This year our lake Powell trip was a little different- no pictures of the canyons uplake (long, long sordid story of broken outdrives and parking at the dock for the whole week). But hey, it turned out to be great! My family has been to "the" lake for the past bazillion years, and every year I've wanted to go take the tour of Antelope Canyon. But no time! This year we finally made it, and wow- it was spectacular! I can't recommend it enough. Here are some photos that I took in the slot canyon with some things that I learned along the way.
I couldn't get into a photography tour- all full- and we called a month ahead of time. But we showed up at the gate ($6 parking) and then paid for a regular tour ($25).
Hint-
Cash only,so be prepared! Tours start on the hour and run about 90 minutes. Be there early so that you get a spot. Best light in the summer is between 11 am and 2 pm (when the sun is high. Any remember that it's a slot canyon, if there is any chance of rain (especially in the summer, when afternoon monsoons happen often), they will close for safety.
BE Patient! There are a
lot
of people in the canyon during the day. If you want to get a shot of the canyon, wait for your group to go ahead, take the shot quick, then run to catch up so you don't miss anything.
Our tour guide was helpful with taking pictures, pointing out places that were good for pictures. He was nice and tossed a lot of sand for our group (it's the sand in the light that produces the light beams in the photos).
Take a tripod and shutter release if you have one. I used a kit lens (18-55mm) but would have loved to have a wide angle. Goes without saying- don't try to change your lens in the canyon with all the sand flying! no flash, and raise you ISO (our tour guide suggested 800). I mostly shot these in manual mode.
Last thing I learned- take as many pictures as you can handle- you never know which one you'll fall in love with!
