Slot Canyon Photos - C&C please

That beam of light is really interesting and indeed almost look fake. I love these shots!

Thanks for all your comments. The place is normally very crowded and you will have around 70% of your photos with someone moving into the shot during the 30sec exposure. The guides are very helpful though in controlling the crowds. But the problem is, you only get a few spots where the guides will prevent crowds from coming on. So shots become pretty repetitive. To illustrate here is a shot nearly at the entrance of the canyon. Nothing interesting (not for critic) but will give you the perspective and crowd

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Thanks for the reply above, that does help put things more into perspective. I guess my hopes of exploring that area for various angles and at diff times of day in solitude is just a dream. he he he.

I guess the gang here is split (pun intended) on the beam of light coming through. What do you think. I'm supposing you like it b/c you uploaded it here.
If you shot this in RAW, I think you can bring the contast of the light down and make it more diffuse. I'd like to to a version of that or a pretty contrasty b/w version of it too with the beam looking almost like a spot light for a dramatic effect/mood.

Well to avoid the crowd, you can always go to Lower Antelope Canyons. Not as easy as going into Upper, but if you do not have to tag on your family, that is a better option. Though the probability of getting the light beams is less, but it does open up more colors and rock curves to shoot. I plan to go there next time I am around.

The shots are in raw, so I can make that contrast less. And I can get one in B&W. That is a nice idea. I will do it. Thanks a lot.

No problem. Yeah, I would play with burning a bit, but that is just me.
Cropping the bottom is definitely another option (I saw that mentioned) but for me personally,
I noticed the beam before the rocks, thus making the beam the main subject for me.
It being a straight line, my eye naturally went from point A (top), to point B (bottom).
So by cropping the bottom to eliminate some of that white light on the ground,
I wouldn't get the same sense of "completeness." Hope that makes sense.

I am no expert by any means, but maybe you can try this:

Duplicate the background layer and change the blending mode to multiply, add a mask to your new layer and mask out all areas you don't want to darken, adjust the opacity until you get something you like.

I have no idea how this will look, I am at work currently so I can't try a work-up first. I just wanted to add an idea for you.

Beautiful shots by the way.

Travis

Thanks Travis. I will try that when I go home.

Let me know how it works out for you.

Travis

Great pictures!

That is one of the coolest canyons ever, I really want to go there one day.

There are two of them. The Upper and the Lower. Best season to go is summer. Best time depends on what you want to shoot. Upper canyon is more crowded than the Lower. Mornings are a bit less crowded. If you want to shoot the light streaks, go at noon. If you want to capture the nice violet colors on the rocks, go in the morning.

http://www.navajonatio​nparks.org/htm/antelop​ecanyon.htm

Wow! Perfect pictures!

WOW, great shots, I wouldn't change a thing. Reminds us of what's out there in the "real world". Thanks for sharing.

I see seriously blown highlights in those first 2 shots which kills the shot for me. The exposure should have been lowered to avoid such overexposure and try to lighten the shadows afterwards.

Agree with that. I have the photos in RAW. Is there any workflow to supress the amount of blown up highlights? Thanks.

See what your RAW converter tries when you open the file as it picks its auto settings. I use PSE3 and it tried to adjust settings to eliminate blown highlights if it can. If it can't, options are to pull back the exposure/highlights - basically underexpose most of the image during RAW conversion and then see what happens with lightening shadows and adding back in contrast afterwards. Those shots could be a lot darker than they are.