We met in a bar. In the gigantic casino in the lobby of the Las Vegas hotel. All around us poker, blackjack, roulette, machines jingling, bells ringing, the noise level was deafening, people all around us. We are 8, the boss is the guy with the hat, his wife is the manager, maybe she’s the real boss ? The other 6 that’s us: two German and four Swiss amateurs, and we are ready to learn from him…. how to shoot…

Shoot a really good photo ! Let’s get on the road and start the :

INDIAN CANYONS PHOTO TOUR

with Christian Heeb

DAY 1: Las Vegas to Grand Canyon

We meet in the now almost deserted lobby at 8 am, everybody is very much on time, we stuff all the bags in the back of the van and get going, let’s leave this crazy town which never sleeps and never gets dark. We want to get out in the country ! Our first request was a road sign of the famous Route 66. See, that’s our year of birth, and we are planning a big party next year, ( now don’t start calculating how old we really are), so some cool pics with 66 on them would come in handy. We didn’t get one picture, we got a whole town filled with 66 signs ! It was so absolutely cool ! The town is Seligman and is just a short detour from Hwy 40. And it’s absolutely filled with cool things to photograph: old cars and bars, road signs, gas stations, restaurants and shops. Okay it is a little touristy, but heck, what do you think we are…!

 

We continue after a very short stop, that’s my personal opinion, it probably was quite long but once I start hitting the shutter button, I just can’t stop, there’s so many cool photo motives here you could easily spend a day. The next stop at Williams is just as good. We are supposed to stop for lunch, but how can you eat when there is so much to photograph ? We did eat, and it was good, and we did have time to photograph the restaurant which was just as I would expect an American Diner to look like, and the town, which was really nice too ( but not as good as Seligman).

From there another hour till we reached the Grand Canyon National Park. We can’t check in to our lodge so we went straight to the south rim to photograph. One viewpoint along the roadside, just to get “in the mood”, then Moran and Grand viewpoints. It is hard to do justice to this great scenery, even harder to take a good photo, it is so big ! You just can’t get it all in one picture !

DAY 2 : Grand Canyon to Tuba City

 The 8 am departure yesterday was a luxury, today the alarm goes at 5 am, we are ready to leave for first light in the canyon at 05:15, being a photographer is a hard life ! We go to Mather Point and it is breath taking. At first we are all alone but soon busloads of tourists are dropped off for the sunrise experience, by then we have our shots. Back at the lodge by 7 am, after breakfast we leave for Tuba City. One more stop at the Desert View Viewpoint. This to me is the most beautiful one, must be great at sunset too. I spend the last 15 min just sitting there and enjoying the view, got enough good shots and this place is so spectacular !

 

Tuba City is no highlight, the town that is. The photo shoot at a small canyon on the Indian Reserve is my favourite. Christian has organised a native Indian model to pose for us at the canyon. She looks quite ordinary at first, but on the photos she is so pretty, and the dress and the jewellery look so good and are so authentic ( her grandma helped her get dressed which took about an hour) This is truly my Nr.1 shoot. Kind of stupid on a landscape tour but I really do like people and wildlife photography best !

DAY 3 : Tuba City to Page

Lucky again, we only leave at 8 am so we get to sleep. Today we go to Page and visit the Antelope Canyon. This was my Nr.1 wish before we started this tour, I really wanted to see this, and despite the busloads of Chinese tourists which were driven through the canyon like big herds of cattle, it was absolutely amazing ! If you are into photography do spend the extra money to book a photo tour, this canyon is one of the most scenic things I have seen in my life ! Just turn your head and look up, there are photo motives where ever you look. Okay it’s bad luck if you have a guy like “pinky” in your group. He was the other photo group tagging along with us, and he was so stupid, and so slow in getting his settings, and finding a spot….and then he hushed everybody to the side when he was finally ready, bossing us all around and after he got his shot he just walked into everybodies picture without even checking if he would bother us. Guess what nationality, should be easy! Our guide Tana was great and got us some really good photo opportunities, keeping the crowds waiting till we got our shots, throwing sand in the beams of sunlight so they would show better on the photos, she was a big help all the way. And of course Christian is great too, he who told us what to set, where to shoot, what to look for once in the canyon, his tips are priceless !

Shit it’s only day 3 and my third wish is the horse shoe bend and that’s on tomorrows itinerary, can it get any better after this ? We spend the late afternoon and evening at the hoodoos about 20 miles north of town, not so many people and an absolutely sensational sunset at the hoodoos, we even did some night photography to get the stars and milky way in the picture, another highlight of this trip.

DAY 4: Page to Mexican Hat

Rise and shine ! We leave at 6 am for the Horseshoe Bend, or as the Chinese lady yesterday said…..did you see the “Horse bend shoe ?” We stumble there in the dark, a dark shape in front of us shows the rim of the canyon, we set up right at its edge. I am so brave ! See, I am really afraid of hights and I was really, really close to the edge, but as long as I look through the viewfinder I am okay, somewhat okay….will do anything for a good shot. If you stand really close to the edge and with a very wide, wide angle lens you see the whole curve of the river, it shimmers in blue and green between the red rocks, and it truly is curved as a horse shoe. Christuian tells us just where to get the best shot, once we have that we go wander, and try to find a creative angle.

We move on Hwy 163 via Kayenta to Mexican Hat, passing through the Monument Valley. Now this is Marlboro country as we Europeans know it and expect it to be. Christian promises to take us there in the morning with better light the next day. At 5 pm we leave for the Valley of Gods. The scenery is again impressive, looks somewhat like a small scale Monument Valley. It is kind of hard to photograph, we do set up at a beautiful spot, but nobody is really satisfied with the results, so what, the scenery is amazing once again, we’ll just enjoy the sunset and the everlasting wonderful weather.

DAY 5 : around Mexican Hat

They are being nice with us, we only have to leave at 6:30 am. This time we go see the Goosenecks in the San Juan River. It is like the Horseshoe Bend, just here its 3 bends put together, the river winds and winds, and best of all, no Chinese !

After that another go at the Valley of Gods. Up the hill to Muley Point to get a good view of the Mokey Dugway, a scenic road winding up the hill, some more red rocks and then to Bluff for breakfast. Which was by the way the best breakfast on this trip (so good we went again the next day).

Since we had such a late and big breakfast we all decide to skip lunch and meet at 14:00 for portrait photography. That was fun, and we all looked pretty good on the pics, look sideways, don’t smile too much, they even brought a big fold-away reflector to add sunlight from the side as we were standing in the shade. That is much better than in the sun where you get lots of shadows and people with closed eyes !

At 4pm we leave for Monument Valley, a guided tour with a Navajo guide. Turns out to be a lady by the name of Colette. As I ask her if she has an Indian name like “lady with black hair blowing in the wind”, she laughs and says they only have those in the movies. We do stops at the visitor centre, the John Ford Point, where (to our delight) a guy on a horse shows up, honest I have a Winnetou picture now ! A lady in a traditional house doing weaving, and totem pole rocks round up the trip, it was so cool !

DAY 6 : Mexican Hat to Moab

Easy day today and no red rocks ! We go to the road leading to Monument Valley for sunrise shots which is much better than in the afternoon. Just one guy in a blue shirt keeps standing in the way, so I decide to make him part of the picture which isn’t too bad either. Sometimes people in the picture are good, you see the dimensions and the sheer size of these beautiful landscapes.

From there to Bluff for breakfast, honest, the bluecorn pancakes there are sensational ! Stops at Blanding to go see the Edge of the Cedars State park where we visit an Indian Kiva, and one more stop at the Wilson Arch right by the highway shortly before Moab, then we are there.

For sunset we go into the Canyonlands National Park, a part called Island in the Sky. A first stop at the Shafer Outlook is great, of course Juerg and Christian stand frightfully close to the edge once again, I’m getting used to it by now. The sunset at Green River Outlook, where the Green and Colorado River meet, is even better. There are lots of clouds and it looks a little gloomy so we decide to call it Mordor, as in Lord of the Rings, but the mood makes the photos very special.

And if you think it can’t get better… just wait till you see where we went in our second week !

Better stay tuned !

copyright text by Astrid Bluemel, photos by Astrid & Juerg Bluemel for bluemelphoto.ch