I've just returned from a photo trip to the Taos, New Mexico area on a photo tour with my friend and mentor, Geraint Smith.  This was my fourth trip to Taos for a workshop with Geraint, who never fails to inspire me and offer new ideas to improve my photography.

We spent our first day together primarily in the Abiquiu area southwest of Taos, our first trip back to the area since my initial visit.  We explored some new areas and returned to some previous favorites, which always offer something different depending on the season, time of day, and ever-changing New Mexico skies.  The photo above shows a view of Orphan Mesa at Ghost Ranch, a familiar scene to movie buffs as it has been the site of many westerns over the years. We caught it with foreground shadows and some beautiful skies in the background in a scene that is the essence of New Mexico.  A little further away, we took a dirt road through national forest service lands for photos of the beautiful cliffs shown below, which offerred numerous compositions during our stop.

On the second day, we traveled north and east of Taos, through Red River and Eagles Nest, for photos at higher mountain elevations, and through the canyon out to the Cimarron area.  There was still plenty of snow on the mountain tops, and I'll be featuring a number of these photos on my social media feeds in upcoming days.  Some of our most notable shots of the day featured wildlife that we encountered.  In the photo below,  a group of elk were "all ears" save one, as they paused to check us out just before departing in a cloud of dust. 

On the way back, we found a group of mountain sheep just west of Red River, and this ram thoughtfully posed for a head shot.

On my drive back from Taos,  I stopped by Palo Duro Canyon State Park near Amarillo, Texas.  Heavy rains and floods earlier in May had caused erosion in low-lying areas, but the saturation had produced beautiful wildflowers in several locations that I photographed in the afternoon before an overnight stay at the campground.  

The following morning, I was up for sunrise photos from the observation overlook before departing, and took the photos shown below, the first a few minutes before sunrise, and the second as the rising sun lit the canyon valley.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look at this post! Follow me on Instagram or Vero, where  I post a new photo most weekdays featuring my current photographic activities. 

Scott