Sunrise at Ansel Adams Rocks

"The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words."     Elliott Erwitt, French-born American advertising, and documentary photographer

More of Monument Valley

I’ve written several recent Friday Photo blogs about Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border. This time, I’ll let my picture do most of the talking.

The Shot

During my five-day trip to Monument Valley in December, we had good light. The morning of Saturday, December 17 was a light show that photographers dream about.

The rising sun illuminated the high clouds in brilliant reds against a blue sky. Shafts of warm light broke through the distant peaks and painted parts of the valley floor. And the distant atmosphere created a glow around the rising sun just out of the frame.

The foreground takes advantage of the two big “Ansel Adams” rocks. Ansel Adams’s 1958 photograph, Monument Valley, Arizona, made the rocks famous with photographers.

Those two rocks anchor an inverted “V” double leading line to the West Mitten and Merrick’s Butte, and beyond to end at the East Mitten. The dirt road adds yet another leading line.

We all high fived as even the Navajo tribal members flocked out of The View Hotel to take cell phone pictures of this rare display of light over the valley.

Thanks for looking,

Chuck Derus

https://cderus.zenfolio.com/