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