Lower Antelope Canyon is an entirely different experience than Upper.  It is much deeper and much less traveled by visitors.  It is by contrast to Upper peaceful.  The colors are not as vibrant as in Upper, but this only adds to the solemnity of the journey.

Having learned from my experience in Upper, I only carried two full-frame bodies with the 16-35 f/2.8L II and the 24-105 f/4L attached – and this was all that I needed.  Moreover, the canyon slot is much more narrow than in Upper making the use of a tripod very difficult in some areas and impossible in others.  When using a tripod in Upper, others can walk around you.  In Lower, that would not be possible in all but just a few spots.  All the more reason why the 24-105 f/4L is the right choice on full frame given its IS capability.  There were some areas of Lower where I could not properly expose using the 16-35 f/2.8L II and stabilize shooting hand-held without bumping the ISO above 320 – which I did not want to do.  With the 24-105 f/4L, this was not a problem.

The slot canyon walls in Lower present an incredible subject in their own right, but including in the composition the emergency rope ladders (flash flooding is  a risk) hanging in the canyon adds scale to the pictures.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS, ISO 160, 24 mm, 0 EV, f/13, 1/3 sec.

Lower Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon is something I have wanted to photograph since I started this pursuit.  Having now done so, I can say with certainty it is way too crowded, way too rushed by the group guides, and overall a very dusty trek.  Despite this, Upper Antelope Canyon is, simply put, a magical place and worth every inconvenience to experience it.

Unless you are Navajo, the only way to see Upper Antelope Canyon is by guided tour – either private or in a group.  I hired Lionel Bigthumb of http://www.adventuresantelopecanyon.com to guide me through not just Upper Antelope Canyon, but also through other slot canyons in the area including Owl, Rattlesnake and Mountain Sheep.  These last three you can only visit by private guide.  The experience of the crowds in Upper Antelope Canyon stands in sharp relief to the solitude of these other slot canyon experiences.  But Upper is the granddaddy.  Lionel is a very accomplished photographer in his own right and provided me with some excellent tips on how to best photograph the canyons – I highly recommend his services.

For a complete experience of Upper Antelope Canyon, you must visit it at two different times of the day.  The first is between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. when the sun is directly overhead.  This results in shafts of light shining down into several chambers in the canyon which is an amazing sight to see.   The second time is around 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.  The shafts of light will be gone, but the color palate of the walls will have turned from hues of orange to a spectrum of soft colors.  The second visit is more enjoyable from a crowds standpoint – literally about 1/5th of the people; however, the magic of the canyon is far more subdued.

Unless you are content shooting at a very high ISO, a tripod is a must.  Also, do not even remotely consider changing a lens once inside the canyon – the dust is pervasive.  I had read on several other websites that you should use the widest lens in your arsenal, so I decided to carry three lenses on three bodies – the 14 f/2.8L, 16-35 f/2.8L II and the 24-105 f/4.0L.  What I had read was wrong if you are using full frame bodies.  The 14 f/2.8L was not necessary at all and I used the 16-35 f/2.8L II only a few times wider than 24mm.  Instead, for the vast majority of the shots I used the 24-105 f/4.0L.  Any wider of a field of view would have resulted in over-exposure of the tops of the frames due to the light coming through the slots or too much of the dirt floor in frame for a balanced composition.  Moreover, the additional stop of light was not required because I shot everything at least at f/9.0 for DOF purposes.

Canon EOS 1D X, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS, ISO 320, 28mm, 0 EV, f/18, 4.0 sec.

Upper Antelope Canyon

Every February photographers have a chance, but only a chance, of capturing for 10 minutes or so the phenomenon in nature called “Firefall.”  I was lucky enough to do so this last February on a day when clouds appeared all across Yosemite Valley making it unlikely Horestail Fall would glow.  (The other two days I was there the Fall only appeared pinkish for less than a minute.)  As the sun sets across Yosemite Valley, in just the right position, it will shimmer off the granite wall behind and below Horsetail Fall and then reflect back through 1500 feet of mist.  I have not made too many photographs while grinning so widely from ear to ear.  It was an awesome sight to behold and a gratifying photograph to make.  I truly look forward to going for this again next year.

I was guided to the location for this shot by Michael Frye, a cool guy and an amazing photographer of the Valley.  This vantage point is uncommon for most photographs seen of the Firefall and is from a distance much farther than most seem to attempt.  I couldn’t have been happier.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 300 f/2.8L IS USM, ISO 100, 0 EV, f/8.0, 1/6 sec.

A fundamental element of photography.  This might just be fun.