Radiance

Antelope Canyon, located near Page Arizona, has become an internationally recognized slot canyon, not only for its photographic qualities but also for the flash flood in the summer of 1997 that tragically killed a dozen tourists, caught unaware by raging waters from a thunderstorm miles upstream.

The canyon offers beautifully sculpted sandstone walls that align with the suns path in such a way as to offer optimal lighting for photography at certain times. Indeed, photographers travel from all around the world to try their hand at capturing that one perfect image. This photo is our attempt. 

There are two main sections to Antelope Canyon, an upper and a lower. The upper canyon is where visitors will most often see a photo like this with a ray of sunlight illuminating the slot canyon chamber below. But this photo was actually captured in the lower canyon section, much closer to Lake Powell. The shaft of light was more of an accident on our part, but a young Navajo guide knew that tossing some sand in the air would capture and reflect that ray of sunshine and did so just as we snapped the photo. 

The word “radiance” means “vividly bright and shining, or glowing.” The sunlight above bouncing off the canyon walls is what provides  that light, hence the name, “Radiance.” 

Photo taken September, 2009