I've been in Page, AZ for the past couple days. I intended on leaving today but I also intended on visiting the lower Antelope Canyon. However, Mother Nature decided to throw a wind/dust storm this way so I've been hiding from the winds. I didn't think driving to unknown far off locations with 35mph winds with gusts to 65mpg was the best idea. So I'm staying here another night. Hopefully the wind will be gone and I will be able to walk again tomorrow morning so I can go there on my way out to Monument Valley (the next stop!).
Why can't I walk, you ask? Have you ever done lunges for 2 hours? I don't highly recommend it. Especially if you don't have quads-o-steel. Photographing in Antelope Canyon was like doing lunges for two hours because I was down on my knees photographing, then up and moving 2 feet, then down, then up and moving 3 feet, then down. But so completely worth it!!! WOW. That is all I can say. There really aren't any words to describe it. It is so breathtakingly beautiful and surreal and totally different from anywhere else I have ever been.
Antelope Canyon can only be accessed with a Navajo guide. You cannot enter or go to the canyon on your own. And honestly, if you could I wouldn't recommend going without a guide anyway... especially if your a photographer. I took a photographers tour... which was only *supposed* to be for serious amateurs and professionals. There were about 4 people with tri-pods, another 4 or so with point-n-shoots, and a few more just standing around. Those all kinda ended up going off on their own and finishing in the canyon way before the actual photographers did. Which was fine... less people to compete for space with and try to keep out of your frame or from walking in front of the camera with the shutter open. (Trying to convince people that while I was sitting there "doing nothing" that my shutter was actually open and a photo was being taken was interesting.) Anyway... (See this is why I titled this blog "Random Ramblings" because I tend to go off on rambling tangents!)
My guide (whose name I will find out tomorrow and post here in an edit) was AWESOME!! I think I had him wrapped around my pinky! It ended up just being me and one other guy with the guide for the last 2/3rds of the time we were in there. He was pulling me into all these locations and spots and pointing stuff out to me and stand here, sit here, hoisting me up on rocks, holding people back from my shots, asking other tour guides if he could have them hold on for one minute so I could get the shot, etc. He even carried my bag for the last hour (his idea... he just did it) because it was impeding me from backing all the way up to the rock walls to get in the shadows enough. Sooooo awesome. Totally worth the price, which wasn't even that much considering. It was 70 minutes longer than a regular site seeing tour and only $15 more. What? Um, yes please.
I walked away with about 20 gb's of images... nothing was less than a second exposure time, most were around 5 seconds, with several that were 30 seconds or more.
Did I mention that it was amazingly awesomely cool? No wait... again... no words really describe it. Beautiful. Spiritual. Moving. Alien. Unique. Breathtaking. Gorgeous. All of those work but don't fully describe it. The photos show some of the scenes but you still don't get the feel of being there.
Ok, enough rambling... on to a couple sneaky peeks of the images I took there.
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LOVE the pictures. LOVE THEM!
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ReplyDeletewow. that's all. wow.
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