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Raymond Bleesz
3-Apr-2016, 19:40
Our photo group--with Navaho Nation permits--fee's, will be going down Antelope Canyon towards the end of the month with a guide.

There are rules & regs regarding such--one of which is no tripods----and some other rules are not clear---such as no photo backpacks, shoulder photo bags, waist packs------Are all these not allowed---what is???

What are your suggestions-----what has been your experience---what are your do's & don'ts

onnect17
3-Apr-2016, 20:42
I stopped by the last year (lower side) and the guide mentioned they offer separate tours for photography groups, in which tripods are OK. As expected, the light is better close to noon but keep in mind Arizona (as a state) does not observes DST but Navajo nation does. A nearby little town (Page) has increased the hotel capacity in the last few years, if a place to stay is needed.
Also, it does not hurt to check TripAdvisor.

Drew Wiley
4-Apr-2016, 09:22
Those canyons can be pretty dim, so the notion of wandering without a tripod, or tripping over one another's gear in the middle of a herd doesn't sound like much of an opportunity at all. Might be OK for casual digi snapshooters. And lots of those shots people try to emulate require wide angle lenses that can be relatively dim to focus. Better to pay a little more and get a private guide to a less crowded branch of the canyon, or outside the mob schedulin, unless you're just going to look and not seriously shoot. But the other important thing about local contact is that they're more likely to be aware of when those canyons are safe or not. Personally, I'd rather go somewhere else than Antelope. Slot canyons have become quite a photographic cliche, but they do tend to be magnificent. I've stumbled into a number of them over the years where I've had total solitude. The one thing I dislike about Spring (versus post-flashflood season in the Fall) is that there tend to be a lot of flies in them.

arkady n.
4-Apr-2016, 13:12
There are two antelope canyons : upper and lower. Each of these have their own on-site tour companies. They fill up the tours on the first-come basis. Regular tours do not allow tripods. They do run photographer tours during which they encourage tripod use. They have one or two photographers tours per day, so you should order in advance. We also saw tours leaving from Page AZ, so it might make sense to search for them as well.

Be aware, lower canyon requires climbing over metal ladders and uneven rocks, and has some very narrow passages. Upper canyon is completely flat. You walk on firm flat sand. However, the tour guides drive you to the upper canyon over a very unpaved and uneven road for about 10 mins.

We were there last summer and took regular tour in the afternoon for both, upper and lower canyons. The tours were about 1.5 hrs each. Both to me were amazing in the literal sense of the word : causing great surprise or wonder; astonishing, startlingly impressive.

I used digital, here are some of the results : http://www.nemerovsky.com/arkady/blog/2015/09/28/422

(If you go, don't miss the Horseshoe Bend, which is right outside Page AZ)

Bill L.
4-Apr-2016, 17:49
Check out Carol Bigthumb's photo tours of the slot canyons. I went out with her group a couple of years ago, did upper and lower antelope canyons as well as a couple of lesser known ones. Tripods not only were allowed but encouraged. I would highly recommend her.

Cheers!
Bill

John Layton
4-Apr-2016, 23:21
Definitely go with a Photo-Tour! I did this a couple of years ago...hadn't been back since the mid 1990's and was amazed at how crowded things have gotten - it was a madhouse! But still worth it. At any rate - got these two pix looking straight up (only way to avoid people!) - with tripod legs bunched together and bodily pressed against the canyon wall: 149223149224

Nigel Smith
4-Apr-2016, 23:44
and was amazed at how crowded things have gotten - it was a madhouse!

these were from 2011

photo tour waiting for the light and 100's of people to wander past
149225

squishing past the people going the other way
149226

Another think not usually mentioned is the amount of sand and dust floating down on you and your camera.

Willie
5-Apr-2016, 06:38
The canyons in the early 1960's was not nearly so crowded. Hand tacked ladders rather than commercially made. A guide who would stay and camp overnight with you if you wanted.
Commercialization makes money for the area but has harmed it in more ways.

Jcradford
5-Apr-2016, 14:29
I've been in both upper and lower, and they are different, not better. Definitely recommend tripod and a photo pass. I would tend to shoot for walls with slow exposures and plenty of DOF ... Sky can be a killer with huge lighting extremes, so some HDR might be in order, or multiple exposures to include clouds. It's all bout the lines, textures, and light. Don't forget the http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160405/b56947261aadb4ff9c3a5f810f6c2132.jpgHorseshoe Bend just south of Page ...a short hike, worth it. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160405/3d141edfffe72000ca2f5cd624696931.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160405/4e26471ba416a5e83aedc1130de60a5c.jpg

Drew Wiley
5-Apr-2016, 16:08
Thanks for confirming why I never ever want to visit Antelope Canyon. If I was younger with better fingers, I suppose I'd be one of those types rappelling into canyons instead. But as it is, I've managed to squiggle or even mosey into some with no lines, nobody else in sight, any damn tripod and camera that will fit, and no rules (except the universal one - make sure it isn't raining anywhere upstream, tempting a flashflood).

goamules
5-Apr-2016, 17:33
I'd say find your own hidden away canyon, rather than be bustled around like at a press conference. Most photos are of fairly close views of striated sandstone. There are millions of walls and canyons with that all over the area.

Vaughn
5-Apr-2016, 22:40
I was there on a LF workshop in 1985...got some good workshop type shots on 4x5. Now I think I am ready to do the place justice with the 8x10, but I will pass. There are alternatives and images all over, as Garrett mentioned. Here is one, Skull Cave, Lava Beds Nat. Monument. 8x10 carbon print.

Drew Wiley
6-Apr-2016, 08:33
I'm sure it's a magical place. Plenty of pictures prove that. But there is something even more magical about "discovering" some hidden canyon and enjoying it in
solitude. To me that is far more important than bagging yet another picture, though I have had both my 4x5 and 8x10 gear on numerous canyon country hikes, some of them for quite a few days at a time. And there are many relatively accessible canyon where everyone is aiming for the same stereotypical images,
yet overlooking more subtle things that might come out just as stunning in print. But in terms of relatively known slot canyons, there are entire websites with
maps dedicated to them, and they exist in more states than just Utah and Arizona. I have even been in the vicinity of some of the most accessible ones, where you could just drive up and walk a few yards into an easy safe mosey. Not secret at all, but no tour buses either, and total solitude when I was there. Or I've been in very popular places like Zion, and just wandered off a bit and "discovered" wonderful little side canyons that the herd never paid attention to. Hope
I can go back to the Colorado Plateau in my retirement years; but backpacking per se often means carrying a considerable amount of water in addition to the
weight of view camera and camping gear. Garsh, don't distract me... I'm already sitting atop some 8x10 canyon color negs itching to get printed, but really do
need to finish a fence project first....

Drew Wiley
6-Apr-2016, 08:35
Vaughn - that print really teases me. I'll want to see the carbon print in person some day. I'll bet it's wonderful.

Vaughn
7-Apr-2016, 07:51
Vaughn - that print really teases me. I'll want to see the carbon print in person some day. I'll bet it's wonderful.

One thing fun about the print is that in the black areas, even tho they are pure black, there is detail in them in the form of the raised relief.

Mark Sampson
7-Apr-2016, 08:08
I visited upper Antelope Canyon 21 years ago, when you just paid a local $10 to get in. It was March but we had the place to ourselves. It is as spectacular as everyone's pictures show- I like the ones I made that day. But like many other famous locations (as it was even then), it's difficult to bring anything of yourself to it. Still worth visiting, and photographing... a haunting place.
The next year some visitors were killed there in a flash flood; I got shivers from hearing that news. Because an hour after we'd left the canyon I was driving uphill from there, and ran into a big thunderstorm...and a year later I realized where that rainwater had gone. We were lucky.

Drew Wiley
7-Apr-2016, 08:40
I've been in canyons where I could simply step over a stream, yet still see mud and devastation fifty yards to either side from just a few days before. With little
vegetation to stop runoff, flashfloods can move down canyons with remarkable speed and power. One merely has to look at house-sized boulders to understand
what happens from time to time. One of my nephews once led tours in canyon country, and after a trek they often lounge a couple of days in houseboats on Lake
Powell. One thing they learned is to never anchor a boat near an alcove with a gap in the top. Seemingly out of nowhere on a hot day under a clear blue sky, a
waterfall can suddenly appear throwing logs and boulders. Whenever entering a narrow canyon you have to be very aware of not only immediate weather circumstances, but of what might happen miles away in the mountains, as well as the general seasonal risk.

Willie
7-Apr-2016, 16:31
Bruce Barnbaum has a series of images from the Canyons that is excellent. Take a look and get jazzed about going. With some luck you'll see it with fresh eyes and get your own images rather than the 'same old, same old' done again.

Gadfly_1971
13-Apr-2016, 19:47
Our photo group--with Navaho Nation permits--fee's, will be going down Antelope Canyon towards the end of the month with a guide.

There are rules & regs regarding such--one of which is no tripods----and some other rules are not clear---such as no photo backpacks, shoulder photo bags, waist packs------Are all these not allowed---what is???

What are your suggestions-----what has been your experience---what are your do's & don'ts

I'll be doing Lower Antelope next week. If they're telling you "no tripods" you're on the wrong tour. Photo tours are a little pricier (depending on the vendor) but are limited to photographers with tripods and "professional" gear (DSLR or similar, tripod, etc.). Supposedly you're also supposed to get a permit if you plan to sell or exhibit, but I don't see how they can enforce that if you're on a legit tour.