ViewBug Hall of Fame Collection
ViewBug The People's Choice Award 2017 - The Moon
BTL - "Behind The Lens" Selected and Featured Moon Photograph Dec 2016
International Lucie Award (IPA) Honorable Mention
Finalist Night Photography ViewBug
CreationEarth Best Nature Photo Editor's Pick
500px Popular Rated
A Pixoto #1 Photo of the Day and a Top 1% Ranking of All Time
Reader's Choice Award
YouPic Inspirational Rated
BetterPhoto Editor Pick & Finalist Nov 2013
I SHOT IT Mark of Excellence Award
Pixoto "Best of 2013 Award" Travel Locations
ViewBug Judges Awarded Collection
MegaShot Featured
Double Finalist World's Top 10 Landscape Photographers 2017
Shortlist Finalist SIPA Siena Int'l Photography 2017 Awards Italy

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.