Slot Canyons, Horseshoe Bend, and Route 66

anwmn1

Joel (Kdog), and friend of mine and myself had booked some photo tours of some slot canyons in the Page Az area.

I headed up from Phoenix Thursday morning and made a stop in the Painted Desert outside of Page.




I got into Page and got set up in my high end accomodations.



Joel was out at Horseshoe Bend so I jumped back in the car and met him out there.

Using the IR remote control.


After dinner taking too long and Joel finding out he lost his cell phone we were once again on our way to Horseshoe bend. Joel couldn't find his phone but I got some more good shots.





Friday we met up with some friends from down under and a photo guide and spent a few hours in Upper Antelope Canyon.





Joel setting up a shot in Upper Antelope


A different look at the famous light tubes


Once that tour was over Joel and I headed over to Lower Antelope and were able to exploe the canyon on our own and take our time. It was also a lot less crowded.





Saturday morning brought another photo tour. This time it was Canyon X and our guide was professional photographer Jackson Bridges. :clap



My friend Sarah with some backlighting



She allowed me to hold her camera and pushed the shutter button for me as well. Good Friends.



Jackson providing information and a great story during lunch. He gave Art Wolf instruction in Antelope Canyon. :wink



I found the light!


After Canyon X Joel headed home and my friend Sarah and I headed over to Lake Powell for some dinner and some night shots.

View from our table






This morning it was time to drive across the state over to Kingman where I will be working for a few days. Stopped in Seligman along the way- birthplace of Route 66.





Comments always welcome.

kdog

Great shots, Aaron! clap And a great story to boot. It was a pleasure meeting and shooting with you. Thanks so much for setting up the trip.

Unfortunately, now that I've seen your pictures, mine will never see the light of day. :bluduh

Folks, meet Aaron. Great guy, but he's a french fry short of a Happy Meal.



-joel

Nikolai

Great story, Aaron!
Too bad I couldn't make it :bash
I hope next time I won't miss this trip :-)

wxwax

Wonderful shots. Make me want to go there right now.

dogwood

Some cool work there-- I especially like the self-portrait at Horseshoe Bend. Thanks for sharing.

grimace

Great series of shots!!

anwmn1

kdog wrote:

Great shots, Aaron! clap And a great story to boot. It was a pleasure meeting and shooting with you. Thanks so much for setting up the trip.

Unfortunately, now that I've seen your pictures, mine will never see the light of day. :bluduh

Folks, meet Aaron. Great guy, but he's a french fry short of a Happy Meal.


-joel

Hey I am only a french fry short because I already ate it. They smell soo good.

It was a great time and can't wait to do it again.

You had better post some shots- I have seen your work- remember?!

anwmn1

Nikolai wrote:

Great story, Aaron!
Too bad I couldn't make it :bash
I hope next time I won't miss this trip :-)

Thanks Nik- it was definitly worth the cost and it was nice shooting with people who were genuinly interested in photography.

I'll let you know of the next trip.

anwmn1

wxwax wrote:

Wonderful shots. Make me want to go there right now.

Thanks for the post.

If you come out let us know- always looking to meet up with others.

anwmn1

dogwood wrote:

Some cool work there-- I especially like the self-portrait at Horseshoe Bend. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks! Joel's reaction to me setting up that shot was you are (expletive) crazy.

It was only 400-600 ft down- and there was water!

anwmn1

grimace wrote:

Great series of shots!!

Thank you Adam! It was a great time.

grimace

I will say you are more daring then me. Those Horseshoe Bend shots are freaking me out. I had to start 10 feet from the edge and Army crawl in to get my shot.

kdog

grimace wrote:

I will say you are more daring then me. Those Horseshoe Bend shots are freaking me out. I had to start 10 feet from the edge and Army crawl in to get my shot.

How do you think I lost my cell phone. :bluduh

saurora

These are beyond stunning, Aaron and you definitely are one french fry short of a Happy Meal!!! Good grief! It's hard to pick one over such great shots, but I do love the lighting in #5. Good stuff!

Ann McRae

I have two things to say:

WOW

and

Thanks!

ann

Nikolai

Adam,

grimace wrote:

I will say you are more daring then me. Those Horseshoe Bend shots are freaking me out. I had to start 10 feet from the edge and Army crawl in to get my shot.

You mean, like this?



You mean, you didn't want to take it up standing?



And get this shot?



JK, I had more thrill there in Page than I had in the Angel's Landing in Zion



and on the cables to Half-Dome in Yosemite



Awesome place!

greenplasticdave

What a great aeries of shots and a great location. I MUST visit America one of these days and Az will be a must visit area.

Thanks for sharing

-Dave-

www.mirkwoodcottage.typepad.com/davidjamesphotography

BeachBill

anwmn1 wrote:

Joel (Kdog), and friend of mine and myself had booked some photo tours of some slot canyons in the Page Az area.

My favs:

1. Using the IR remote control.

I don't know if I would be brave enough to do that, but it looks cool.

2. Friday we met up with some friends from down under and a photo guide and spent a few hours in Upper Antelope Canyon.

The other photog really gives the canyon scale.

About the falling sand: is that continuous?

3. A different look at the famous light tubes
Definitely my favorite of the bunch. Gorgeous!

4. My friend Sarah with some backlighting

Nice composition. I would expect to find this shot in a magazine advertising something...

I'm really interested in doing a trip like this, can you tell me more about the photo tours you went on?

Elaine

Gorgeous set! Fantastic!! (Next time you post so many, maybe you could number them to make talking about specific ones easier? ) Congratulations!

anwmn1

grimace wrote:

I will say you are more daring then me. Those Horseshoe Bend shots are freaking me out. I had to start 10 feet from the edge and Army crawl in to get my shot.

I don't have any problem with the ledges or heights

Grand Canyon in March- so windy my tripod and camera almost blew over!


Bryce with my son- okay this one was scary to get to (only 6" wide for 15 feet before opened up enough to sit )


Sedona- Devils Bridge

anwmn1

saurora wrote:

These are beyond stunning, Aaron and you definitely are one french fry short of a Happy Meal!!! Good grief! It's hard to pick one over such great shots, but I do love the lighting in #5. Good stuff!

Thank you Saurora- Northern Arizona and Southern Utah have a very wide range of spectacular places to visit.

We can only hope to capture some of its beauty!

anwmn1

Ann McRae wrote:

I have two things to say:

WOW

and

Thanks!

ann

Thanks Ann.

anwmn1

greenplasticdave wrote:

What a great aeries of shots and a great location. I MUST visit America one of these days and Az will be a must visit area.

Thanks for sharing

-Dave-

www.mirkwoodcottage.typepad.com/davidjamesphotography

You are welcome to visit as long as you come between June and August so you can get the full effect of Arizona.

anwmn1

Elaine wrote:

Gorgeous set! Fantastic!! (Next time you post so many, maybe you could number them to make talking about specific ones easier? ) Congratulations!

Thanks Elaine!

I will take that under consideration after my next travels.

anwmn1

BeachBill wrote:

My favs:

1. Using the IR remote control.

I don't know if I would be brave enough to do that, but it looks cool.

2. Friday we met up with some friends from down under and a photo guide and spent a few hours in Upper Antelope Canyon.

The other photog really gives the canyon scale.

About the falling sand: is that continuous?

3. A different look at the famous light tubes
Definitely my favorite of the bunch. Gorgeous!

4. My friend Sarah with some backlighting

Nice composition. I would expect to find this shot in a magazine advertising something...

I'm really interested in doing a trip like this, can you tell me more about the photo tours you went on?

Beachbill thanks for the post and the comments!

As far as the sand it is not continuous.
It is one of those photo props as are most the light tubes you see from these canyons. The shot was achieved by throwing sand up on the rock and then doing a long exposure. Most light tubes are achieved by throwing some sand in the air where the light is coming in and doing a long exposure.

Your favorite shot of the light tubes is however natural! The dust in the air was just from other tours walking through the canyon. Most people were shooting from straight on and chest or eye level. I moved over to the left of the canyon and shot at an upwards angle. I believe I was the only one that got that shot!

The tour company is called Overland Tours and they offer many tours of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. There are lots of companies that offer tours of Upper Antelope Canyon but Overland is the only one that offers photo tours with a pro photographer as a guide. The photo tour of Upper Antelope meant we had 2-3 hours in the canyon compared to the other companies which limit you to 30-45 min.

Lower Antelope you do not need a guide. If you have a camera they will give you a photo pass and let you wander through the canyon on your own for up to 4 hours and you can even split your time- morning and then come back in the afternoon.

Canyon X was the big tour we paid for. Overland Tours is the only company that is allowed in Canyon X and they limit their photo tours to 4 to 8 people but prefer only 4. This tour is 4-5 hours and the guide will show you some great shots, compositions, and as much or as little help as you would like. This tour also includes a sack lunch and water.

Another nice thing about Overland is though the guides are pro photographers they only bring point and shoot cameras to show compositions. They are at your service during the tour.

Thanks for the compliments and I am going to try and sell the shot of my friend- it is one of my favorites!

BeachBill

Thanks so much for the information about the photo tours and revealing some of the secrets of the shots. Having never been there, I had no idea how it was done.

I did some searching and found Overland's website as well as a bunch of other useful information. I'm trying to plan ahead for a trip there sometime next year.

com3

amazing pics in this thread! wow! the sands falling pic is ridiculously rad.

hamster

That sand "waterfall" is absolutely amazing. Beautiful shots!