Photo #5

This is another photo from the "hot springs trail" that led us through the desert and along the Rio Grande.  I took this photo at the beginning of the hike so Mexico is on the left side of the shot.  I must say that the reflection of the sky in the river is what initially reeled me in to take this picture.  I took several shots of this scene and ultimately narrowed it down to this composition because of how in-focus and diverse the foreground is.  In particular, I liked the resolution of the red cactus thorns and how the sun illuminated them against the more muted mountainside.  The wispy grasses in the foreground that break through the horizon of the river is also visually interesting to me. They offer something delicate and soft in such a harsh landscape.   And when I say "harsh", I'm talking painfully sharp "stickies" stuck in your but for days harsh!  Who would have thought that laying on the desert floor would be a bad idea?...tarantulas, scorpions, rattlers....the list goes on.