McWay falls drops from a wooded ridge and free-falls onto a sandy crescent beach beside a turquoise-colored cove. At high tide, the waterfall drops directly into the Pacific, a rare occurrence for waterfall fans. The waterfall faces northwest and is shaded until late in the afternoon. A setting sun supplies a warm, rosy glow across the whole scene.

Stay off TransCanada Highway 1 and drive the more scenic route from the Confederation Bridge to Charlottetown eastward on Route 10. Twenty kilometers east of the bridge is the historic village of Victoria where you’ll find a lighthouse near the fishing harbor. An old wooden dory is weathering away in the grass while adding a picturesque foreground to the scene. Park and walk along the waterfront. Then walk into the village to sample the homemade sweets at Island Chocolates. Walk the length of the village to photograph gardens surrounding colorful Victorian cottages.

South of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Four Corners region, lies the ruins of the largest Anasazi community in the American Southwest. Scattered across a twenty-mile-long canyon are the ruins of two-thousand prehistoric dwellings. The largest of these, Pueblo Bonito, flourished in the early 1100s, when it stood four-stories high and contained six hundred rooms. Skilled Chacoan masons worked with precision and care to create vast communal buildings. These walls are solid and doorways are still straight and true after standing more than a thousand years. Remains of the red stone walls glow in morning and afternoon light. Shadows keep moving across the walls, creating new compositions. Most roofs and ceilings have collapsed long ago, so rooms are open to the sky. There are two long, rough dirt roads leading into Chaco. No services are available in the canyon. Plan to camp while photographing the ruins.