As cool as the Horseshoe just south of Page Arizona is to see, I’m not a huge fan of being in a place nuts to butts with dozens of other people all vying for the amazing shot nobody has ever done of this place. I did this one with the ancient Nikon 24mm f2.8 D lens on a Nikon D3 many years ago. That lens, as light and useful as it was for me, is one of the “film centric” lens designs time hasn’t been nice to. It’s now too soft for the modern sensors. I discovered that when trying to use it with the Nikon D810 many years ago.
On a D3 it worked fine.
I enjoy taking a break from wedding photography and portrait photography to go on road trips to places like Page. The peace and quiet of some of these areas clears a person’s mind. The Horseshoe does not allow for peace and quiet. I’ve been there a couple times now and to be honest, it would take something special for me to return.
You park, you walk over a short hill, and there you find yourself with 50 other people doing pictures and staring at the coolness of this feature. You do pictures and then walk back in the dark. Go eat something. Go to sleep. Wake up early and go see what it looks like at sunrise. (It looks about the same)
The cool thing about Page is to take a photo tour of the nearby slot canyons to do pictures. The slot canyons really are spectacular. Who cares how many people have seen them and done pictures. Seeing them up close and personal really lifts a persons spirit. You can feel the connection with the generations of Native Americans who lived here.
Apparently a person can hire a guide to go see remote slot canyons not often visited by outsiders. Doing this remains on my personal bucket list. To be in a deep and narrow canyon filled with bright striated colors in peace and quiet sounds like a tiny bit of heaven to me.
On Monday I’m headed in to get an MRI on my right knee so the doctor can see what all’s going on and decide what to do by next Friday. Not being able to hike, backpack, pump iron on my legs, do serious biking, and live the way I need would slowly kill my spirit. So whatever needs to happen will happen.