Antelope Canyon
Jun, 2015Views
1757
Likes
Awards
Featured
Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 12 Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
Love it
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This is an image of Antelop Canyon in Page Arizona. Getting to shoot this Canyon was one of the highlights of my trip.Time
This image was shot during the middle of the day. We worked our way through with a tour and we were not allowed the use of a tripod. So with High iso and low shutter speeds I was worried about camera shake so i exhaled and took 3 shot bursts. We could not lean on the Canyon walls so I was very happy to walk away with some wonderful images.Lighting
I was very excited to start the walk into the Canyon. However, you must be ready for lighting levels to drop quickly. I noticed right away light was fading and low shutter speeds and high ISO were the only way I was going to shoot this Canyon. We were given the do's and don'ts as we went through and we were asked not to lean on the Canyon walls so catching available light was going to be key. In my walk through I felt this location allowed the best opportunity for me with my gear to catch the light as I wanted it. I tended to shoot in burst, bracketing and attempts of HDR to get the dynamic range needed.Equipment
I used a Nikon D7100 with 10-24mm nikon lens. The lens was shot wide open at 10mm to get a different perspective. I did not want to bring home the exact same shot that everyone else was taking. I went over the lens choice in my head over and over and finally picked the 10-24 dx lens. I love shooting with wide angle lens for different POV than what many others shoot. I did not use any other equipment.Inspiration
I had been looking at this shot for years. I had a very good friend and fellow photographer on Viewbug call me up and invite me to come out and shoot with him while he was in Phoenix. I quickly purchased a book for photographers visiting Arizona. Outline locations and images on Google and off we went. The sole purpose of the trip was to get three main images. I managed to get two of the 3 Rainbow Bridge will have to wait until next trip. (smile)Editing
I really like trying to get as much out of my camera as possible. That being said I like to get as much out of ligthroom as possible as well. Typical post processing was done on this image. I brought up the shadows to probably 35-50. I brought the highlights down completely. I increased contrast by 30 and bosted clarity 15-30. I increased noise reduction by 30 and increased sharpening most likely 45-50.In my camera bag
At the time of the photo I carried a Nikon D7100 and D300. D300 for sports and D7100 for everything else. I loved both cameras but the D7100 picture quality and noise handling was superb over the D300. However, the D7100 buffer left much to be desired. My kit then also included Sekonic 478DR light meter, color checker passport and expo disk and 14x14 graycard. Lens selection was nikon 10-24dx (favorite POV) lens never left home without it. Nikon 17-55 2.8dx, Sigma 50-150 dc, Nikon 85 1.8g, Nikon 50 1.8g and Nikon 35 1.8g Most of the time I sling both cameras D7100 with 10-24 or 17-55 and D300 was married to the 50-150. When portrait work is done then I use the 1.8g group. Today I still have and hold this entire bag as backup to my new kit. Today I shoot more landscape so I now carry a D810, Nikon 16-35 f4, Nikon 24-120 f4. The 16-35 is basically married to my D810. It stays on 95% of the time. I now carry the Lee filter system holder, Lee little stopper, soft hard and reverse grads. Formatt Hitech 16 stop Firecrest IRND filters, Nisi, 8,11,15 stop ND filters and Nisi reverse and soft, hard grads. I must say Nisi may be my new favorite on the market you must check them out.Feedback
This image was not easy to get. It is hard to carry a lot of gear into the slot canyon. Do Not Try to change lenses once you leave the truck you will destroy your gear. Instead carry two camera bodies if possible. Do not take a tripod they will not let you use it anyway on most tours. There are different photo tours but most will not allow it. I am not sure about the monopod. Take the best camera you have for high ISO. The deeper you go into the Canyon you will need it. Be careful to notice the light coming in from the top. Most images blow out the highlights in the light reflections and fail to pull out the detail in the shadows. I noticed some people carrying lee filter setups and trying to use ND grads to cut the reflection from the top and exposing more for the shadows. I used bracketing for normal post processing as well as HDR via Photomatix or HDR effex Pro 2. All will work. To do it again I would most likely carry Body 1 D810 16-35 with lee filter system and 2 stop ND grad.Body 2 D7100 with 10-24 no filters. I would shoot brackets with both setups. To get hand held shots you will be hitting ISO's over 6400 at some points in the canyon with slow shutter speeds 30,40,60 if you have a camera that can get to 12800, 25600, such as D500, D810, D4S,D5,Cannon Sony etc equivalent you will need it. You can still get good images early in the Canyon with lower iso camera's but you will have many more keepers if you can get to the higher ISO. A 75" monopod with tilt head would be great if allowed which would help with any of the cameras. Just remember you cannot go through the Canyon without a tour guide. Tours are packed and everything is dusty. Call in advance and book well before going. All tours are not equal so do your research and most of all have fun. Cheers.
