The Dark City

The western states presented challenges due to the extreme conditions of not only temperature and landscape, but also in regard to light. Daytime photos were compelling in regard to the many stark colors of the landscape, esp. in places as Bryce Canyon and Sedona Red Rock country. My attempts at evening shooting turned out to be a bust simply because of the pressure of time (too little allocated) and the lack of a tripod. My only recourse was to shoot silhouettes to capture some of the sky (very similar to the red hues of the countryside) and the ruggedness of the terrain.

This was a happy coincidence for while in Sedona I discovered that the city does not have lights on any of the streets, especially those leading out of town into the near “suburbs.” This realization occurred one night driving back to my bed and breakfast. The road and area were totally and I mean totally dark. The only way I was able to find my way was through the iPhone maps/gps. The next day when talking about this experience I was informed that indeed Sedona was designated as a Dark City by the International Dark-Sky Association.

The above photo is of western Sedona taken from the airport hill where everyone seemed to congregate at this time of day.