There is a very special place on the Arizona/Utah border that is synonymous with the American West and should be visited by every photographer at least once. This giant landscape is tailor-made for mobile phone cameras and the ultra-wide angle lens. No fancy gear needed!

It’s Monument Valley, part of the Navajo Nation, discovered by the director John Ford back in the 1930s, and immortalized ever since in such films as “Stagecoach” “Back to the Future III” and “Thelma and Louise.” Monument Valley is not an easy place to get to, some five hours from Phoenix or six hour drive from Las Vegas or Salt Lake City. It doesn’t get the throngs of crowds that descend upon Grand Canyon, Arches National Park and other major tourist spots, perhaps because it’s so out of the way. We visited in July as part of the PhotowalksTV `23 western road trip, and it’s one I’ll never forget.