Flagstaff Nov 5,6,7. Ideas

[Busted Knuckles]

Biz trip and a weekend. Thoughts and ideas? Have my new R5 to try out.

[Kayaker72]

Oh, wow. Ok, so starting with the obvious...

• Sedona is 45 min away. So many options it makes my head hurt. I've liked Pink Jeep tours before and really liked their set up. Some of the famous Sedona shots are of looking at cathedral rock, as I recall, taken from Oak creek/Forest Park/Crescent Moon Park area. Trees growing and development in the area may have changed things since I was there. But I enjoy Sedona, very touristy, but it's own way. Lots of hikes, tours, etc. Sunset from the road leading up to the airport is excellent. Good restaurants too, surprisingly, the restaurant at the airport is very good.
• South Rim of Grand Canyon (1.5 hrs to Visitor center). There are two ways I can see people doing the South Rim, really easy or really hard, my experience is that there is not much in-between. The really easy, drive from the visitor center to Desert View Watchtower (Hendricks just popped into my head), great stops, great views. My favorite is probably from Desert View Watchtower, but that may be because when I got there the sun was getting low and I had great light. But it is a great place to have great light. The hard...hiking. Down the canyon. I've never done it, but I've seen images that make me think it is worth it.
• Page AZ (2 hrs). At least not when I was there last (~2014), the town of Page is almost the opposite of Sedona. I'll put it this way, Sedona we did not run out of places we wanted to try for dinner...in Page, we settled on a Pizza Hut Express. I actually like Pizza Hut, so I am not trying to say anything too bad, but Page is where normal people actually live. That said, Lower Antelope Canyon, Upper Antelope Canyon, and Horse Shoe Bend at sunset are all simply epic. Make reservations ahead of time if going. Consult about what time of day you get the best light for Upper Antelope Canyon. But those three are a full day. I could go back to both canyons at different times of the day for different light. But, also, there is Lake Powell right there. Exploring some of the fingers, especially in the upper regions, is something I've always wanted to do.

Now, maybe not so obvious and requiring less travel, but you are in some of the best star gazing regions in the country. Last time in Sedona, I booked a star gazing "tour" (not sure what else to call it), but they provided the telescopes and we looked at somethings through those, they pointed out constellations as we sat in lawn chairs, and we used binoculars to see other things. Very nice night. While I did next to no photography during that event, of course, this could be turned into something for photography. Flagstaff itself has the Lowell observatory.

There is the meteor crater that is ~45 min east of Flagstaff, something I've always wanted to see.

Of course, likely outside the realm of possibilities, as I think you need a permit, 25 mile hike, and 5 hrs from Flagstaff....but, Havasu Falls.

Anyway, great area of the country. Enjoy!

[Lumens]

As Kayaker72 says the options are wide open. All around Flagstaff and within the city itself can be pretty photogenic. Best advice I can give is stay a few extra days - you'll be grateful you did.

[Busted Knuckles]

Great suggestions. Visitors center at dawn, slot canyons during the day. Eastrn rim at sunset would be a pretty full day.

[Joel Eade]

I thought they had closed Antelope Canyon?

[Kayaker72]

That got my attention. I am not sure about Lower Antelope Canyon, but it appears Upper Antelope opened up in July. I can see the ability to book tours on a couple of websites. However, Lower Antelope Canyon, I saw one website that was not allowing booking tours, but this website was, which seems like the official website.

Important to remember, the two Antelope Canyons are run by different groups. Upper is deeper, so it gets a bit more specific as to when the light will be making it's way all to the ground. Lower, more shallow. While Upper is more famous, I actually preferred Lower. But, both are excellent. You can pay extra for a "Photography Tour" but, at least when I went, they require you to have a tripod. No tripod puts you on the regular tour. As we had 2 people and 1 tripod, we ended up on the regular sight seeing tour. Hopefully that has changed.

As for lenses, crazy dusty inside the canyons. I would not change lenses. I used the EF 24-105 f/4 IS when I went, as that was the best I had. Now, I'd likely go EF 16-35 f/4 IS in my kit. The RF 15-35 f/2.8 IS would be even better. I did miss a number of shots in Upper because there just was not enough light. A tripod would have helped. That said, any lens/set up, you will get good shots.