While in New Mexico for the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, we visited old friends in Gallup, where we lived for 12 years before moving to Maine 16 years ago. The formation in the distance is Church Rock, in Red Rocks State Park, just east of Gallup in the amazing red Chinle sandstone formations of the area.

It was a brilliant November New Mexico day, cool enough for hiking with a jacket, with just enough clouds in the deep blue sky for interest, and with the clear light across the landscape that only the seems to fall in the high elevations of the Land of Enchantment in the fall. My wife Carol and daughter Kelia along the trail. Kelia was born a few miles from this formation, but we moved when she was 1 month old, so this was her first experience of the enchantment.

Canon SX40HS in Program with iContrast and -1/3EV exposure compensation. The images show off the versatility of the zoom on this camera, and the accuracy of the exposure system. These are not HDRs though they could pass for the more subtle variety. 🙂

Processed in Lightroom for Intensity and Sharpness.