Return from Las Vegas Trip - Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe Bend in the morning near Page, AZ

Horseshoe Bend is one of those places that has been visited and photographed by so many people, yet if you have the chance, you must go and see it for yourself.  The bend itself is where the Colorado River makes a full 180 degree turn around a bluff, with sheer canyon walls all around.  It is just outside Page, AZ, south of Lake Powell about 10 miles and North of the Grand Canyon.

There are varying opinions and tips on when to shoot Horseshoe Bend.  I read about shooting it in morning light, midday light, afternoon light, at night, at dusk, at dawn, and on and on.  The deep canyon walls make for some tricky lighting conditions, and HDR or exposure blending is a common method for dealing with this.  After reading up, I decided to head out to the location and capture Horseshoe Bend in the early morning dawn, before the sun came up. 

I had one small hiccup with this plan.  I used "The photographer's ephemeris" app on my iphone to look up the time of the sunrise for Monday, March 12th in Page AZ, 6:40 AM.  I woke up at 6, grabbed my gear and some drinks and snacks and headed down the road from my hotel about 10 miles to the turn off for the trail.  Along the way I noticed it was still pretty dark out, no signs of the sun coming up, but the sky was overcast and I figured I just needed to give it some time.  I brought a flashlight with me and began the hike, which was a little scary in the dark, as I had never been on the trail before and couldn't see more than 30 ft. in front of me.  Knowing somewhere ahead was a shear cliff with a dropoff of several hundred feet, the darkness was not my friend.  I eventually made it to the edge of the cliff about 6:20 AM, and still no sign of the sun. 

Setup ready to get some shots (taken with iphone)

 So I waited, and waited.  Finally as I was looking on my iphone I realized that the sunrise time I got from the app had not taken into account the change in daylight savings time that had occured the day before!  I was an hour early for the sunrise.  So I waited some more.  I heard lots of wildlife sounds during the wait, including an owl nearby and several different coyote howls in the area.  A little spooky, but at the same time it was such a peaceful wait I had, no people or buildings around, at such an amazing spot, surrounded by nature.  Eventually the Eastern sky started to lighten and I was able to scout the area and see the full scale of Horseshoe Bend.  Breathtaking! 

Eventually, several other photographers made their way down the trail, and we all claimed a spot around the rim of the cliffs.  Horseshoe Bend is a place that doesn't lend itself to a variety of angles and different shooting positions.  Because of the size of the bend, almost every image I have seen of it is taken with a wide angle lens to get the whole scene in the frame.  After all, just getting part of the river in the frame would not make a unique image, it would just be a picture of a river! 

The view to the East of the sunrise, with Horseshoe Bend directly behind the camera

 I spent the next hour or so taking a variety of shots.  We were all hoping for the sun to peak through the cloud cover and light up the Vermillion Cliffs, off in the distance behind the Bend, with some nice warm morning light, but we had no such luck.  There was some nice light off in the distance though towards Lake Powell though, which I spent some time shooting with my telephoto lens.

Morning light looking towards Page, AZ and Lake Powell

Looking back down the trail at Horseshoe Bend from the top of the trail (taken with iphone)

My visit to Horseshoe Bend was fantastic, and if you are in the area you have to go.  It is a truly unique Southwestern destination, and something you have to see with your own eyes.  Next up is a post on Antelope Canyon!

Happy Shooting!