Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. It’s in the Navajo Nation near Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon includes two separate, photogenic slot canyon sections, Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. I went to Lower Antelope Canyon on my photo tour with Russ Burden of Monument Valley and the Glen Canyon area.
The canyon was formed by the erosion of Navajo sandstone, primarily due to flash flooding, which still occurs there. Eleven tourists were killed in Lower Antelope Canyon on August 12, 1997 . Very little rain fell there that day, but heavy rain had fallen seven miles upstream. I was careful to wear my waterproof boots when I went down into the canyon.
Lower Antelope Canyon is the narrowest canyon I could imagine. It is beautiful with the swirls and the lines of the red rocks, the glow, and the way the light hits.
Russ’s guidance was to concentrate our compositions on the reflected, warm light areas in the canyon while avoiding areas where the sun hit directly. Light entering the canyon and bouncing off the walls at the top gives this light. Shooting in the darker areas produces purple colored tones with an interesting effect. I combined the warm glow with the purple shadows to produce my abstract photography.
The only time I included direct sunlight in my photos was to capture this image of a dusty light beam.
Click on the picture above to enlarge
Click on the picture above to enlarge
5 responses so far ↓
1 Gretchen // Jun 18, 2014 at 8:36 am
Amazing photos! Any more explanation of why the bounced light gives such different colors?
2 David Mendosa // Jun 18, 2014 at 8:37 am
Dear Gretchen,
I’ve wondered the same thing! I hope that someone else reading this can give us the answer.
Namaste,
David
3 Mark // Jul 1, 2014 at 3:52 pm
Fabulous pics David. I was there a year ago myself. Amazing place to visit.
Camera you used and lens?
4 David Mendosa // Jul 1, 2014 at 4:41 pm
Dear Mark,
Thank you! I used a Canon 7D and Canon’s 18-200mm zoom lens.
Namaste,
David
5 MARGE Gledhill // Oct 4, 2014 at 1:37 pm
Fabulous pidttures–such beauty–another
wonder of GOD”S creation–thanks for sharing