Light shaft, Antelope Canyon

Sand and light are settling to the bottom of Antelope Canyon. The two

make a great pair in this location. Comments/Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

Stephen - Antelope canyon, both upper and lower, are great photo ops. The light beam is always a hit. I have gone twice, but never got the shot I wanted. It is technically challenging - especially the high contrast. You seem to have gotten a good contrast compromise in this image - the brights are a little blown out while the darks have lost some detail. You also have a good DOF due to the higher fstop. Did you post process to darken the brights or lighten the darks?

Dave, thanks for the visit.  I didn't process for either the darks of the lights.  I knew the light spot was going to be blown out, so I just let it go.  Coming from film, I expect some shadows to have no detail at all, so I didn't worry about those either.  I just wanted a nice range of mid tones, and I think that's what I got.  When shooting, I was only looking at the histogram and trying to get most of it in the middle.  From there, I knew I could increase or decrease the exposure as needed.  I normally don't like to do that, but when faced with difficult lighting in a fast-paced environment, that's about all I could do.

Stephen - you achieved your goal of getting a nice range of mid tones in a very difficult situation. Well done.

It looks to be an awesome place , but I imagine it is difficult to photograph . I wonder what it would look like in Black and white ? Bill

Dave and William, thanks for your comments.  I don't think this is a difficult place to photograph as long as one is willing to let the spot of direct sun burn out.  Then it's a matter of waiting for the crowd ahead of you to move around the corner, and hope that a returning group doesn't show up while your shutter is open.  I've seen some posts in B&W, and as long as the original tones were good, I thought they were fine.  I consider color to be an important element in the canyon, so I've done only color so far.  However, if one wanted to concentrate just on the very interesting forms, then B&W may be a good alternative.

I have no right to criticize Mother Nature.No comment.

This is the best image I have seen of this very popular site.  The impression I get is of realistic colors, even though I have no idea of what the rocks really look like in person. I agree completely about the need to place the histogram in the middle and go for the tonal variation over that more limited but lovely range, which is very effective here.

Apart from the beauty of the atmosphere penetrated by direct sunlight and the imprint of the latter on the ground, what really impresses me about the image is the chosen composition. Ageless rocks cannot be expected to dance, but that is what their forms do in your photo. Perhaps it is the imagined fulcrum at the top joining the two sides of the cavity that give that impression, with the lighter lit rocks toward the background, but there is a definite perception of movement in your image. An image I would be very happy to live with, in view of the dynamic composition, which is something I cannot say for most photos I have seen of this site.