My plan is to arrive in Las Vegas early morning by plane and drive over to Grand Canyon. We are staying 2 nights there in park and then driving up to Monument Valley. 2 days there and then driving to Page, AZ to see Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. We are staying in page for 3 days then driving back to Vegas (through Utah with maybe a stop at Zion or Bryce Canyon. We are then stayiing in Vegas for 5 more days to have some fun and go to redrock. I probably have some time to stay longer in AZ but I had to book the hotels because they book up fast, especially the ones in GC park and the Monument Valley View Hotel (in park). Total time is about 2 weeks. Lots of driving but no more than 5 hours on any single leg.
All of this is pending my safe return from Afghanistan...thank god for this site it is giving me something to do photography related.
When I visited the Grand Canyon last time I used a crop-camera with a 24-105 and a 18-55 kit lens. It was nice to have the 24-105, to get some details like trees at the rim border or of hikers, but for the most impressive images I was using the kit lens at 18 mm and these 18 mm were enough for me.
I would recommend the south rim before the north side, you then have the sun from behind all day, which is probably better for most places there. As suggested earlier, bring a telephoto lens for the condors, often they are pretty close to the Grand Canyon Village, sometimes they even sit at the rim just a few yards away from the trail.
Bring a wide angle lens to the horseshoe bend, the wider the better! 18 mm on a crop camera is not enough to get both sides of the canyon and the river without falling down from the rocks.
For Antelope Canyon you might want to book a tour for photographers. If it is a very busy day you will not find the time to take the pictures you want because they will shoo you through the canyon and you will always have people walking around in your photos. Last time I visited the Lower Antelope Canyon I was very lucky. You always have to take a guided tour, but not many tourists visited on this day, and they gave me all the time I wanted. Visit both Antelope canyons if you can, they are different. Entrance fee it is not cheap, but worth the money.
I agree with a previous post, take the road down into the Monument valley if you have a SUV or a Jeep. The road down to the valley bottom is full of really deep potholes, but it is much better down on the bottom round tour. The perspective from down there is so different of the one from the big parking lot at the visiter center.
If I had to choose between Zion and Bryce I definitely would take Bryce Canyon. IMO it offers much more and better possibilities for photography and it really is a very beautiful place. In Bryce you are at the rim of the canyon and can take your photos from up there, while in Bryce you have to climb up to places like Angels Landing to get the best shots. Zion is nice so see, Bryce is spectacular, IMO.
Have fun and enjoy your trip!
