The U.S. state of Colorado was named after the Colorado River, which early Spanish explorers called the Río Colorado for the red colored (Spanish: colorado) silt the river carries from the mountains. Colorado encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. The state is noted for its vivid landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers, and desert lands. I enjoy making photographs in Colorado precisely because it lives up to its name; in its undeveloped areas, not only are the earth and rocks colorful - the trees, shrubs, and grasses exhibit an extraordinary amount of color variation.