Photographing the Grand Canyon !!

sunny2004

Looking for advice about traveling/photographing to the Grand Canyon,
I will be driving from NYC, now I am not looking for a route, just advice on anything that comes to the members minds, locations near by, best vantage points, things to watch out for, in fact anything that comes into your head about the place would be appreciate.

I am traveling in Next month..

Cheers

Paulw

Well, the Grand Canyon is kinda large. So much to see, and so many vantage points. I've been twice.

You'll want a nice wide lens for the landscapes. You will also probably need a polariser and/or a grad filter. The sky can be very blue and clear. Some cloud is always nice though.

There is also lots of wildlife, so a good telezoom lens is useful. Eagles, hawks, deer, all the way down to small lizards and scorpion.

You should have a brilliant time.

sunny2004

Good man Paul, its a start, I am after the sweeping landscapes, I dont do animals, thats sounds wrong lol

I am just afraid of finding myself on the wrong side I have no idea how it is set up from a visitors point of view and as I wont have a team of 50 plus donkeys and tents I have to be careful..
I will be staying 2 nights tops... and it will be Feb so not expecting anything fantastic from the sky ! hope its stormy !

Paulw

There is no wrong side. Everywhere is different and beautiful.

I've never done it, but the Grand Canyon Skywalk is supposed to be stunning. Although, if you have a fear of heights, I'd skip it.

Even in Feb, you will still get very blue sky.

The US National Parks Grand Canyon website is useful to browse, with information on where to go.

gandalf

The skywalk while spectacular is quite far away from the rest of the vantage points of the Canyon and technically is outside the National Park. I flew into the "International Airport" went to the main vantage points around there in a coach and then took a helicopter trip which was well worth it.

I'd recommend either getting there early in the morning like I did to get the sunrise light and mists or in the evening around sunset. Enjoy yourself it is an absolutely amazing place to visit.

I have a few shots on flickr from there.

kjt

Sounds like you'll have a great time Sunny. I went on a roadtrip during the summer and decided not to go to GC as there'd be SO many people. Instead we went to Bryce Canyon - Directions here.

Regarding gear, deffo a nd grad filter, polorized filter and a wide lens. Their great places to try out panoramic shots/stiched shots!

It's like a minature GC, but in saying that it's still huge! Just an idea if you have a few spare days. I almost fell over the edge trying to get some pictures, fun fun!



Have a great holiday!

Dodgykeeper

kjt wrote: »

Sounds like you'll have a great time Sunny. I went on a roadtrip during the summer and decided not to go to GC as there'd be SO many people. Instead we went to Bryce Canyon - Directions here.

Regarding gear, deffo a nd grad filter, polorized filter and a wide lens. Their great places to try out panoramic shots/stiched shots!

It's like a minature GC, but in saying that it's still huge! Just an idea if you have a few spare days. I almost fell over the edge trying to get some pictures, fun fun!



Have a great holiday!

That is the most disturbing picture I have ever seen, How did yu get so close to the edge, I feel Ill and need to lie down!

Paulw

Dodgykeeper wrote: »

That is the most disturbing picture I have ever seen, How did yu get so close to the edge, I feel Ill and need to lie down!

In many cases, there are lower ledges. While it can look like you're sitting over a vast canyon, it may not actually be the case that there is a sheer drop below.

In saying that, it may actually be that this is looking over a sheer drop.

I've been to Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands, Monument Valley, Arches, and other national parks in Utah. Many have views very similar to the Grand Canyon, they are just nearer the sources of the rivers.

kjt

Dodgykeeper wrote: »

That is the most disturbing picture I have ever seen, How did yu get so close to the edge, I feel Ill and need to lie down!

I wasn't too scared as you can see there was a tree coming out from the side of the cliff that I could have grabbed onto. Also as Paul says, there are ledges in some places. There was one ledge about 4/5ft wide, poking out 40/50feet below so it wouldn't have been too bad.

If you want good pictures you have to push yourself in my opinion. I'm not much of a fan for heights.

whyulittle

kjt wrote: »

There was one ledge about 4/5ft wide, poking out 40/50feet below so it wouldn't have been too bad.

Child's play sure. :P

kjt

whyulittle wrote: »

Child's play sure. :P

Haha, well compared to a sheer 3/500ft drop. A broken leg would be the least of your worries.

gandalf

kjt fair play to you. There is no way I could have gotten that close to the edge. Its not the height I'd have problems with its the falling part

sunny2004

Again great information !

Really helpful and informative, Bryce Canyon, never heard of it and would never of thought of it...

So its a must as its 5 hrs away from grand canyon....

All the info was great !!! REALLY APPRECIATED..


is there any other locations within driving distance worth checking out ??

Now all I need is multi trip insurance must look into it !

Paulw

Errrr Vegas, Hoover Dam are well worth a visit. Other than that, south Utah is brilliant. I think Arches and Monument Valley are (to me) better than Bryce and Zion.

kjt

If your driving to Bryce, it'd be rude not to go and see Zion nation park too! (directions)
It's a lovey place. The drive across from Cedar city to Bryce is amazing (directions)

Also if you have a spare day or two head to Death valley. Very cool place - Directions.

Damn it, now I want to go back to America

Hope that helps

TutuKaka

I think Monument Valley is a stunning location. Enjoy your trip.

leinsterman

Was there just last week on my second trip ... love this area so much I'll be going back another time in the future ... it was a bit of a 7 day road trip ... but we spent a good day in most places either hiking or shooting ...

amazing place at this time of year ... snow, sand and desert ... not mention that big hole in the middle of it all ...

... also given the time of year we had (with the exception of the South Rim) most of NP's to ourselves and a few other die hard hikers and shooters ... which is very desirable ... and if you can stand the cold it is for me a better time of year to visit than summer ... the roads are mostly clear and drivable ... accomodation is ample, good and cheap

The South Rim is amazing but for me not the highlight of this trip ... perhaps because I've been to the North and South Rims before and hiked all the way to the bottom ... the South rim is too touristy ... unfortunately the North Rim (which is much less busy at any time) is closed ... but don't let that deter you ...

One recommendation is to rent a 4WD off road vehicle ... in some places we needed it ... especially Monument Valley and nearby Valley of the Gods ... both astounding examples of High Desert with stacks, buttes, mesas...

The 1700 mile looping route we took out and back to Vegas was -

Day1: Vegas - Hoover Dam - South Rim: Excellent but by no means the highlight of the trip ... I love the Art Deco detail on the dam, great for close in shooting ... we stayed in the NP literally spitting distance from the rim ... I hate Vegas it is modern day Sodom & Gomorrah, and if there is a divine he'll surely start there next time he gets pissed off with us... so I'll say nothing more about it ...

Day2: South Rim drive - Horseshoe bend (Page) - Monument Valley: I love Monument Valley a lot, this is my second trip there, imagine a road runner cartoon landscape and you have the image of it in your head ... you can do it in a car but it is better to have a 4WD to really experience it as there are places you just can't get to along the unpaved road through the valley ...

Day3: Monument Valley - Valley of the Gods - Perilous adrenaline filled ascent of the mesa on hwy 261 in our rental car (4WD Toyota Highlander) - Glen Canyon National Recreation Area - The Goblins NP - Green River (positioning for Canyonlands NP): Valley of the gods is stunningly beautiful ... a mini Monument Valley ... I absolutely loved it ... and the ascent of the Mesa on the icy switchbacks of hwy 261 is incredible ... but the highlight of that amazing day (and possibly the whole trip!) was a complete surprise ... the drive through Glen Canyon Nat Recreation area ... I cannot put it into words ... we were only using it to get somewhere ... but what a pleasant surprise ... Goblins is cool and different too ... but don't let you GPS fool you .. we struggled in a 4WD for 5km to get there only on the GPS route only to give up 2/3 of the way there... about another 5 miles down the road someone built a lovely new flat road ... which the GPS completely forgot to mention!!

Day4 - Green River - Canyonlands - Moab: After a very nice little detour recommended by a local farmer in Green River through snowy roads into the green river valley at the end of a canyon we headed for the other candidate for trip highlight ... Canyonlands National Park ... sure the GC is deep ... but if you really want to see and understand the awesome power of the Colorado River and take some great photos at the same time then Canyonlands provides a much better opportunity ... it is truly a marvel of nature, inspirational ... I only wish I had more time there to take the 4WD down into the canyon along the white rim dirt road ... don't miss the state park at Dead Horse Point on your way out of the place ... some great views from here too ...

Day5 - Moab - Arches NP - long days drive on Interstate 70 to Bryce Canyon: .... I loved Arches but did not spend long enough there because we wanted to make it to far away Bryce the same day for sunset ... having woken before the sun and driven all the way to one of the loveliest of arches (Landscape Arch), hiked for two miles on the snow in -10C cold... in stunning morning light ... what happens as I set up the tripod? ... effin light fails due to cloud ... so I just had to take in the wonder of it all ... and make due with dull lifeless photos

Day6 - Bryce Canyon NP - Zion NP - Vegas: Bryce for me is one of the most incredible place on the planet ... I mean the named the prime 3D modelling S/W package used in digital art after this place ... it is in the middle of an area which has many of the most incredible places on Earth ... At the very least you have to do the Navajo trial to the bottom of the canyon ... it is an 800ft drop followed by a gruelling hike back up on snow ... took us only about 1hr 10 ... you do need yak trax (like crampons but without spikes) ... they are USD30 at Ruby's Inn (which is a great place to stay just outside the park) ... photo-wise ... I don't agree with their Sunrise and Sunset viewing point recommendations ... personally I prefer Bryce point. As for Zion we just did not have enough time here ... it is stunning, especially the drive over the mountain through tunnels and down switchbacks into the Canyon ... I love Zion because it is totally different to the rest of the NP's in the area ... don't miss it ...

Day7 - Vegas - Valley of Fire State Park - Vegas: Not to be missed if you visit Vegas and want something to do during the day .. this is literally hell on earth with twisted blood red rock formations and incredible walks in the desert ...

Anyways ... my advice ... use google earth photos to check out all of the places above and make your own plan...

... buy the USD80 annual NP park ... it is worth it ... and works in any NP in USA ... though not the state parks ...

Take a wide lens ... and a good Telephoto too ... most of my shooting was with a 24mm TS F3.5L, a 24-105 F4L, a 200 F2.8L ... in the case of the two primes I sometimes used a 1.4xTC ... the 50mm F1.4 never left my bag ... too boring for these places!!

Bring an extra battery and keep it near your skin away from the cold ...

I was not really on a photo trip this time ... but I managed to shoot 2 16GB cards with sRAW1 (10MPix) + JPEG (21MPix) ... I have been too busy this week to even look at the images but I know I have lots of keepers ... you can't avoid it in Utah NP's ...

Thanks for asking the question and giving me the opportunity to relive such a wonderful week in my life ... just writing about it gives me goosebumps ... enyoy!!

sunny2004

Really FANTASTIC information folks !!!