Antelope Canyon is not one of the so-called Rainbow Mountains of the world, though I understand why people sometimes group it with them. The Rainbow Mountains in Peru or China are colored by mineral deposits layered and tilted over geologic time. Antelope, by contrast, is carved not by minerals but by water and wind — flash floods scouring through sandstone, polishing its walls into ribbons that shift with the light. The result is no less dazzling: walls that burn orange, glow crimson, melt into violet and shadow. Step inside, and it feels as though you are walking inside the earth’s own spectrum, a spectrum that changes minute by minute as the sun angles overhead.
On this trip, I came away with six frames. Six glimpses of what happens when stone, shadow, and imagination collide: ribs of some alien beast, a woman frozen mid-stride, Monument Valley hidden in silhouette, a sandstone wave caught in motion, a howling coyote conjured from shadow, and a vortex spiralling toward infinity. Taken together, they feel like fragments of a dream — one canyon, six visions, all carved by time.
Beauty In Stone
As I wrote in my last post, during a recent swing out to Vegas, we took a short road trip, but the weather was uncooperative, and so we spent quite a bit of time in the slot canyons near Page, Arizona, where the incredible forms and textures are plenty photogenic in all kinds of weather. I do have somewhat mixed feelings about many of my slot canyon photos from an artistic perspective, because you have to hire a guide there and it is so crowded that the guide points out most of the interesting formations and the photographer just tries to do their best not to mess up the shot (it’s actually not so easy given how little time you have before the next group wanders through your frame). Nonetheless, a magical place to visit.
Bones Of The Earth
I’ve been debating whether to post this. I’ve found myself too often posting things that I think may be most popular, which isn’t really the right way to think about this hobby. I find this picture fascinating because it’s so hard to tell what it is, so I’m putting it out because I like it! With the line patterns on the surface, the graininess of the rock, the hard shadows, and the organic-looking curves. I feel like I’m looking at an X-ray picture of some giant creature’s ribs. Like something out of an Alien movie. It’s not the usual sunrise/sunset in a well-known landscape.
This is a wall of striated sandstone in Upper Antelope Canyon in Arizona. Tweaked a bit for light, shadow and contrast in Lightroom. Colours are unchanged.
Extraordinary Earth
In honour of Earth Day, this is the classic “Monument Valley” view inside Antelope Canyon, so called because the silhouetted peak shape resembles the buttes in Monument Valley. I’ve been holding off on posting this one for a while. The colours, textures and shapes in Antelope are extraordinary, and I can think of no more fitting tribute to our beautiful planet, even if it is a picture so frequently captured.
…Step inside Antelope Canyon and it feels as though you are walking within the earth’s own spectrum — stone turned to light, shadow turned to colour.
It’s a tricky shot to capture because Antelope is so crowded that you have only a minute or so to get the shot. When you first look at it, it’s not so obvious what you are looking at — you are shooting upwards at an awkward angle, into a combination of deep shadow and hard direct light. It wasn’t until after I got the shot onto the computer that I really saw what it was, and then I had to change the angle by about 30 degrees and do quite a bit of cropping, along with a lot of light/shadow work to get it satisfactory.
Rock N Roller
A more abstract shot from a trip down to the slot canyons in Arizona in January with Kevin Benedict. The fluidity, smoothness and fine lines in this sandstone wall look almost liquid, like an ocean wave captured in stone. Taken in Rattlesnake slot canyon near Lake Powell in Arizona.
Rattlesnake is not nearly as crowded as the better-known Upper and Lower Antelope canyons, and is only accessible via private tour. This gives lots more time for setting up photos and for finding different angles and unusual formations. Rattlesnake is more open than Antelope, so it gets more direct sun. Fortunately, it was fairly overcast for most of this day, allowing for more even lighting. Also, a good place for horned owl spotting (we saw a couple on this day). Apparently, the rattlesnakes are not very commonly found in this canyon, but they are around.
The Pentax Pixel Shift feature on the K-1 worked marvels in the slot canyons, allowing for very fine details. A couple of small highlights were blown here, which I didn’t notice at the time, but oh well.
The Coyote
Going back to a run in the slot canyons near Page. This is the “howling coyote” in Upper Antelope slot canyon. Hopefully, the coyote is plain to see. For anyone familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, I also see Groot in the picture, and was going to title it “Groot and the Coyote.” Or at least some other vague creature face. Can you see it (in profile)?
Interestingly, there are not that many shots I could find out there of the Coyote (even though there are millions of shots from Upper Antelope). I guess it could be that it’s a) difficult to see, b) difficult to shoot, c) not that interesting, d) all of the above. I did find it interesting, and after the guide pointed it out, I could see it, but it came out much more visible on camera than in person. I find it amazing how often I see faces or creatures when shooting rock formations, trees and other abstract nature shots. I actually have a little private collection of “rock face” photos. Weird.
…Six frames, each one a reminder that sandstone isn’t just rock — it’s memory, carved by water, wind, and imagination.
Total Perspective Vortex
The circular pattern here together with the lines etched running lengthwise brought the word “vortex” to mind, and that made me remember the “total perspective vortex” from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (which was first done as a BBC radio series and that remains by far the best way to enjoy it, though the books are great as well).
Upper Antelope Canyon in Arizona. I debated on whether to post this — I usually only post one shot from any given location shoot. As it was my first time in the slot canyons and they are such a unique and amazing experience, I’ll waive my usual restriction and post a second for fun.
Six frames from the canyons, each one a reminder that sandstone isn’t just rock — it’s memory. Water, wind, shadow, and light shape it into figures, faces, waves, and even galaxies. Some of these shots were obvious in the moment, others only revealed themselves later on the screen. Either way, Antelope and its neighbours gave me more than I expected: not just photographs, but fragments of imagination carved into stone.
Read More: 01 World Rainbow Mountains
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