Monument Valley in Arizona is not a US National Park, but has the prestigious designation of Navajo Nation Tribal Park, of which there are only a few. I’d like to say it is challenging to see this view of the iconic East and West Mittens with Merrick Butte, but it is the centerpiece of the valley and is easily seen from the sole valley hotel. It was once John Wayne’s favorite view when he stayed at the old Goulding’s Lodge on this spot while filming classic Western movies with John Ford.
When visiting this place, you are struck by the silence, the peacefulness, the lack of human presence, and the awesome, mystical sensation that these giant monoliths radiate. It is easy to photograph them, but difficult to capture an image that conveys how powerful they are when seen in person. I took a large collection of photos across the valley during the first day of our visit but could not capture this sense. There is little to provide scale or emotion on an average sunny day. Since my visit was short, I was resigned to the fact that I would leave without special shots.
Sunrise the following morning provided the opportunity to solve this. The sky was filled with angry clouds, with bands of distant rain on the horizon. The pre-dawn glow was filling in underneath these clouds, providing a great blend of clouds and sunlight. I took many photos of these buttes and others in the valley as the light began to brighten. I experimented with having the visible sun in the image and found my best results were with the sun fully blocked by one of the buttes, creating a great halo while still revealing detail in the structures. Of the shots showing all three of the iconic buttes, this one was my best.
