Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Moody
at Antelope Canyon, on Navajo land near Page, Arizona

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My three weeks in The States visiting my folks is about to end, so I thought I'd post some photos from the previous trip in March, where we drove around the American southwest in a camper. It was a bit overwhelming, and I've barely looked at the photos yet.

今日の記事は今回のアメリカへの旅行の事じゃなくて、三月の旅からの写真です。 その時にはキャップカーでアメリカ合衆国南西部にうるうろ行きました。写真写るが良い所が多いですが、一番良いのは アンテロープ・キャニオンでした。

One of the most photogenic places on earth is Antelope Canyon, near Page Arizona. I posted one photo from it at the time, here.

At first it doesn't seem promising, as the whole area is bleak and desolate...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 78mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bleak Surroundings
殺風景な周辺は嫌

Visits to the canyon are via tour only. We went with this tour operator and were pleased with it. You meet at their office in downtown Page, Arizona, and before leaving to the canyon one of the guides performs a hoop dance that was surprisingly interesting and skillful. YouTube has a bunch of videos, such as this one, showing the idea.

Then you get into the back of pickup trucks and they drive to the canyon, about ~10 minutes by road followed by about five minutes at bumpy breakneck speed over the desert of fine dustlike sand...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Caravan Over the Desert
almost no bump was left untested
行く途中

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Outside the Entrance
doesn't really look promising
入り口の外

It's an amazing transformation to step into the shadow from the bright light, and in the moments that your eye adjusts, the magical views of the smoothly curving walls envelops you.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Straight Up
boring photo just inside the entrance
入ったばかり、完全に上向き。この写真は余り綺麗じゃないけれども、景色を記録します。

You've probably seen a bazillion photos from this place, all sort of the same, all sort of different. It's a really really really photogenic place, and even those haphazardly snapping with their cellphone will likely get great photos to remember the place by.

But to a photographer it's utterly overwhelming because especially in a target-rich place like this a photographer does not passively “take” a photo, a photographer sees a never-ending continuum of results — some better, some worse — and tries to engineer via position and exposure and timing just the result they want. Probably I'm getting a bit melodramatic, but it's a bit like Neo at the end of The Matrix, except that in this place the sensory overload is more overwhelming.

The photo just above of the entrance documents what it looks like. Here's another photo from almost the same location, looking at the same scene from a slightly different angle....

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/40 sec, f/9, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Just Inside the Entrance
less-boring view
この写真も入口に入ったばかり所で撮ったが、結果は奇麗だと思います。
前の写真とこの写真の差は一般者と撮影者の違いだと思います。

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An added challenge is to do all this within the constraints of the tour, which means 1) there are people everywhere, and 2) the tour must complete by a specific time and so moves along at a well-planned brisk pace. Considerate photographers have the third constraint of realizing that they are themselves the “people everywhere” for everyone else, and trying to sense (and avert) when they are the only thing destroying someone else's shot.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/30 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Reality

Multiple tours are coming and going at the same time, creating and ebb and flow of people. “Patience” is perhaps not the right word considering the limited time one has, but some forethought, some lingering, and a lot of luck can help...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
So Close
人が多いので人なし写真はほとんど無理です。

So the low-hanging fruit of a clean shot is to aim up...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

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... or zoom in...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/10 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wall Detail
but I really wish I had my Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 for its close-up sharpness

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Sometimes our tour guide would clear a small area and take a portrait for someone. She was really skilled at people handling, and could do this quickly and without making folks feel bossed around. I suspect not all guides were as skillful at it.

Here's a wigglegram I took while someone was having their portrait taken:

Animatable Wigglegram (15 frames) — slowly sweep mouse from side to side to view 3D effect
写真の上をマウスで左右にゆっくり動かすと「３D」な感じが出ます。

To be continued...