From a quick flickr search I found that the most successful pictures were taken with rather long exposures ranging from 1/5 sec to 5 seconds. This will make the dust in the air blur into morevisiblestreams of light. A good tripod will be your friend and since your taking the shorter tour then weight won't be your largest concern. Try bracketing your exposures not only for HDR but to make sure your getting the right exposure (sometimes its hard to tell even with a good screen and histogram).


From one perspective people in your shot would be viewed as a flaw but try going the other direction with this one and using them to your advantage. Intentionally place people in your shot to communicate a sense of size of the canyon. Another way to create your own perspective in a cliche place is to add props. Anything from candles, to fabric, flags, baloons, really anything to make your work stand out from the rest and not 'just another antelope valley shot'. I might even try a flash on stroboscopic mode (repeating flash).


Good luck!