I've never actually stepped foot in Saguaro, but I've been to Tucson which splits the National Park down the middle. I've selected this photo because it captures my memory of the natural area pretty well; wide open landscape, big skies, those strange Saguaro cacti, and even the morning light transport me to that place (I assume this is morning light, as I think those are the Santa Catalina Mountains in the distance). I also like the simple composition of this shot, one big Saguaro in portrait, obeying the photographic rule of thirds.

Stephen Wopschall climbs on the 5.8 route "Where Two Deserts Meet" on Bovine Dome in Joshua Tree National Park (near the White Tank Campground).

This image is a panoramic montage of two photographs taken by a Canon S500 Digital Elph suspended below a kite. For more information on this novel technique for aerial photography visit:

http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/kaptoc.html

A shot of Mount Rainier taken from the Cowlitz Divide trail, captured Sept. 20, 2004.

Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park may be the very best place in the United States to get shots of Brown Bear catching salmon migrating upstream. This shot stands out because it appears to be taken at the very moment the fish is captured in the bear's mouth. Amazing.

You've probably seen one or two photos of Yosemite Falls before, but take a closer look at this shot, and you'll notice something a little different. Ask yourself, where was this shot taken? Not from the valley floor, not from Glacier Point, ... it was shot from a hang glider! The photographer provided me with this photo, and a brief explanation of how it was captured.

The rolling hills stretching towards the horizon along with nice foreground placement of the mountain laurel are the reason this photo of the Big Run Watershed within Shenandoah National Park has been chosen as this week's photo. Most sweeping landscape shots come from the National Park units out west, so I'm glad to offer some views from the mountains out east as well.

I was awed by this photo for a couple reasons. 1) It's a shot of the Old Faithful Geyser taken in landscape mode (instead of the tall portrait mode), and 2) the incredible side-light hitting the tower of water with the dark clouds providing a purple contrast in the background. Stunning. I've communicated with Lynn, the photographer, and here is what she had to add about the shot.

The photo was taken July 21, 2005 during a family vacation at Yellowstone National Park. The time was 8:05pm.

Tiger Lilies on the High Divide trail in Olympic National Park. The Lilies are a little soft (out of focus) and the detail in the clouds are totally lost, both of which were not intentional, but the composition of this photo makes up for those photographic errors, in my opinion. This shot was taken August 5, 2001 at 10 am with a Nikon CoolPix 990.

Mountain goats having a bite to eat on a summer's day in Glacier National Park

Bryce Canyon's "Wall Street."