Antelope Canyon

[goamules]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.