lessons from Page daytrip

Thanks to all for the tips. I wish we stayed overnight at Page and caught the

sunrise at Horseshoe Bend and the scenic mountains just below Page...or stayed

at Flagstaff and hit some Sedona (near Flagstaff) trails for some early morning

hikes, shopping/lunch, and late afternoon hikes.

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Some general comments:

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- do rent a "premium" car...we got a Volvo S60 from National for $45 extra for

the trip and it was a blast on the curvy 80mph mountain roads :-)

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- avoid using your tripod at full extension...I used my 3021 that way to get a

photo of us at Horseshoe Bend and the pictures came out fuzzy

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- use MLU if you have it..the sand under your tripod will still shift even if

you have a solid tripod

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- use a ballhead instead of a pan-tilt head...the pan-tilt is just wayyy too

slow setting up when you have to rush through canyon shots to avoid people

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- if you have an IR remote and your camera is weathersealed, use it instead of a

wired remote to avoid getting dust inside

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- shoot at f/11 or f/13 if possible...f/8 doesn't have enough DOF in the slot

canyons; you might have to take 1-2min exposures

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- hit the Cottage Place restaurant in Flagstaff...they have an awesome tasting menu

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- remember to blow dust off your lens because it looks like hot pixels if you don't

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- make sure your horizons are always level because even if you level the tripod

and head, rotating the head doesn't necessarily keep the horizon level

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- take a preview picture to check your framing because a lot of the time, you're

aiming upwards so it's hard to look through the viewfinder

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- Upper Antelope is darker than Lower Antelope, so tripod use is mandatory

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- Lower Antelope is fairly bright so you don't get the purples you see in Upper

(the camera sees greyish as purplish and pinkish as orangish)

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- Horseshoe Bend during the day is fine if it's overcast or cloudy (we lucked

out and it was)

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- hiking boots helped out in Lower because of some narrow angled areas (though a

lot of people went through in sneakers)

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- if you have a Bogen tripod w/ fliplocks, be careful when you're rushing...I

lost a 1-2mm chunk of flesh off my thumb and bled all over my tripod and camera :-P

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- inside the slot canyons, you're usually shooting wide angle and portrait to

try to capture the vertical-ness of it

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- landscapes don't look sharp pixel-peeped

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- do Upper first if possible because you'll end up spending too much time in

Lower because it's so much longer w/ less interruptions :-)

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- you can book a tour at Upper by driving there and a tour guide is required

because they drive you 3 miles over a river bed to it...there are 1hr and 2hr

tours run by the family members (the other Page tour companies don't kick any

money to the family..they're just allowed to use the area as well)

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- "Antelope Point" (route 98) is the road to the canyons...you'd think they'd

label it "canyons" for the tourists, but noooo :-)

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It was a fun experience. Here are some images (some HDR and some not):

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Couldn't get enough sand in the air:

<br>

<img

src="http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/13226/2775720910030340207S600x600Q85.jpg">

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Yes you can get blue skies:

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<img

src="http://inlinethumb31.webshots.com/39070/2422491300030340207S600x600Q85.jpg">

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HDR in Lower:

<br>

<img

src="http://inlinethumb38.webshots.com/21093/2697435950030340207S600x600Q85.jpg">

<br>

same shot w/o HDR:

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<img

src="http://inlinethumb35.webshots.com/41314/2101633500030340207S600x600Q85.jpg">

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Messed up framing on this famous Upper location:

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<img

src="http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/41556/2119938180030340207S600x600Q85.jpg">

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HDR'd Horseshoe (the Sigma 10-20 would have helped but didn't arrive in time):

<br>

<img

src="http://inlinethumb29.webshots.com/43164/2334136770030340207S600x600Q85.jpg">

<br>

same pic non-HDR'd:

<br>

<img

src="http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/43140/2033343100030340207S600x600Q85.jpg">

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Ken, great items you have shared,and great photos as well. I hope people use this as a reference.

Thanks, Michael. I was trying to write down everything I wish I knew before going :-)

 

Forgot to mention HDR doesn't work on light beams since you're basically throwing sand up and trying to catch their reflections. You have to expose correctly for this or bracket like crazy and hope you get it.

 

Also, the web site for the tours from the family that owns the land is www.navajotours.com. Our guide was Dalvin Etsitty who's the chatty brother of the owner.

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

I am glad you made it! Everyone should see Antelope Canyon at least once.

 

As you may have found, Page is definitely not the attraction; a charmless, government work camp that somehow turned in a town. The attraction is what surrounds Page. It is equidistance from Zion, Bryce, North and South Rim, and Monument valley.

The outback of Glen Canyon and the vastness of the Grand Staircase make for an amazing backyard to my home in Page.

 

(By the way, there is no Lowes in Page. I wish. I have to go to St.George or Flagstaff to find affordable lumber.)

Phoenix to Phoenix via Page in a day, sounds like you found some serious coffee places too? I'm amazed you even made it. If you were real hard core, you would have made it to Rainbow Bridge too. It's a mere 40 mile boat ride out of Page , and a hike to boot at the end. Just kidding.

 

 

Next time plan a few days up that way. As JD points out, Page is a great stopping off point for a lot of amazing sites.

 

No Lowes or Home Depot? I thought there was? I know you have a Wallymart.

one more thing I forgot to mention: it's best if you leave your front lens cap on your camera when moving around. I was careful moving around Lower Antelope, but when I was done, I noticed the end cap was scratched...must have brushed the front of the camera against the walls...

 

JD: you're lucky to have all those sights in your back yard. This was my first visit to the Southwest besides a short day trip from Vegas to the Grand Canyon's West Rim.

I think I have to upgrade my tripod/head though (currently Bogen 3021 and 3437 pan/tilt head). Slight movement seems to be more visible in wide landscape shots than macros :-P

 

Steve: I was pretty beat after getting back at midnight and leaving Phoenix at 6am, so I won't be doing a daytrip again. This was a long weekend in Phoenix (4 days + 1 day of flying time), so it was a fairly short trip to visit from friends that moved out that way and I didn't have that much time to spare in that area.

You will be surprised how much finely "powdered airborn dirt" has found it's way into your equipment! My Pentax 6x7 needed a re-build after a trip through the lower Antelope.

I used the Pentax K10D (weathersealed) and didn't change lenses or open the shutter release door...wiping down w/ a swiffer dust cleaning cloth on it and the tripod mostly cleaned it up and then I blew it down w/ a rocket blower and used another swiffer cloth on it afterwards.

The tripod, camera and my lungs were coated w/ a thin layer of red dust after Lower Antelope :-P

Yep,

 

We have had a Wal-Mart going on 19 years now. We also have a Safeway, Basha's and a tiny family owned lumber yard. That's it. No other really big corporate stores.

Walmart is a nice place to crash out when you're rolling into town late at night and want to get up early for a horseshoe bend sunrise. Done it 3 times now (still haven't got the right HSB image yet).