Slot Canyons - Arizona, US. Situated on Navajo nation reservation, at
places these are no more than 2ft wide and around 500ft high. The walls
glow on account of reflected light from the thin sunlight that dares to
drop in. A very peaceful place, that forces you to pause and think and
to absorb the ambience. The photo is very much in orig form, except for
bit of curves and crop adjust. Complement it with a Hummer drive that
took you over 42deg vertical climbs. It was heavenly.
All of the shots are with Nikon D7000 and Tokina 11-16, taken with shutter speed of 1/4 to 1/100. The pictures are PP to the limit of ONLY curve adjustment and cropping.
Slot canyon I
The most popular slot canyons (due to their accessibility) are the Upper Antelope and the Lower Antelope canyon, which meant it is also the most populated... at any point you have more than 20-100 people in the canyons, making photography and the place almost akin to McDonalds. To beat this, we chose a different canyon - we chose to go to "Secret Canyon". The problem was, it was not readily accessible, not even with the 4x4 SUV we had rented. In comes the Hummer Adventure folks, who are also the only authorized guides to the Secret Canyon.
Slot Canyon - 4 by aloksinha2001, on Flickr
All of the shots are with Nikon D7000 and Tokina 11-16, taken with shutter speed of 1/4 to 1/100. The pictures are PP to the limit of ONLY curve adjustment and cropping.
Slot canyon I
The most popular slot canyons (due to their accessibility) are the Upper Antelope and the Lower Antelope canyon, which meant it is also the most populated... at any point you have more than 20-100 people in the canyons, making photography and the place almost akin to McDonalds. To beat this, we chose a different canyon - we chose to go to "Secret Canyon". The problem was, it was not readily accessible, not even with the 4x4 SUV we had rented. In comes the Hummer Adventure folks, who are also the only authorized guides to the Secret Canyon.
Slot Canyon - 4 by aloksinha2001, on Flickr
Slot Canyon II
Slot Canyon - 2 by aloksinha2001, on Flickr
Slot canyon III
Not only is the light falling off a side is important, but, due to the thin slot-like slit on earth, the rays find it very difficult to penetrate into the canyons. Where it does, it gives you great opportunity to capture them as it falls through.
Slot Canyon - 3 by aloksinha2001, on Flickr
In the above, shoot the trip guide had thrown some sand off the wall (and hurried behind the rocks) so that the sand through the light rays can be captured.
Slot canyon IV
Sometimes, it is fun to put the pic upside down and still be able to admire the abstract.
Slot Canyon - 1 by aloksinha2001, on Flickr
Slot Canyon V
I am certain the guide (and wikipedia) had explained why the canyon can give so many hues of color in the same shot - purple, pink, red, orange, green, fawn etc etc... but to the photographer - I was completely mesmerized by the play of color.
Slot Canyon - 5 by aloksinha2001, on Flickr
Slot Canyon VI
When we started the trip at 10:30 am in the morning -- the sun was towards one side of the canyon.... by the time we were returning it was already about 1:30 pm and the sun was pretty much on the other side. This changes the complete perspective of the canyon. It is as if you are traveling through a different canyon, on your way back.
Slot Canyon - 6 by aloksinha2001, on Flickr
Slot Canyon VII
Slot Canyons - 7 by aloksinha2001, on Flickr
Alok
Nothing can beat mother nature for sheer ingenuity and size.
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