30 Better Available Light Digital Photography
Photographs of this beautiful arch taken during every season of the year have been published in dozens of
scenic, travel, and nature books. © 2005 Barry Staver.
the next chapter.) The secret, as in all forms of photography, is
to properly expose the image.
After all of the elaborate planning, arising in the middle of
the night, traveling to that favorite sunrise “photo op spot,” how
would you feel if the photographs were under- or overexposed
and useless? Lousy, right? Mesa Arch is one of those beautiful
sunrise settings. It’s located inside Canyonlands National Park,
approximately 50 minutes outside Moab, Utah. After driving to
the parking lot, walking the trail to the arch in the predawn dark-
ness, you can imagine Barry’s surprise when he found at least
six to eight other photographers already there, waiting for the
sun to rise. Many had staked out their spot by planting their
tripods, and it was clear that it wasn’t the fi rst time they’d been
to this much-photographed locale. What gives Mesa Arch its
beauty is the way the sun refl ects off the canyon wall below the
arch and spreads the beautiful golden glow inside the arch. To
compensate for the crowded scene and the fact that he didn’t
have a place to position a tripod, Barry took dozens of photo-
graphs—all handheld. He played the percentages that one of
them would be in crisp focus and properly exposed. At both
sunrise and sunset, photographers must work quickly, The
Golden Hour doesn’t really last for a full 60 minutes.