A blood moon pierces the night sky above Delicate Arch.

With a lunar eclipse expected on January 31, 2018, there was no better place to frame the blood moon than above the red rocks of Utah.  I drove to Moab the night before and after two and a half hours of sleep, started my hike at 3:40 am.  The bright supermoon that lit the desolate landscape of Arches National Park gradually became enshrouded by sinister clouds as I made my way up the slick rock before getting lost under its dim light.  After about a half hour of wandering I made it to the Delicate Arch amphitheater and by the time I set up my tripod the moon was no more than a waning crescent, which soon bled red.  As the lunar eclipse intensified, the timid stars emboldened and twinkled against the dark dawn sky gradated by a layer of clouds at the horizon.  The landscape was completely silent, as those of us present were mesmerized and transfixed by the event taking place.  I decided to frame this image without angling the hole of Delicate Arch.  I felt like I was witnessing something not of this Earth, and wanted to impart the same feeling in this image.  The soft magenta hue provided the perfect backdrop to the meeting of a blood and blue moon.  What a surreal experience.