January is already over, and the sun is starting to creep more and more northward in the sky every day. Photographically, January was productive, and I’m excited to share some new images with you in the next couple of weeks. February’s image of the month is an intimate landscape from a wildly popular location on the Utah-Arizona border. During the first week of 2011, we traveled to Page, Arizona to visit the Paria River-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness. Never heard of it? Perhaps not, but I’d be willing to bet you’ve seen images from it. The area’s crown jewel is “The Wave,” which draws huge numbers of tourists every year.
We began our trip by hiking into The Wave, and it holds up to its expectations: its stunning. The Wave and surrounding Coyote Buttes North has some of the most striking geological formations in North America. It should come as no surprise, then, that The Wave is also heavily photographed. Confined to a small area, I think it would be nearly impossible to come up with a novel composition from The Wave itself. While there, I snapped a few images, and enjoyed the surrounding area. It may sound like heresy to some people, but I enjoyed some of the alcoves around The Wave more. In fact, judging by the paucity of footprints, I found some fantastic locations that seem to hardly get visited just a few hundred feet away!
After enjoying this lovely area, we visited some other canyons in the area, and that’s where I found this month’s image. One of the things I’ll blog about soon is the diversity of sandstone in this area–amazing, whimsical formations and colors abound. I really liked the way the sandstone “windows” here contrasted with the ice below. I hope you enjoy it too.
Also, I wanted to mention that yesterday I had the honor of being featured by David Hyde over at the Landscape Photography Blogger. Over there, David primarily showcases the work of his father, Philip Hyde, the pioneering color landscape photographer. Head on over and check out the feature as well as some of David’s other blog posts. I think you’ll quickly learn that if you don’t already read regularly, you’ll want to.
Ice underneath, January 2011
