swami

<p>Stefan,<br>

Thank you for suggestions.</p>

<p>Colin,<br>

Thanks for the wealth of suggestions. Looking forward to checking out some of your suggested locations.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Am planning to be in Penzance, Cornwall over a weekend in the middle of July. I need some help wrt planning for the trip.<br /> <br /> My current plan is as follows:<br /> * Leave from Swindon by 5 pm. on Friday.<br /> * Drive along A39 and stop for sunset. Any suggestions for good sunset locations?<br /> * Sunrise at St. Michael's Mount, Any other suggestions?<br /> * Spend day going to Land's End, Minack Theatre, Lizard Peninsula<br /> * Sunset at Porth Nanven - other suggestions?<br /> * Sunrise - suggestions?<br /> * Start drive back - via Dartmoor National Park, Exetor, Lulworth Cove. <br /> * Could spend sunset at Lulworth Cove - depends on how tired I am<br /> <br /> Any suggestions/reservations are welcome.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Bought the Photograph America newsletters for Yosemite and for the Big Sur Coast. Was quite disappointed with the content. First of all, it is old. Secondly, for a photography newsletter, there is far too much fluff and not much photography information.<br>

<br /> I found the Yosemite PhotoSecrets Book by Andrew Hudson more useful. It is a thin book and not every extensive. But the information in the book is decent.<br>

<br /> Finally, just read on Michael Frye's blog that there are 25 copies of his book available in the Ansel Adams Gallery at Yosemite. So ordered his book. In case, anyone else is interested, check out http://michaelfryephotography.blogspot.com/2009/04/photographers-guide-to-yosemite.html.</p>

 

<p>I believe that to get to the Tuolumne Meadows, I would have to go via the Tioga road. And I doubt that the Tioga road would be open in late May.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info though. Will keep in mind in case the Tioga road is open and I make it to the meadows.</p>

<p>Gary,<br>

Thanks for your clear answers. Your photo website is very nice. Got some good ideas there.</p>

<p>Michael Dougherty,<br>

Thanks for your inputs. I was unable to select anything in the Photograph America website. Any ideas?</p>

 

<p>Thanks Michael for your detailed answer. I'll try the Yosemite Park office and try to get the Michael Frye book. The James Kaiser book looks very interesting. Btw, I found a pretty good website for Yosemite hikes info at <strong>http://www.yosemitehikes.com/.</strong><br>

I got reservations in El Portal. It would be a half hour drive each way. Will have to live with that. The accomodations at the park are far too expensive.<br>

Finally, any suggestions for sunrise?</p>

 

<p>Am planning to go to Yosemite in the third week of May. Will be there for 2 days and 2 nights.<br>

Wanted to buy the Michael Frye (as others in this forum had pointed out) but looks like it is out of print. So am hoping to get some photo tips and location info here. Specifically,</p>

<ul>

<li>What would be the two best sunset locations? I'm hoping that the Glacier Point Road would be open. If yes, then Glacier Point is one. I guess the other sunset could be in the Valley, though have no clue where. </li>

<li>What would be the two best sunrise locations?</li>

<li>What kind of photo ops would I have during the day? I do plan to go on a couple of small hikes but am constrained by a three year old.</li>

</ul>

 

<br>

1. You can get to Page from Las Vegas. It might be cheaper to fly to Vegas. As a bonus, you could probably stop

by Zion too.

<br>

<br>

2. There are a whole bunch of decent hotels in Page. You could check out Linda's Lake Powell Condos. I stayed

there in early June. Nice place. However, it is out of the way.

<br>

<br>

3. Don't bother with the tour companies. Just go by yourself. I went to Upper Antelope canyon and took the 12

noon tour. Make sure you reach there by 11:15 or so. It gets very crowded in the Upper Antelope slot canyon. In

certain areas of the canyon, there is barely any room to stand. You could take the photography tour, which lets

you stay in the canyon for longer. Just don't expect someone to guide you. It depends on your luck.

<br>

<br>

4. I don't think you will need to stay for 4 days in Page. You will get bored. And I doubt that you will want to

go to the canyons more than once. I wouldn't. You should probably go to the Lower Canyon first, get a feel for

how the photos turn out and then go to the Upper Canyon the next day. You will get little time to take your

photos at the Upper Canyon. You will be rushed there. So it will help if you have some experience with

photographing slot canyons before hitting the Upper Canyon.

<br>

<br>

5. Since you will be in Page, go to the Horseshoe Bend. It is barely 10 minutes from Page. So is the Glen Canyon

dam. It is quite cool. And you could make a day trip to Monument Valley too, which is 2 hours away.

<br>

<br>

* Reserve a seat in the front of the plane. Back of the plane away from the

wings are ok, but the hot air from the engines tend to blur photographs that are

taken straight down.

<br><br>

* Make sure that you book a seat away from the sun, unless you are

interested in taking a sunset/sunrise. Facing the sun will wash out all your

photos. Since you are flying north-south, this will be an important decision.

<br><br>

* Research the flight path of your plane using http://flightaware.com/live/. It

will give you a good idea about which landmarks your flight may fly over. It

will also help you decide which side of the plane to sit on.

<br><br>

* As others have mentioned, circular polarizers are not a good idea.

<br><br>

* Try to get hold of a point and shoot with a swivel LCD, something like a Canon

A620. I've found that it is easier to get the angles better with a swivel LCD

point and shoot rather than an SLR. (I own both).

<br><br>

* There is a good chance that your photos look washed out when you upload them

to the computer. Worry not. A simple auto-contrast correction will do wonders to

your photos.

<br><br>

* Landings and take offs often provide great photo ops. Don't miss them.

<br><br>

* Finally, have a great time and enjoy your vacation.

<br><br>

<br>

Was in the same situation as you a few months ago. Except that I had a Rebel XTi body only, so had to get a lens. Went for the Tamron 18-55 mm. f/2.8 lens. Am very happy with the lens. There are times when I wish that the lens had more zoom, but have learnt to work around that.

<br>

Fully agree with the other posters that you should first play around with the kit lens before plonking down big bucks for really good lens (Even my Tamron was $400 bucks). At least, you will have a better feel for what the limitations of the kit lens are and you will have a clear idea of what you want in a new lens.

<br>

Among the usual touristy spots:

<br>

* Millennium Park is great place to take photographs, especially around the Cloud Gate sculpture (AKA the Bean).

<br>

* Go on top of the John Hancock building, before sunset. Great views all around especially on a clear day. What distinguishes this view from views from other tall buildings in other US cities is the lake and lakeshore. There are some good photo ops up there.

<br>

* For the best view of the Chicago skyline, go to the Adler Planetarium before dusk. You really cannot go wrong there.

<br>

* I love the boat ride on the Chicago river (Wendella boat cruises) especially the 90 minute one at dusk. However, it will be cold in May. Also, it is quite difficult taking photographs from boat, it does pitch a lot. So beware.

<br>

<br>

Finally, if you like architecture, definitely go on a Chicago Architecture Foundation walking tour. You should be able to get tour info at http://www.architecture.org/tours.aspx.

<br>

<br>

Hope this helps.

<br>

Carl, thanks for the word of caution.

 

Sunset time in early June is 8:30 pm. and the Visitor Center closes by 8. So, will need info on that campsite road....

I would have preferred going to the North Rim. However, the driving times and logistics do not work out very well with North Rim in the itinerary.

 

Had a couple of questions about Monument Valley sunset.

* Is the Visitor Center closed for sunset?

* David Henderson had mentioned in other posts that there is a little road near the Visitor Center that leads to a campsite. And that this is a decent spot for sunset shots. Is this road still accessible? Has anyone been to this place in the last year or so?

Hey guys, thanks for your inputs and patience with my questions. Carl, thanks for pointing out the dangers wrt. GC and horses & cattle on the road from Kayenta.

 

Photographically, my first goal is take all the stock snaps of the places we visit and take them well. Would certainly love to take some unique photographs and will attempt to do. But given the time and other constraints, that may not be possible. At any rate, am expecting this to be a scouting trip for a more relaxed trip(s) to this area in the future.

Had some questions about zoom lens and filters for this trip.

 

I have a Canon Rebel XTi with a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens. An adequate setup. Does it make sense to get a 70-300m lens for this trip? I suspect that Monument Valley and Bryce are two places, where having a zoom lens could come in handy. Opinions?

 

Also, I have a circular polarizer and UV filter from my Canon Elan II days. Does it make sense to use a circular polarizer with a DSLR? E.g.

can't one post-process the photo to make the sky look bluer?

I wanted to drive all the way to the South Rim the first day. But after a four hour flight, another four and half hours of driving would make my daughter too crabby for the rest of the trip. Hence dropped the idea.

Oh one more thing, that I should have clarified earlier. There will be almost no hiking involved in this trip. I may go on a couple in Zion but that's about it. And I'm fully aware that my photography would be limited by it, but can't do it on this trip.

 

So that does cut down on the time taken to see most of these places.

Ok, let me specify the itinerary that I have. It is not set in stone and your experiences seem to indicate that it might be too much to do.

 

Here goes:

 

Day 1:

- Fly into LAS.

- Drive out to Kingman AZ (pit stop at Hoover Dam): 2 hour drive

- Stay at Kingman: Have reservations

 

Day 2:

- Kingman to Grand Canyon South Rim: 3 hrs

- Spend day in GC, watch sunset

 

Day 3:

- Watch sunrise

- Leave for Monument Valley around noon: 3 hr drive

- See Monument Valley -> Watching sunset not possible because this would be a long day for the kid. Really want to experience the place more than anything else.

- Monument Valley to Page: 2 hrs

 

Day 4:

- Stopping at Page mainly to break up a long drive and am keen on seeing the Antelope Canyons. Wouldn't mind dropping Page.

- Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon tour

- Page to Bryce Canyon: 3 hrs.

- Sunset at Bryce

 

Day 5:

- Sunrise at Bryce

- Day in Bryce

- Bryce to Zion: 2 hrs

- Sunset at Zion

 

Day 6:

- Sunrise at Zion

- Day in Zion

- Zion to LAS: 3 hrs.

 

Day 7:

- LAS

 

Day 8:

- Catch flight in the morning

 

So, on most days, we would be driving for a max of 3 hrs. usually in the middle of the day or after dark. I've used Google maps to determine the time taken to from point A to point B. But your experiences seem to indicate that it might take longer. I do have reservations everywhere except LAS and Bryce (waiting for confirmations from Bryce). And I'm hoping that the weather will hold up. Fingers crossed.

 

Of course, I would love to double the amount of time in each one of these places. The other option is to cut a couple of places. Any ideas on what could be cut?

I fully appreciate your concern about this being a rushed trip and have been agonizing over it myself for quite some time.

 

I would have preferred to skip Grand Canyon & Las Vegas altogether and spend the 8 days in Zion - Bryce - Page - Monument Valley. But can't do that due to a million personal reasons. Grand Canyon and Las Vegas have to be on the trip and I really want to see Bryce and Zion.

 

Given the constraints, any suggestions on how the trip could be restructured to be more manageable. Options are:

* Maybe dropping Monument Valley or Page may be an option.

* Go to the GC North Rim instead of the South and cut out Monument Valley

 

Will going to the North Rim make the trip less hectic? I really would like to be able to some good photographs of the GC (given the limited time). And my dad is an avid photographer too.

 

Thanks again for all your comments and suggestions.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

David, I've read a number of your posts on this forum and have learnt a lot from them. So, thanks for your reply as well as your other posts.

 

You are right about this trip being rushed. You have no idea ;-)))) Am trying to fulfill my parents' lifelong wish to see the Grand Canyon and the Southwest. Have to balance that with the fact that my two year old wouldn't particularly like to go on a long trip away from home. Would have preferred to go on a longer trip but can't do it this time.

 

The trip will be spread over 8 days with approx. 3 hrs. driving each day. I've tried to keep 3 hrs. for sunrise and 3 hrs. for sunset each day; with the rest of the day open. As long as the weather co-operates, it should work out fine. Keeping my fingers crossed ;-)

We are planning a trip to Las Vegas - Grand Canyon - Monument Valley - Page -

Bryce - Zion in the first week of June. Had few questions about what to do/look

for in Vegas. We'll be in Vegas for two nights and a day and staying on the Strip.

 

* Given that we are going to this big trip around the Grand Canyon etc., is it

worthwhile to go to the Red Rock Canyon?

 

* Am interested in seeing the hotels on the Strip (no interest in gambling).

Which hotels would be worth going to? Was planning to see the hotel interiors

during the day and the Strip at night. Makes sense?