Stunning Photo of Horseshoe Bend

I just got back from Arizona after a couple of days of looking for interesting places to photograph.  Well I found a place that is pretty stunning and it’s called Horseshoe Bend.  It is located about 6 miles south of the town of Page smack dab in the heart of Navajo Country.  It is the only place in the world where a river makes almost a complete circle.   The shape of the Colorado River at this location is quite literally a horseshoe and that is why it got the name.

Taking this particular picture took a few things including a long car trip, a short hike up some sandy hills and the ability to let go of my fear of heights.  The vantage point for Horseshoe Bend is 1,000 feet above the water and there are no guard rails to protect you from the sheer cliffs which plunge almost straight down.  A few people die at Horseshoe Bend every year because they get too close to the ledge which is made of sandstone and it literally crumbles beneath there feet sending them all the way down to the water.  When I heard the stories of tourist and photographers being killed at this location it definitely raised my fear level up a bit.

In any case, I did manage to creep to the edge of the cliffs and take several nice photos. I actually stayed there for about 30 minutes trying different angles.  I shot in bracketing mode because there were such extreme lighting conditions between the sky and the bottom of the canyon. By bracketing I was able to expose for the light in the sky as well as the bottom of the canyon.  I am actually really glad I got this picture. It took a lot of work and I almost chickened out when I was there because I was afraid.