Favorite Pictures of the Southwest

I plan on adding many new pictures to our Southwest Galleries in May of 2010. I plan on visiting some of the major National Parks of Southern Utah and Arizona such as Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Grand Staircase and the Escalante River Area. I'm going in May because late April and May are a major wildflower time in the southwest. Probably these new pictures won't show up until late in 2010 or even 2011.

Fred Hanselmann, late 2008

We have a number of favorite locations in the American southwest that we keep coming back to again and again to photograph.

Grand Canyon on both the North and South Rims are always good places to find great Southwestern pictures. Sunset and Dawn are usually better in the summer while the chance for getting great scenics with snow is best on the North Rim in winter.

Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon near Page Arizona, is probably the best place to get dramatic pictures of Arizona. Antelope canyon is on the Navaho Reservation near the power plant which is just east of Page and south of Lake Powell. The Navajos here charge admission to the canyon, but it is well worth it.

The great national parks of Southern Utah are a must-see for great southwestern pictures. Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands, Capital Reef , Escalante and Arches are always good locations for great Southwestern pictures.

Sunset and Sunrise Points as well as Fairyland Point are favorites in Bryce. Zion is great in the spring when the nearby orchards are in bloom. Canyon lands is probably best in late April and May when the wildflowers are in bloom.

Probably the best picture in Canonlands is Mesa Arch at Dawn. You have to take this shot in the winter months, December through February , when the sun is low in the south. In the spring, fall and summer, the light just isn't right to illuminate the grand valley to the east of the arch.

Sedona, which is south of Flagstaff in Arizona, is probably our greatest lost National Park. This wonderland of red, sandstone towers, domes and arches interspersed with Pinyon and Juniper has to be one of the most spectacular places in the American West.

In Southern Arizona, Saguaro National Park and Organ Pipe National Park are outstanding in the early spring, late February and March. The wildflowers at this time carpet the desert in yellows and reds and blues. This area is at it's best when there have been plentiful rains the previous fall and winter. In years like these, the wildflowers are unbelieveable. One great place to see multitudes of Mexican Poppies in the spring is Pichacho State Park between Phoenix and Tucson.

You can see pictures of from all of these places in the selection of favorite pictures above. Click any thumbnail to see a larger picture and get information about the picture.

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