure that you are prepared for a cool breeze. Possibly bring a bandana that you can have around your neck to block the wind if it gets breezy, and potentially cover your mouth if the sand is blowing around. We didn’t need this – but the guides were all wearing one – so there’s probably a reason for it!

9. Be present! There is so much to see – and there are so many people pointing in different directions – make sure that you take the time to stop and look around. Not through your camera but just soak it all in. Take a breath and live in the moment. Then pick your camera back up and shoot like crazy! Don’t forget to look UP – some of the best views are directly overhead… And although it is great to have a guide to tell you where other people’s cool and iconic shots were taken from – look around – see what catches YOUR eye – and take your OWN iconic shot!

#arizona #antelopecanyon #photography #memories #rainbows “beautiful #takemybreathaway