Meng's Travels: November 2017

Sedona is probably the second most popular tourist destination in Arizona, after the Grand Canyon. Over the years, as word spread about the beauty of the area, more and more tourists from all over the world come here. When people say Sedona, it usually mean the whole area, including the Village of Oak Creek, the town of Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon.

I've been here numerous times, since the late 70s'. The place has changed a lot, especially the last 20 years when you see more and more commercial businesses opened up to cater to the tourists. And that's what my recent visits have been mostly - to bring out-of-town guests here. But this trip is different. I am here to help run a photography workshop. The timing is not coincidental. It's late October and the season is changing; so are the colors of the leaves. But before I dive into the photography tour itself, I want to digress and talk briefly about the history of Sedona.

Oak Creek, which gives Oak Creek Canyon its name, flows year-round. This attracted early indigenous people to settle in the area. In the late 1800s', white settlers came here to farm, growing apples and pears. Theodore Carlton (or T.C. as he was popularly known) Schnebly built Schnebly Hill road to Flagstaff so that he can bring visitors down to the area to stay at his lodge. He opened a post office and after several rejected names by the Postmaster General, he came up with Sedona, his wife's name. So, in 1902, the place was called Sedona and it remains as Sedona today. In the 1920s' Sedona became a favorite shooting location for Hollywood western movies. After World War II tourism became popular here and slowly replaced farming as the primary industry. Artists also found the red rocks and the spectacular vistas to their liking and soon they also flocked here. Today there are over 40 art galleries in the area. Sedona today is a bustling area, with many subdivisions, shops, restaurants, lodgings, and TOURISTS! You can get more information here on Sedona.

For a more complete story and photographs of Sedona, see the November 2017 issue of Arizona Highways magazine.

We had a group of 13 participants signed up for this workshop. Including the photographer, Nathaniel, and my co-Trip Leader, Jon, and myself, there were 16 of us. We stayed at a local 3-star hotel in west Sedona. Normally, you'd pay less than $100 to stay at such a hotel. But, because it's Sedona and the tourist season, our room rate was $180 a night, an exorbitant amount. We were here for 3 nights - two and a half days of photography. We went to places that are a little off the beaten path. Yet, we find many people there. One way or another, the tourists find their way to these places to take iconic pictures of Sedona. Our morning shoots start early, way before sunrise. We left the hotel while it's still dark so that we can avoid the crowd and shoot during the "golden hour," about 30 minutes after sunrise and before sunset. In between we had classroom presentations, instructions and critique sessions. At night we sat down for dinner as a group at one of the many excellent restaurants that have sprouted in Sedona over the last 20-30 years. It was 3 days of shared passion for photography, camaraderie among new friends, excellent dining, beautiful scenery, some hiking, and of course, the take-aways - beautiful photographs of Sedona.