Standing in the parking lot as the night started masking any trace of the sun, I discussed the situation with my buddy Manu.
“Should we call it,” one of us asked? “I don’t know, what do you think,” asked the other?
We were near Page AZ, basically away from any major source of light. We were both looking forward to some great night photography. However, there was a large cloud cover blanketing the sky, and the clouds seemed to be moving at a glacier’s pace. We didn’t know if they would be gone over the next few hours. One has to get a guide which isn’t cheap. $150 per person. I didn’t want to waste it, but at the same time this was the only opportunity we were going to have for night photography in Antelope Canyon. We were leaving the next day.
Location: Antelope Canyon, Page AZ
Sensor: Sony A7R
Lens: Zeiss 21 Distagon ZE
We waffled for a good 30 minutes, and by that time our guides had pulled up in their Jeep Wrangler. I think I was too afraid to back out by that time. There were five of us with tripods in hand, and we piled into a GMC Suburban and headed into the desert. We drove for a good 30 minutes in utter darkness. I whispered to Manu, that if they wanted to murder us, they would never find us, thinking of films such as Steven Soderbergs “Traffic.”
Location: Antelope Canyon, Page AZ
Sensor: Sony A7R
Lens: Zeiss 21 Distagon ZE
Reaching our destination and fumbling our way out of the car, I gazed up into the night sky, and to my amazement there were crystal clear skies. It was as if we drove 30 miles to away from the cloud blanket, even though it was probably only like 3 miles. What luck we had.
The canyon was utterly still. A complete difference from the huge crowds during the day time of this busy Memorial Day weekend.
We shot a variety of long exposures in the caves which I will share later. But we ended the photography session with pyrotechnics against the entry of Upper Antelope Canyon and window into the night sky.
Everything that your parents tell you not do… running, screaming, staying up late, and playing with fire along a ledge of a canyon.
