Several years ago I took a two week trip with my wife through mostly northern Arizona, but we also spent a few days in Kanab, Utah. Those few days were not long enough to do everything that we would have liked, so a couple years later, on a longer trip, we planned to spend some more time there.

One of the places that we visited the first time around was the Toadstool Hoodoos, which are a short hike from the highway that runs between Kanab and Page, Arizona. That visit was during the mid morning, to have a pleasing sun angle and to avoid the heat later in the day.

On the second trip, I thought that the hoodoos would make a good spot for sunrise. It's about a 40 minute drive from Kanab, plus 15-20 minutes to walk out, so I had to leave an hour before I wanted to be on site. I went out a couple mornings, but nothing really developed. Either there were no clouds to create color in the sky, or the clouds blocked the sun and there was still no color.

The fourth morning out, things finally worked. There were clouds in the eastern sky, but not down at the horizon blocking the sun. You usually do not know at the time what will be the best presentation, so I just keep taking shots periodically. This one was chosen for the point of maximum color, still a little while before the sun broke over the horizon.