Lower Antelope Canyon, Part I

Horseshoe Bend was amazing, but it wasn't the only reason we stopped in Page. The following morning the whole family made a stop at Lower Antelope Canyon before we headed east for home.

I was actually nervous when we first descended the ladders into the canyon, because all of my shots were coming out way too dark.  No tripods were allowed on our tour, so I was shooting handheld at 1250 ISO and 1/200 shutter speed to avoid camera shake.  Fortunately, we soon entered areas that had more ambient light.

I didn't say much as we moved through the striated trench.  I just had a silly grin etched onto my face, elated at the opportunity to see this amazing sight firsthand.

Every so often I'd catch Danelle's eye and just shake my head in disbelief.  The rest of the time, I was pretty much looking through my viewfinder and shooting.

As if the rock walls weren't stunning enough in and of themselves, the cerulean sky made an occasional appearance.

Even handheld, I was able to bracket my shots to even out some of the sharp contrast between the bright sky and dark recesses of the canyon.

A separate "photography tour" was offered that lasted twice as long and allowed tripods.  Frankly, I'm pretty pleased with what I got handheld in just an hour.

Even the kids seemed impressed, and that's tough to pull off with a 12-year-old and 15-year-old.

I converted some of these to black and white to see how they looked.  Not surprisingly, they look good that way as well.  But the colors are so rich and interesting I thought it was better to preserve them.

We were part of a fairly large tour group -- probably 25 or so people in all.  But all it usually takes to make crowded areas look vacant is a little patience.  Here was no exception.

Lines, colors, and contrast combine in seemingly innumerable ways, each seemingly attempting to top what I'd just seen.

Click here for Part II.