Canyon Slots

Characteristics of this type of shot: Smooth, colorful walls with interesting light and lots of sharp detail.

Location: Just outside Page, Arizona, USA. These are not the famous Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon slots, which are overrun by hundreds of tourists each day (whose main goal it seems is to walk in front of your long exposure). This is the much less traveled, more photographer-friendly Horseshoe Bend Slot Canyon (a.k.a. “Secret Slots”).

Camera settings: Shot in aperture priority mode; 14mm f/2.8 lens; ISO 100 at f/10; shutter speed: 3.2 seconds.

Notes: After shooting the slots a number of times, the biggest composition tip I can give you is to try to include the ground in your shots. Otherwise, the viewer isn’t sure what they’re looking at, and it starts to look like a desktop pattern for your computer screen. The biggest challenge when shooting slot canyons out in Arizona is everybody wants to shoot slot canyons out in Arizona. Like I mentioned, there are so many photographers shooting all at once in the two best-known canyons that it’s sometimes hard to find a spot to shoot, and people keep walking into your long exposure shot and bumping into you and your gear. Also, it’s very dusty/sandy and photographers toss sand into the air to catch any visible light beams, so it’s smart to put your camera in a rain sleeve to keep dust out of your electronics.