In the fall of 2002 I was traveling though the four-corners area. Early one cloudy morning I drove to a location near Shiprock Peak, south of Shiprock, New Mexico. I setup my equipment and waited, hoping the morning light would illuminate my subject. As the sun began to peek over the horizon it cast a warm pink-orange ray of light on Shiprock Peak only long enough for me to take three photos before the light was gone and the sun was above the low overcast layer.

Had the morning been clear the good light may have lasted 10-20 minutes or more, but without the cloud cover the photo would have had a featureless blue back drop of a clear sky that is not unusual in the desert. On this day I got to have my cake and eat it also. I was blessed with enough good light to take several photos and a cloud cover to add a dynamic and rare backdrop to the photograph.

Events like those that happened at Shiprock Peak have taught me valuable lessons that have repeated themselves over and over. The single most important lesson I’ve learned is to never cancel your photo shoot for something that hasn’t happened. For me getting out of bed in the morning is one of the greatest hurdles to overcome in photographing a location. At 3:15 when the alarm goes off it’s easy to look out the window and say “It’s overcast, no sense in going out this morning.” In actuality, I’ve found some of the most dynamic and striking images during inclement weather. Once I saw the striking images that resulted from photo shoots that would have never happened had I surrendered to my laziness I decided that I would never cancel a trip for weather or any other nonsense factor.

The second important lesson I’ve learned is to not allow your own expectations of a location blind you from capturing the true beauty of the place. Its fine to shoot the photos you think you want and have imagined, but it’s also very important to turn around. Some of the best photos I’ve shot have been the ones I was not in search of.

The third greatest lesson I’ve learned is to be prepared to wait. Every scene has a lighting scenario which will cause it to come alive. It may take all day, or even multiple days to capture the scene in it’s magical state, but if you can find that magical state you will be rewarded with an image that brings the location to life. To illustrate this point compare Antelope Canyon and Marble Canyon. Marble Canyon’s best light is in the early morning just after sunrise. This is because the morning sun is unobstructed and the sun light penetrating the atmosphere at a low angle produces light that is very warm. This warm light brings out the red and orange colors of the desert landscape. When the sun is high in the sky the light is very harsh and unflattering. In contrast, Antelope Canyon’s magical hour is when the sun is at it’s highest point in the sky. Lighting from directly above allows the sunlight to penetrate deep within the canyon and illuminate the detail of the canyon walls.

Push the button! Don’t be thrifty with film. When you’re trying to get that magical shot continue to frequently take pictures as the light changes. Each day is different and it’s impossible to tell when the life of the scene is going to peak. There is nothing worse then hanging around the location for several hours only to miss the shot you were after because you thought it could get better. There are worse things then sifting through 100 images that all have good lighting and composition. On a typical day of shooting I will “push the button” between 350 and 1600 times. That equates to 10-40 rolls of 36 exposure film.