Fall Southwest Trip to Owens Valley, The Wave, Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley & Painted Deserts

I spent the first 3 weeks of November once again exploring the Southwest. The trip's loose goal was to shoot autumn Cottonwood tree foliage in the Zion and Canyon de Chelly canyons. But the trip was also scheduled around a "Painted Desert" drone photography workshop in mid-November. I had no previous experience with either Cottonwood color or drone photography, so I was excited by these new challenges.

I initially headed toward California's Owens Valley since I knew of some Cottonwood groves which might provide photogenic autumn images. Thereafter, the weather, actual autumn colors, and serendipity lead to the following final trip itinerary:

• California's Owens Valley
• California's White Mountains and its Bristlecone pines
• Zion Nat'l Park
• The Wave on the Arizona-Utah border
• Canyon de Chelly
• Monument Valley/Valley of the Gods
• Ha Ho Na Geh/Coal Mine Canyons
• Various painted deserts (aka colorful badlands) in northern Arizona & southern Utah (via the workshop)
• Capitol Reef Nat'l Park's Cathedral Valley
• San Rafael River Valley in central Utah

It turned out to be a fabulous trip, even though there was a preponderance of photography-challenging, blue-bird-sky days. In the end, the trip had two high points: securing a permit to visit The Wave and my becoming proficient at drone flying & photography.

Further trip details and resulting images can be found in the below galleries. And the "Favorites" gallery presents my favorite images from the trip.