We had finished dawn photography of nearby formations on this October morning at Arches National Park. As I was working that subject I kept noticing this remarkable bit of cliff, also in the direct morning sunlight. The larger formation of which it is a part did not offer me any obvious photographic subject, so I switched to a long lens and zeroed in on the colors and textures of this small portion of the scene.
Most photographers love the warm colors of the light around sunrise and sunset, and I’m no exception. They can paint a gray landscape in beautiful ways. The story is a bit different in the red rock country of the Southwest, where the rocks themselves are very colorful. Combining that intrinsic color with the intensity of dawn sunlight produces colors that border on the unbelievable.
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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
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