A Walk In The Dark

There is about a three-quarters full moon with no clouds. Stars are bright. Jan, my wife, is asleep in the motel. I’m standing next to my car, finishing a cup of hotel coffee, in the parking lot of Horseshoe Bend, just down the road from Page, Arizona. I’m the only one here and I love it! I can see pretty good by the light of the moon so I decide to leave my flashlight behind. 

Camera gear in my backpack, tripod in hand I start up the sandy slope toward Horseshoe Bend. I scouted it the day before as far as the top of this first hill, so I have an idea of what is ahead. But I have never been down the other side to the Colorado River’s edge. Horseshoe bend is just that, a big horseshoe like bend in the Colorado River, very picturesque and popular with tourists. I love being in these kinds of places when there is no one else around. I’ll have it that way for sure this morning.

I take my time, careful not to fall in any holes along the way. Actually it is a pretty good trail and I don’t have much to worry about. It’s the edge of the canyon that will give me pause.   It is a long way to the bottom.

Distraction Does Wonders For Abating Fears

By the time I reach the canyon edge light is just beginning to show. This is the part that I live for: being in a beautiful place in the dark and witnessing the emergence of the day. The sounds, the smells, and the awakening of the landscape. I never know just how it is going to show up: will there be clouds, will the wind cooperate, can I find a good perspective and capture the light at it’s very best?  I start shooting near the edge with some trepidation because I do not particularly like high places, but within minutes I’m right on the edge shooting away. There is nothing but me, the scene in front of me and my camera.  Distraction does wonders for abating fears.

No clouds. Shucks.  But what a beautiful beginning to another day in Paradise.

For the Photographer:

This is one shot with a Canon 16-35 f/2.8 lens at 16mm.  Polarizer, tripod and cable release. Had there been some interest in the sky I would have switched to my 24-70 lens, shot in portrait and stitched them together.  That way I would have been able to include the clouds and not short change the canyon scene.