Monument Valley

[icassell]

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I've lived in the southwest for almost 10 years and finally found my way up to Monument Valley (on the Arizona-Utah border on the Navajo Reservation)

 

[Fox Paw]

Beautiful shots, Ian. I particularly like the second and fourth one.

I've lived in Arizona for thirty years and never made it there. Gotta get there.

 

[icassell]

I've lived in Arizona for thirty years and never made it there. Gotta get there.

Thanks! Yes, you MUST go. It's about 6 hours from Phoenix by car. Be sure to budget for a Navajo guide -- a necessity to get off the basic trail. I have a zillion more images I have yet to process -- these were just a few I pulled together last night (all of these were with the 30D and Sigma 10-20).

Ian

 

[icassell]

Here are a couple more (with Tamron 17-50mm f2.8)

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[photonuts]

Very nice picture !! I was very beautiful !! I wish I can go there

 

[Mersad]

Love ALL your shots. Capturing the desert must be really hard, but you make it look great.

 

[ArizonaSun]

great pictures, I like all of them

 

[Akoz]

wow nice set.

 

[RJohnston]

If you have a high centered vehicle like the Dodge Ram Van, you can drive through Monument Valley by yourself, at your leisure. IF you have an RV, you can also get permission from one of the residents to park in the Valley for about $30-40 and be there at Sunset and for the Sunrise.

The View Hotel is fantastic also, best time though is in the off season when rates are lower, school is in session to avoid the crowds. The Hotel is right on the cliff, with the classic view of "The Mittens." for sunset and sunrise photos...

 

[icassell]

Thank you very much everyone. This is an absolutely amazing place to visit and photograph. Now I need to check out Natural Bridges, Canyon de Chelly and Antelope Canyon.

We stayed at the View hotel, but were quite disappointed. It is in a great location (#5 was taken from the balcony of our room) as it is the only hotel in the tribal park, but it is quite expensive and not a particularly great hotel for that kind of $$.

Although some sources recommend 4 X 4's, we were able to take our Prius on the full 17 mile allowable self-drive loop road with no difficulty (many of my images were taken from that route). If you want to go elsewhere, you are required to have a Navajo guide and that can get a bit pricey (but I thought it was worth it). The guides are very familiar with the quirks and needs of photographers and each has his own special spots and tips. Ours took us to a nice place for sunrise photographs of the 'totem pole' (#9). You might remember this as the spire that Clint Eastwood climbed in the movie 'The Eiger Sanction'.

The valley floor is about 1 mile in elevation, so it wasn't too hot this past week (although I was puffing a bit from the elevation). We had a few clouds, but I'd love to see it in a full-blown lightning storm.

 

[abraxas]

Nice shots icassell. Do you post anywhere else?

 

[icassell]

Nice shots icassell. Do you post anywhere else?

Thanks! I have a ton more to pick through from this trip. There are several more on my betterphoto.com site (see link below) if you'd care to look.

Ian

 

[tamccain]

You can avoid the Tonto Natural Bridge, with the budget cuts they shut down the park. I don't think you can even get to it now.

 

[icassell]

You can avoid the Tonto Natural Bridge, with the budget cuts they shut down the park. I don't think you can even get to it now.

Wow! That's a shame. I actually considered going there this past week -- glad I didn't.

Ian

 

[tamccain]

I really enjoyed the Tonto Natural Bridge the couple times I have been there. The first time I was there I didn't know what to expect, my wife and I hiked through it in sandals.

You can avoid the Tonto Natural Bridge, with the budget cuts they shut down the park. I don't think you can even get to it now.

Wow! That's a shame. I actually considered going there this past week -- glad I didn't.

Ian