Grand Canyon - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6D ED

07/27/2016 01:20:34 PM · #1

Planning a trip to the GC. Anyone have any advice on the following:
Best Guided Photo expedition tour guide or tour.
Best month to go when not too busy, too cold, most photogenic.
Side day trips close to the Grand canyon.
Anything else you would like to tell me!

All recommendations are much appreciated.

The Eskimo

Nikon D3s

07/27/2016 02:01:12 PM · #2

if you can get to the slot canyons near Page Arizona you won't be disappointed as they are breathtaking once inside. There are two called the upper and lower Antelope canyons. They are located on American Indian property and they charge a small but reasonable charge to see. Ask for a photographer pass if you go because that way you are on your own and not with a tour group. Be sure to take a tripod to capture the great light inside. I went to the lower Antelope Canyan and hope to go back again to see the other.

timb

Pentax K-5 IIs

Sigma 70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Pentax

07/27/2016 04:14:13 PM · #3

Early morning shots as the sun is starting to rise. The light play is awesome there!

07/27/2016 06:03:42 PM · #4

I just got home from hiking the canyon rim-to-rim with my brother. I would also STRONGLY recommend a side trip to Page. The slot canyon is an amazing place. I am not aware of a tour that will allow you to be alone in there, as The Eskimo had suggested, but there are "photo tours" that allow longer access with supposedly fewer people in there. You might be able to find lesser-traveled tours of the lower canyon than the upper one.

In addition to the Antelope Slot Canyons, Page is also right near Horseshoe Bend and the Glen Canyon Recreation Area with Lake Powell right there. Tons of amazing places to see in that area.

My one suggestion for the Grand Canyon is to at least take a few steps down the Bright Angel Trail. At the very least, walk down as far as the first tunnel, which is only a 5 or 10 minute walk from the rim. It's worth it to experience the canyon from the trail.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/27/2016 07:42:53 PM · #5

Great. Thanks for the recommendations. Keep them coming. Also planning on seeing Hoover Dam on the way. Can't decide whether to go to the North Rim or head south to Sedonia and see the Red Rocks as time is limited.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

07/27/2016 07:52:17 PM · #6

Originally posted by alanfreed:

My one suggestion for the Grand Canyon is to at least take a few steps down the Bright Angel Trail. At the very least, walk down as far as the first tunnel, which is only a 5 or 10 minute walk from the rim. It's worth it to experience the canyon from the trail.

Dang -- I hiked the Bright Angel Trail ... one afternoon in 1970, and I don't remember a tunnel ... :-(

But then we were young and stupid (and on Spring Break in high school) and were more worried about the mule teams with tourists (and what they did to the middle of the trail) ...

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

07/27/2016 09:33:18 PM · #7

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

07/28/2016 11:12:58 AM · #8

No.... I don't remember a tunnel, either!

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/28/2016 12:39:36 PM · #9

Thanks for the photo ...

Originally posted by vawendy:

No.... I don't remember a tunnel, either!

I do remember walking on that narrow lighter-colored patch along the edge, as the mule trains had thoroughly "processed" the (damp) center of the trail into a couple of inches of muck ...

NewtoNikon

Fujifilm X-T4

Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR

07/28/2016 04:48:34 PM · #10

Years ago, and we are talking a very long time ago, I went to the Grand Canyon. I booked a helicopter ride with THIS COMPANY and I enjoyed it immensely.
It was the first flight of the morning, and as all the helicopters approached the rim, it was like a scene out of Apocalypse Now as they fly low.
I would check with them if you can shoot through an open window as there wasn't one on the helicopter I flew, so I got a lot of reflections.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/28/2016 05:30:08 PM · #11

Originally posted by NewtoNikon:

I would check with them if you can shoot through an open window as there wasn't one on the helicopter I flew, so I got a lot of reflections.

Maybe you should have tried this technique ... ;-)

Canon EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 II

07/28/2016 06:47:38 PM · #12

There are actually two tunnels... I didn't remember the second one while we were hiking this time. I saw a tunnel and got very excited, thinking that we were already at the top, only to realize that no, there were TWO of them! The one Bear posted is the one very near the top.

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by alanfreed:
My one suggestion for the Grand Canyon is to at least take a few steps down the Bright Angel Trail. At the very least, walk down as far as the first tunnel, which is only a 5 or 10 minute walk from the rim. It's worth it to experience the canyon from the trail.

Dang -- I hiked the Bright Angel Trail ... one afternoon in 1970, and I don't remember a tunnel ... :-(

But then we were young and stupid (and on Spring Break in high school) and were more worried about the mule teams with tourists (and what they did to the middle of the trail) ...

dtremain

Canon EOS 80D

07/29/2016 10:12:22 PM · #13

Navajo Point is just inside the East entrance of the park on the South Rim. It is a lookout that has an excellent view over the canyon.

My memory of it is from the early 1980's. In the lookout tower, they had a 40x photo quality telescope. I took one picture through the telescope, and one through the window alongside it. When I got the slides developed, I thought the processor had lost the one through the 40x telescope. But, when I looked closer, one of the slides was missing some of the details along each edge - my shot through the 40x tele.

No photograph or word accurately conveys the size of the Grand Canyon. Take all the pictures you want, but also take it in without a camera in front of your face.

My favorite memory was the 1st time I saw it - a night with a full moon, and I was driving the South Rim after entering the park from the East. I just pulled off into an empty parking lot, shut off the car lights, got out and walked a few steps to the fence, and stood there overlooking the canyon in the moonlight.

tanguera

Nikon D750

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

07/30/2016 12:38:14 AM · #14

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by NewtoNikon:
I would check with them if you can shoot through an open window as there wasn't one on the helicopter I flew, so I got a lot of reflections.

Maybe you should have tried this technique ... ;-)

What a story!

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

07/30/2016 01:44:02 PM · #15

Originally posted by dtremain:

Wow Johanna, your point is well taken. Thanks for the advice.

tanguera

Nikon D750

07/30/2016 02:03:56 PM · #16

Originally posted by GolferDDS:

Originally posted by dtremain:
Navajo Point is just inside the East entrance of the park on the South Rim. It is a lookout that has an excellent view over the canyon.

My memory of it is from the early 1980's. In the lookout tower, they had a 40x photo quality telescope. I took one picture through the telescope, and one through the window alongside it. When I got the slides developed, I thought the processor had lost the one through the 40x telescope. But, when I looked closer, one of the slides was missing some of the details along each edge - my shot through the 40x tele.

No photograph or word accurately conveys the size of the Grand Canyon. Take all the pictures you want, but also take it in without a camera in front of your face.

My favorite memory was the 1st time I saw it - a night with a full moon, and I was driving the South Rim after entering the park from the East. I just pulled off into an empty parking lot, shut off the car lights, got out and walked a few steps to the fence, and stood there overlooking the canyon in the moonlight.

Wow Johanna, your point is well taken. Thanks for the advice.

Ummmm, thank David :)

kirbic

Canon RF 24-70 f2.8 L IS

07/30/2016 02:39:41 PM · #17

Also note that, with the exception of the main "village" area at the South Rim, the vast majority of the park is in an area where skies are quite dark, making for some great opportunities for night sky/landscape photography.

07/30/2016 06:41:17 PM · #18

Originally posted by tanguera:

Originally posted by GolferDDS:

Originally posted by dtremain:
Navajo Point is just inside the East entrance of the park on the South Rim. It is a lookout that has an excellent view over the canyon.

My memory of it is from the early 1980's. In the lookout tower, they had a 40x photo quality telescope. I took one picture through the telescope, and one through the window alongside it. When I got the slides developed, I thought the processor had lost the one through the 40x telescope. But, when I looked closer, one of the slides was missing some of the details along each edge - my shot through the 40x tele.

No photograph or word accurately conveys the size of the Grand Canyon. Take all the pictures you want, but also take it in without a camera in front of your face.

My favorite memory was the 1st time I saw it - a night with a full moon, and I was driving the South Rim after entering the park from the East. I just pulled off into an empty parking lot, shut off the car lights, got out and walked a few steps to the fence, and stood there overlooking the canyon in the moonlight.

Wow Johanna, your point is well taken. Thanks for the advice.

Ummmm, thank David :)

Whoops! Thanks David!

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

07/30/2016 10:28:22 PM · #19

These are all cell phone shots (there was no way I was adding the weight of a DSLR to the backpack...), but here are a handful of shots from my hike a couple weeks ago. My brother and I did the rim-to-rim hike from Monday, July 11 through Thursday, the 14th. Spoiler alert! We didn't die.

Bear_Music

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

07/31/2016 12:12:25 AM · #20

Boy, that's impressive...

07/31/2016 02:36:45 PM · #21

Alan,
Awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing.