If you've viewed the previous articles of travel impressions I've posted on this site, you'll note that my photographic intentions are focused on interpretation, rather than description. I want my pictures to express how I feel about what I see, rather than just recording what I've seen or where I've been. Aside from sharing my pictures with you on this website, I also use many of them to teach the principles of expressive travel photography through my galleries on pbase (http://www.pbase.com/pnd1) as well as in both my Sedona workshops for corporate photojournalists, and my tutorial workshops in Phoenix for newcomers to digital photography.

These images were gleaned from the more than 3,000 digital pictures I shot during this trip. I used a new eight megapixel Panasonic FZ-30 to make most of these images. It features an amazing 36mm-420mm Leica lens with image stabilization, allowing me to use its long telephoto in low light situations with remarkable clarity. Its flip-out LCD viewfinder allows easy use at low and high angles, and a 24mm wideangle conversion lens will hopefully be available shortly, which will make it the single most useful tool for travel photography that I've used to date. I've edited all of these images with Photoshop to correct and refine the hue, color, contrast and sharpness levels, hopefully making my pictures more vibrant and meaningful. Although all of these photographs were digitally enhanced to some degree, none of the content has been significantly manipulated. The facts are all here, as I captured them. I hope you will enjoy these photographic impressions. Please post any comments at the end of the article, or ask me any questions you might have via email. Phil Douglis Director, The Douglis Visual Workshops, Phoenix, Arizona, pnd1@cox.net