Arizona Adventure - Part 2: Little Painted Desert at Sunrise

After exploring Petrified Forest National Park, we overnighted in Winslow, then rose early the next morning to photograph an area called Little Painted Desert at sunrise.  

Little Painted Desert was once a county-level park -- not even a state park! -- about 17 miles northeast of Winslow.  It's a hidden gem, with wave after wave of the colorful soft-rock hills and formations like the ones we had seen the day before at the more-visited national park 50 miles to the east.

Here's what it looked like in the "blue hour" before sunrise:

Twenty minutes later, the sun began to brush the tops of the hills . . .

As the sun rose, larger areas were illuminated . . .

Eventually the light's higher angle of incidence began to fade the rich, warm colors.  But I kept shooting because I knew that harsher (but still low angle) light would make for good black-and-white images, highlighting shapes and textures.

After about an hour, we headed back to Winslow for breakfast, then made the pilgrimage to the trompe-l'oeil mural and statue on the corner made famous by the Eagles' song, "Take It Easy," which you can listen to by clicking here.

If you would like to see these images in a larger format, please visit my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here.

Next stop on the Arizona Adventure:  Horseshoe Bend, near Page, AZ.