One of the things I wanted to get on my Arizona trip was a picture of a long, straight road disappearing into infinity. As it turns out I got several, but this one was the best. It was dead straight; it was a rural road in red rock country; and it started at the top of a low hill, which is the only way to get a proper shot like this.

This is a panoramic photo. I took five shots and merged them together when I got home. As it turned out, I only needed three of them, but I definitely needed those three. A single shot, even with a wide angle lens, simply couldn’t have captured the wide open look of the desert West that I got here.

A black-and-white version is at the bottom, and this is a rare case where I might like it better than the color version. It loses the color of the red rock on the left, but it gains something of an Old West look to it. I could go either way on this.

UPDATE: I’ve replaced the color version with one that has a less overprocessed sky.

January 26, 2020 — Kaibab Indian Reservation, Arizona

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate