Hope

The first sun of the New Year rises through the only break in the clouds above the silent landscape of Canyonlands.

Photography can be a social experience but shooting trips are oftentimes wrought in isolation.  After a challenging year I spent New Year’s Eve in a hotel room in Moab, secluded from even the events happening in town, choosing instead to share festivities and keeping company with loved ones through the glow of my cell phone.  With sleep hardly an option on an abbreviated night, I began my drive to Canyonlands at 3:00 AM deep into the darkness hoping to shoot the Milky Way prior to sunrise.  Alas the sky was entirely cloud-covered by the time I arrived at Mesa Arch, so in 15 degree weather surrounded by patches of snow I laid down and strangely felt immense tranquility.  It would be at least another hour and a half before the second photographer arrived, but together we lamented what appeared to be a wasted effort, as even the only visible strip of sky above the horizon slowly became enshrouded by thick clouds, narrowing to a tiny vertical tear.  As the hours passed and more photographers arrived we all nearly gave up hope for the amazing glow Mesa Arch is known for.  Then the strangest thing happened…

The sun rises at different angles throughout the year against the backdrop of Mesa Arch, but at 7:37 AM on January 1, 2017 it broke the horizon through the only possible opening in the sky not covered by clouds.  My jaw dropped, my heart hastened, and I starred breathlessly as the flood of light washed over the barren Canyonlands floor and reflected to the underside of Mesa Arch.  In that singular moment I learned that even when things seem bleak, always give hope the chance to allow for something unexpectedly amazing to happen for you.