Magical Moments
Glorious shafts of light beam through the magnificent slot canyons during mid-day, when the sun is at its peak. Before capturing this photo, I had to pause for ...
Read more
Glorious shafts of light beam through the magnificent slot canyons during mid-day, when the sun is at its peak. Before capturing this photo, I had to pause for a while and appreciate the spectacular moment that was transpiring right before my eyes. It was pure magic.
https:--instagram.com-lemjaylucas
Read less
https:--instagram.com-lemjaylucas
Read less
Jul, 2016Views
2024
Likes
Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Top Shot Award 21
Legendary Award
Member Selection Award
Featured
Contest Finalist in Freshmen 2016 Photo Contest Vol 2
Summer Selection
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Genius
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in Upper Antelope Canyon on Navajo land east of Page, Arizona, which was carved into sandstone by years of erosion and flood cycles. As a landscape photographer, the slot canyons of Antelope have been in my bucket list for quite some time. Finally, in the summer of August 2015, I was able to visit the US for the very first time and managed to squeeze a day into my busy itinerary to shoot this astounding sculpture of Mother Nature.Time
Timing was critical to get this shot. I was inside the canyon at around 10:30am exploring and surveying the area while taking a few photos. It was only during mid-day, when the sun was at its peak that glorious shafts of light beamed through the narrow openings of the slot canyon. Before capturing this photo, I had to pause for a while and appreciate the spectacular moment that was transpiring right before my eyes. It was pure magic.Lighting
It was dark inside Upper Antelope Canyon and the only source of light that I had was the sunlight radiating down the openings from the top of the canyon. Because I needed a long exposure to capture this image, a tripod was essential to avoid camera shake, which would result to a blurry image. I am also into urban nightscapes photography and my knowledge in shooting during low-light situations helped me to capture this photo, while using similar principles in this shot.Equipment
This photo was taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III mounted on a Benro C2692T Travel Angel 2 Carbon Tripod & B1 Head Kit. Since I was a bit far from the scene, I used a Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens to capture this image. A shutter remote was also essential in order to avoid directly pressing my camera’s shutter, which would have contributed to camera shake.Inspiration
I have seen lots of beautiful images of Upper Antelope Canyon and I always wanted to capture one of my own. The challenge is to make an image that will stand out from the rest because the place has been captured by lots of photographers a million times. Luckily during my visit, this scene transpired right in front of me: two shafts of light beaming from the slot canyons at the same time—something that I have never seen before in other images. After capturing this photo, that’s when I felt that I had something special to take home with me.Editing
For this particular image, very minimal post-processing was done, as the scene was already perfect for my taste. I just had to up my exposure a notch higher to show more details of the canyon walls because my RAW photo was a bit darker. I also had to be careful in oversaturating the image because the canyon walls were already quite saturated due to the light beams’ reflection.In my camera bag
As a landscape and urban nightscape photographer, aside from my Canon EOS 5D Mark III, my most essential equipment is my Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Lens. It is best for capturing those scenic landscapes and wide-angle photos of cityscapes. I also have the Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens in my bag just in case I need to zoom in on some landscape scenes. For long exposure landscapes, I have my Hoya 77mm NDx400 HMC Filter, Hoya 77mm NDX8 Filter and B+W 77mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer Slim MRC Filter, all of which I use for different landscape scenes. I also have my LEE Graduated Neutral Density Filters to balance the exposure of my landscape photos.Feedback
Light beams in the Upper Antelope Canyon occur most often during the summer months when the sun is at its highest. Light beams start to peak into the canyon during March and disappear in October. During winter, colors are a little more muted. The best time to go is between July and August during the summer peak. It is also best to shoot during noontime when the sunlight beams directly through the canyon openings. If one decides to shoot zoom and wide-angle images, it is advised to bring 2 camera bodies as changing lenses inside the canyon is a big no, no! The interior of the canyon tends to be very dusty because of the sand on the ground and the sand falling from the canyon openings. For more inspiring images, you can also find me in this page: https://instagram.com/lemjaylucas
