Monument Valley Photo Workshop 2024
Monument Valley in Utah is one of Earth’s most recognizable and unique locations. Deep in the heart of the Navajo Nation, the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park preserves the rich history of the Native people going back centuries.
In March 2024, Lerro Photography sponsored a three-day photography workshop at Monument Valley. One of the advantages of attending the workshop is that we were able to photograph locations within the park that the general public cannot go to without a Navajo guide. We also emphasize human interest photo opportunities of the Navajo culture, especially a particular family that lives within the park.
Our photo workshop started off in the morning with a dusting of snow on the upper elevations. We had to move quickly between various locations as the snow was melting fast. Bad weather continued throughout the day so we adjusted our schedule to do our inside hogan shots of the Navajo family during this time. Since 2016, I have been friends with the family that lives between the Mittens and they are always generous with their time, inviting us into their home and giving us demonstrations for photos. Three generations of family members posed for pictures while showing us examples of wool weaving, rug making, and other things. They also posed for portraits both inside and outside the hogan.
On the second day, we met early in the morning and took a backcountry jeep to the Totem Pole for sunrise shots. We had hoped to go earlier for night shots, but the weather was not cooperating. At sunrise, the low-level clouds started to clear, which created a dramatic scene of sunlight on the dunes and cloud cover behind the Totem Pole. The rock formations behind us also glowed in the post-storm light with the dark clouds behind them. Once we finished at the Totem Pole, our Navajo guide took us to several locations to photograph park areas with dramatic skies.
That afternoon, we ventured deep into the backcountry with our Navajo guide to photograph several locations, including arches and dunes. We also stopped at the Totem Pole again to photograph it from the opposite side. In the evening, we took pictures at John Ford’s classic overlook at sunset.
Early on our third day, it looked like the skies would clear up, so I had the photographers meet at 2:30 am, and we traveled to our night photo location near the East Mitten. We captured a few photos of the Milky Way before the clouds moved back in. Once the sun rose, we photographed our Navajo guide and his friend dressed in historic clothing posing on a horse at various spots around the Mittens and the Hogan. Their horse stole the show, repeatedly rolling around and playing in the cool, wet sand. We also captured a few photos of the herd of sheep in the pen.
The final afternoon we featured perfect weather with puffy clouds and plenty of sun. We photographed a couple of vistas and then went to the dunes with our Navajo guide. In the low evening sun, we captured dramatic sand dune shadows and the red rock Mittens against the dark blue sky. Our final shot was from the classic overlook of the Mittens.
Monument Valley is one of my favorite places to photograph, not just because of the landscape but also because of the Native people and the rich history. I’m fortunate to have a great friendship with the family that lives in the park, and I will always enjoy returning to visit them.
If you missed out on the workshops this year, don’t despair. I plan to run another workshop at Monument Valley in the spring of 2026.
