Monument Valley, Arizona

[J V McLure]

On our four-state trip starting next week, we plan to be at Monument Valley, Arizona late on Sunday, October the 7th and spend all day there on Monday the 8th. We would like to book a guide service that will have some knowledge of photographing the Valley. Does anyone know of a good guide or how I might go about finding one? We want the best one we can hire.

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

J V McLure

[Scott Rosenberg]

i'd suggest giving tom phillips a call...

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

enjoy your visit - it's an amazing part of the country.

[eric black]

There is a trailer in the main parking lot that can hook you up with guides if Tom is not available- I had good luck with them this last spring on short notice.

[scott_6029]

yes, get a guide who can take you where you can't go at times you can't go. Like dawn, dusk, and closer to areas like totem pole. Otherwise if you have a decent vehicle (anything that resembles 4 wheel, suv - you can take a regular car...but it is a little bumpy..)you can tour the park and get nice shots too. Staying in Kayenta or accross the street from the park entrance? If you are staying across the street at the 'park' hotel, don't eat the food...it's un-eatable..well, maybe breakfast is ok and the salad bar is ok...

[Brian Ellis]

You definitely should hire a guide. However, my one experience with hiring a guide at random from one of the booths outside the visitor's center wasn't very good. I paid in advance for a half day that was supposed to start at noon. He showed up around 4:00 p.m., we only had time to go to one place and make a handful of photographs before dark. Of course we tried to contact him repeatedly before he finally showed up but strangely enough none of the people at the other booths had ever heard of him or knew his name or anything else about him. Apparently he and his booth were just dropped down that morning by aliens from outer space. I mention all of this just to suggest that you make every effort to hire someone in advance who has been recommended to you rather than counting on getting a good guide from the visitor's center.