Venture to the town of Page, Arizona and you'll have the opportunity to visit an amazing nearby place called Antelope Canyon. This spectacle is a bizarre sculpted ravine of Navajo sandstone created over the course of millions of years as a result of flash floods and wind erosion. That's the science bit over.
There are two canyons; upper and lower. We visited Upper Antelope Canyon which is the most popular and accessible. Aside from the amazing curvy sandstone walls and narrow walkways, there is a fantastic effect where the sun passes vertically over the canyon and creates vertical beams of light down to the ravine floor. Cheesy visions of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew came flooding back to us and we couldn't resist a bit of fake teleportation. You'll see what I mean in the video ... beam me up Scotty!
The shafts of light appear and disappear through the course of the visit as the sun passes over the canyon. Fine particles of sand linger in the air lit up by the sun's beam. All in all, a must see place in this part of the world and a photographer's dream!
By Darrell Grundy - visited on 20 June 2002