Geoloeometry 2012

Geoloeometry 2012, a photo by McF Studios on Flickr.

It took me five years to make this photograph.
In 2007, I meandered with the crowds carrying a camera store on my back and plopped the tripod down to begin scatter-gunning through exposures. Three shots looking up, one with a hint of the sun, which became a very good print. Staring at the print one day, I realized, I was not feeling the same thing as when standing under the formation. Good as the photograph was, something was very wrong.
A few years later, I returned with less gear, to make another version of the photo. My motivation was to get a better quality image of the same photo I shot before. However, the weather does what it wants, and that year a windstorm blew for three days leaving clouds of dust in a ruffled sky. I don't brave the crowds of our National Parks very often, so when I muster the courage make a plan I just push on ahead. The photograph from that year became about the texture of the rock and sky. A fun juxtaposition of rock and cloud seeming made of the same crunchy material, just a quirky fleeting thought.
Something nagged me back to this location again this year. A niggling urge to do a little better. I was very methodic, knew the season, time of day and even where to put my tripod feet. All I had to do was wait. This year I armed myself with the best piece of gear a photographer can have: a good friend with a deck of cards. We stayed for over two hours, enjoying the shade, watching the ebb and flow of crowds, listening to the wind. When the moment came, I made a few exposures. In the studio, I worked on making a good print. First in colour, as was the case with all the others. Then this one in monochrome. I don't do much black and white, so I've been "living with it" for several months to be sure.
So much of the area demands you look up. The scale of the canyons and arches can be overpowering, but the swirling wind and infinite hollow above are on a different scale. The sky in the desert is a vast and open wonder. It affects your hearing, knocking you off balance, and offers comfort in it's immensity. Under this formation I was greeted by playfulness, wonderment, and patience; they have been asking that I make their portrait.