I visited both Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons once about 20 years ago
I thought both were spectacular and that Lower Antelope Canyon ( if I remember correctly, the narrower canyon ) was photographically more interesting, but also more frustrating as it seemed you would wait for the previous group to move out of a spot and by the time you settled on a composition the group behind was on your heels.
I felt like I left many, many excellent shots behind for lack of time
Is there a better way to experience Lower Antelope Canyon as a photographer?
Not really. The level of tourism has increased greatly, especially after re-opening post-Covid. Here's the place I'd start. There are no "photography tours" these days.
In 2011 at Lower if you showed up with a tripod you could pay a photo fee and that would get you free acess to the canyon for 2 or 3 hours. We would line up our shots and if the next tour came through we would just wait till they moved on and click. I know it's not that way anymore. Don't even get me started on the national parks and how busy they are. Spring, fall or winter are your only choices unless you want to shoot astro in the middle of the night.
In lieu of the busier Antelope Canyon there is an operator somewhere near Page who takes smaller tours into a private canyon belonging to his family. I don't have any information on it (just what I've read) so maybe some sleuthing on your part to find it?
PS: If you do find it please send me a PM!
PSS: I don't recall reading about any tours during the winter months when tourist numbers ought to be quite lower.
Waterhole Canyon just south of Horseshoe Bend you could give a try. You do need a Navajo guide though.
From google AI.
Waterhole Canyon is a less-crowded, less-expensive alternative to Antelope Canyon, located on the Navajo Nation near Page, Arizona. Access is exclusively through guided tours offered by local tour operators like Waterhole Canyon Experience, which include a 90-minute hike requiring the ability to climb ladders. The experience provides beautiful scenery, opportunities to photograph wildlife like great horned owls, and cultural insights into the Navajo people.
You could go in the winter (Jan/Feb). The sun is lower on the horizon and so the light is not as dramatic, but the crowds are far less (probably about 1/3 to 1/2 of what they are in peak season, but the margin of difference is narrowing).
Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon seem much worse for photography than they were years ago.
Tour operators do visit other canyons in the area which offer a more relaxed / setup your tripod experience.
Canyon X
Cardiac Canyon
Peek A Boo Slot (Kanab)
I know they advertise these as alternatives as visually / photographically as good as Antelope Canyon but I am not sure I have ever heard a photographer state those claims.
If you do visit one of these alternatives do report back with your comparison.
I have been to Canyon X and enjoyed it - both for the chance to explore at my leisure with my small group and to find subjects that haven't been as over-shot as in Antelope. That said, both Upper and Lower Antelope canyons were longer and more impressive.
I went to lower in 2015, with a 4-person photography tour; I heard that they ended those a few years later.
Every possible inch of lower and upper antelope has already been photographed. At Canyon X, you might not get as much drama as you would in lower antelope, but you can get 90% there with the right eye and the right timing.
There are a boatload of slot canyons in the vicinity. None are anywhere near as impressive as Antelope to experience with your eyes, but photographically they aresimilar - because the images in slot canyons are all about finding the right details. You don't need to pay anything for most of them.
GroovyGeek wrote:
There are a boatload of slot canyons in the vicinity. None are anywhere near as impressive as Antelope to experience with your eyes, but photographically they aresimilar - because the images in slot canyons are all about finding the right details. You don't need to pay anything for most of them.
GroovyGeek wrote:
Hope you have a few months to spare. Because that's what it will take to cover them all
lol... I go out there often and travel in an RV with a dual sport motorcycle on the backof the RV so that I can explore the back roads..
I definitely read your posts as they usually have a lot of good info.. thanks..
