Any experience with photo tours at Antelope Canyon, AZ?

[gail bisson]

I am doing a tour of the Southwest with family. We will be visiting grand canyon and Zion and Bryce and Antelope Canyon.
There are several outfitters that do tours of Antelope canyon. All of these companies offer photo tours and regular tours. All this means is that you get a 2 1/2 hour tour ( instead of 1 1/2 for the regular tour) and are allowed to bring a tripod in. There is no teaching and no crowd control with these "photo tours".
Is it worth the extra cost? Is there a better tour company than another? Adventurous Antelope Photo Tours offers tours to Antelope and Canyon X and other less busy canyons. Has anyone used them ?
We only have 1 day in the area so we are doing Horseshoe Bend at sunrise, then Antelope Tour at noon ( when beams of light are the best). Which is best Upper or Lower Antelope canyon.
Thanks for any help you can offer,
Gail
PS I know squat about landscape photography so what lens would you recommend. I have a 24-105 but I think I should get something wider. Advice?

[Adhika Lie]

I've done these photo tours recently. Here are some suggestions:

1. All that these photo tours offer is the ability to use tripod. They are less pushy in terms of getting you to move along but I still think that the time is too short to explore such wonderful area.
2. In truth, I did not shoot anything with tripod when I was there. The canyons are narrow and it is awkward to setup a tripod. Plus, the tripod slows you down too much (not ideal in the situations when you are constantly being told to move forward). I brought a 20mm on my full frame camera and a 35mm on my crop sensor. My most memorable shots were from the 20mm. If you are worried about light, I was able to get by with ISO800, f/4 with my 20mm.
3. Sun beam is best in the upper canyon but the upper canyon is packed and I mean it. It's hard to get a shot. I did get this (http://adhika.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Arizona/G0000_wOal.3uErg/I0000gBFQ8UiQyUI/C0000gqcpVYdUaos) from the upper canyon. It's not the classic shot of the light beam, but when I saw the crowd, I decided that I should look for other opportunities.
4. My suggestion is for you to go into the canyon twice. Once to survey (probably early in the morning) and then come in again in the more ideal time. That's what I did in the lower canyon. No keeper from my first trip into the canyon, second trip I have some keepers, and even though it doesnt have the fancy light beam like in the upper canyon, it can still be very interesting. This (http://adhika.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Arizona/G0000_wOal.3uErg/I0000QZmq0Akhkdk/C0000gqcpVYdUaos) is the "light beam" from the lower canyon.

Any tour is fine if their time works for you. They do absolutely nothing but brings you in and out of the canyon.

The Horse shoe bend is fun during either side of the golden hours and it's really pretty. I'm pretty sure they have more water now, too.

[Grady Weed]

Adhika, I thought your images were very nice, even tho you might have gotten the classic image when you were there. Looks like you made good with what you had.

[Adhika Lie]

Thanks, Grady. I have only been to the canyon once. That place is one of those that you have to keep going and get familiar with over time. I am hoping to be there again soon (probably not this year).