I love the Desert Southwest. The climate is great almost year-round. The sights are incredible. The sunsets can’t be matched anywhere for vibrancy and color. And it’s a photographer’s paradise. Add a road trip and you multiply your photographic opportunities.
The following vistas were photographed on one such road trip Ursula and I took back in October of 2006. That trip took us through Monument Valley, Arches National Park, Telluride, the Ghost Ranch of Georgia O’Keeffe fame, and Santa Fe. Some of the Ghost Ranch and Santa Fe shots are a bit dark because I somehow inadvertently set a -1.33 exposure compensation on my camera and didn’t catch it right away. See? Even an experience photographer can make the occasional boneheaded mistake now and then. Anyway, I’ve post-processed some of that error away.
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
R. Doug Wicker — Author 
More proof that you should become a professional photographer.