A “Butte” Of A Morning
Smoke. Lots of smoke. That’s what I remember most about my recent August photography trip to the southwest.
Normally, you can easily see the Las Vegas strip and surrounding mountains through the airplane window as you taxi to the terminal. But when Jon Christofersen and I landed there on August 7, this was the view.
Smoke from the Northern California wildfires had blown into the region. Air quality in Las Vegas and much of the southwest was rated as “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy.” The visibility dropped to 2 miles in many locations.
Best Laid Plans…
After a quick survey of where the smoke was headed, we scrapped our plans to drive North to Utah. Instead, we headed East to Tuba City, Arizona and hopefully clearer skies. After smoke ruined our sunrise and sunset shots, we drove three hours South to Sedona, Arizona. Air quality readings there looked more conducive to photography.
Our challenge was to quickly scout locations. Neither of us had been there before. Pressed for time, Jon identified a promising sunset location. Here he is scouting in the late afternoon.
Sunset turned out to be a bust because it was severely clear. While tourists love clear blue skies, it’s a photographer’s nightmare.
On the way back to the hotel, Jon identified Bell Rock butte as a possible sunrise location. It’s just north of the Village of Oak Creek, Arizona, south of Sedona. With an elevation of 4,919 feet, it stands out nicely from the surrounding area.
We took the hike that reaches a small plateau on the northwest face of the butte at twilight. Along the way, I snapped an iPhone scouting photo and planned to return to this spot well before sunrise the next morning.
The Shot
The morning and the location turned out to be a “butte” (sorry). The difference between the scouting photo and the Friday Photo is a good illustration of why the quality of the light and the sky is so important in landscape photography. Besides the pretty light, we lucked out with a few clouds that drifted by at an opportune time.
Thanks for looking,
Chuck