Grand Canyon Trip - DPChallenge Forums

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

02/04/2006 10:19:47 PM · #1

I'm looking for information and suggestions about a Grand Canyon trip--for the family, but of course my interest is photos.

What time of year is best to go? We'd like to December, February, or April, when the kids have off

Where to stay?

Things to do besides photography (and how to work those photo sessions in)

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance...

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

02/04/2006 10:24:11 PM · #2

I'd sure as hell stay right at the lodge on the Canyon rim if I could afford it. Fabulous old building, and right there for early and late shots.

R.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

02/04/2006 10:39:18 PM · #3

I'd recommend some Google researching on your own to start. There is tons out there and you can probably find out anything you want to know.

You will be innundated with suggestions by people here. The Grand Canyon is a big, big place and there are more photo ops in and near it than you could hope to photograph in a lifetime.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

02/04/2006 10:42:31 PM · #4

Is it worth the trip from Las Vegas if you start at around Noon?

02/04/2006 10:42:36 PM · #5

Originally posted by stdavidson:

Yes, we are doing that, but there's SO MUCH INFO, it's hard to beat advice from people I trust who have been there! Also, I want the photographer's bias!

I think my family would be interested in one of the river trips, though we don't camp much and I don't know how "easy" it would be for us to sleep in just a sleeping bag under the stars (which is what it seems they do). And of course, that would complicate the heck out of my bringing my good camera equipment. I guess I'd have to add into the budget one of those waterproof cases!

So we'll be checking, but I'd love to still collect tips and ideas here meanwhile.

Thanks!

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

02/04/2006 10:58:17 PM · #6

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

I'd sure as hell stay right at the lodge on the Canyon rim if I could afford it. Fabulous old building, and right there for early and late shots.

R.

Robert, which hotel, and which rim? (North or south?)

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

02/04/2006 11:09:26 PM · #7

Originally posted by nshapiro:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:
I'd sure as hell stay right at the lodge on the Canyon rim if I could afford it. Fabulous old building, and right there for early and late shots.

R.

Robert, which hotel, and which rim? (North or south?)

South Rim, Canyon Village, El Tovar Hotel. Built in 1905 as a destination resort by Santa Fe RR (I believe), world-famous. The Grand Canyon equivalent of the Ahwanee in Yosemite. I have a thing for old, stone buildings, though :-) I love it.

R.

P.S.: It's the place Chevy Chase stole the money from in "National Lampoon's Vacation". It's right ON the rim, right about where the Bright Angel trail starts, and you can step outside for dawn shots :-)

Message edited by author 2006-02-04 23:11:45.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

02/04/2006 11:14:57 PM · #8

Originally posted by nshapiro:

OK... Here is some photographer bias. :)

I've never tried to do a raft trip in the Canyon itself but I suspect you have to book WAY in advance. However, there are river raft places in the area, particularly up by Page, AZ where you could go on a wonderful trip and might be easer to book.

As far as a waterproof case, don't bother. I went on a kyaking trip with my camera and the company supplied me with a waterproof bag for free that worked perfect. I'm sure most companies provide them.

The suggestion to stay at Grand Canyon Village on the rim as a base of operations is a good one.

In Summer the bottom of the GC will get well over 100 degrees and in Winter the rim is well below freezing. Plan accordingly.

A good time to photograph the GC is a couple hours after sunrise or couple hours before sunset in order to get illumination inside it yet still have good shadows. Right at sunrise and sunset there is not much illumination inside.

I recommend taking huge panoramas of the canyon...
And I don't mean the narrow kind, I mean double decker 10+ frames per horizontal pass of the canyon. You will be able to get a standard 1.5 aspect that way and capture more detail than you could ever imagine. From that you can make huge, incredible prints with little or no upscaling. CS2 has photmerge to put them together.

There are guided hikes and helicopter trips into the Havasupai Indian village with overnight camping possible. The reason to go is to photograph the famous falls there. That is best done in Spring, but it has been an exceptionally dry this year in AZ so those falls will not be as spectacular as normal.

I'll stop with that for now... ;)

Brent_Ward

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM

02/04/2006 11:19:59 PM · #9

So beginning to middle of march, how is Havasu falls? Are the trees getting there leaves back yet in the canyon?

kearock

Nikon D90

02/04/2006 11:21:59 PM · #10

My field camp (part of my geology degree) hit the Grand Canyon for a few days in early to mid November. On one hand, it sucked being there in the beginning of the cold months because we were camping and it was wicked cold at night (I think that's the coldest I've ever been), but on the other hand it was actually really nice for a couple reasons. First of all, it wasn't very crowded. Hiking the Bright Angel trail (the main trail from the big visitors center) felt like hiking a normal trail rather than the tourist mele I would have expected it to be. It was also a nice comfortable temperature for hiking during the day. As much as I hated the cold nights, it was really nice not hiking in extreme heat. The weather is less predictable that time of year, but we did pretty well. The day we arived and did the scenic vistas, it was cloudy, but not grey. The day we hiked down into the canyon was all blue skies. I'd definately take the weather risk to hit it in the non-tourist months again.

Message edited by author 2006-02-04 23:24:13.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

02/04/2006 11:23:39 PM · #11

Thanks Steve and Robert. By the way, we are planning for NEXT year, not this year. And we are thinking about April, as a preference.

We found the hotel on the rim, and in fact, there were two hotels nearby, one of which was recommended since it has a second story that overlooks the canyon, getting you a bit more height.

I'm sure we'll have some more questions down the line.

Folks, feel free to post your Grand Canyon shots in this thread. But please tell me where they are taken from!

Edit: As I posted this, it appeared after Kearock's post, who did post pics! Thanks!

Message edited by author 2006-02-04 23:24:45.

kearock

Nikon D90

02/04/2006 11:31:18 PM · #12

Originally posted by nshapiro:

Edit: As I posted this, it appeared after Kearock's post, who did post pics! Thanks!

No problem! I'm now trying to remember where I took them...

edit: Added that info, as much as I can remember, to the photo details.

Message edited by author 2006-02-04 23:43:08.

viajero

Canon EOS-20D

Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon

02/04/2006 11:56:04 PM · #13

However you end up photographing the Grand Canyon, I recommend this book:

Photoshop LAB Color

This is a long and heavy read but the first couple chapters, as the title implies, are about how to make the canyon colors in your photos look more like you remember them.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

02/05/2006 12:08:50 AM · #14

Originally posted by Brent_Ward:

So beginning to middle of march, how is Havasu falls? Are the trees getting there leaves back yet in the canyon?

The March-April timeframe is recommended as the best time to visit. Runoff from winter snows and rain are greatest then. It beats the summer heat and crowds too.

Patents4u

Canon EOS-40D