Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is a sacred, special place. Located along the northeastern border of Arizona and southeastern Utah, and wholly within the Navajo (Dine) Nation, it is a land of massive sandstone buttes and mesas enfolding five square miles of lithic beauty tortured into being by the erosive passage of time, water and wind. Looking eastward just after sunset into the face of a rising full moon from the western edge of the valley, the iconic salutes of the mittens beckon welcome to the rising orb.
A focal length of 52mm, normal to be certain, allowed me to isolate the famous mirrored buttes behind a pair of steeply tilting broken slabs of de Chelly Sandstone with Sleeping Ute Mountain on the edge of distant Colorado in the background. An aperture of f/22 allowed for depth-of-field; and a shutter speed of 2.5 seconds at ISO 1oo gave me an overall slightly darker-than-medium exposure.
As the viewshed swings far to the north (left) and out of the frame one can see the rise of Utah’s Cedar Mesa where the Bears Ears await their fate. Our public lands should never doubt their absolute significance as touchtones of our collective experience and markers of our common wealth. As I fight for their preservation, I likewise struggle for my own.
Lovely!!!!!!
Hi Beth. Thanks so very much for joining us for this conversation. You somehow always manage to say so much with so few words; and I do appreciate your kind comment. There are many, many special places in the Red Rock Country, and Monument Valley is most certainly one of them. It is sacred to the Dine people, and so obvious why this would be so. As they say, Walk in Beauty.
Another awesome pic showing strength beauty and a sense of peace
Hey Mike. I hope you are staying safe and well; it’s always good to have you with us. Your three descriptors: strength, beauty and peace could easily be the motto of this landscape. Thank you for suggesting them and for your kind words. Take good care and be well.
Monument Valley is one of the places travelers of old decided to stop and make their lives. It is easy to understand why they wanted to stay.
Thank you for sharing this land that has developed over geologic eras. It must be preserved.
Hey J. Warren. Your words ring so loudly and clearly, “It must be preserved.” Fortunately, it was the Dine people who stopped here and determined to make their lives in this place. We are learning all too well that places we thought were protected can be easily unprotected; and thus it becomes incumbent on all of us to constantly work to ensure that the common wealth we possess will remain unharmed and uncompromised. This is, indeed, our land; and from all I know, the Dine are acting as conscientious stewards; but we should remain willing to lend a hand. Hope you and Freda are well. Walk in Beauty!
Don, what a wonderful image containing so much texture and color. Using the two broken slabs point the eye to the subjects, and create a dynamic force to the overall image. As many images as I have seen of the mittens I have never seen one so powerful. The slightly darker exposure certainly performed very well for this one.
Hey Chuck! How are you, my Friend? I hope you and Lois are staying safe. You’ve been on my mind quite a bit lately; it must be time for a call. I really appreciate your kind and thoughtful comments. Let’s start with the exposure: The light was fading quickly so the overall ambient illumination was darker-than-medium. Rather than increasing the exposure values to bring it back to a daylight medium, I let it remain where it was on the darker side. It seemed to reflect what I was seeing. Now for the rest of the story: Some years ago I came across an image that Ansel Adams had created from nearly this same location. Ansel has used a shorter (wider) focal length that took in more of everything, including the butte to the right of East Mitten which is called Merrick Butte. I wanted something more intimate and narrowly defined, so I used a longer focal length to include only the two mittens and the upper portions of the sandstone slabs. The Mittens were definitely intended as the major elements, with the moon in a primary supporting role. The slabs were certainly used to draw attention to the buttes. Thanks for drawing our attention to the textures and colors as parts of the overall energy of the image. Take good care.
Thanks for taking me back to this spiritual place. Your beautiful capture made me laugh at myself, as I recalled my attempt to photograph the Mittens with my then new Nikon. Not a keeper, but I kept it any way!
You should keep this one. HaHa!
Hey Joani. It’s always good to hear from you and to read your thoughtful observations. I’m delighted that I could give you such a positive memory, and I somehow have to believe that your own Mittens creation is worthy of preservation. This attempt of mine was an interesting effort and I was happy with the outcome. There are so many wonderful locations in the valley where you could spend days in creative pursuit. Perhaps I’ll make it back; but I’m pleased with the work I’ve done there in case I do not. You and Mark be well and stay safe.
Beautiful.
Hi Lynne. It’s always great to hear from you! Thank you very much for that kind comment. We look forward to our time with you and John. Walk in Beauty.
Don, I just want to say “ditto” to Chuck Coburn above. The mitten appear in innumerable images, and are often pleasantly rendered. But you have injected a double dose of drama, energy, tension, and direction into your image. Bravo. The moon, the horizon, the clouds, the foreground…I could go on. This is a brilliant piece of work. And, to keep it even more interesting, the two broken slabs are slightly off kilter from where our eye wants to go. Love it. We took our children to Monument Valley in the summer of 2006; despite blasting heat, it was a treat to be sure. The monuments are beautiful sentinels to former civilizations and to the inevitable ravages of time. Thank you for sharing this with all of us!
Hi Ray. Your thoughtful comments are always a pleasure to read and consider. As I mentioned in my comments to Chuck above, the original motivation for my construction of this image was not an original idea but a borrow for someone whose work I greatly appreciate and admire. What I created was how the scene expressed itself to me.
The inclusion of the slabs was an interesting exercise because there was absolutely no way I could align them to tilt directly toward the Mittens. I positioned myself with respect to them as nearly as I could so that they leaned in the direction I wanted to lead the eye and let the suggestion speak for itself.
I’ll bet your kids will carry the memories of their experiences in Monument Valley within them always.
Have an excellent week and keep well and safe. Walk in Beauty.
There you are in the right place at the right time again. I love that the moon is visible in a cloudy sky, and the clouds are showing shades of pink, giving the scene a soft, warm color. The shapes in the foreground anchor the scene and give it more depth. It looks like the two slabs of sandstone have hunkered down with the mittens between them and the moon… just in case the moon falls from the sky, one of the mittens will catch it and save them.
Thanks for sharing.
Hey Nancy T. Where would we be without your wonderful stories to describe these images I find to construct? Your observation about the moon among the clouds is well-taken. When it first rose in the east, the clouds obscured it completely, and it was only when it was high enough to be above the horizon cloudline that it became visible. I agree completely about the sandstone slabs adding depth – which is always an outcome of an effectively used foreground. I almost wondered whether the Mittens were using the moon as a ball and playing toss with it.
Please take good care of yourself; we’ll talk soon. Stay safe.
Thanks Everyone for a wonderful and thoughtful collection of comments and observations. It is a real pleasure to consider all the comments you offer to me and to each other. May we all consider well each other’s words and may they lead us down our own creative paths to greater pleasure and inspiration. Be well, stay safe and Walk in Beauty.