Return from Las Vegas Trip - Lower Antelope Canyon

Curves of Lower Antelope Canyon

I love living in the Southwest.  As a photographer, I don't think there are many other places in the world that offer such a diverse array of exciting, interesting, unique, and amazing locations to shoot.  This is especially true if you like shooting landscapes.  There are deserts, mountains, lakes, canyons, waterfalls, sun, storms, snow, trees, clouds, and on and on, and the vastness of it all seems a little bit greater in the Southwest. 

None of this prepared me for my first trip to Antelope Canyon.  I have wanted to go to a slot canyon for several years now, ever since I got serious about photography.  Slot canyons are well known to landscape photographers, one of those jewels that seem to be a badge of honor on your list of credentials, as if you can't call yourself a landscape photographer if you haven't been to one.  I do not really believe that, but nonetheless it is something that I had high on my list.

Antelope Canyon map.  Page, AZ is on the left, the facility on the right is the Navajo power plant, and right where the orange pin is is the start of the canyon, which goes north from there

Antelope Canyon is generally regarded as the best slot canyon around.  It is actually two separate canyons, an Upper and Lower, on Navajo Indian land just outside of Page, AZ.  The Upper is the more popular, and there are stories out there of people packed shoulder to shoulder going through it.  Not what I was looking for if I want to take my time and get some images.  The lower canyon is just across the road from the other, longer, and has fewer visitors due to the fact it has several levels to it and requires navigating some stairs and ledges.  They also offer a photographer's pass at the lower canyon, which allows you free roaming access for up to 2 hours inside.  Makes my choice an easy one.

The entrance to Lower Antelope Canyon (Iphone shot)

After I paid my admission fee ($26), a guide led me to the entrance.  He explained the rules (no food, littering, climbing, defacing, urinating, etc.) and told me how the canyon is considered sacred to the Navajo people.  He stopped in the middle of a sand arroyo and pointed me to a small crack in the ground, and said have fun.  I could not believe this was the entrance!  Just a small crack in the ground, barely big enough to squeeze through, but after taking the first flight of stairs down, it was obvious what the draw was.  From the outside, one would never expect to find such beautiful shapes and colors down below.

Lower Antelope Canyon path

 The canyon, like most canyons, is formed by water, the rainwater from summer thunderstorms that washes down the hills and forces it way into the cracks.  As a result of how narrow the slot canyons are, flash flooding is a major safety issue.  In 1997, 11 people died in a flash flood in this very canyon when the thunderstorms came too quickly and they couldn't escape the canyon in time.  Since this tragedy, strict guidelines have been put into place for when to close the canyon and safety measures are throughout, including water rescue boxes along the top that have rope and other life saving gear inside.

Lower Antelope Canyon, looking up from the bottom

Photographing inside is amazing.  Almost every direction you look there is a new angle to capture or a new formation that intrigues.  In general, tripods are a must, most of my exposures were a couple seconds long.  Even looking up, the colors and shapes are beautiful, as long as you avoid getting what would turn out to be a very blown out sky in the frame.

Just a hint of sky in Lower Antelope Canyon

There were a few people that came through while I was inside, but everyone was courteous and we all took turns taking pictures for others or getting out of the way of a shot.  I was in the canyon from about 10:30 till 12:00 in the morning, and the light was fantastic.  Because of the depth of the canyons and the small openings at the top, the best time is during midday, exactly the opposite of your typical landscape hours. 

The canyons are carved out of red sandstone, and constantly changing

 During certain times of the day, the canyon can have light beams shinning all the way down to the canyon floor.  These light beams are a very popular photographic subject, but I was too early in the year to get these, which are best in the summer months right around noon.  Throwing a handful of sand in the light beam helps to make it stand out, and can lead to some very dramatic images.  Just means I'll have to go back some other time!

A natural arch that has been formed in the canyon

Distant walls of the canyon play peekaboo through this keyway

I had a fantastic time inside Lower Antelope Canyon.  There is an abundance of slot canyon images out there, and now I can add mine to the mix.  While it is not a totally unique location because of it's popularity, shooting the slot canyons is more than just getting some images of something no one else has seen.  It is an experience, where each turn of the corner in the canyon provides a new, fantastic perspective to take in and capture for myself.  Being inside the magical place, one so hidden from above, is what I cherished about the experience, and the images I brought back are just an added benefit that I can share with others who have not had the pleasure of experiencing the slot canyons.

Happy Shooting!

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!

Returning From Las Vegas Trip - Zion National Park

The route I took back from Vegas to Albuquerque over 2 days, with a stay overnight in Page, AZ

My wife and I were in Vegas for the MWC basketball tourney recently (Go Lobos!).  After spending three days there, she was going to go visit her family in California for a week, so I had a few days to spend returning to Albuquerque and decided to make a photography trip out of it.  After doing some research and planning, I decided five places on the way back I had never had a chance to photograph but had heard so much about:  Valley of Fire State Park in NV, Zion National Park in UT, Horseshoe Bend and Antelope canyon near Page, AZ, and Shiprock in NM.  What a trip it was, 759 miles, loads of photography, and some very desolate, beautiful places!

I headed out Sunday morning and drove through Lake Mead Recreational Area and Valley of Fire State Park.  Cool places, stayed tuned for more on them later, but my big fish for the day was to get to Zion by mid afternoon and have some time to do a hike or two.  I finally made it around 3pm, and couldn't wait!  I had not done any serious photography since the beginning of the year, so I was itching more than usual to get some shots.

Panorama just inside the park entrance.  The actual Zion Canyon, where the scenic drive and hiking trails are, is right in the middle

 Zion is one of the best national parks to hike in, with over 20 trails easily accesible and many other backcountry hikes waiting for the more adventurous.  I took the short scenic drive back into the canyon until I could not go anymore, and headed off on the riverwalk hike, an easy paved trail along the Virgin River in some of the most scenic parts of the park.

Zion canyon and the Virgin River

I spent the next two hours exploring the canyon along the trail and setting up numerous shots.  This time of the year is not the most scenic per se, with spring not yet kicking in so all the trees are barren, but the scenery was breathtaking nonetheless.  A tripod was a must for this, most of the canyon is in deep shadows and requires long exposures and/or exposure blending several shots together.  There were quite a few people out in the great weather, mostly families and lots of small children.

Near the end of the hike the river had a series of small waterfalls and gentle pools

Close-up of a series of waterfalls along the Virgin River

I finally came to the end of the trail, which is also the start of a new hike and area called "The Narrows".  The Narrows is probably the most well known hike in the park and entails hiking for large portions in the Virgin River, which winds through an increasingly narrow section of the canyon wall-to-wall.  Wetsuits and special gear is required for this hike, and it is strenuous considering the loose footing and battling against currents of the river.  It is on my bucket list now after seeing part of it in person!

The beginning of The Narrows in Zion National Park

Once I got back to the car, it was 5:30pm and I still had a 3 hour drive to Page, AZ that night, so this was the only hike I got to do unfortunately.  I would have loved to have more time in the park to explore, but enjoyed the couple hours I did get and am looking forward to going back in the future. 

Up next, I'm working on separate posts for both horseshoe bend and Antelope Canyon.  Stay tuned for these soon!

Happy Shooting!

Tips and tricks for shooting lightning

Recently I posted the above image on my 500px.com site (http://500px.com/BeckmannImages) and got a lot of activity, with over 1300 views, 38 likes, and a peak rating of 96.  This image is one from a outing I took last summer during a particularly intense lightning storm here in the Albuquerque area.  I got several other great shots from the trip as well, and have been out a handful of times to shoot lightning with, what I think, are great results.  The key to getting some great lightning shots is preparation, patience, and some luck.  It's not hard to get some shots of the lightning due to the long exposures used, but an eye for composition goes a long way in making great shots as well.

First, let me talk about exposure settings.  If you sit around waiting for a lightning strike and hope to press the shutter and capture it as soon as your eye sees it, forget it.  Besides missing the strike, you will get tired very quickly sitting with your eye to the camera and your finger on the button.  You want to leave the shutter open as long as possible to give yourself a chance at capturing the strikes.  Don't worry about overexposing too much, that is where the f-stop and ISO can help.  I usually default to a 30 sec. exposure, but you can play around with anything from 10-30 sec. or longer.  On a particularly bright night or around lots of city lights, the shorter durations might help control blowing out areas of the image.

The next thing you want to set is your f-stop.  Two things to keep in mind here.  You want to balance the depth of field you get (depending on your composition and what is in the foreground) with the amount of light your lens is going to let in (lower f numbers let in more light, and vice versa).  Most of the time, you want something in the middle, say f8 to f11.  Start with something, do some shots, and then check your depth of field to see if you need to go higher in f stop to increase the DOF.

Finally, set your ISO.  This should be kept as low as possible, say ISO 50-200.  Because the shots are long exposures, the noise is going to be an issue to watch out for, and higher ISOs only make the noise worse.  You can do some things (such as in-camera noise reduction or post-production noise removal) to get the noise down, but you want to start with a good base.

As is always the case in photography, none of this is set in stone.  The key is to start somewhere, say 30 sec., f8, ISO 100, and adjust accordingly.  I also want to point out here, this is by no means only possible with a dSLR camera.  Many point and shoots allow you to set your ISO and adjust your shutter speed.  While you might not have control over everything mentioned above, It is certainly possible with some experimenting to get good lightning shots with any camera.

Other camera settings.  You can play around with the white balance, I find the cloudy or tungsten settings to be the best but you might be pleasantly surprised with the colors you get from another setting.  If you can, pre-focus your camera and then turn auto focus off.  You don't want the camera searching for focus or worse not being able to focus at all if it is really dark.  You can experiment with long exposure noise in-camera, I personally don't use it because I don't like to wait the extra time it takes, but if your shots are really noisy this will help. 

Other things you will need.  A tripod.  Besides the camera, this is the most essential piece of equipment.  In a pinch you can try balancing your camera on a wall or something stationary, but with the long exposure times it has to remain still for a nice crisp shot.  Another very handy piece of equipment is a remote or shutter release cable, which keeps you from bumping the camera when pressing the shutter button.  Alternatively, you can use the timer function on your camera to set a delay from when you press the button to when the shutter is opened.  A flashlight is also a must.

Because of the dangerous nature of thunderstorms, make sure you are prepared for whatever the weather might throw at you, and consider the area you are setting up in and where your nearest shelter might be.  For the storm I mention above, lightning was going off all around, and taking shelter in the car during shots was a must.  Eventually I even pulled my equipment inside the car and shot from there so I wasn't out in the elements.

Finding the perfect location.  This is what sets good lightning shots apart from great ones, location and the "other stuff" within the frame.  Lightning is a pretty dramatic thing by itself, but there are a couple things you can do to add to that, and several mistakes that certainly take away from the lightning itself.  Stay clear of power lines, bright street lights, strip malls, street signs, and generally anything that gives the image a urban or city feel.  Lightning is a natural phenomenon, and having street scenes or power lines takes away from this natural awe and distracts the viewer from the main attraction, the lightning!  Obviously, there are always exceptions to the rules (like the shot of the casino above), but getting outside of town or in an open space area gives so many more options for your creativity to show itself and your image to wow.  Frame the shot with mountains in the background, or take a shot from afar and show the scale of the storm with respect to the city lights or some other feature.  Lightning is powerful, amazing stuff, and the more you can do to show this power and drama rawness the more dramatic the reaction will be from those who view your image.

Spring is approaching and those thunderstorms aren't far away, get out and get some great lightning shots!  I'm working on a separate post about some post-processing techniques I use for lightning shots, stay tuned!

Happy Shooting

Visit to San Xavier del Bac Mission

A few weeks ago I took a day trip to Tucson, AZ for work, and had a few hours to kill before my flight back home.  Each time I visit a new place I haven't been (I'd been to Tucson before, but as a kid before I got into photography), I do a search for the local attractions and photographic places of interest.  The San Xavier del Bac Mission is one of the oldest missions in the United States, founded in 1692.  Besides being old, it was beautiful in all the images I saw, so I knew I had to go if I got a chance!

The mission did not disappoint.  I spent a little over an hour exploring, and I got lucky with some dramatic skies.  The light outside wasn't great, but I got a few shots and then went inside, where the craftmanship is amazing.  Every wall is covered with carved statues, frescos, and intricate woodwork, and the dome had some beautiful artwork painted on it.

Next to the mission is a small hill with a cross atop it and some monuments or altars to various saints and such.  I headed up the hill to get a vantage point of the mission from above (the image at the top of the page) and decided it was time to head back to the car.  That is when the sun came out, and the light on the mission and hill were just what a photographer hopes for.

I spent another 20 minutes taking many of the same shots I already had taken when I first got to the mission, taking advantage of the golden light coming through the clouds.

Below is a set of bracketed exposures I took of the mission, hoping to combine the three shots (-2, 0, +2 EV) into an HDR later.

I use Nik software's HDR Efex Pro for all my HDR's.  I combined the 3 exposures above into one HDR file.

Looks pretty good, but I wasn't happy with the tonal balance throughout, and thought this image needed a little more work.  I brought it into photoshop, where I used layer masks and adjustment layers to adjust where needed.  Finally, I added a Nik Color Efex Pro filter, "glamour glow", to the image stack, one of my favorite filters to apply.  I love the softness it adds while still keeping the edge softness.  The final image is below:

I highly recommend a trip to the mission for anyone, not just photographers.

Happy Shooting!