It has been my privilege to stand on a number of occasions on the Canyon Junction Bridge just upstream from the confluence of North Fork of the Virgin River and Pine Creek in Zion National Park in the very late afternoon looking downstream as the golden light illuminates the west face of that most recognizable feature of the park known as The Watchman.
And although the sun is an element of the composition on a relatively small number of days, its reflected late-light on The Watchman is as quintessential a Zion sunset as it gets for much of the year.
So it was that I found myself once again on the bridge last October 8 in the wake of one of the fiercest thunderstorms I have ever encountered in Southwestern Utah. The Virgin River beneath me was liquid sandstone as it roared its way to join the mighty Colorado in the commingled waters of Lake Mead, but the light on The Watchman was liquid gold.
A focal length of 45mm, about as normal as it gets, gave me the angle-of-view I wanted. An aperture of f/20 provided depth-of-field; and a shutter speed of 0.4 second at ISO 200 gave me a very medium exposure.
On March 25th, just under three weeks from today, I will begin the big adventure of my life, living in my Subaru Outback in a country-wide ramble of 2, maybe 3, years as I collect images and interviews for the book on Public Lands that compels me forward. It is my plan to create a YouTube channel and take you all with me; but Image for the Asking will cease, after a wonderful run of more than 13 years, on March 19th. I hope Everyone will join me as I wander; your love of our Common Wealth is a big part of the reason I do what I do.
Walk in Beauty,
Don
Thank you Don for another fantastic image. I always enjoy seeing this beautiful land through your eyes (and lens). I wish you a wonderful journey and look forward to following you throughout your calling. Stay safe my friend.
Hey Chris, thank you very much for joining me for this conversation. It is my fondest hope that somewhere along this path on which I am embarking you will find a way to join me for a short adventure in some place you really want to visit and in which you have the desire to be creative. I can imagine the fun we could have. And if Sue wanted to join us, all the better. There is much work to be done, for I do fear that this time in which we find ourselves is merely a reprieve from perils to come that will test our love of our land and our capacity and willingness to work to preserve it. Always walk in Beauty, my Friend.
Totally incredibly beautiful!
Your generosity and your care for the earth, and your willingness to work for the well being of the earth and it’s people will continue even if
imagefortheasking doesnt.
I’ll be tuning in to your YT channel.
Thank you for all you do!
Good luck living in your outback.
I’ll assume you know about Bob Wells and his YT Channel where he teaches us all how to live out of a car!!
Hi Joanne. I am deeply humbled by all the kind words you have shared with me. Thank you. Yes, I am very familiar with Bob and his work. I have made a connection with him and hope to spend time with him when I am in the Southwest. As I suggested to Chris, there is so much work we all have to do to preserve the awesome legacy that is represented by our Public Lands. It will take determination and much effort if we are to keep them for ourselves and our children’s children. I so appreciate your being part of what I do and I look forward to sharing with you the adventure as it unfolds. Walk in Beauty.
Your Sunday morning photos & quotes have meant so much to me over the years. I am grateful for what you have given to me & all who follow you. I hope this will not be the end of our relationship & that I will be able to follow you in some manner or on some medium; if not, I look forward to being able to buy your book. God is with you & it shows.
Hi Sondra Anne, you (all of you) are going to make my eyes get very teary with your kind words and wishes. I have no doubt that I will carry all of you with me as I wander. It’s going to be a grand creative adventure and I can only hope that the outcome is a product worthy of all of us, especially folks like you. We are here to be creative beings and to care for the earth. There is a short monologue in a wonderful documentary entitled Public Trust produced in 2021 by Patagonia spoken by a rancher in Montana which goes,”…in my Faith we have been taught that after God created the earth, He commanded man to go and take good care of it…” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGjnIG7puzY). I happen to take that commandment quite literally and I will do all I can to encourage others to do likewise. You will, indeed, be with me on the journey. Walk in Beauty
Thank you Don for so many inspiring Images for the Asking over the years. Your excellent compositions, your background information, and your exposure information has always been wonderful. I will certainly miss your Sunday morning emails!
Please, before you head out on the road, share your YouTube information as much as possible so we can all transition with you.
By the way, my wife just bought an Outback. Yesterday I tried reclining in the passenger seat and it was the closest thing to a bed I have found in a car so far. May you rest well in your travels. 🙂
Hi Michael. Thank you so very much for joining us as we enter this time of transition for EarthSong. I am looking forward to the adventure and to having you and the EarthSong folks with me as I wander. For me, EarthSong has been a family for more than a quarter of a century and that will not change as I move into my Subaru. I hope that in the next two weeks I can become competent at I learn the ins-and-outs of YouTube-ism. Thanks for your encouragement and good wishes. Walk in Beauty.
A beautiful image of the Watchman. I like the angle of view. I shall never forget standing on the same bridge in 2014 with you and taking in the wonder before me. The Image for the Asking may cease but it will nerve be forgotten. May the Great Spirit be with you to comfort and protect you as you set out on the journey of your life. I will look forward to travel with you on YT.
Hello My Dear Friend, it’s great to hear from you. I hope your rehab continues to go very well and you can see a full recovery coming down the road. We have had some wonderful adventures over the years and I am grateful for every one of them. You always had good eyes and then you learned to “see.” Your good work speaks for itself.
I’m still planning to connect with you in Shenandoah soon. Let me know how the spring is progressing when/if you can. There is green on the ground here. Best to Lois. May you always Walk in Beauty.
I look forward to seeing the photos and /or videos of your journey. Your expertise and experience will always be remembered on a trip I took with you a few years ago in north Carolina.
Hi Don, Despite the many miles between us you have been my mentor and friend since we met at the weeklong GAPW workshop in the Great Smoky mountains so many years ago. I have learned much from your Images and will very much miss your weekly submissions. Your journey sounds so exciting and I wish you peace and great success. If your travels bring you to my neck of the woods (Boulder, Colorado) you would always have a place to stay and a tour guide to show you the many photogenic locations I have found. My Jeep passion has also opened so many new venues that my old body can no longer hike to. Take care, Mike Cohan
Hey Michael, I did not realize that you had sent a comment to the Image, so I’ve just answered your comments as an email. If you will follow that thread, I won’t have to duplicate my response here. I look forward to staying in touch going forward.
Walk in Beauty,
Don
Hey Chuck, what a wonderful surprise to hear from you. Thanks for joining me! Our Road Scholar adventures will remain one to the highlights of my teaching career, and I’m grateful we were able to share one of them. I hope you are safe and well. Indeed, you will certainly be part of the crew as I wander ’round the countryside. If you have any ideas about a name for a YouTube channel, please don’t hesitate to pass them along. Take very good care.
Wishing you safe travels and best wishes on this wonderful adventure!
Thank you very much, Carolyn; I really appreciate your kind wishes.
Best wishes for safe travel and wonderful light on your journey. Thank you bring us along with your YouTube channel.
Hey David, it’s good to hear from you. Thanks for wanting to come along on this adventure and for your kind thoughts and good wishes. Having all of you along will make the journey so much more fun. Take good care.
Your image brings back memories and shows the majesty with occasional turmoil. Thank you for sharing the ever-changing constancy that is Zion Canyon all in one beautiful photograph!
Ah J. Warren, what a wonderful adventure it would be if you were joining me on the road. I know how you love the Southwest as much as I do. “…ever-changing constancy…” what an accurate and lovely phrase. One of these days, my Friend we will be there together again. Until then, walk in Beauty wherever you are.
I too have enjoyed the enthralling beauty of your Sunday photos. That’s quite the ambitious and worthy journey you have set for yourself. I wish you (and Bonnie, wherever she’ll be) all the best and look forward to viewing your youtube adventures!
Hey Win, Wow! It’s good to hear from you. We did a pool at the book group as to whether you are still walking the earth. I trust you have been safe and well. We really have missed having you with us.
I very much appreciate all of your kind words and your support for my work, and look forward to taking you with me on this upcoming adventure.
Take good care of yourself and Walk in Beauty.
Don,
What a perfectly majestic final image. I’ll miss Image for the Asking, but I’m ready too hit the road with you. Let’s go!
Love, hugs and prayers for safe travel.
Hello Dear One, it’s always a good day to hear from you. I trust that you and Sue (and all the curly girls) are doing well. I expect to be in Western Mass by the end of March and hope to see you then. I’m coming to spend some time with Bill before I head to Maine. I can’t imagine doing the adventure I have planned and not taking you along. It’s going to be a magical ride. Thanks as always for your kind words. Walk in Beauty.
Don, first, thank you for this stunning image. In addition to the amazing colors and the image’s inner light, the visual interest of upright peaks and bending branches all unified by a sinuous river make for a true treat. Second, thank you for your faithful and steadfast Sunday meditations. Third, your upcoming transition to nomadic wonder sounds fantastic. I can’t wait to follow along, and I can’t think of a better apostle for our heritage of public lands! I look forward to staying in touch.
Hey Ray, what a treat after all these years of comment/answer to have the chance to actually catch up on the phone. I really enjoyed our conversation and look forward to its regularity! As always I appreciate your thoughtful comments and kind words regarding my work. I have no idea where I’m going to put everyone who’s joining me on this adventure, but I know it’s going to be a wonderful journey of discovery and I’m very glad to have you along. Take good care and talk soon.
What an absolutely wonderful conversation I am enjoying with All of You! I sit here realizing that in exactly two weeks I will leave Western North Carolina, where I have been at home for nearly a quarter of a century, to become a wanderer of our Public Lands. Last evening I watched Patagonia’s epic 2020 documentary, Public Trust. I’ve only seen it fifteen times, or so, but it never fails to touch me deeply. We have an amazing common wealth in the lands that we were given, many, if not all, of which were, sadly, stolen from the original inhabitants. It seems to me that it is somehow obligatory on us as a way of owning and honoring those past misdeeds to preserve that common wealth with every ounce of determination and energy that we can muster: not as an act of guilt, but as an act of celebration for the great, good fortune bestowed upon us. In my faith we are taught that after God created the earth, he/she commanded Man to go and take good care of it. We seem to have fallen short, but I believe there is still time to get back on the right track. The reward for our everlasting effort is the gift of Beauty, than which there is no greater gift to be had. Walk in Beauty.