Today, we got up and grabbed breakfast at the hotel and headed over to the Lower Antelope Slot Canyon at 8:30. Just after we pulled in, a tour bus pulled in behind us. Terry and Ken rushed in and headed to the back as Brian and I stopped at the entrance and shot as the photography tour went past us.
The Lower Antelope was beautiful I highly recommend it if you're in the area! The best times to visit seem to be from 8-10:45 and 2-4. The Key Hole is lit up around 10:15 if you want to capture a ray of light. After 11, the light goes away. Primarily, you're trying to capture the walls with the reflected light. That provides the best red colors. It's sometimes difficult to avoid the sky in a photo. If you do get it, you'll have blown highlights and you won't get the pretty blue of the sky. I was taking multiple exposures, one for the shadows and one for the sky, and I plan to merge them in Photoshop later.
After the slots, we hit Pizza Hut for lunch and did a little shopping. We were planning on heading out in the afternoon but clouds rolled in and turned the sky to gray. Instead, we went over to Slackers Bar and Grill and had dinner while watching the Red Wings beat the Star in the NHL playoffs. It started raining while we were there and rained through the night.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Lower Antelope Slot Canyon, May 12, 2008
Page Arizona, Sunday, May 11, 2008
Today, we drove from Tropic Utah to Page Arizona to see Horseshoe Bend and the Antelope Slot Canyons. We stopped for breakfast at Ruby's Inn and headed down the 2 hours to catch Horseshoe Bend around 1pm.
On the drive down, I got pulled over for doing 70 in a 65. Lesson: Set your cruise control and don't worry that everyone else is passing you at 80. Luckily, I got off with a warning and the gentleman that pulled me over was very courteous.
We got into Page and passed the Glen Canyon Dam. Be warned, the speed limit there is 15 and police were setup with radar and pulling people over left and right. We were going to visit the Dam Visitor Center but they have pretty tight security to get in and we didn't feel like standing in line.
We checked in to the Travelodge and discovered their internet access was down and it's been a bear to get access to upload pictures or my blog.
We drove over to Horshoe Bend and did the 3/4 mile hike. After the Bryce Canyon Rim Trails, I wasn't overly eager to stand at the edge of the canyon and take a shot. Looking through a viewfinder and tracking birds can cause a sense of vertigo. Terry and I were both of the opinion that it was better to inch out the last little bit to hold the cameras over the edge and shoot. It's an amazing sight and even with a 10mm lens on my D300, I couldn't get the outer edges. Terry got a shot with a boat that helps add a sense of perspective.
After Horseshoe Bend, we headed over to the Lower Antelope Slot Canyon. After paying $26 to get in, Brian and I were walking over to where we thought it was and didn't see an entrance. One of the local guides popped out of a crack in the ground and showed us the entrance. We were in there from 2 until 5 or so shooting. The light seems best from about 2-4. The Lower Antelope was MUCH EASIER to navigate than Peekaboo Canyon. It's also a lot taller. There was a lot my traffic than Peekaboo but everyone has told us that the Upper Antelope is crazy busy and you're lucky to get a shot without someone in it. We're going to do the Lower again Monday morning and hit the Upper on Tuesday.
We had dinner at Sonic and watched the big crows fly around. We were all fairly tired so we got into our rooms. unloaded, headed over to Walmart for a few supplies and crashed out after some beer and wine.
Devil's Garden at Night, May 11, 2008
After shooting sunrise at Bryce Canyon, we went back to the cabin and caught a little nap to try and catch up on a little sleep. For the evening, we headed back out to Devil's Garden in Escalante to do a night shot to catch stars. We had a late Brunch at Ruby's Inn before hitting Devil's Garden and it helped us crash for a few hours.
The sky wasn't great for afternoon shots but it worked well for shooting stars in the evening.
Here is one of the shots taken at f/4 with a 30 sec exposure. In this shot, we used a flashlight to paint the rocks to allow them to show up much better without over exposing the stars. This shot is without any photoshop work. I plan to blend this with a non-painted version of the rocks to give it a natural look without over-exposing and getting a lot of noise.
Devil's Garden proved to be one of my favorite spots around Bryce Canyon and Escalante. The interesting this is that there were a lot more foreign tourists (mainly French and German) than Americans. I guess the strong Euro has made it easier for travel!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Bryce Canyon, Sunrise May 10, 2008
We dragged ourselves out of bed at 5:15 after a few hours of sleep to head over to Sunset Point to get shots of the sunrise on Bryce Canyon. Terry was the first one out as he wanted to catch the sun crest the rim of the canyon.
The tire patch job Brian did yesterday has held and we were in good shape. I met a guy with his 3 daughters shooting a 15 year old Hassleblad as I shot my D300 (tripod) and D80 (hand-held 70-200mm VR).
We finished up around 8 and headed over to Bryce Point for some more shots. We saw some California Condors but they were too far away for my 70-200mm lens.
We stopped at Ruby's Inn and grabbed some breakfast. We couldn't take another meal of trail mix and jerky!
We ended up at midday back at the cabins exhausted and took a nap before heading out at 3:30 for Devil's Garden for sunset shots and night shots.
More to come for Saturday!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Devil's Garden, Afternoon May 9, 2008
Two entries in one day! After our escapade to Peekaboo, we went back down the dirt road to hit Devil's Garden for sunset and night shots.
The sky was beautiful, as you can tell by this shot, but clouds started rolling in and we didn't get the golden sunset we were hoping for. Devil's Garden was so cool, we're going back this afternoon to shoot the sunset and do night trails.
Devil's Garden is certainly one of the coolest places we've been AND IT DIDN"T REQUIRE HIKING!!!
After the Navajo Trail in Bryce Canyon and the hike to Peekaboo Canyon, it was a good change of pace.
Escalante, Morning of May 9, 2008
Yesterday, we went to Escalante to find Peekaboo Slot Canyons. The colors were very cool but the hike to the slot canyons required a lot of decent into the canyon and a lot of sand!
To get into Peekaboo, we had to climb about 8 feet. Ken went in first and we handed up tripods and camera gear. I wore my ThinkTank belt system and that was a big MISTAKE! It was hard to turn sideways to get through a lot of the openings. There were also a lot of people that came through. It was a popular place!
The exit to Peekaboo was pretty tight. Terry and I climbed over Lemon Squeeze, were Terry almost broke his foot, and finally exited with no idea how to get back to the parking lot. We could see it but we had trouble finding the trail back to the bottom of the canyon. The hike back up the trail was pretty strenuous but we got back and headed back to Escalante for lunch. On the way back the dirt rode, we picked up a rock that put a small hole in the left rear tire. Brian "The MacGuiver" Woolum bought a tire repair kit and we've been as good as new ever since.
Bryce Canyon, May 8, 2008
Today, we got up at 5am to the sounds of a massive ice/rain storm. It looked like the morning was washed out but the weather here is strange! By 6:30, it had cleared with very few clouds in the sky.
We drove to Sunset Point and did the Navajo Trail to Sunrise Point. It was long and the hardest day for me as I didn't bring much water. You have major inclines at the entrance and exits so the climbs up the trails were killer after the 3+ mile hike!
We went to Inspiration Point and got back to sunset too late for shots of Thor's Hammer.
All in all, it was a good first day in Utah!
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