CraigBILL

Even though the sunrise under this arch has become a famous event to photograph and experience, I wanted to explore it during other times of the day as well.

I stayed up almost the entire night filling my camera with images before the sunrise crowds showed up. One nighttime event I anticipated was the moonrise. I knew about what time the Moon would peek over the horizon, so I set up and waited as the bright white glow increased. At the same time I prepared to “light paint” the shaded side of Mesa Arch with a flashlight. When the moment arrived with a blaze of moonlight, I started the exposure and began painting the arch with light. I am glad I was ready for this lunar-arch event because the Moon rose in such a place on the horizon that it only showed itself under the arch for a mere few minutes before I was unable to position the camera optimally.

I love how the canyons below are drenched in moonlight - a soft ethereal glow under star-burst filtered moonbeams framed up by the arches’ nocturnal stretch.