Is Antelope Canyon another victim of endless waves of Instagram tourists?
Not exactly but it seems like photography-specific tours of Upper Antelope Canyon will be a thing of the past after December 20th of this year.
This comes after a slate of negative reviews about everything from the tour itself to the attendees (too many photographers in one space, naturally).
Photographers will still be able to take the regular tour but they won’t have the opportunity to set up their equipment and other things like they are able to do on the photography tour.
Instagram has played some part in the canyon’s rise in popularity but it isn’t the reason behind the cancellation of the photography tours by itself.
Instead, it seems to be a number of things but overall popularity and the price tag attached to the tour seem to be the two biggest killers of the experience.
At $USD 200, the tour isn’t cheap and most photographers expect some kind of return on that investment – returns that many never saw if reviews are to be believed.
To their credit, Navajo National Parks and Recreation have done a great job at trying their best to help photographers have a good experience on their tours but it just isn’t feasible going forward, park officials state.
Overall, the hope is that the cancellation of the photography tours will not only result in a better overall experience for visitors but also free up staff to accommodate more and more visitors as they arrive each year.
What do you think? Are park officials right in canceling the photography tour due to overcrowding and poor reviews? Or is this another case of the bad behavior of crowds impacting us all in some way? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Also, don’t forget to check out our other photography news articles on Light Stalking by clicking here.
2 Comments
Sad. Glad I got my “tour” in years ago. There were only two of us so they let us go without a guide. Paid $50 and it was well worth it.
Good to hear you had an awesome experience! Thank you for your comment Sam!