Junior

I will spend a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in March. I have read several older posts on the subject and received good advice on filters: circular polarizing and neutral density. A post recommended a wide angle lens, but did not mention a specific lens. I have a Nikon D750 and I will take my Nikon 50mm 1.8G, Tamron 24-70mm 2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 VR. My question is would the 24 -70mm be wide enough? If not, any suggestions. Any other advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

Do vertical panoramas at 24mm.

Have fun, it is a beautiful country.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

The 24 should be wide enough for most shots. But if not wide enough for some shots, use tdekany's advice. Either results will make you happy. The only other advice would be to take your eye away from the camera, let the camera hang from your neck, and just soak in the whole visual experience in front of you.

Wanda Krack Loc: Tennessee, USA

Is the Grand Canyon NP open during the shutdown? During the last gov. shutdown, I was in Maine at Acadia NP and we had to park outside the park and walk in. I'm just curious about GCNP.

AzShooter1 Loc: Surprise, Az.

Gov. Doug Ducey in February signed an executive order to keep the Grand Canyon open to visitors during such shutdowns, and that plan is in place, an official said Thursday. "With the plan, the Grand Canyon will not shut down on our watch," Ducey spokesman Patrick Ptak said Thursday. The order established a way to fund the Park Service with state revenue.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

Try using your 50mm for vertical panoramas. That's how I did it on a trip to Zion National Park last year. This image comprised of 8 separate shots blended together in Photoshop Photomerge. Most of the time I used a 16-35 2.8 on my Canon 5DIV. Your 24mm will be fine most of the time though.

cdayton

You will be at 7000 feet in March - be prepared for the weather. I have been on the South rim in late May and seen snow flurries. All your lenses are fine - you don’t really need panos. The best views are from a helicopter ride but they may not be operating that early.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Yes.

You can always take multiple overlapping images and stitch to panorama.

dave.m

the problem with the Grand Canyon is that it is so incredible, few photos can do it justice. So plan your visit if you can. The sun position and weather have a potentially huge impact on the image. I've been 4 times, and always hopeful of that elusive 'wow' shot. My very best image was when it was snowing on the rim, and brilliant sunshine in the valley (with a 1 mile depth, its hardly surprising the weather can be dramatically different top to bottom.)

find out which views you really want to visit. There are a number of guides - a very quick search gave many and one I briefly looked at identified his preferences (https://jameskaiser.com/grand-canyon-guide/views/ - some great shots although colours looked magenta saturated on my monitor.) Here's another aimed at sunrise and sunset https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/photographing-sunrise-and-sunset-at/

The best daytime images I have are when the shadows show up the rugged landscape but not with large deep shadows. This means early morning and late afternoon. Get hold of the photographers Ephemeris (TPE) or similar and visualise where the sun/ shadows will be at your locations of interest. As a rule of thumb, if the view is to the west then morning , and vica versa (cos a morning shot to the east is predominantly shadow.)

From my limited experience, most visitors head for the Village so it can get crowded. Next time I go I'm going to try for the east first and move west as the day progresses. Trouble is the nearest accommodation is miles away and can take 2 or more hours just to get to the gate.

Finally, picking up very much on wdross comments - don't let your camera dictate the day and just look and soak it in.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Excellent.
Good governor.

anotherview Loc: California

Having visited the GCNP, I can recommend both your "Tamron 24-70mm 2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 VR."

Their combined focal lengths will cover just about everything you may encounter during your GCNP visit. The 24-70mm lens should provide you sweeping views of the natural values present there.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right. People tend to forget that panos work fine when done in vertical.

Rhinophoto Loc: Davis, CA

I'd second dave.m 's advice. Getting out early to observe and photograph the dawn light and sunrise with changing colors and shadows was more important than lens choice for me.

Mike

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Totally agree.
A tele converter would come in handy or something reaching to 400mm minimum as well for critters and detail shots.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

if you're traveling with someone who is physically challenged, you may find the South Rim to be handicapped unfriendly. My husband (who was on a walker at the time) and I were there about 3 years ago so hopefully it's gotten better by now.