Blue Ear

Ear of the Wind Arch at deep dusk in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. On our January 2013 visit to Monument Valley we engaged Ray Begay as our guide for our night photo missions. His critical importance to our photographic success brought to mind the realization of 20th century mountaineers that their Nepalese sherpas were the experts who literally carried the weight and summited, while the other guy got the glory. It was humbling to have a guide, driver, and compositional analyst who was more of a perfectionist than I was...This image of Ear of the Wind Arch was a result of coordinated teamwork. Ray brought us to the site and suggested possible compositions. Allen Cook painted light on Ear of the Wind Arch. I framed the image and fired the strobe on the tree and Ray fired the camera remote...In a larger sense, the team behind this image includes astronomy authors like Terrence Dickinson and Jerry Lodriguss who've helped me visualize and love the night sky - and taught me to how to access it with a camera. And it includes my other friends who joined us for the adventure - night sky photography can be scary and lonely. A crowd makes it about 500% easier to find humor in the dark and cold of a night in nature. January 2013