Spring Clouds over Santa Fe National Forest
Late winter/early spring winds blow tumbleweeds against a fence as clouds pass over the Santa Fe National Forest near Route 16 and Peña Blanca, NM.
Clouds over Santa Fe National Forest, near Peña Blanca, NM (16″x47″)
Tree in Slot Canyon at Tent Rocks National Monument
Erosion has washed away the rocks and soil under the ponderosa pine hanging onto the rock walls in the main slot canyon at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. One of my favorite trees in the world to photograph.
Tree in Slot Canyon, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, NM (18″x12″)
Spring Rain Clouds over Slot Canyon at Tent Rocks National Monument
Spring clouds over a slot canyon composed of eroded layers of volcanic rock and ash from ancient pyroclastic flows in Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, NM.
Spring Clouds over Slot Canyon, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, NM (12″x18″)
Ute Mountain and Clouds
On my drive to Boulder, CO, I stopped along US 285 near San Antonio Mountain to photograph the summer clouds passing over the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
Ute Mountain and Clouds, Rio Arrive County, New Mexico (12″x18″)
Organ Mountains and Sky
A deep shadow across the canyon, harsh light on the peaks, blank blue sky darkened by a red filter.
Shadowed Canyon in the Organ Mountains, Organ Mountain Natl Mon, NM (16″x55″)
Organ Peak and Boyd Sanatorium
The setting sun casts long shadows through the tufts of grass and yucca poles in the foothills; the angled light provides a sense of depth to the peaks.
Path to Boyd Sanatorium and Organ Peak, Organ Mountains Natl. Mon., NM (16″x38″)
Organ Mountains Sunset
I took a panorama of the flatiron-like foothills at the base of the Organ Mountains outside Las Cruces, New Mexico. I decided to keep one version of the panorama in color and to convert the other to black and white. I like the color of the sunset, but the black and white has a more subtle, silvery glow.
Flatiron Sunset (color), Organ Mountain National Monument, NM (16″x49″)
Flatiron Sunset (B&W), Organ Mountain National Monument, NM (16″x49″)
Organ Mountains, New Mexico
Last fall, I spent a weekend near Las Cruces, New Mexico and had a chance to wander through the foothills of the Organ Mountains. I took a few photographs at the abandoned Boyd’s Sanatorium around sunset before I headed back to the car.
Setting Sun near Boyd Sanatorium, Organ Mountains National Monument, NM (16″x38″)
Light and Shadow near Boyd Sanatorium, Organ Mountains National Mon., NM (12″x18″)
Farm House and Storm
On my way to Great Sand Dunes, I stopped along the highway to photograph this abandoned house in a field as a summer thunderstorm passed overhead. If you read my photography blog, you know that I love to photograph clouds (and would have stopped to shoot them anyway), but it was even better to have a dramatic foreground element. Additionally, the Dunes hug the foothills of the mountains in the background.
Farm House and Summer Storm, near Hooper, CO (16″x62″)
Tunnel to the Sky
This winter, I revisited a slot canyon at Tent Rocks National Monument in New Mexico that I photographed a few years ago. The eroded tube of rock in this vertical panorama sits to the left of the main slot. I keep coming back to this area because the repeating patterns of layered ash lead the eye upwards to a small window of winter sky above.
Tunnel to the Sky, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, New Mexico (16″x24″)
Ragged Top Cacti and Rocks
Here are a few more panoramas from the Ironwood Forest National Monument. One of my favorite parts of this hike and scramble was watching the clouds’ shadows slide across the desert landscape below Ragged Top.
Ragged Top Shadows and Spires, Ironwood Forest National Monument, AZ (16″x38″)
Saguaro Cacti Reaching for the Sky, Ironwood Forest National Monument, AZ (16″x26″)
Sandstone Bluffs and Clouds at Escalante
Here are a few panoramas of the striations in the sandstone plateaus and bluffs in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Striations and Sky, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (16″x48″)
Juniper Skeleton and Sandstone, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (16″x60″)
Texture and Space at Escalante, Part V
More from the Harris Wash and Zebra slot canyon area in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Knife of Light in Slot Canyon, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Receding Sandsone Pillars, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Wave of Sandstone and Clouds, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (16″x61″)
Texture and Space at Escalante, Part IV
Here are a few more landscapes and texture-focused, single-frame photographs from the Harris Wash and Zebra slot canyon area in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Blueberry Landscape, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Cracks in Striations, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Pockmark in Striations (1), Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Half Moon in Striations, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Texture and Space at Escalante, Part III
More of the texture and form series I am putting together from Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Crack and Lichen (1), Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Dripping Stone, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Pockmarked Rock and Lichen, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Texture and Space at Escalante, Part II
Here are a few more texture- and form-focused photographs of the sandstone walls at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Gravelly Undulations, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Sliver of Light, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Blueberries, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Texture and Space at Escalante
The eroded rock faces and dark slot canyons at Grand Staircase Escalante allowed me to focus in on the light, shadow, space, and texture of the rock and sky.
Looking out of the Orifice, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (16″x48″)
Eroded Divots in Sandstone, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Seeping Stains, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Peek-A-Boo and Spooky Gulches
I spent a few days camping and hiking through the canyons of Grand Staircase Escalante in March. Here is a panorama of a tree poking up from a sandstone outcropping near Spooky Gulch. I’ll post more panoramas of the area in the next few weeks.
Peek-a-boo Gulch Entrance, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (12″x18″)
Spooky Striations, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (16″x24″)
Escalante Tree and Sky
I spent a few days camping and hiking through the canyons of Grand Staircase Escalante in March. Here is a panorama of a tree poking up from a sandstone outcropping near Spooky Gulch. I’ll post more panoramas of the area in the next few weeks.
Cradled Tree and Clouds, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT (16″x48″)
Between the Dunes at White Sands
I stopped for a quick walk around the dunes at White Sands National Monument last spring on my way back to Tucson from New Mexico. Here is a panorama of the bushes between the dunes.
Between the Dunes, White Sands National Monument, NM (16″x56″)
Path Through the Hoodoos
Here is another panorama of the rock tower formations in Chiricahua National Monument.
Path Through the Hoodoos, Chiricahua National Monument, AZ (16″x36″)
Rock Towers in the Chiricahuas
Last week I posted a series of panoramas of the burn in Chiricahua National Monument. This week, I want to focus more on the actual rhyolite tuff towers. Here is a panorama from the Sarah Deming/Big Balanced Rock Trails; I always enjoy the overlooks and up-close views of the rock towers on this loop.
Rhyolite Tuff Triplets, Chiricahua National Monument, AZ (16″x34″)
Post-Fire Landscape in the Chiricahuas
Although the towering rhyolite tuff provides a fascinating backdrop for photographs in Chiricahua National Monument, on my last trip to the area I was more interested in the post-fire landscape. The 2011 Horseshoe 2 Fire burned for about a month and a half before containment; it leveled about ~222,000 acres (~350 square miles) of forest and grassland in the area. The fire was so large that it could easily be seen from space (see photos from space on Wikipedia). After the trees burned, erosion in the Monument has taken out some of the trails, and previously forested landscapes are now laid bare. Here are a few of the panoramas I took in the burn in January.
Burned Hill, Chiricahua National Monument, AZ (16″x64″)
Burned Tree, Chiricahua National Monument, AZ (16″x52″)
Luke Parsons Photography 