Walt B

We are going to Arches National Park and Canyon Lands in 2 weeks. Possibly we will go to Bryce and Zion as well. I have both the Canon Mark III and Mark IV bodies. I have the following lenses: Canon 70-200 f2.8, a 2X Extender for that lens. A Canon 24-105 f4 lens and a Tamron 28-300. My question is do I need anything wider than 24mm.

Thanks,

Walt B

judy 2011 Loc: Northern Utah

If you are driving and got the lens, take it.
We take everything when we drive. Better to have it than not.

skylinefirepest Loc: Southern Pines, N.C.

Hey Walt, I would say no...I do fire and rescue photography so I only use one lens, every day, all day...a Sony 18-250...and that's what I used in all three parks, as well as Dead Horse and Canyonlands. Got some beautiful shots and some great close-ups. All three of these parks are spectacular and I wish that my wife and I had visited them when we were younger and could still walk and climb a little bit.

donolea Loc: Nashville, TN

Heck yes! All day, everyday ... if you have the room for it. My motto has always been, "better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."

georgiapeach2 Loc: Georgia the Peach State

Looking forward to the pictures. Have a good time.

BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten

If you don't have wider and need it you can always do a stitch pano.
Have fun, we did that trip several years ago and the beauty never stops.

Haydon

MT native Loc: Big Sky Country — Montana

We were just there on April 2 & 3. It was our first time and enjoyed it immensely. I used a 18-105mm 98% of the time. If you do any type of hiking, you are so up and close to the rocks that you probably won't use the telephoto much. There is construction in Arches now. The park is closed 7pm to 7am. We got there at 8 AM. By the time we came out around noon, the cars were lined up big time getting into the park. I am not sure how one gets the sunrise and sunset pictures now with the construction going on. We went all the way up to Devil Gardens Trail and then worked our way back. Way too many people at Windows Arches for the best photo. We loved Upper Canyonlands and Deadhorse. At Canyonlands, you will want to hike down to Mesa Arch. There will be a lot of people there most likely. Do not miss the Green River Overlook in Canyonlands. Deadhorse State Park is stunning as well. Enjoy your trip....we sure did !!

MT native Loc: Big Sky Country — Montana

The photos I took may be of interest to you as far as points of interest.

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-453893-1.html
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-453899-1.html
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-454105-1.html

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

On our visit I had the CANON 15 - 85 EFS (24 - 136 FF) and sometimes wished for wider.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I'm thinking the only subject where you could use wider and faster is if you did some night sky/Milky Way shooting.

Jrhoffman75 Loc: Conway, New Hampshire

I don't know if it's still the case, but in late March when I was there road closure wasn't taking place Friday night and Saturday night.

AlanD Loc: TC, MN

My wife and I explored that region last year in the 2nd half of June. Beautiful, we stayed in Moab. The plan was the first night (after a long drive) we took in Arches with the plan to stop there first off in the morning, but!, that time is not so good--the line waiting to go in was unbelievable. So we went and spent two days in Canyonlands. This would be a good time because while we were there the noonday temps were hovering above 100°. Alas my wife made me walk anyways and I thought (other than dying--make sure you have plenty of water) it was more worth the time than Arches--more diversity. The"golden hour" photos at the Arches were good but we did enjoy Canyonlands better, I think. We had two lenses for our Canon 60D, a 75-300 & a 18-55. I think I used the 18-55 lense more to capture the immensity of the place. The one thing I tried, but have not pursued further was to keep taking pictures with all the folk in it and in PP combine to leave out the extraneous folks...

If you go to Zion, it was very crazy there, too. But there is a Northern piece of the park without all the tourists that is a very nice drive with some good walkabouts with good photo op's. Like I said it was a busy time and we couldn't have gotten close in Zion's main area. We drove to the northern part first, then midday we stopped and got a picnic lunch and drove up on top to a very nice picnic area, then landed in the main Zion after 3:00, at which time we parked close to the park headquarters. We found St George , Utah, a good place to park for both Zion and Bryce.

I like the pictures I took and at some point will post some, but all-in-all I think the shorter lense will suffice, but as others have said, if you're taking the car, take everything whether you end up using them or not.

I look forward to seeing your photos...

jwkeith

If you have the time, you may want to think about a side trip to Goblin Valley State Park. It is about a 90 minute drive from Moab but well worth the trip. We stopped there in late-March of our trip and there were only about a half dozen other people there.

jwkeith

From their website:
Roads close Sunday through Thursday nights at 7 pm.
Alert 1 , Severity ,closure ,,Roads close Sunday through Thursday nights at 7 pm.
Crews are working on the entire road system through Nov. 30, 2017. Roads close at 7 pm on Sunday through Thursday nights. You must be out of the park by 7 pm on those nights. Roads reopen at 7 am. Devils Garden Campground is closed through November.