Day one we headed north from Phoenix to Page.  Unfortunately, Highway 89 from Flagstaff to Page where Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend are located was closed at the Marble Canyon junction requiring us to detour.  We decided to head for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for an afternoon shoot.  When we reached the turnoff at Jacob’s lake we found that the north rim was still closed, curses foiled again.  Improvising, we headed for White Pockets located in the South Coyote Buttes.

Getting to White Pockets requires a one hour four wheel drive ride through deep and shifting red sand.  My 4×4 Ford Excursion makes the trip with ease and in comfort.  We photographed this spectacular rock formation until dusk.   With its curves, colors, and rock formations White Pockets is destined to become a favorite photo location within a few years.  In fact, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) who manages the area is considering requiring a permit just like the “Wave” and “Cottonwood Cove”.  White Pockets reminds me of the “Wave.”  Photographing White Pockets until dusk we finally headed to Page for dinner and bed.  Even with the problems we experienced it was a great day.

On day two we headed back to White Pockets for a glorious morning shoot.  For the afternoon we photographed Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River.  The parking lot is located about 5 miles south of Page on Highway 89 where you start your hike of about a mile.  Going to the “Bend” is not difficult but the hike back is up hill in sand and will test your muscles regardless of what the parking lot signs say.  If you are not in reasonable shape don’t do it.  At the Horseshoe Bend the photography was wonderful.  While shooting the “Bend” you are shooting NW and afternoon shots provide great sunlight on the river.  I recommend both a morning and afternoon shoot,  8 to 10am and 4 to 6pm.

On day three we photographed both Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons.  These spectacular canyons are cut through sandstone over thousands of years, by rushing water flooding into Lake Powell (on the Colorado River). This geological formation is located in northern Arizona on the Navajo Nation and is one of their tribal parks. We booked with Overland Canyon Tours for a photography tour of Upper Antelope Canyon.  A photo tour allowed us two hours of photography during the best time to capture shafts of light and we were allowed to take tripods in with us.  The Upper canyon is easy walking from the entrance where you are dropped off.   It was breathtaking to say the least. Walking through Lower Antelope Canyon is another proposition altogether. You are required to climb up and down steel ladders throughout the canyon. This portion of the canyon is a moderate to hard walk and climb. As a photography tour we were allowed to stay in the canyon for two hours and guide ourselves. If you can only do one canyon, definitely do the Upper Canyon. Most of the famous slot canyon photographs come from Upper Antelope Canyon. After spending the day shooting both canyons we headed for Monument Valley arriving just in time for the best afternoon light.  A photography tour to Monument Valley is a must for the serious photographer.  Located in both Arizona and Utah, the Valley is a Navajo Nation Tribal Park. The Valley contains some of the most striking and recognizable sandstone buttes, mesas, monoliths and spires in the southwest.

After a restful night we headed back into the “Monument” for a morning shoot leaving only after the wind blew us out mid-day. From Monument Valley we headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We started shooting at the far east end of the NP and finished the far west end.  Using polarized filters and neutral density filters we were able to capture the Canyon beauty where we ended our tour, we were done in and had had enough with a drive back to Tucson still ahead of us.

Related posts:

1. Northern Arizona Nature Photography Tour
2. Antelope Canyon
3. Southwest Texas Photo Tour

The world premier of this series is Sunday, May 19th, 2013 9pm Arizona time on The Discovery Channel.  For a first look click on:   Discovery Channel’s “NORTH AMERICA”

My work with “The Discovery Channel” included guiding the crew to sites where cranes roost, including Twin and Cochise lakes both in Willcox, and to two wildlife areas owned by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Crane Lake and Whitewater Draw.  For more information about these birding sites and Arizona’s premier winter birding festival visit Wings Over Willcox.com

The crew used the Dos Cabezas Bed & Breakfast located in historic Dos Cabezas Arizona www.doscabezasretreat.com as their base of operation during filming as it put them in the heart of crane country.  According to owner Jon Samuelson, “they would leave at 3:00am, film all day, get back around 7 or 8 at night just to obtain a few minutes of usable footage each day.”

This seven part series took five years to complete and will air on Sunday nights beginning May 19^th, 2013 on The Discovery Channel.

For information on this and other photography tours contact:

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1. Wildlife Photo Tour

Like many species, lion males cannot take care of themselves, living off the efforts of their wives and sweethearts.  Yes, like most males in the animal kingdom males lions use their size and dominant status to eat first and let females and cubs fend for themselves.

Please understand that male lions have hunting skills, it’s just that they don’t want to use them.  Somewhere between ages two and four males cubs are kicked out of their pride and forced to fend for themselves.  During this period young “kicked out” males will form a small group hoping the others really know how to hunt so they won’t starve.  When a lone male cannot join a group he has to fend for himself generally hunting smaller animals such as warthogs, hares, and the young of other species.  Yep, he’s a bully.

A young group of males often stay together and gang up on an older male who has a pride forcing him to run, or be killed.  If the young males do drive the older male away two things may occur.  First, the young males may kill all of the vanquished male’s offspring to ensure their genes are in the pride. Second, the outcast male has a slim chance of survival without a pride of females to hunt and care for him.

African lions are not difficult to find during the day and are abundant in large National Parks like the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Masai Mara in Kenya.  They are found almost everywhere e except forests.  T

heir habitats include open plains, woodlands, thick bush and semi desert.

On safaris to Kenya and Tanzania I often find lions lying in open fields, resting in trees or laying in the shade of Acacia trees.   Most wildlife in Africa are tolerant of vehicles and lions are not an exception, in fact they are very tolerant of vehicles.  Like most cats, lions are nocturnal and sleep about twenty hours a day. However, we observed forty lions during the day on my August 2012 safari during the “Great Migration.”

Visit  African Photo Safaris for more information on photo tours and workshops.

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1. African Fun Facts

My first trip was to the Santa Clara Ranch located about 60 miles NW of Edinburg, TX and nine miles west of McCook. I chose to stay at their bunkhouse to avoid driving back and forth to Edinburg.  Bunkhouse is misnomer, it really is a house with sleeping for eight in four bedrooms, two baths, complete living room and kitchen, and air conditioned.

During my shoot I was awed with the set up; four ponds with a permanent blind at each, two facing east and two west.  Additionally, there is an above ground blind with a large snag for shooting raptors.

This trip I photographed numerous species of birds, reptiles and mammals. Actually, I took close to 2,500 photos. Needless to say, I really had a great time. Dr. Gutierrez and his staff really know how to set up a great photography location.  Contact Santa Clara Ranch

The second trip to southwest Texas I stayed in Edinburg and drove the twenty minutes to the Laguna Seca Ranch. The ranch is a great place to shoot with four ponds and blinds and a fifth blind for raptors.

This trip was specifically to photograph raptors. On my second morning in the raptor blind I couldn’t believe how many Crested Caracara flew in, I was overwhelmed by the number, fifteen all in the frame.

Janice McConaha was my guide and took great care of me to include putting out pieces of chicken to draw the raptors to the perch. During this shoot I was able to capture a Harris’ hawk and a Caracara on the same perch.  Later, I captured a Caracara and a Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk on the same perch.

Laguna Seca Ranch is located just 20 minutes north of Edinburg, Texas and 45 minutes from the McAllen-Miller International Airport. Click on the map below to open an interactive Google map in a new window.

Laguna Seca Ranch and the surrounding land has been handed down within the Vela family since 1867. One of the first families to settle in the Rio Grande Valley.  The Velas planted the first orange trees of the Rio Grande Valley. Sincere efforts have been and are continuing to be made throughout to maintain the pristine nature of the Vela land. Since the present landowner acquired the 700-acre plot in 2003, preservation of the native wildlife and plantlife take top priority. Maintenance and improvement projects are constantly in progress. More information is available on the “Ranch History“ page.

For more information visit my tours

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During our safari we will enter the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest volcanic crater with the walls still standing.  50,000 head of wildlife reside on the floor of the crater which is only 110 square miles in size.  Included in this count are approximately 110 lions.

Ngorongoro Crater – Lion attacking Zebra

However, one of the most dramatic and memorable safari experience will be observing 1.5 million wildebeest migrating between Kenya & Tanzania at the numerous wildlife crossings on the Mara River.

We will head for those crossings hoping to photograph the Wildebeest as they gather by the thousands on the banks of the river.  Wildebeests run a dangerous gambit trying to cross the Mara River as several hundred Nile crocodiles try to reduce their numbers.  With the swift current, eminent stampedes and deadly crocodile jaws, you have a guaranteed recipe for mass genocide.

We will spend several days on the Serengeti, and the Masai Mara, photographing the “Great Migration” as it moves from Tanzania, across the Mara River into Kenya.  Nearly 300,000 wildebeest die annually from drowning, injuries, predators such as lions, and the huge Nile Crocodiles.  Great photographs an be had during these crossings.

We will also visit Lake Manyara NP and Arusha NP.  During our visit to Arusha NP we hope to photograph the large black and white Colobus monkey with their extremely long, bushy, white tail.

Our accommodations will be lodges similar to the Ngorongoro Crater Sopa Lodge in Tanzania and Camps such as the newly opened Nasikia Luxury Camp where we can sit around a camp fire and listen to the sounds of Africa. To see photos from my African safari during the Great Migration” visit my photo gallery.

Sign up for the August 2013 African Safari 

now while seats are still available!

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1. African Photo Safari 2013

As we sit around our camp fires resting in our remote camps we can hear the magnificent sound of lions roaring in the distance (we hope).  In fact, a lion’s roar is so loud it can be heard (and enjoyed) from over five miles away making it one of the loudest sounds of any animal on earth.

Researchers have discovered that a lion’s ability to create such an immensely loud roar isn’t because of lung capacity but rather their specialized vocal cords.  These unusual vocal cords contain two membranes that are covered in a peculiar layer of fat allowing them to produce a noise that is both hard and heavy at the same time, and vibrate horizontally magnifying the sound all using very little lung power.

Come and enjoy the sights and sounds of Africa on our twelve-day Africa Safari to southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania.

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1. Africa Lion Fun Facts

Canyon X is located on a private Navajo ranch with limited access.  The first of the three canyons requires some hiking and climbing.  Those wanting to photograph the canyon are required to hire Overland Canyon Tour in Page, AZ as they are the only tour company with permission to access Canyon X.   Canyon X

Upper Antelope Canyon requires a Navajo Nation Park Pass and that includes a 4×4 ride from the main gate to the canyon mouth two miles or so up stream.  Once there you are allowed about 45 minutes to tour this slot canyon.  However I suggest taking one of the photo tours that allows you two hours inside the canyon during the best photography light (mid-day).  The canyon is located off AZ route 98 about 6 miles from page. Upper Antelope Canyon is the easiest to visit; you are dropped off at the mouth of the canyon and have a flat 1/4 mile walk in sand.

Lower Antelope Canyon is located across AZ highway 98 from the entrance to Upper Antelope.  You are required to purchase a separate Navajo Nation Park Pass.  You are lead on this 45 minute tour by a Navajo guide.   However, if you carry a tripod you are allowed to enter and photograph by yourself for up to two hours.  This canyon is difficult as you start at ground level and have to climb down into the canyon then up several ladders as you wonder the canyon.

Listed below are the setting I used to take this photo.  I suggest you just keep taking photo while changing setting to see what you can capture.  Remember to throw sand in the air let it settle then photograph the reflected sun light on the dust.

Camera:          Canon 1D II

Lens:               Canon 17-40mm f/4

File format:    RAW

Priority:          Shutter

Metering:        Evaluative

f/stop:             f/4

Shutter speed: 1/30

ISO:                 400

Tripod and cable release

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1. Northern Arizona Tour 2013
2. Northern Arizona Nature Photography Tour