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10 Photos
Map of featured photo opportunities
24 + pages of tips on locations, equipment and exposures that will
enhance your photo taking experience
The Monument Valley Navajo
Tribal Park Photographic Guide includes details to photographing Mittens,
Merrick Butte, John Ford Point, etc., just to name a few. We provide you with directions, routes, best time of
day, hiking times, etc. to make your photographic trip time productive and enjoyable. You can order today by clicking
the order form button below.
This is an example of the detailed directions our Monument
Valley Navajo Tribal Park Photographic Guide provides.
Mittens
You want to be at the Visitor Center about thirty minutes before official sunrise for that first glow across the
eastern horizon. You will find it hard to forget your first sunrise over Monument Valley. Then look to the north
as the light illuminates the formation tips.
The Visitor Center has a raised concrete platform on the north
side to the building which makes a good tripod location. You may also choose the rim or bluff along the north side
of the parking lot. This location is, also, great at sunset and for moonlight landscape photography. At sunset,
the gate will close early so ask permission from the gatekeeper to park in the Mitten View Campground, outside
the gate, and walk back into the parking lot. We have never been refused.
Standing on the concrete platform (at the Visitor Center) look
across the vast plain to see the three famous buttes: The Left Mitten (to the east), The Right Mitten (to the west)
and Merrick Butte (to the right). These huge formations, nearly 1,000 feet high, are more than a mile apart. This
is a great view anytime of the day. Sunrise silhouettes the formations against the colored sky. Sunset turns the
formations into a rich golden color. You will want to return to this location several times throughout the day.
A sky filled with fluffy white clouds is very impressive. Now look to the north to see Sentinel Mesa and beyond
to the left Eagle Mesa.
The Mittens are great subjects either individually or alone. A
28 mm lens works well for both Mittens as a 35 mm lens is a little tight. A 20 mm lens works extremely well on
a day when the sky is dramatic. The rim or bluff is the best location at sunset for the Mittens but watch your
exposure. The Visitor Center casts a deep shadow across the base of the foreground buttes causing extreme contrast.
This will quickly fool your meter into overexposing the highlights. Another good sunset view with a 200 -300mm
lens is from the balcony of Gouldings Lodge. This is especially good for Eagle Mesa and Castle Butte.
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