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Advice for shooting inside Antelope Canyon?


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Greetings,

I will be making my first visit to Antelope Canyon (Arizona) in early december. Has anyone used a Q/Q2 or similar camera in such an environment? 

My understanding is that the caverns are quite dark and extremely dusty*. One photography article said a tripod and slow exposure (4~8 seconds) was essential to getting good pictures of the cavern.

Visitors must use a guide to see the interior of AC and photographers are "rushed" through the various caverns and have very little time to set-up, compose and get the shot. Any advice?

 

* I will start a separate thread on protective "rain bags". 

 

 

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I’ve photographed both Lower Antelope and “Magic Canyon”. Both are excellent. I opted for the photography tour at Lower Antelope. I was definitely not rushed through although the normal tours are. There were just 4 of us on the photography tour. Our guide was excellent and pointed out many beautiful scenes. Yes, it’s dark and yes in places it can be dusty. I would not change a lens on any camera inside the canyon. Tripod is a must. I did not have my Q then. I used a Canon 5D3 and 16-35mm lens. It worked. I wished for even wider. Some of the scenes are tough without a really wide lens. I now have a Canon 11-24 f/4. I want to go back and use it. The Q will take many fine photos. If sky is anywhere in the photo, I recommend exposure bracketing. I used that often in the canyon. Enjoy it there. I kept my camera in a bag or with a zip lock bag over it when I wasn’t using it. I don’t really know if that was necessary. I just felt better doing it. Blow off the camera and lens once you’re back out of the canyon. I’d go early in the day. Less dust. Fewer people. Have fun. 

You can see some of my images at: www.danoldfieldphotography.com

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Dan you are a true asset to the Leica Forum. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

We will have tripods and will experiment with exposure bracketing. My wife will be using the Q2 and I will bring a Canon EOS R with 15-35 f/2.8 RF lens. I figured that would give us a nice array of photos to peruse later.

I'm concerned about the reported dusty conditions and am considering trying out a "rain cover" like the Op/tech to protect the gear.  I will post separately about "rain or protective covers" to cast a wider net on the forum. 

 

 

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Dan do you recall whether most of your settings inside AC were long exposures? One of the photo bloggers (Paul Reiffer) suggested using very slow exposures in the range of 20~30 seconds with the lens stopped down to f11. I will have to check the LF as I can't recall if there is purposely restricted limitation with long exposures on the Q2.

On the plus side I can rest comfortably knowing that if my photos don't come out well that I can purchase your fabulous shots of AC:)

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I was at the upper antelope canyon earlier this year and yes it was very dusty, made a mistake of changing lenses, after the shoot (Sony A7R and Leica M10) I  cleaned with brush and rocket blower the body and rocket blower for the sensors...both cameras were fine after the cleaning, a rain cover would help.

I did not join the photography tour and I regretted it, we couldn't schedule the tour which is at noon for maximum lights , but arrived later for  an afternoon tour...we drove to monument valley the next day, could have done the photography tour the 3rd day before going back to Las Vegas.

My hand-held shots were:iso 4000-6400 at f2,8 and 4;s...no tripods allowed for non photography tour.

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1 hour ago, Matsaly said:

Dan do you recall whether most of your settings inside AC were long exposures? One of the photo bloggers (Paul Reiffer) suggested using very slow exposures in the range of 20~30 seconds with the lens stopped down to f11. I will have to check the LF as I can't recall if there is purposely restricted limitation with long exposures on the Q2.

On the plus side I can rest comfortably knowing that if my photos don't come out well that I can purchase your fabulous shots of AC:)

I just looked over my best images in LR. This particular one is a favorite. It was shot with my Canon 5D3 and 16-35mm lens at f/11, ISO 100. Bracketed from 1/25sec - 1.3 sec. Full disclosure: I did a lot of work first combining the bracketed images in LR HDR then in Photoshop replacing the very gray sky with this more interesting one. None of my images seem to be more than a few seconds. I think I had one at 6 secs. I’d raise the ISO, before I did a really long exposure. Remember you’re in a very narrow canyon. It’s a little breezy at times and I wouldn’t trust a really long exposure. 
 

THIS WAS TAKEN WITH CANON 5D3 and Canon 16-35 lens. I’ll remove it if this violates any forum rules. Just trying to help Matsaly prepare for Antelope Canyon. 

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20 minutes ago, tonyniev said:

I was at the upper antelope canyon earlier this year and yes it was very dusty, made a mistake of changing lenses, after the shoot (Sony A7R and Leica M10) I  cleaned with brush and rocket blower the body and rocket blower for the sensors...both cameras were fine after the cleaning, a rain cover would help.

I did not join the photography tour and I regretted it, we couldn't schedule the tour which is at noon for maximum lights , but arrived later for  an afternoon tour...we drove to monument valley the next day, could have done the photography tour the 3rd day before going back to Las Vegas.

My hand-held shots were:iso 4000-6400 at f2,8 and 4;s...no tripods allowed for non photography tour.

I forgot about tripods only allowed on the photography tour. That is a critical piece of info. It would be very difficult in such a dark area to be handheld. 

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M10 Elmarit 28 F2.8 1/90 iso 5000 too many people pushing so most shots were fast and point and shoot, the canyon is narrow with people moving thru

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Edited by tonyniev
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iso 6400 F3.2 1/25 sec Elmarit 28 and M10

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Edited by tonyniev
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I have not been to Anrelope Canyon, but since you are taking a Q2, here is what I would do if going there:

1 - Tape over the eight tiny holes on the camera's top plate.

2 - Be sure to have a 100% charged battery in the camera before you enter the canyon.

3 - Be sure you have a newly formatted memory card installed - the more capacity, the better.

4 - Don't change the battery or memory card while in the canyon due to the dust.

5 - Install a B+W multicoated (MRC) UV filter on your lens before entering the canyon (again, due to the dust).

 

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1 hour ago, Leica Guy said:

Bracketed from 1/25sec - 1.3 sec. Full disclosure: I did a lot of work first combining the bracketed images in LR HDR then in Photoshop replacing the very gray sky with this more interesting one. None of my images seem to be more than a few seconds.

Interesting indeed. I recently learned of the "Merge" function in LR which allows you to combine several bracketed exposures into a single HDR. I think this is what you are referring to?

Very helpful info Dan.

 

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1 hour ago, tonyniev said:

M10 Elmarit 28 F2.8 1/90 iso 5000 too many people pushing so most shots were fast and point and shoot, the canyon is narrow with people moving thru

I intend to book the photography tour to allow for a little more time in AC . The "photography" tour allows, nay requires, tripods so that should help in the low light environment I expect to encounter.

Beautiful textures. Very nice work. Thank you for your advice.

 

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I was lucky enough to go on a tour of the slot canyons last year, my wife and I being the only ones on the trip. As we arrived at Antelope Canyon all of the other people there left en-masse 😁 The other lesser known canyons were completely empty.  It took 10 minutes for the dust to settle. We had it to ourselves for 25 minutes before anyone else appeared.  Unfortunately it was overcast with some drizzle but one can only have so much luck in a day.

As the others wrote:
   You need a tripod
   The very fine dust particles are very slow to settle.  You do not want to open the camera or change lenses if it can be avoided. I used the 24-90 SL and 15mm CV but was lucky the dust did settle quickly with no-one there.

 

Have fun...

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Edited by MarkP
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On 10/17/2019 at 10:30 PM, Matsaly said:

Interesting indeed. I recently learned of the "Merge" function in LR which allows you to combine several bracketed exposures into a single HDR. I think this is what you are referring to?

Very helpful info Dan.

 

Yes. Exactly. Exposure bracketing is your friend. Later in LR you can decide to merge into an HDR image of you can simply pick the image that’s best exposed for your purposes and process that photo. I find it very useful in areas such as a slot canyon where there are deep shadows as well as brightly lit rocks. Maybe even some sky. Good luck. Look forward to seeing your photos afterwards. 

Edited by Leica Guy
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9 hours ago, Herr Barnack said:

I have not been to Anrelope Canyon, but since you are taking a Q2, here is what I would do if going there:

1 - Tape over the eight tiny holes on the camera's top plate.

2 - Be sure to have a 100% charged battery in the camera before you enter the canyon.

3 - Be sure you have a newly formatted memory card installed - the more capacity, the better.

4 - Don't change the battery or memory card while in the canyon due to the dust.

5 - Install a B+W multicoated (MRC) UV filter on your lens before entering the canyon (again, due to the dust).

 

Excellent advice. 

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I agree with the tips above. Best is to sign up for the photography tour as you are not as rushed. It can get cold in the lower canyons so bring a vest or a jacket depending on when you are there. It does get very dusty so taping up the ports/doors of the Q and using a pouch on it may be a good idea. A tripod is very useful and be quick about setting it up to get as many shots as you can. I used several very low angle shots so usually that requires some tripod disassembly/manipulation.

If you're into astrophotography or night photography at all, I would recommend doing the night photography tour. When I went it was only my girlfriend and I in the entire canyon. The guide brought a floor lamp walked us around, showing off several hot picture spots and features of the lower canyons. 

I went with my old Nikon D7000 with an 11-20 F/4 to capture as much of the space as I could (a few years before I got the Q) and wish I had a full frame and better lens at the time.

 

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On 10/18/2019 at 11:53 AM, syam said:

I agree with the tips above. Best is to sign up for the photography tour as you are not as rushed. It can get cold in the lower canyons so bring a vest or a jacket depending on when you are there. It does get very dusty so taping up the ports/doors of the Q and using a pouch on it may be a good idea. A tripod is very useful and be quick about setting it up to get as many shots as you can. I used several very low angle shots so usually that requires some tripod disassembly/manipulation.

If you're into astrophotography or night photography at all, I would recommend doing the night photography tour. When I went it was only my girlfriend and I in the entire canyon. The guide brought a floor lamp walked us around, showing off several hot picture spots and features of the lower canyons. 

I went with my old Nikon D7000 with an 11-20 F/4 to capture as much of the space as I could (a few years before I got the Q) and wish I had a full frame and better lens at the time.

 

Could you post a couple images from the night shoot? I’m not grasping the night scenes versus during the daytime. Are you photographing the Milky Way up through the canyon or stars? Or are you photographing the slots using a strobe or light to illuminate it? Just curious. Thanks. 

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I was there about 4 or 5 years ago, and just used a V-Lux 4, hand held.  Some pictures from that slot canyon and others start on this page: http://www.barbara-and-stu.com/plogger/index.php?level=album&id=261&plog_page=2.  The V-Lux 4 has a f/2.4 to 4.0 Len, so it's certainly not fast.  Based on my experience you may not need a tripod, and your list of concerns may be overblown.  However, I did not go at night.

Assuming it's not during school vacations I suspect crowds will be light.

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I was there many years ago with a photography class. We used longer exposures... 5-10 secs. In order to get the sunbeam effect the instructor's wife would throw sand up into the air to enhance the effect.

 

I was using a Canon 20d at the time (it was 2006) and at the end of the session every control was gritty as was the lens focusing and zoom rings. I sent the camera to canon who cleaned it out for several hundred dollars, as I recall. I'd think with the weather sealing a Q2 would do better, but do you dare take so expensive a camera into the canyons? In our class there was a guy with a medium format digital camera that cost, if I remember right, $30,000. He wouldn't take it into the canyon.

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On 10/20/2019 at 10:14 AM, Leica Guy said:

Could you post a couple images from the night shoot? I’m not grasping the night scenes versus during the daytime. Are you photographing the Milky Way up through the canyon or stars? Or are you photographing the slots using a strobe or light to illuminate it? Just curious. Thanks. 

At least one of the tour operators (Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours) operates a "night tour" where they illuminate the canyon walls with LED devices. From the few shots I've seen it looks like the photographers incorporate the illuminated walls with the milky way in the distance.

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