The best time of year for photos in Sedona, month by month

The best time of year for photos in Sedona is March to May and September to November, when days are mild and the sun sits low enough to light the red rock for longer — and the two other seasons are workable if you plan around the specific thing that makes each one difficult.

The numbers behind the seasons

NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for Sedona give the extremes of the year.

June is the driest month of the year and one of the hottest; July and August are hot and wet, because that is when the monsoon arrives.

Spring: March to May

The most reliable season for a session. Mornings are cold enough that a jacket belongs in the photographs you do not keep, midday is comfortable, and there is no storm risk to plan around. Red Rock Crossing and Bell Rock are at their busiest on spring weekends, so a weekday or an early start is worth more now than at any other time of year.

Summer: June to mid-September

June is hot and almost rainless — 0.16 inches on average — which makes it the one summer month with predictable afternoons, and even then a session belongs in the first two hours after sunrise. The National Weather Service in Flagstaff sets the monsoon season at June 15 to September 30; moisture usually reaches northern Arizona in the first week of July, storms come in the afternoon and evening, and much of the region receives 40 to 50 percent of its yearly rain in these months. A monsoon sky over red rock is spectacular to photograph from a safe place and dangerous from a creek bed, which is why July and August sessions are morning sessions.

Autumn: late September to November

The second good season, and in late October the one with colour: the cottonwoods and sycamores along Oak Creek turn gold, which is the one time the green canyon competes with the red rock for the frame. Storm risk falls away after the monsoon formally ends on September 30.

Winter: December to February

Cold mornings — January averages a low of 34°F — short days, and the fewest people of the year. The practical catch is opening hours rather than weather: the Crescent Moon picnic site at Red Rock Crossing opens at 9 a.m. from December to March, well after a winter sunrise, and at 7 a.m. from April to September. The Cathedral Rock reflection from the creek is a mid-morning or afternoon photograph there in every season; a sunrise session works from Bell Rock or Airport Mesa instead.

Sunrise or sunset

Both work, and the choice is usually made by crowds. The viewpoints everyone knows fill in the last hour before sunset and are close to empty an hour after sunrise. In a canyon this deep the usable light at a given formation lasts roughly an hour and moves across the season, so it is set for your date and your location rather than for "golden hour" in general.

How to use this

• Picking a date: aim for March–May or late September–November.
• Already booked in summer: plan the session for the first two hours after sunrise, and keep July and August afternoons free of anything near water.
• Booked in winter: skip Red Rock Crossing at sunrise, and bring layers.

For what each location needs in permits and parking, see the Sedona photography permits guide; for an elopement specifically, the Sedona elopement guide. Sessions are booked through the Sedona city page.