Touring Antelope Canyon

In the northern part of Arizona, just east of Page, on Navajo Indian land is one of the most interesting places I’ve ever photographed. And I say photographed, rather than seen, because what’s really spectacular about the place comes about when seen through the right exposure on your camera. There’s really no other way to see Antelope Canyon, in my opinion, than with a few good pictures.

 

I know that sounds a bit weird, but without the extra exposure from your camera lense, Antelope Canyon just appears to be a drab brown slot canyon with some wavy walls. In it’s own right, that’s interesting to see, but not nearly what it is after snapping a few photos and having the colors of the walls come out to light browns and dark purples.

 

I booked a tour to see the canyon, which is the only way you can go, and arrived in time to load up in the four wheel vehicle to drive out to the spot. Several times I felt like we were going to roll over as the sand pushed our tires around, so it was definitely a thrilling drive as well. And really, without it, there would’ve been a long hike back to the canyon from the parking lot with absolutely no shade.

Our group arrived first and our guide started hurrying us through the canyon so we could be sure to get photos with no people standing in our way. A few times we had to stop and wait for another group to pass in the canyon as there’s really no other way around, but it was no problem as we were able to click away and get plenty of fun shots.

 

The tour I took was about 90 minutes long, which seems like plenty to see a little canyon after all the big ones I saw on this trip, but I wish I would’ve taken the longer photographers tour to relax and enjoy it a bit. I appreciated the enthusiasm of our guide, but it would’ve been nice too to just be able to take photos at leisure instead of being rushed on through. Still though, I greatly enjoyed the trip and am quite happy with some of the photos I’ve taken.

 

On the other hand though, due to the rushing around, I got some good blurry shots as well. But, that’s how it goes I guess when the exposure is so high and you don’t have a tripod to work with; I thought about bringing mine with but decided against it as I wasn’t on the photographers tour. Generally though, it’s not difficult to get good shots no matter what type of camera you have. All the little point and click cameras that were in our group were getting good shots as well and there were lots of ooohs and aaaahs in the group.

 

But, sadly, this is just one of the canyons in the area and the tour only takes you through the canyon. To do this place justice I could’ve easily spent a full day here exploring up above the canyons and down in the one I was in and the others in the area. Watching the beams of midday light shoot down into the canyon is really something special, camera or no, and an experience I would’ve liked to have more time to enjoy. But, it is what it is and I now know from my highlight tour through the Colorado Plateau that I need to go back and take a bit more time to fully enjoy the area around Page, Arizona – a place I honestly hadn’t heard of until I stumbled across a photo from an Antelope Canyon tour.