Mesa Verde National Park, located in the southwestern corner of Colorado, is a great interactive place. One of the more adventurous cliff dwellings of the ancestral Puebloan people is Balcony House. This cliff dwelling is only available on a ranger-guided tour and involves climbing a 32 foot ladder, crawling through a 12 foot-long tunnel, and climbing up a 60 foot open rock face with two 10 foot ladders to exit the site.
While on the tour I waited in line to crawl through a narrow 12 foot-long tunnel, a woman in front of me froze up and screamed she was claustrophobic. After making a scene she turned to me commanded that I go before her. I happily obliged and squeezed my way through the tunnel being careful not to damage my Canon 5D camera all the while listening to the woman behind me continue to whine and complain.
At the conclusion of the tour we had to climb two ladders to exit the site. I stayed behind the rest of the tour group to get some unobstructed views of the cliff dwelling before heading up. I then spotted the annoying and claustrophobic woman approaching me so I decided to get to the ladders before she did.
As I approached the first ladder, I paused for a moment to adjust my camera around my shoulder and not before Ms. Claustrophobia shrieked, “What’s the matter?! Are you afraid of heights?!”
“No, I’m just adjusting my camera so it won’t swing unnecessarily against the wall and break into pieces” I calmly replied, “you do realize the entire tour group scaled a 32 foot ladder to begin the tour?”
“Oh, you must be one of those types really obsessed with photography!” she snorted.
I turned my back to her and started to climb the ladder.
“By the way please stay behind me at least 150 to 200 yards. Annoying people make me claustrophobic. Thank you.”
She yelled back some expletive but I kept a smile on my face the whole time.
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
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Tags: Mesa Verde National Park Colorado Ruin Balcony House
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Chinle, Arizona, United States: Antelope House ruins at Canyon de Chelly National Monument.
This little gem of a national monument is tucked away in Northern Arizona. It is unique in that it is operated by both the National Park Service and the Navajo Tribal Trust. The Navajo consider the canyon a very holy place.
The Navajo still live in the canyon and access to the canyon is restricted to tours accompanied by a park ranger or Navajo guide (the only exception is the trail to the White House Ruins).
A trip to Canyon de Chelly (de-SHAY) is rewarding not only for great photographs, but for the spirit.
Thanks guys for all your views, comments and favs!
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography 2019
Contact me to license my images:
sam@samantonio.com
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Tags: anasazi high desert stone ancient red rock nature Antelope House texture overlook canyon canyon de chelly desert national monument vista landscape sandstone formations outdoors spectacular scenic sandstone usa arizona monument america navajo rock formations
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Some of the best views of the park are located right next to the visitor's center. This is the classic view featuring the Left Mitten, Right Mitten and Merrick Butte.
Note: Canon EOS 5D,Tamron SP AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD IF
Monument Valley (or as the Navajos call it Tseí Biií Ndzisgaii) conjures up images of iconic western films namely because it was made famous by Hollywood director John Ford's films such as "Stagecoach" and "The Searchers" and his mainstay actor John Wayne. Even if you have never ventured to Monument Valley you would instantly recognize it due to the numerous movies, television commercials, music videos and print advertisements that have used this Navajo Tribal Park as a background. As a result, it is difficult to come away with some great photographs without having it be a cliché.
I always dreamed of making a pilgrimage to Monument Valley because I am a huge fan of the Western genre. Also, from a photographic point of view it is the apex symbol of the American Southwest.
Since this is a Navajo Tribal Park access is limited to a 17-mile self-drive circuit. The road is a bit rough in some areas but I drove it over the course of two days with a small compact rental car with ice in some places. My recommendation would be to take a guided tour to get an overview of the park and then come back later to do the valley drive to shoot in the best light. I stayed at Goulding's Lodge just outside the park boundary. It is a little more expensive than accommodations in Mexican Hat or Kayenta, but every room has a private balcony with superb views of the valley.
Happy Travels!
One more photo in the comment section.
All Rights Reserved. Photos and Text ©Sam Antonio Photography 2007
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This little gem of a national monument is tucked away in Northern Arizona. It is unique in that it is operated by both the National Park Service and the Navajo Tribal Trust. The Navajo consider the canyon a very holy place.
The Navajo still live in the canyon and access to the canyon is restricted to tours accompanied by a park ranger or Navajo guide (the only exception is the trail to the White House Ruins).
The highlight of my trip was the opportunity to photograph the classic image of the White House ruins. It is named after a long wall in the upper ruin that is covered with white plaster. The streaks along the wall is what is known as desert varnish. The ruins are best photographed in the late afternoon.
A trip to Canyon de Chelly (de-SHAY) is rewarding not only for great photographs, but for the spirit.
Thanks guys for all your views, comments and favs!
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography 2019
Contact me to license my images:
sam@samantonio.com
Purchase my prints:
www.SamAntonioPhotography.com
Facebook | Google + | Twitter | Pinterest | Photography Blog
Tags: ancient arizona anasazi canyon navajo monument pueblo house indian chelly american native chinle cliff sandstone white dwelling indigenous ruins rock southwest historic structures tribal architecture landscape canyon de chelly geologic chuska landmark tribes traditional archeology anazazi native american national monument white house ruins petroglyphs tourism navajo nation northern arizona canyon de chelly national monument anasazi ruins ancient puebloan navajo tribal trust ancient pueblo peoples indian reservation traditional culture ancient pueblo people southwest usa
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I have been spending the last couple of weeks archiving and backing up my photos to a couple of online services. Hard drives fail and memories fade.
It has been a great treat to go down memory lane and to see how far I have gone with my photography. In the next couple of weeks I will be posting photos from my archives that I somehow overlooked and reprocessing some older ones.
I took this shot of the fall colors at Oxbow Bend at about 10:30 a.m. in the morning. Yes, I broke the cardinal rule of landscape photography of only photographing in the warm, soft light of sunrise and sunset, but I was glad I took this shot in the late morning light. Normally the classic shot of Oxbow Bend is taken at sunrise, but in autumn the light is a little flat in the early morning. With the front lighting of the sun in the late morning, the autumn colors were deeply saturated. It seems like they are popping right out of the photo! After I came back from my trip I found out this was a similar shot on the front cover of Outdoor Photographer Magazine.
Notes: Canon EOS 20D, Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD (IF)
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While Yellowstone National Park is a wildlife photographer's park, Grand Teton National Park is the home to landscape photographers. Some of the world's best mountainscapes are located right here. Located in northwestern Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park’s mountains were named by a French trapper who viewed them from the Idaho side of the range and called them Tetons, French slang for "breasts" (I'm not kidding)!
On my first trip to the park I couldn't see the Teton Mountains at all since the fog hid them. This time around my view was almost ruined because the park service was doing a controlled burn in the park and is the reason why you see some haze in this mountain shot.
One more photo in the comment section.
All Rights Reserved. Photos and Text ©Sam Antonio Photography 2006
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Tags: Fall Colors Grand Teton Oxbow Bend Sam Antonio Grand Teton National Park Reflection Reflections Mountain Range National Park Photography United States Wyoming Vacation Landscape Landscape Photography Travel Photography Travel Destinations USA Travel Mountainscapes Fall Autumn Fall arrives at Oxbow Bend on Snake River in Grand Tetons National Park Snake River Photographing Oxbow Bend Photography Tips Tranquil Scene Nature Horizontal Outdoors USA Bush Mountain Day National Park Scenics Symmetry Color Image Beauty In Nature No People Photography Clear Sky Sunny Blue Sky Fall foliage Majestic Tree Sky Forest Idyllic Aspen Tree Mt Moran American Aspen Tree Non-Urban Scene Travel tetons water oxbow inspirational clear remote river calm peaks dramatic rocky rugged environment overlook aspens beautiful bend blue color colorful colour
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