Ever have one of those years?

You know the kind. When you look up and realize an entire year has passed that had you so busy with work, family, and whatever other responsibilities and activities you fill your days with that you never made time for some of those personal projects kicking around your to do list for a whole trip around the sun?

One year ago, in January of 2019, my dad and I took our annual photo trip to the desert out west, and, well—I just now got around to editing through my shots from the trip.

I actually kind of prefer going through photos from a trip a while after I’ve taken them, since it always sort of makes me feel like I’ve gone on another whole trip. It was especially nice to do this year, since I wasn’t able to go due to the whole having-a-baby thing I was doing instead (*cue eyeroll*)

In any case, there is something magical about the desert in the winter. Something dreamlike about red canyons coated in snow. Something otherworldly in witnessing such beauty on such an overwhelming scale.

Bryce Canyon in Utah has been a longtime favorite of mine, but I’ve never seen it quite like that—and by “like that” I mean standing in the snow with a frosty tripod on a 14-degree morning to catch sunrise over the canyon. Two words: Worth it. (Even if I had to warm up in the car once or twice :))

We spoiled ourselves with a slightly warmer sunset there too. The distinctive hoodoos that spread across the canyon have always been so astonishing to me. The broad, sweeping view is breathtaking. But then, if you look more closely at each little grouping or individual hoodoo, naturally spot lit by the setting sun, you’ll find countless compositions tucked into that grandiose view.

Just a few hours away is the lesser known Red Rock Canyon, barely half an hour outside of Las Vegas. This was a beautiful surprise for me on this particular trip, as I had never been and had no idea what to expect (other than some red rocks, I assumed). It did not disappoint. Looking back on the images from that part of our journey, I remember sitting on the giant red rock formation, watching the sun set by myself and reflecting.

The beautiful thing about a photograph, or any art, really, is that it can mean very different things to different people. These images hold memories for me that they won’t hold for you, but will likely call to mind something for you that they don’t for me. And they mean something different to me today than they did to me a year ago.

So with that said, I hope you enjoy looking through these as much as I enjoyed going back through them. Cheers and here’s to making more time for personal work in the year ahead—I hope that you can too!

To see more of my travel photography, visit https://www.jamiebannon.com/travel/, and tell me about your own favorite travel memories in the comments below!