Slot canyon photography

N. Sukumar

They are the vaulted cathedrals of the natural world, the ultimate in abstracts. They inspire awe and wonder, they delight the senses and uplift the spirit. These are the slot canyons of the Colorado plateau. Born of sandstone and shaped by water, yet it is light that gives them life. It is light that transforms them from sculpted rock into glowing forms that reach out to the artist within us and capture the imagination.

Several features make slot canyons ideal for pictorial abstracts: their fantastic forms and shapes, sculpted by erosion; the iridescent colors of sunlight reflecting off sandstone; and finally, the absence of a sense of scale. Take a look at the image to the left, which I call Red Rock Abstract.

Most people looking at this image see a huge cave and many have asked me for its name and location. But look closer. There is a total absence of any scale information in this image. In reality, this formation is about 8 inches high. I "found" it while hiking down Muley Twist Canyon in Capitol Reef, UT, and photographed it with my 50 mm lens from less than 2 feet away. But to the viewer this bit of information is not really necessary; viewers are free to apply their own imagination and bring to the image whatever they want. That is what makes it an abstract.

Another example is the image that I call Antelope Canyon Eye, on account of its shape (title photograph above). This brings out yet another aspect of slot canyon photography: the subject matter lends itself well to artistic interpretation. I have seen hundreds of images of Antelope Canyon by many photographers; but I had never seen this particular image until I created it. Others looking at it have probably seen other things and gone on to create very different images.

If you want to photograph in slot canyons, the three things you should think about are:

* composition

* contrast

* exposure

Let us deal with each of these in turn.

COMPOSITION:

This is the real fun of slot canyon photography, because you have an infinite maze of compositional possibilities to work with. Be creative; let loose the child in you. In everyday photography, we are careful to keep our horizons straight. But in slot canyons there is no horizon, no straight or crooked, no right or left, no up or down. Turn the magazine upside down and look at the "Red Rock Abstract" image (left). Could it not have been shot that way? How about the images to the right on page 23?

Can you tell which way is up? Try turning the page 90 [degrees]. Each is a different image, equally valid. Feel free to explore these various possibilities. In the words of George Lepp, "bracket your compositions." Use triangles and diagonals as compositional tools. Forget about sandstone, canyons and erosion for the moment.

CONTRAST:

Beware of the extreme contrasts in slot canyons. As a general rule try to avoid including the sky in your compositions. It can be as much as ten stops brighter than the surrounding rock! There is no way such an extreme range of contrasts will record on slide film. Even when you don't include the sky in your image, rock faces lit by direct sunlight can still result in extreme contrasts; watch out for lens flare. As the light reflects off successive rock faces and makes its way down, it turns yellow, then red and brown. Such reflected light is likely to provide warm tones that are more pleasing to the eye.

Perhaps the most common source of error is forgetting that the human eye sees more than film. If you don't bear this in mind, you are likely to waste a lot of film and come back with few keepers. Learn to see as your film sees. It helps to isolate smaller areas to compose for, where the range of contrast is more manageable.

EXPOSURE:

An understanding of exposure will help to free your mind to work with compositions, rather than getting bogged down in technical details of f-stop and shutter speed. Remember that you are going to be working with long exposures in very low light conditions (typical exposure times in Upper Antelope Canyon with a 35 mm camera can be 8-30 sec. and with a 4x5 perhaps as much as 8-10 min.) When working in large format, reciprocity failure becomes important, but you have a little more leeway in 35 mm. With one or two stops difference in exposure, you can get very different, but still quite workable, images: you can expose the same scene for the highlights, letting the shadows go black, or you can expose for the medium tones, letting the highlights become slightly overexposed.

PRECAUTIONS:

Flash floods are the foremost danger in slot canyons. The fantastic shapes in these canyons were carved by flash floods. This erosion continues today. You don't need to be in the midst of a thunderstorm to experience a flash flood. Here's what happened in 1997 in Lower Antelope Canyon. The sky was clear and the cloudburst was in the mountains 20 miles away, but within a few hours, a wall of water 20 to 60 feet high came rushing down Antelope Canyon and 11 people from a group of 12 lost their lives to the flood. So listen to the local weather reports and watch for flash flood conditions in the canyons.

The other danger is to your camera gear. These canyons are made almost entirely of sand and you can expect to find fine sand blowing about everywhere. This can wreak havoc on camera, lenses and film. A grain of sand wedged on the pressure plate can scratch an entire roll of film. It is important to minimize contact with sand, to protect your lenses and clean them thoroughly, to stow your gear securely in a camera bag when not in use and to shield your camera from dust when opening the back.

Finally, before you plunge in, sit back and take it all in. This is some of the most spectacular scenery on earth. Let it speak to the artist in you and draw forth from within. At the end of the day, remember to have fun. Your images will be better if you do, because it is really not the camera that creates the images, nor the skilled technical photographer, but the playful child in you.

EQUIPMENT:

Your camera should be capable of long time exposures.

* Lenses: 28-70 mm. and 70-210 zooms ideal; zooms are preferable because often the only way to fill the frame with your chosen composition is by zooming in.

* Film: Slow speed (50-100 ASA) fine-grain film, e.g. Fuji Velvia, Kodak 100VS or black-and-white. Faster films will not help in dark canyons like Antelope; you will need a tripod anyway.

* A tall tripod, with ball-head and legs capable of independently spreading, e.g. Gitzo or Bogen (Manfrotto). Your compositions can be upwards, downwards, vertical, horizontal, diagonal; your tripod should be able to twist with you.

* Cable release.

* If your camera has a built-in spot meter that is accurate for low light and long exposures, you probably do not need a hand-held spot meter. I found an exposure of 8-15 sec. @ f/16 a good base value with my 35 mm camera in Upper Antelope Canyon.

* Wrist watch or stop watch for reading exposure times.

* Small flash light for visibility in the dark.

* Canned air for cleaning lenses (expect fine sand everywhere).

* UV or skylight filter to protect your lenses.

* Camera bag (dust-proof, watertight if you will be working in partially submerged canyons).

RESOURCES:

* Black Rabbit Productions--http:// www.blackrabbit.com/--for photography books and a clearinghouse of up-to-date information about Antelope Canyon.

* Canyon Symphony video by Steve Traudt, available from Synergistic Visions, POB 2585, Grand Junction, CO 81502

* Hidden Canyons video, available from Black Rabbit Productions

* Photo Traveler's Guide to Slot Canyons of the Southwest, available from Synergistic Visions

* Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau by Michael R. Kelsey, 4th Ed. 1999 (Kelsey Publishing, 456 E. 100 N., Provo, UT 84606-3208)

* Lake Powell Jeep Tours, POB 1144, 104 S. Lake Powell Blvd., Page, AZ 86040--http:// www.jeeptour.com/--information and photographers' tours to Upper Antelope Canyon

By N. Sukumar
Troy, NY

COPYRIGHT 2002 Photographic Society of America, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group