Tsé Bighánílíní

Posted on by John Ferebee
Antelope Canyon
Antelope Canyon

There are two places I’ve really wanted to see and photograph and I have finally been able to do it.  One of these is Antelope Canyon; the other is Monument Valley which I will post about in a couple of days.

The title of this blog is a Navajo term which means “the place where water runs through rocks” and is the subject of this photo.  It’s in the upper canyon which is also referred to as the “crack”.  These sandstone slot canyons are heavily visited and photographed.    If you’ve read reviews you’ll hear that it’s crowded with lots of people walking through making it hard for photographers.  That’s true but I didn’t care. Walking into the canyon for the first time left me speechless and in awe.

It’s dark so a tripod is a must. I changed up the settings a little depending on the amount of light filtering in through the top of the canyon but this was taken at .8 sec, f/11, and ISO at 500.

11 thoughts on “Tsé Bighánílíní”

  1. Great capture. Antelope Canyon is probably on most serious amateur and pro landscape photographer’s bucket lists. Is this the upper or lower canyon. I have heard that the upper canyon is a madhouse with photographers competing for the same shot. How was your experience? What would you do differently if you could go back?

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    • Mark, this is the upper canyon and yes it was a mad house. It requires a tripod so I found some spots I liked and set up the tripod and camera and waited for the areas to clear which they did but you need to be ready. You also need a lot of patience, however, many of the folks were walking through and they would stop or move when they saw I was doing more than the point and shoot crowd. You just have to tune out the people and enjoy a remarkable place. If I’m ever rich I’d like to “rent” it for an hour just to be alone inside.

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