Monument Valley straddles the border between Arizona and Utah and is located on the vast Navajo Nation. It is best known for it's "monuments", or huge stone pinaccles and buttes. Monument Valley is essentially not a valley, but rather a plateau. The tops of the monuments mark the level of an ancient plateau, which long ago, cracked, crumbled, and eroded away, leaving only the monuments. Most people think of monument valley only as the three "mitten" buttes at the visitors' center, when really the park covers a vast area with hundreds of spires and buttes, and many natural arches as well, most of which can only be seen on a guided tour. The 17-mile loop through the valley is quite beautiful, and passes some of the best known monuments, but for the really good shots, it is necessary to take a guided tour.

This is one of the more famous shots in Monument Valley, so I decided to add my own little twist with the tumbleweed. Yes, I cheated and put it there...
I had another shot of this with the tumbleweed in the sun, and the exposure was a little better (less dark), but the color was not as rich and the shot did not have that nice light graduation in the dunes, so I chose this one.

My stepfather and I woke up at about 4:30 or so and made the 45-minute drive from Kayenta, AZ, to Monument Valley for a sunrise tour. The tour was quite incredible, and we saw sights that you would never even dream of seeing on the scenic loop.

Filters used:
2 stop graduated neutral density
polarizer