Every time my husband and I travel through the Capitol Reef area, we spend a day driving down the Burr Trail. About 10 miles from Boulder, Long Canyon, part of the Burr Trail, is especially colorful when the sunlight hit a Wingate sandstone wall on one side of the canyon and that light reflects onto the opposite canyon wall resulting in a deeply saturated red color. Some of the canyon walls have a very eroded surface that looks like swiss cheese along with neighboring areas that have dramatic streaks of desert varnish, both of which I think can add interest to a photo. The day this image was taken, I was focused mainly on composing images that contrasted the dark green color of the evergreen trees which are growing precariously in crevices close to the deeply colored red sandstone wall.
There is also a small slot canyon in the vicinity that is fun to explore and photograph.

5D MIII
Canon 24-105 f4
f 11
iso 800
ev 0
1/125 secs
handheld
Here's a pic from the little slot on the Burr Trail
Great images Paula! I really your compositional choices in both of them. And thanks so much for sharing the story behind the shots!