Globetrotter

Arches National Park
Continuing north I reached Arches National Park. Hands down, this is my favorite National Park. The scenery here is simply spectacular. What's more, there are dozens and dozens of arches and natural rock formations to photograph. My personal favorites are Double Arch and Park Avenue.



I spent two days in the park, photographing the same formations at different times of day, starting at sunrise and finishing at sunset.



Here, too, you need to be in good shape, because some of the arches are a good distance from the paved roads.

Around Moab
The entrance to Arches National Park is only a few minutes from Moab, Utah, a relatively small town that draws vacationers, adventurers, and photographers from around the world. From Moab, Dead Horse Point State Park is only a short drive. Personally, I found that park much more impressive than even the Grand Canyon.



The Colorado River runs past Moab. River tours are run that offer spectacular photo opportunities, too.

After Moab, you can head off to Salt Lake City, which is about a five-hour drive. Another option would be to retrace your route and start your photo fun all over again!

Digital Darkroom Magic
If the weather is not picture perfect, you can always enhance your images in the digital darkroom. This is the original of the much more colorful image of Double Arch pictured earlier. For the previous image, I adjusted levels, contrast, and color in Adobe Photoshop CS.



Rick Sammon is the author of "Rick Sammon's Complete Guide to Digital Photography." He also recently produced three interactive CDs: "Adobe Photoshop Elements: 3-Minute Digital Makeovers," "Photoshop CS Makeovers," and "Photoshop CS for the Outdoor & Travel Photographer." Visit with Rick, and see clips of some of his television programs, at: www.ricksammon.com.