The V-shape enables the light to come in comfortably from above and a lot of bouncing off of the walls is involved. It is sometimes nicknamed ‘the corkscrew’. Now, look at the profile of Lower Antelope Canyon. The Secret Canyon is not as deep as the Antelope Canyons. I composed this image carefully in order to avoid “hot spots” (= blown up highlights) while keeping the shadows bright enough. Slot canyons that are not as deep (like the Secret Canyon) will expose you to light conditions with difficult dynamic range. You also get challenging dynamic range situations as the rock can be very bright just a couple of meters above your head while relatively dark at your head’s level.
The light doesn’t have to travel for very long to get to the bottom because it’s not as deep as the other ones. In the case of the Secret Canyon, the depth of it is the strongest factor.
Secret Canyon’s profile (and some other smaller canyons)
