Abbey’s Country II

 
After not returning back to my car from the previous night’s shooting until after 11pm I knew the morning was going to arrive too quickly.  Packed my car and headed off for the 45 min drive to my next location, Arches National Park.  For whatever reason I knew I should photograph Arches but internally I wasn’t overly excited.  Of course this changed when I woke up in the parking lot about an hour before sunrise and saw the landscape before me.  In a serendipitous offering the entire Milky Way was arching over the exact landscape I was walking toward.  Brilliant!  I got about 30ft from the car before my camera bag was already on the ground and camera being prepared for the first photograph of the day.  While the sky still felt dark the slight glow of dawn was already apparent through the camera’s sensitive settings.  With sunrise still over 45 min away I was amazed at what could be seen.  Over on the far right was the distant glow from the town of Moab.  I made a number of panoramas of the scene before me and then off to my intended destination for the morning.  Now if every day could start like this…  🙂
 
Thanks!
aF