Trip to Grand Canyon

Taking wife for a few days in Las Vegas and decided to take the bus tour to south rim of the Grand Canyon. Not planning on taking all my photo gear to Grand Canyon, thinking 5Dc with 24-70, any other suggestions ?

DarenM wrote in post #13964073
Taking wife for a few days in Las Vegas and decided to take the bus tour to south rim of the Grand Canyon. Not planning on taking all my photo gear to Grand Canyon, thinking 5Dc with 24-70, any other suggestions ?

17-40....the wider the better.

I think it depends if you are really looking to take as wide a panorama as you can. I would be inclined to take the 17-40 and the 70-200...when you are there isn't the time to wish you brought the other lens. This would offer you some flexibility on what you are shooting. It really is a toss up. The GC is beautiful and sundown shots can be incredible.

I would take both the 24-70mm and the 17-40mm and some polarizers if you have them. I would also make another critical suggestion. Rent yourself a car for a day and do this trip yourself. Without much work you can get a car intown for about $35/day, likely not much more than two on the bus trip. You will then be on your own schedule, instead of the bus company schedule. You might also consider a quick trip to the Red Rock Canyon area, not too far away from Vegas and another very photogenic spot. Check http://www.redrockcany​onlv.org/.

See my later comment and go to Valley of Fire!!

Yeah, ya always miss a lot of stuff when ya do organized tours.

DarenM wrote in post #13964073
Taking wife for a few days in Las Vegas and decided to take the bus tour to south rim of the Grand Canyon. Not planning on taking all my photo gear to Grand Canyon, thinking 5Dc with 24-70, any other suggestions ?

Not a Grand Canyon suggestion (others with much more experience will have lots of good advice, no doubt!), but lots of good pic opportunities inside of Mandalay Bay—around the restaurants in particular.

I'm totally jealous, enjoy your trip!

2nd the suggestion for Red Rock canyon. Great place to take a rental car and get some good early am/late pm shots.

Make sure you take shots early and late in the day for good light

Red Rock Canyon is a really nice spot, BUT you should really check out Valley Of Fire if you are wanting nice scenery in the Vegas area. The hiking in Red Rock is better, but the scenery in VOF is amazing. Probably about an hours drive fron the strip, and definately worht the trip IMO.

Agreed with previous suggestion take the 17-40 and 70-200... I went two years ago and took my 16-35 and 70-200 and it was a perfect setup for me.. I second the suggestion to take a car and not bus tour, while they are informative and stress free youll only have 1 hour at the canyon

My thanks to Jptenberg BECAUSE I REALLY MEANT VALLEY OF FIRE. Red Rock Canyon is OK but Valley of Fire is a must in that area. Go here to see why...http://www.google.com …0l5l5l0l141l101​5l4.6l10l0

My wife and I went to the GC several years ago. Stayed in Williams and took the train to the south rim. Late March I think, snow on the ground and a storm in the GC, never saw anything but the top of the clouds. My mother-in-law sent me a video just to rub it in.

John from PA wrote in post #13964725
My thanks to Jptenberg BECAUSE I REALLY MEANT VALLEY OF FIRE. Red Rock Canyon is OK but Valley of Fire is a must in that area. Go here to see why...http://www.google.com …0l5l5l0l141l101​5l4.6l10l0

Yup, VOF is much better than RR.
If you have a longer zoom, 70-200 or so, bring it too. I found that some long compression landcape pics really work well at Grand Canyon too - the cliffs, the rocks formations, etc...not all landscapes need to be wide

Have a fun trip.

A must in Las Vegas for a photographer is the Neon Museum http://www.neonmuseum.​org/ you need to plan ahead, they are particular on the equipment that you bring with you...but a terrific venue for photography

Take a tripod and shoot some HDR.