The second image from my Page, Arizona series is of the Horseshoe Bend canyon which is part of the Glen Canyon/Grand Canyon complex. That’s the Colorado River in the picture; upriver to the right takes you to Glen Canyon and Lake Powell, downstream to the left takes you to the Grand Canyon.
Horseshoe Bend is just three miles or so south of Page, just off the highway. It’s an easy half-mile walk from the parking area to the canyon. If you’re ever in the area, I highly suggest stopping to see it.
For some reason, most images I see of Horseshoe Bend are taken later in the day, when the sun is high enough to shine directly in the canyon. I don’t think this is the best light in which to photograph practically anything, much less something as majestic as what you see in this image.
Dawn is really the time to be taking pictures here. Most people have previously avoided photographing here at dawn because the contrast difference between the sky and the bottom of the canyon is so high it is very difficult to keep detail in both highlights and shadows. Even though digital photography has pretty much made such high-contrast photography incredibly easy, the participants of the workshop I was attending were the only people present at the bend at sunrise. Others began to walk in by the time we were leaving, by which point the best light was already gone.
The image here is a composite of four images: one exposure for the sky (to keep some color in the sky), one for the sun-lit rocks in the background, one for what I call the “dark mid tones” and one for detail in the shadows. The final image was not assembled using high-dynamic-range software per se, but was instead the result of stacking the four images in Photoshop and using masking techniques to utilize the best parts of each separate exposure. Shot with a Canon 5D, 16-35mm f/2.8 lens and a tripod.
Oh, and if you do end up going to see Horseshoe Bend, please stay away from the edge! For this image, I’m not as close to the edge as you’d think: the tripod was fully extended and the camera was looking down from a high position. The sandstone cliffs around Horseshoe Bend wear away in such a way as to cause the surface rock to hang over the edge like a diving board hangs over a swimming pool. The weight of a person is all it takes to cause the rock to break off and it’s a long way down. I’ve seen pictures of people sitting on the edge; please don’t do this.