Brilliant hues await in the slots, the focus for Gary Luhm's trip to the desert plateaus of Utah and Arizona

The slot canyons of the southwestern Colorado Plateau (mostly southern Utah and northern Arizona) are peculiar phenomena of Navajo sandstone. Eroded by water and the scouring power of silt, sand, and debris, they cut vertically through the landscape like a saw blade. The warm-hued surfaces emit quality light — enough to make the slot canyons the centerpiece for a trip to a region that screams with superlatives...

This issue started out with a focus on travel and location photography. As we began talking to location and travel photographers to research stories, we learned that many are focusing on portrait photography on location.

Technically, portraiture overlaps into several of our general themes, including location and studio photography. But more and more, portraiture offers location photographers a new source of income. And, more and more portrait photographers are facing new demands to photograph subjects out of the studio, on their subjects' home turf. To explore this trend, we've focused this issue on people and places. We hope you'll enjoy what's in store...