Visiting Horseshoe Bend in Arizona

Nikon D4 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/9, ISO 100 —
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Dizzying

my knees feel weak just looking at it

Horseshoe Bend, Page Arizona

It's been half a year since our vacation brought us to Horseshoe
Bend in Page Arizona, so I guess it's time to finally post some
pictures.

Just like the stunning
Antelope Canyon that we visited earlier in the day, from afar the place
looks like nothing special...

Nikon D4 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 150mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Path From the Parking Lot

Being a desert, there's sand (very fine powdery sand) everywhere. A path through it leads from the parking lot
up a long rise. Here's a photo from about halfway up, looking back:

Nikon D4 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100 —
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Looking Back at the Parking Lot

a dusty splotch of asphalt in the middle of nothing








Nikon D4 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/3.5, ISO 100 —
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Up Into the Unknown

When you crest the hill, you see pretty much what you saw everywhere else, except for the addition
of a big hole:

Nikon D4 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/7.1, ISO 125 —
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First Glimpse

for scale, note the dozens of people in the foreground

What's notably lacking are the normal trappings of a tourist
attraction... other than a sign at the parking lot warning of the trek
(slippery sand, lack of water, lack of shade), a well-worn path to follow,
and a small gazebo at the high point of the trek to offer the elderly a
place to rest, there's nothing manmade. No railings, no refreshment stands,
no incessant signs warning of danger and admonishing “don't do this” and
disclaiming “no responsibility for that”.

It was wonderful.

The path seemed to be little more than a rough suggestion, so rather than follow it with
the crowds of people, I made my own path toward the left edge of the hole.

Nikon D4 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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They're Following the Path








Nikon D4 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 125mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Interesting Rocks Everywhere

As I approached The Big Hole, the lack of signage was eerie. Nothing
warning me to stay away from the edge, nothing warning me that there
was an edge. It was 100% natural like it probably was 10,000 years
ago.

Luckily I still knew how to wield some personal responsibility, and I
did not die. Here's the first picture I took when I got there:

Nikon D4 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/13, ISO 140 —
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Big Hole is Too Big

for my 24mm lens

It's a stunning view, and it's very far down. If you fell, screaming the
whole way, those left above would no longer be able to hear you by the time
you hit bottom. (This may or may not be comforting to know.)

The dark corners in the picture are from the polarizer filter, or more
specifically, from the XUME magnetic filter holder I'm using. I like to be
able to take the filter off easily, so I often use magnetic holders, but it
makes the filter stick out and cause vignetting that's most noticeable when
shooting at smaller apertures like above.

I often crop out the dark corners, but I leave them there this time to show what I did with the photo. I made a sort-of-haphazard sweeping motion and shot a bunch more pictures, and gave them to Lightroom's
“Photo Merge” and, and without further input from me it did a pretty good job slapping them all together:

Nikon D4 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/13, ISO 180 —
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Panorama Made From

10 poorly-planned shots

I shouldn't really say “poorly planned” because that implies that there
was any planning at all. If I'd given it any thought, I would have
increased the coverage a lot. As it is, I left lots of blank areas, which
makes a reasonable crop difficult. I did a crop, and touched up one
seam I noticed in the sky, and here we are:

Nikon D4 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/13, ISO 180 —
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Was Worth a Try

but next time I'll just bring a wide-angle lens

One could see boats moving on the river...

Nikon D4 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125 —
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Anthony eventually came over to join me, at which point the lack of
railings suddenly became much more important, and I was wishing I'd left
him duct-taped to the camper. Nothing gets a parent's complete and
undivided attention like danger to their child. But it's dangerous only if you're
stupid or foolish, so I just made sure we were both amply cautious.

Nikon D4 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/13, ISO 125 —
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That's Close Enough

I'm slightly uneasy even looking at it in the photo









Nikon D4 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Thinking Big
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800

The way he's lying down in the photo above does not trigger my
twisted-gut feeling, probably because it doesn't bother me to do it myself. But sitting or standing close gives me the willies.

In this next shot, he's not really very close, though I suppose it looks it.

Nikon D4 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Eventually I started to make my way to where people were...

Nikon D4 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Nikon D4 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 135mm — 1/640 sec, f/14, ISO 1250 —
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Like Ants

To be continued...