Mars on Earth - Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon is not like anything you've ever seen before. Antelope Canyon was formed by erosion of Navajo Sandstone primarily due to flash flooding and secondarily due to other sub-aerial processes. Rainwater, especially during monsoon season, runs into the extensive basin above the slot canyon sections, picking up speed and sand as it rushes into the narrow passageways. Over time the passageways are eroded away, making the corridors deeper and smoothing hard edges in such a way as to form characteristic 'flowing' shapes in the rock.

I found it very daunting to photograph Antelope Canyon. Before I went, these are shapes and textures that I've never seen before and other than pictures seen on the web, I didn't really have any pre-conceptions of what I wanted to get. This was good, it seems, and I am pleasantly surprised at the pictures I got, and is a rare set of pictures (of mine) that I actually like.

The thing that gets you here is the color - hence the title. There is very little vegetation, and tons of sand and rock. The orange is overwhelming, and it makes for amazing pictures. Its easy to get lost in the color, and you could lose the silky smooth flowing textures. This is why I chose to make this picture black and white, before I posted a few more of these with mind-blowing colors.

A Zabriskie Point Morning in Death Valley

Death Valley is something else. From the time you enter to the moment you leave, the scenery is nothing like you'll find anywhere else. As such, a million photographers go to Death Valley every year, and one of the most popular locations is Zabriskie Point. Zabriskie Point was also the location of a 1970 movie with the same name, and made infamous for being one of the worst movies of all time. However, the location got a lot of exposure, and became very popular thereafter. It's a favorite because its a very easy location to get to. Its very close to the Furnace Creek Resort, and the location is right off the main street. A few short steps, and you are here.

As with so many of the locations I visited during this road trip, this was daunting as ever to photograph. Part of photographing is trying to be better, and the other part is to be original and create something nobody else has created. Its the dilemma that I faced in this trip many times. At some point I had to abandon this thought process, because it wasn't any fun. I got to Zabriskie Point on the third morning after being in Death Valley, and I was tired and hot. I had left it for last since it was the easiest to get to, and realized that was the right decision. There is a ton of wind on the top of the viewpoint here at Zabriskie Point, and in the early morning, it actually felt cooler (relatively speaking, of course). So in the cooler wind, while everybody else was photographing the Panamint Mountain Ranges, I decided to turn to the Elephant Feet. There were much less people photographing this frame, and so I got to go down from the viewpoint a little bit and get this shot.