Ohio
About this photograph
I set out in a rental car from Winslow, Arizona, leaving the warmth of our vacation house for bitter cold and predawn darkness. I was looking for a scenic overlook formerly known as Little Painted Desert County Park, a place now belonging to the Navajo Nation. Somewhere out there was the view I had come for, if I could find it before sunrise.
In the dark, the dirt road off the unlit highway was easy to miss. Every minute spent searching was another minute of stress building over missing the morning colors. But to my relief, I pulled up near the rim just before daybreak.
As I stepped out and looked around, that relief turned to an odd feeling of solitude.
There wasn’t another car in sight. The former facilities stood empty, a graffiti-covered shell beside the deserted overlook. The low whistle of wind through grass and stone made the whole situation feel like a movie set. As I walked up and down the rim looking for a composition, the wind made my eyes water and the cold numbed my fingers. I was sorely tempted to just go back to the rental house. But I had found the place in time. If I left now, I would never know what the morning might have given me. I forced myself to stay.
While the climbing sun seemed to make no difference to the temperature, it lit up the sky in beautiful soft purple and orange shades. I chose a spot and forced my numb fingers to work the cold metal tripod, fumbling through camera adjustments that usually came easily.
