Thursday, October 28, 2010

The "Ghosts" of Upper Antelope Canyon - Page, Arizona

As much as the Navajo are a part of the Antelope canyon so are the hoards of people who visit, rather than experience, the slot canyon. Fortunately the guides try to shuttle the tourists through the narrow canyons so not to disturb photographers who are taking long exposures. I took this photo knowing a tour group would walk right into my shot, but I wanted to show the relationship between the slot canyon and the many tourists that visit it. A 20 second exposure turn them into 'ghosts.'

Canon EOS 5D, Tamron SP AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD IF

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In the last 20 years Antelope Canyon has rivaled the Grand Canyon National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park as a “must see destination” on a grand tour of the Southwest. For photographers it is a stunning visual paradise on earth. Besides the incredible light and remarkable colors of the Navajo sandstone, Antelope Canyon easily accommodates photographers due to the fact that there is no hiking involved to get to the entrance, the actual slot canyon is very short (about 200 yards in length), the best light is from mid-morning to noon (so no waking up early to catch the sunrise), and since all tours are guided you are given invaluable tips on the best places to position your camera.

What is known as Antelope Canyon is actually part of the Antelope Canyon Navajo Tribal Park located right outside of Page, Arizona (located in Northwest Arizona near the Utah border). The tribal park consists of two regions: Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon. Upper Antelope Canyon (Tse Bighanilini’) is by far the more popular of the two as a result of its easy access and spectacular light beams that has made this slot canyon famous.

The best time to visit Upper Antelope Canyon is between April to October when the trademark light beams illuminate the slot canyon. I visited in the month of December knowing well I wouldn’t have the spectacular light but the tradeoff was I wasn’t going to deal with the maddening crowds that have characterized Antelope Canyon the last couple of years. Besides after a couple of intense days photographing nearby Monument Valley, I wanted to experience the slot canyon with my own eyes rather from behind the camera.

Enjoy the photograph and the accompanying travelogue! I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Sunday, October 24, 2010

San Ignacio Whale Bone Sunset

San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur is home to Baja California's Friendly Whales. The best place on earth to get close enough to touch these friendly, curious animals in their own environment (of course those are the whales in the water, this one is a little dried up)!

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Friday, October 22, 2010

Memories of Balboa Island - Newport Beach, CA

I use to live in the lovely coastal town of Newport Beach, CA. If you have ever watched the television teen drama “The O.C.” that’s where the show took place (although due to union regulations the show was shot mainly in Los Angeles County).

One of my favorite places in Newport Beach to photograph, take a stroll, sip a coffee and read a good book is Balboa Island. On the island are million dollar homes with hundred million dollar views (that last part is my guesstimate)! The island sits on just 0.2 square miles so the homes are very compacted. In fact, my home basement here in Wisconsin is probably bigger than most homes on Balboa Island.

The island also features one of the few, if not only, car ferries in California. The ferry takes cars and pedestrians from Balboa Island to the Balboa Peninsula.

I took this shot many times when I lived in Newport Beach and I wanted to duplicate it again since I now have better photo equipment (back then I use to shoot with the Canon PowerShot G1).

I must have brought the Wisconsin weather with me because the whole time I was in California it was overcast including this evening when I took this shot. It’s not the best photograph I have taken from this spot, but it at least gives me a reminder of days past when I lived in Newport Beach, CA (the locals do not call it the “O.C.” - it’s simply Orange County).

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Catching Crabs in Johns Island, South Carolina (No! Not those type of crabs)!

My nephew catching crabs off the waters in Johns Island, South Carolina.

After spending most of the day admiring the beautiful architecture and acquainting myself with the wonderful hospitality of Charleston, my nephew and I headed back to my uncle's estate in Johns Island to spend some time on the water. The timing couldn't have been better as we went crabbing right as the sun was setting.

As my nephew was preparing his crab trap, the sun rays began to peek out from behind the clouds and I grabbed my Canon G9 to capture this moment in time.

After we got back to shore I had this photograph as a reminder of the wonderful time we had in South Carolina and delicious, fresh crabs for dinner!

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Olbrich Botanical Garden's Thai Pavilion - Madison, Wisconsin

The Olbrich Botanical Gardens serves as an oasis from the urban setting of Wisconsin's capitol city Madison or "Madtown."

In the far reaches of the gardens is the Thai Pavilion. Its serene setting gave me the opportunity for deep contemplation and at the same time recharge my creative inclinations.

This photograph is not HDR. This is a product of using my Singh-Ray graduated neutral density filter (I don't use it as much as I have had in the past, although I should since it cost me a pretty penny). That was stacked along with my Hoya circular polarizer to achieve this result. I'm dropping some big camera gear names to give the impression that I'm a professional photographer, which I'm not, only a weekend photography warrior.

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to visiting your photostreams soon!

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Sunset at High Cliff State Park - Sherwood, Wisconsin

"Photograph: a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art." ~Ambrose Bierce

"You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it." ~Author Unknown


"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter." ~Ansel Adams

High Cliff is the only state-owned recreational area on Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin's largest lake.

High Cliff gets its name from the limestone cliff of the Niagara Escarpment, which parallels the eastern shore of Lake Winnebago.

This is a great place to watch a sunset and enjoy the Wisconsin outdoors.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Saturday, October 9, 2010

Revisiting the Past at the Tumacacori Mission in Southeast Arizona

For the first time in a long time I spent the weekend in front of my computer instead of shooting out in the field. I was doing preventive maintenance by going through my photos and backing them up on various hard drives. In the process of doing so I went through my old photos from past trips that brought back memories.

In 2004 I took road trip through Southeast Arizona that gave me a flavor of a mix of the Old West, Old Mexico, amazing architecture, church history, and a reminder of the Cold War.

I shot this photo of the Tumacacori Mission with my first digital camera the Canon PowerShot S100 that had a whooping 2 megapixels, a far cry from my current Canon 5D MKII camera that shoots 21 megapixels!

I loved shooting with the PowerShot S100 and it served me well on many photo adventures. It was with me when I ran for my life when I did the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain (talk about a slow shutter lag)!

In the end, my photographic endeavors and creativity led me to outgrow that little camera and eventually lead me to getting my first digital SLR, a Canon Digital Rebel.

So many memories and so many hard drives to back them up on!

So what was your first digital camera? I would love hear from you in the comment section.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Friday, October 8, 2010

This was not inspired by J.J. Abrams and his Star Trek Lens Flares

This photograph was inspired by humanitarian photographer and best-selling author David duChemin. After digesting his books “Within The Frame” and “VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography” I got inspired by some of his photographs that incorporated artistic lens flare to them.

This unique lift bridge over the Menasha Lock is part of the Fox Cities Trestle - Friendship Trail. The local operator just got done lowering the bridge and I spotted these two bicycle riders ready to cross. I quickly set my Canon 5D MKII camera and knowingly was going to violate one of the first rules of photography that I learned: never shoot into the sun! But I wanted to shoot into the sun to pull off my David duChemin lens flare tribute.

Well, I pulled it off and the rules of photography be damned!

Lens flares in your shot mixes up your artistic creativity but don’t overdo it like J.J. Abrams did in his Star Trek film. I thought the lens flare were great in the first couple of shots but in every frame? Simply annoying.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Thursday, October 7, 2010

Fond du Lac Lighthouse, Wisconsin

The city of Fond du Lac is about 35 minute drive south from my home in the Appleton area. The French translation means the "bottom, or far end, of the lake" since the city is located at the bottom of Lake Winnebago.

I photographed this lighthouse, which is Fond du Lac's most recognizable landmark, at sunset in Lakeside Park. The first time I photographed this lighthouse was back in the winter a couple of months ago when the weather was deadly cold. I didn't realized how cold it was because I kept warm in my SmartWool thermals and North Face down jacket. It was only when I took my gloves off to adjust my camera settings did my fingers experience frostbite from the dreadful Wisconsin cold!

I used the remarkable Canon 5D MKII full frame camera to capture this photograph. The camera lives up to its reputation for amazing image quality! This is perhaps the best camera Canon has in their current line up. Kudos to Canon.

This time around I didn't get frostbite, only a serene moment to enjoy nature's light show.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

America's Best Fall Foliage

Founded in 1847 Lawrence University is an internationally renowned college of liberal arts and sciences and a conservatory of music.

More fall colors around Wisconsin with another week before the peak season.

If I were still in college this is the type of campus I would love to study at! Small liberal arts college with beautiful surroundings. Of course, when the snow starts to fall I would quickly transfer to a warm weather college.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

I traveled all the way to Iloilo City, Philippines with my tripod and all I came back with is this lousy photo!

On my third trip to the Philippines I brought with me something that I didn’t have on my previous two trips (to be fair I was only six years old on my first trip) - a camera tripod.

I wanted to engage in some serious “fine art” photography while on this trip and that meant shooting during sunrise, sunset and dusk all requiring a tripod. So I lugged my Manfrotto tripod from San Diego, CA to Iloilo City, Philippines.

In the end my tripod spent more time in my suitcase rather than being firmly planted on the ground supporting my camera. In between family get togethers, extended meals and getting to know Mr. San Miguel (a Filipino beer) very well, I was only able to squeeze in one night of dusk photography.

I shot this on a pedestrian bridge right outside my hotel. If you blink fast enough you won’t see the telephone wires obscuring your view!

Next time the tripod stays home.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Monday, October 4, 2010

A Lovely Sunday Walk Viewing the Wisconsin Fall Colors

The Fox Cities Trestle - Friendship Trail is an old abandoned railroad trestle that now serves as a pedestrian and bike path. At 1600’ long is it the largest pedestrian bridge in Wisconsin crossing a body of water.

The trail is popular with families taking a stroll or, as you can see from the photo, taking a Sunday afternoon bike ride. It is also a great place to catch some Wisconsin fall colors, although we are still about two weeks from the peak colors in the Fox Valley.

I may have turned my circular polarizer a tad bit too much to get that deep blue sky, but with the fall season now upon us here in Wisconsin and with Old Man Winter waiting in the wings, we aren’t going to get too many blue skies in the near future. I have to enjoy the blue skies and somewhat warm weather while I can!

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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