Monument Valley Navajo Guide?

[Scott Squires]

I will be in Monument Valley for two weeks the end of September. Does anyone have a name or phone number of a Navajo Guide who is familiar with working with a Large Format Photographer?

Thanks
Scott

[Charles]

I will be in Monument Valley for two weeks the end of September. Does anyone have a name or phone number of a Navajo Guide who is familiar with working with a Large Format Photographer?

Thanks
Scott

When I hired a guide I asked for one who was experienced working with photographers and it worked out well. I only remember his first name was Larry and he lived in Kayenta, Arizona. Are you looking for a guide familiar with LF gear so he can do more than simply drive you around to the various sites?

[Scott Squires]

When I hired a guide I asked for one who was experienced working with photographers and it worked out well. I only remember his first name was Larry and he lived in Kayenta, Arizona. Are you looking for a guide familiar with LF gear so he can do more than simply drive you around to the various sites?

Just looking for a guide to get me to the good spots at the right times. I have been there a couple times and had problems with the guide getting there 30 minutes late and Sunrise is over before I can get setup.

Thanks
Scott

[DavidFisk]

Just looking for a guide to get me to the good spots at the right times. I have been there a couple times and had problems with the guide getting there 30 minutes late and Sunrise is over before I can get setup.

Thanks
Scott

Ah, yes.....Navajo time.

[Eric Brody]

When I went to Monument Valley in May of 2006 on a workshop with John Sexton and Ray McSavany, the guides we used were Vaughn and Marcia Hadenfeldt who own Far Out Expeditions, in Bluff, UT, 435-672-2294, http://www.faroutexpeditions.com/. Vaughn really knows his stuff, anthropology, geology, and native materials. They are professionals and do a fabulous job. I'd love to go back and do a trip with them.

Good luck.

Eric

[Eric Leppanen]

Tom Phillips is also good:

http://www.monumentvalley.com/Pages/english_tours.html

I shot Hunt's Mesa (camped overnight on the mesa, which is by far the best way to do it), Mystery Valley and Teardrop Arch with him several years ago using my 4x5, and he did a great job guiding me to the choice spots. He often prefers to have small format and LF shooters in separate groups, as their shooting workflow is so much different.

[Scott Squires]

Eric and Eric

Thanks for the recommendations! I will contact both and take it from there.

Scott

[Charles]

The park overlaps Utah and Arizona. During the summer Utah operates on savings time and Arizona on standard time.

[Brian Ellis]

When I went to Monument Valley in May of 2006 on a workshop with John Sexton and Ray McSavany, the guides we used were Vaughn and Marcia Hadenfeldt who own Far Out Expeditions, in Bluff, UT, 435-672-2294, http://www.faroutexpeditions.com/. Vaughn really knows his stuff, anthropology, geology, and native materials. They are professionals and do a fabulous job. I'd love to go back and do a trip with them.

Good luck.

Eric


Great guides, I've used them privately and also while attending the same workshop you did (a few years before you). I'm not familiar with all the ins and outs of tribal lands and rules but I thought that to get onto tribal land the guide had to be a Navajo. I know Vaughan gets along reasonably well with most of the Navajo guides but I'm not sure he can go on tribal land. Just something to ask about if you contact him, I could be wrong both about the Navajo land and his right to go on it. But if he can take you where you want to go then I'd certainly second Eric's recommendation. I used him privately to find lesser known Anasazi ruins and he did a great job.

[drew.saunders]

The park overlaps Utah and Arizona. During the summer Utah operates on savings time and Arizona on standard time.

Except that the Navajo Rez observes DST, independently of the rest of Arizona (largely because its on 4 states, not just in AZ). To make things more fun, the Hopi Rez, entirely surrounded by the Navajo Rez, follows Arizona and doesn't observe DST. Visiting a friend in Tuba City, on the Navajo reservation but near the Hopi, during DST a few years ago made for some very confusing timekeeping.

Monument Valley is mostly within AZ but the entrance is just across the border in UT.

Drew