Photography and Production

Ken Chan
10. 2009 California
Automatic advance
American Deserts
Music : Ennio Morricone

This show illustrates the natural beauty of the deserts in the
American southwest, covering the states of

Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah
See if you recognize the following places

Arches Canyonlands Mesa Verde
Black Canyon Cedar Breaks Monument Valley
Bryce Canyon Death Valley Valley of Fire
Canyon de Chelly Grand Canyon Zion
Don’t they remind you of your favorite western movies
This land is grand
Monument Valley at sunset
Grand Canyon
Black Canyon
Canyonlands looks equally grand
Want to get down to the bottom of a canyon?
Try Canyon de Chelly - it is accessible and beautiful
The colorful Navajo sandstone formation
I am sure you know
the red color is due to
the soil’s iron content
iron + air + water = rust

Remember your high school chemistry?
Looks like this valley is on fire – it is so named Valley of Fire
This place near the Arizona-Utah border is called wave

It is a paradise for photographers
Would be a good place
to play hide and seek
Delicate carving of the soft sandstone by wind and water
A massive display of nature’s carvings in Bryce Canyon
Looks too fragile to lean on
Better pray they don’t crumble
when you are down there
Pharaoh talking to
a veiled woman
Balance rock
Three wise men
Round the clock sentry
King Kong’s hand
No Match
The famous
Delicate Arch

Arches National Park
Small one :

a natural window
A hole is formed by erosion
Over thousands of years the hole enlarges, forming a natural bridge
Life of an arch / natural bridge
(from left to right)
The bridge gets too thin
and finally collapses

Notice two new holes are developing
Big one
Sand particles are produced by rock erosion
Over millions of years, they are piled
together by wind into


small one
This one can swallow you
Sand Dunes
This dwelling ruin in Mesa Verde is well preserved
Did people actually live here?
Yes, this land has been home to
Native Americans for thousands of years
They left behind these petroglyths
This spectacular view from Angel’s Landing in Zion
is your reward for hiking uphill for 3 hours
It does not look all dry and dead from here
There are even trees (Checker Board in Zion)
There were trees back million of years ago

The Petrified Wood is the evidence




This living cedar at Cedar Breaks is more than 1,000 years old
The giant Saguaro Cactus is a symbol of these deserts
Cactus flowers are beautiful close up

But watch out for those spines
Spring wildflower blossom forms a yellow carpet in Death Valley
Indian paint-brush
Desert 5 spots
Some of the
Wild flowers in the region
Heard of Columbine ?
It is the name of the state flower of Colorado
Even these unknown species
are equally beautiful
I am sure you don’t mind
these little creatures
Remember this is
the wilderness
Trees thrive along riverbanks
There must be water
under the dry soil
Plenty under the
leaking roof of this cave
So there is water
between these rocks
or on top of this mesa
kenchanimages@gmail.com
It is a living desert
The End