Last week over spring break, I made my fourth visit to Antelope Canyon. This time, however, we went during peak lighting hours in the hope of capturing light beams. As you can imagine, it was absolutely packed in the canyon! I only got the above shot by leaving my tour group for a few minutes and taking advantage of the two minute window of time where I could take this photo without being stepped on or capturing people in the middle of it! It was very stressful to say the least. I've heard from other photographers that the only way to get a shot is to hang back behind your tour group. What do you think of this? Are there any companies more geared toward photographers that aren't incredibly expensive?
As always, critiques are welcome! Thanks!
Nikon D5100
Tokina 11-16 mm
11 mm
f/11
3 secs
ISO 200
Also, thank you for the tips on shooting at f/11 instead of f/22. I used a wider aperture than I usually do over my southwest trip, and I think the print quality will be much better as a result!
Posted by Karl Buiter on March 28, 2014 at 9:45 PM
I used the "Big Thumb" operation - parking a couple miles past power plant. They also control Rattlesnake, Owl, and Sheep slots. On par, I dont think they will do much better in Upper; but...
I also obtained a Navajo Parks Photo Permit. That seemed to allow greater latitude and freedom to find my spots.
That all said, Upper Antelope is terribly crowded; and other than "catalog fillers", not sure there is much you can do in there that would set one apart from everyone else. But we all keep trying! I tend to prefer Lower Antelope - true you wont get beams, but plenty of interesting images to be had outside the herd. Plus time to do them. And of course Secret Canyon and others deeper into the Escalante.
On your shot... I know there is huge dynamic range here - but some techniques to deal with the blown-out area and adding contrast on the walls to pursue.. Perhaps another short exposure (time-permitting) for a blend. But alas, I know getting any time to yourself in there is a feat.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on March 28, 2014 at 11:04 PM
Cropping your shot just above the highest blown-out area on the floor would be a great improvement.
I don't feel you would lose anything important.
Posted by Debbie Yarra on March 29, 2014 at 12:45 AM
I agree with Bill and Kane, the blown out areas on the floor totally detract from the image keeping your eye there. IWhat a shame you didn't get more shooting time. Stressful and disappointing for sure
Crystal, I had minute this morning to play around with your image in PS to show you additional possibilities of your existing comp and color. First, I cropped the image from the bottom up to completely remove the distracting clipped highlights on the sandy floor; plus brought in the encompassing comp length and width about 15% to ensure the light beam becomes the pure subject matter. Next I just did a simple curves application to add contrast and lastly added just a notch of Vibrance.
The top of your sun beam is 100% clipped, there is zero data to work with to bring out detail. Thus, Its crossed my mind to give you a heads up concerning some invaluable info I picked up from a friend photographer about 5-6 years ago, way before I was doing exposure blending. He told me I should start shooting multiple Raw exposures when shooting high dynamic scenes. Essentially just let the camera shoot exposure bracketing. Three exposures at about one stop apart works for most scenes. He said one day I would pick up hand blending exposures and down the line I could go back to some of my earlier work and re process them with much better results. Your above image is a perfect example of a difficult image to process, however someday, likely sooner than later, you could go back to those multiple exposures and dial that one in.
The above image would probably require one image exposed for the light beam, one for mids, and one for shadows.
Thank you SO much, Kane! Those are great editing suggestions! Thanks for taking the time to do this. I'll definitely go back and work on this photo. That's a great tip on exposure bracketing! I haven't been doing a lot of it because I haven't become proficient in blending, but you're right, I will want the bracketed images later.
Thanks again! Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Posted by Jared Warren on March 31, 2014 at 4:31 PM
Hey Crystal, I just wanted to second Kane's suggestion about the exposure bracketing. It's something I've been doing more of over the past year, and as I improve my processing skills I can revisit images with a new (better) eye and hopefully bring out their potential.
I've only been to the Page area once so far, and decided to avoid upper Antelope based on what I read about the crowds. Instead, I spent a couple hours (with a "photographers pass") at Lower Antelope, and paid for one of Overland Canyon Tours to "Canyon X" for several hours (small group of 4 photogs). You can get light beams at both those locations at the right time of year (for me it was early June). Here are a few images I came away with: Link to Gallery
The slow pace and few people made it a particularly good experience. I imagine I'll make it to Upper Antelope someday, but fighting those crowds doesn't sound like fun.
Posted by Kurt Bowman on March 31, 2014 at 6:15 PM
Hi Crystal, I know I am late to the party on this one, but agree with what has already been said. Wish you would have had more time to shoot...this is another reason I like shooting wildlife...crowds are not as large...but don't tell anyone...
Love the re-work Kane did on your image. Nicely seen comp in such a short time and think the lessons will make your next trip even better!
Maybe its just me, but I actually prefer the color in Crystal's original shot. Kane's edit looks a bit too saturated to me. Then again, my monitor isn't calibrated either. Perhaps somewhere between the two. As far as the crop and bracketing advice, dead on.
Discussion
13 repliesAs always, critiques are welcome! Thanks!
Nikon D5100
Tokina 11-16 mm
11 mm
f/11
3 secs
ISO 200
Also, thank you for the tips on shooting at f/11 instead of f/22. I used a wider aperture than I usually do over my southwest trip, and I think the print quality will be much better as a result!
I used the "Big Thumb" operation - parking a couple miles past power plant. They also control Rattlesnake, Owl, and Sheep slots. On par, I dont think they will do much better in Upper; but...
I also obtained a Navajo Parks Photo Permit. That seemed to allow greater latitude and freedom to find my spots.
That all said, Upper Antelope is terribly crowded; and other than "catalog fillers", not sure there is much you can do in there that would set one apart from everyone else. But we all keep trying! I tend to prefer Lower Antelope - true you wont get beams, but plenty of interesting images to be had outside the herd. Plus time to do them. And of course Secret Canyon and others deeper into the Escalante.
On your shot... I know there is huge dynamic range here - but some techniques to deal with the blown-out area and adding contrast on the walls to pursue.. Perhaps another short exposure (time-permitting) for a blend. But alas, I know getting any time to yourself in there is a feat.
I don't feel you would lose anything important.
The top of your sun beam is 100% clipped, there is zero data to work with to bring out detail. Thus, Its crossed my mind to give you a heads up concerning some invaluable info I picked up from a friend photographer about 5-6 years ago, way before I was doing exposure blending. He told me I should start shooting multiple Raw exposures when shooting high dynamic scenes. Essentially just let the camera shoot exposure bracketing. Three exposures at about one stop apart works for most scenes. He said one day I would pick up hand blending exposures and down the line I could go back to some of my earlier work and re process them with much better results. Your above image is a perfect example of a difficult image to process, however someday, likely sooner than later, you could go back to those multiple exposures and dial that one in.
The above image would probably require one image exposed for the light beam, one for mids, and one for shadows.
Kane
Thanks again! Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.
I've only been to the Page area once so far, and decided to avoid upper Antelope based on what I read about the crowds. Instead, I spent a couple hours (with a "photographers pass") at Lower Antelope, and paid for one of Overland Canyon Tours to "Canyon X" for several hours (small group of 4 photogs). You can get light beams at both those locations at the right time of year (for me it was early June). Here are a few images I came away with: Link to Gallery
The slow pace and few people made it a particularly good experience. I imagine I'll make it to Upper Antelope someday, but fighting those crowds doesn't sound like fun.
Love the re-work Kane did on your image. Nicely seen comp in such a short time and think the lessons will make your next trip even better!