Travel | Destination Wedding in Sedona, AZ & Grand Canyon

Help!

The countdown is on, I see Ashley’s status updates on Facebook often enough counting down the days to our next destination wedding in Sedona, Arizona. While the wedding itself at the Poco Diablo Resort is going to be amazing from the Mehndi party in Phoenix to the Hindu ceremony at the resort, we’re still trying to figure out a game plan for what happens afterwards! We will be staying over to explore (and photograph of course) the greater Sedona/Phoenix area, namely the Grand Canyon and nearby sights.

So, the reason for this blog post then, is HELP PLAN OUR ITINERARY! Here is the rough draft, the help is needed on the Sunday after the wedding when we become “free” to explore:

Wedding-Related Itinerary
May 18th – Arrive in Phoenix at 10:00 AM, Mehndi/Henna Party in Phoenix, AZ then drive to Sedona
May 19th – Hindu Wedding at Poco Diablo Resort in Sedona, AZ
May 20th – Morning after photo shoot with bride & groom, then travel begins!

Travel Itinerary
May 20th – Depart Sedona, AZ for Grand Canyon area
Sunday May 20th also happens to be the annual solar eclipse… at sunset… WHAT!!! Yes I know that’s an amazing coincidence that we are finally in a location that will see this amazing astronomical event, as much of the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas will be in direct path of the eclipse. If you look at the path on the above link to the NASA site you will see this map showing the path:

Sedona is only about 2 hours from the Grand Canyon, not bad at all, and sunset is around 7:30 PM. So if we leave Sedona around Noon we still have about 5 hours give or take to explore the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Is that enough time? Too much time? A lot of websites mention that you can explore the Grand Canyon all day, but with Miles in tow I’m not sure how much hiking we will be doing on this trip.

May 21st
We are staying the night of the 20th in Tusayan, Arizona just outside the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. This means a great opportunity to catch the sunrise at the South Rim. Monday night we have a room booked in Page, Arizona which is only about a 3 hour drive from the South Rim/Tusayan area. After sunrise at 5:20 AM (Ugh!), we’ll probably head North to the Page, AZ area to see the other sights, which is where we need help. What is worth seeing and able to be seen in one day? Slot Canyon? Horseshoe Bend? Lake Powell? Rainbow Arch? So many sights to see and only about a day and a half to see them all in! Also to consider is where will we watch to catch sunset at? Inside the Slot or Antelope Canyons seems like maybe not the best idea so maybe we end at Horseshoe Bend or the Rainbow Arch? Further research needed here :). Tentatively we will catch Horseshoe Bend and one other sight this day, to do the canyons in the morning on the following day…

May 22nd
After waking up and catching the sunrise somewhere, we have another “free” day to either explore Page more or just start making our way back to Phoenix and trying to hit up sights on the way. Ideally, we’ll jump on one of the afternoon tours in Antelope Canyon for some images of the warm oranges and purples before taking off South in the afternoon. Tuesday night we will stay in Phoenix to catch our morning flight back to Atlanta on Wednesday. We could either swing by the Grand Canyon again, stop in Sedona or Flagstaff… or anywhere along the way. Choices choices… Most likely we will explore a bit of Sedona and the Red Rock area on the way back with maybe a stop on the way.

May 23rd
Back to Atlanta! We head home early on Wednesday to recover for a day or two before an action packed Memorial Day Weekend filled with weddings again!

Equipment Check
Since we will be traveling here for the wedding first and foremost, we will have our standard destination wedding gear with us, which is a bit of a pared down of what we sometimes end up lugging around locally here in the greater Atlanta area. Since we are flying weight is unfortunately a consideration, though we will be bringing a tad extra on this trip like a second tripod just for the post-wedding photo trip. As of right now, if I only had to bring minimalist gear, I would reach for a few extra zoom lenses instead of my beloved prime lenses, and probably grab a 5D Mark III, 5D Mark II, 16-35mm f/2.8L II, 50mm f/1.2L, and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II and call it a day. However for this trip I might grab the 24mm f/1.4L II and possibly the Tilt-Shift 24mm 3.5L II but yeah that is a bit overlapping in focal lengths, though I think I want the f/1.4 for night shots of the stars if we get clear skies. We’ll see! That’s a whole other blog post right there!

Any must-see things I missed? Tips for traveling to the Grand Canyon and maximizing the experience? Let me know in the comments or send me a Facebook message at http://www.facebook.com/FengLongPhoto