Antelope Canyon

Light Shaft

Antelope Canyon was one of the most amazing places we have seen in our US holiday this year! The slot canyon was formed by erosion of sandstone, primarily by flash flooding, but also the rainwater is cutting into the stone walls, smoothing the hard edges in such a way as to form the “flowing shapes’ in the rock.

Us at Antelope

It is a spectacular looking place and understandably very popular with photographers, which was a bit frustrating at times. The people running the tours are very nice and they try to accommodate everyone, but in order to do that, they have to rush you through. You can barely catch your breath. And it is not an easy place for taking photographs! I am not only talking about the fact that it is almost impossible to take a picture without lots of people in it. The combination of strong light from above and the darkness inside is very challenging. It is almost impossible to avoid the ‘Hotspots’ even if you bracket your shot.

Beam me Scotty!

It is all well worth it, in the end, the stone shapes, the colors, the amazing light! A very interesting phenomenon is the light beam that comes from above at different hours. The tour organizers are throwing sand into the air, so you can see them properly and catch them into your picture… And you have to clean your lens a lot… Here is one of my shots:

My only regret is that we did not have enough time to see the Upper Antelope Canyon only the ‘Lower’ one.

Please check out my galleria for more images of these amazing places!