A look at my “favorite photos” folder for May 1 tells me May 1 has been a great day for photography. I have picked three most favorite photos for this date.
If you have been following this series you know I went on a family history trip in 2011 with a side trip to southern Utah. A last minute change in travel plans meant I went back through southern Utah on my way home from California. The top of my priority list was Dead Horse Point at sunrise. The light was soft due to a cloudy sky on my first trip and I wanted the bold, contrasty light of sunrise with dramatic shadows. I got it. This is one of my most favorite images for this date.
Sunset, Big Bend National Park, Texas. May 1, 1989.
I was in the restaurant in the “Chisos Basin”, which is a large bowl shaped area surrounded on all sides by the Chisos Mountains. The only place you can see out of the Chisos Basin is a gap called “The Window”. Our server had just set a beautiful trout dinner in front of me when the wall in front of me turned orange. I turned around to see the clouds had parted and the sun popped out. It was my great luck that the sun was setting in “The Window”, something that only happens for a couple of weeks in the spring and fall.
I took one look at my trout dinner, and grabbed my backpack and tripod and headed out on the porch, as did several other people who were eating dinner. For the next several minutes we all had an amazing light show and shutters were clicking like crazy.
When it was over, I went back inside and ate a cold trout dinner. No matter. There will be other trout dinners. I may never be fortunate enough to see another wonderful sunset in The Window. This is the second of my most favorite photos for May 1.
Another look at the same sunset.
Going back to Utah, after sunrise at Dead Horse Point, I went to Canyonlands. A week earlier it was so foggy I could not see any of the canyons. This was my chance to see them for the first time.
After Canyonlands I went to Arches for one last look before heading for home. This is the third of my most favorite photos for this date.
It was a great day in the Moab Utah area. If you go to southern Utah, Moab is your headquarters for Arches, Dead Horse Point, and Canyonlands.
Links
Series: Favorite Photos by Date – all about this series