Sunrise at Canyonlands - We set out at 5:00 AM to capture this image - needless to say it was worth the effort!  When we arrived there were about 15 or so tripods set up waiting for the show, it did not disappoint.

This is Mesa Arch at sunrise - the sun reflects off the wall below the opening and creates the glow on the arch

The rock formation in the center of this image is called "washer woman"

After snapping off 200 (more or less) images I decided to sit and enjoy the view for a few minutes.  Images by John Murray

Canyonlands National Park

We made two trips to the park - the first we had a very dramatic sky and kept running to the car from the rain.  I love these images showing the landscape of the Park 

The 100-mile White Rim Road loops around and below the Island mesa top and provides expansive views of the surrounding area. Trips usually take two to three days by four-wheel-drive vehicle or three to four days by mountain bike.http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/whiterimroad.htm  

Island in the Sky view

Enjoying the view!

April 25th through May 9th were spent in National Parks and Monuments in Utah and Arizona.
First was Arches National Park 

This is Landscape Arch - from here we hiked to Double Arch 

Double Arch - we climbed through the top arch and up to this spot - photo by Phyllis Kimmel

Rock formations throughout out the Park were awesome

Turret Arch seen through Windows Arch at sunrise we climbed through, over and up a cliff and were soon joined by many other photographers in search of the perfect sunrise shot

The spot we had to climb to for above shot -
photo by John Murray

Delicate Arch at Sunset - this was a four mile hike round trip for this shot - but it is an iconic shot - this is the image on the Utah license plate. 

Balanced Rock at night, this was my first attempt at night photography 

These are the "Three Gossips"  Just looking at this I can hear them saying "No I heard it this way"  "No No it goes like this" 

April 17th through 24th were spent in Sedona AZ 

We hiked a number of trails and visited Red Rock  Formations, Including Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock 

Cathedral Rock at Sunset

Oak Creek

Bell Rock a Vortex - I did not get realigned!

White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, New Mexico,  The second day we were at White Sands the wind gusts were to 40/45 MPH and there was quite a sand storm making photography challenging.    

New Mexico Sunsets

El Santuario de Chimayo 

TAOS, NM 
These are Historic Churches of Taos and Northern NM







http://taos.org/html-assets/file/HistoricChurchDriveTour.pdf

On Easter Weekend tens of thousands of people walk to El Santuario de Chimayo, NPR posted this article in 2013 http://www.npr.org/2013/03/29/175722033/thousands-of-pilgrims-trek-to-new-mexico-chapel-on-good-friday

Fence outside Chapel

NUESTRA SEÑORA
DEL ROSARIO 

San Jose de Gracia de Las Trampas this is one of New Mexico’s three surviving 18th-century churches. Mass is held every first and third Sunday. The area is known for its fine weavers and fiber artists. 

Front of

San Francisco de Asis Church, Taos NM

This is the 

San Francisco de Asis Church, Georgia O'Keefe 

painted this view, and Ansel Adams Photographed it