Antelope Canyon
In 1988 I saw slot canyon photographs at a gallery in Jackson, Wyoming. The mystery of these narrow canyons was enhanced by the intentional lack of information about their location.
In 1992 while traveling on a family vacation through the southwest we stopped for an overnight stay in Page, Arizona. One store had some pictures of a slot canyon with beams of sunlight shining down. This time people were willing to tell me that the location was Antelope Canyon, a narrow slot canyon, located just a few miles outside of town. The canyon is on Navajo land and guides are required for your visit. I was able to reach a guide by phone and scheduled to be picked up the next morning for a three hour tour.
Walking into Antelope Canyon was like entering another world. The beautiful sandstone walls came alive at midday, when shafts of sunlight reach the canyon floor. Sun light bouncing off the sandy floor illuminated the canyon walls in very interesting ways. To get the beams of sunlight to standout, I threw a handful of sand into the air just before taking this picture.
This next photography, By FAITH, shows the same light beams from the opposite direction.
This image makes me think about Daniel in the den of lions. I 'see' a lion's head and mane on the right-hand side canyon wall. The sunlight hitting the wall is the lion's eye.
I have visited Antelope Canyon only once, but it was a memorable day. The canyon is very narrow and dark. However, when the sun is overhead, beams of light illuminate the sandy floor and rock walls. Again I threw sand in the air just before taking the photograph. In a few minutes I took five photographs of this scene without moving the tripod or camera. This image is a combination of the first and last exposures, revealing the best light beams and canyon wall detail.
Unsearchable is a view looking straight up. I don't think I had been influenced by any specific compositions of other photographer's work in Antelope Canyon when I made my images on June 28, 1992. However, Unsearchable, is very similar to Bruce Barnbaum's black and white image "Circular Chimney, Antelope Canyon" which he made on January 2, 1980.
The dust illuminated by the sunlight reminds me that God created Adam out of the dust of the ground. When God calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light, we are able to proclaim His excellence.
The first photograph, LIGHT of LIFE, was published in the February 1994 issue of Outside Magazine in the Exposure section, with the following description: David Dix tossed a handful of Antelope Canyon sand into the air and shot as the Arizona midday light filtered through. "After two hours I thought I'd exhausted the possibilities," says Dix. "Then the sun moved overhead and changed everything."