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One thing that really blew me away during our stay in Arizona was the quality of the light at sunrise and sunset.
Living in North Wales I'm used to very weak light at these times of the day, as usually the rising or setting sun has to punch through a lot of haze and moisture, and thus the light can lose much of its potency.
Not so in Arizona, with its very low humidity levels. This photo was taken about 30 minutes after 'Sendona Overlook 03' with the sun just above the horizon shining through a small gap in the clouds.
Beautiful golden light is streaming horizontally across the landscape over Sedona, picking out the amazing sandstone buttes in a chiarascuro dance of light and darkness.
It's moments like these that I live for photographically speaking, standing in awe at the spectacle unfolding in front of me, and thanking God that He said 'let there be light'.
The whole experience lasts about five minutes before the sun makes its final exit over the horizon and we sit in the stillness and wonder at what we've just seen.
Of course, being in the right place at the right time helps, and this just reinforces the fact that photographing locally can result in some of the best images.
Filename - sandstone buttes town 03.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 50mm
Exposure - 1/4sec @ f11, ISO100
Location - Sedona, Arizona
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Tripod, mirror lockup and cable release used to prevent camera movement.
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