By Scott Shephard
I found this special spot on the last morning on our camping trip to eastern Montana. Makoshika State Park, just outside of Glendive, Montana, is an amazing gem and we had spent the night there in the relatively small, bare bones campground. When Deb and I had gone to bed, it was cloudy, windy and cool and the forecast for the next day was much the same.
So I was surprised when I woke up to clear skies and dead calm. Deb is used to my photographic impulses and didn’t balk when I said, “Let’s go drive the loop.” I’d like you to think that photos like this are the result of careful placement and planning. I have a pretty good eye for this kind of scene. I have a good camera, too. Besides those two things, though, this photo depended mainly on plain dumb luck.
When I look at the light in this photo, which is just starting to touch the rocks, shrubs and trees, I think of Emily Dickenson’s poem “Ample Make This Bed.” In it she mentions sunrise’s “yellow noise.” Here the “noise” is abundant. But because there was no wind or human voices, it was as silent as any place on Earth could be.
Thirty minutes later, clouds rolled in and the wind began to blow. Yes, it was luck that put me here for a perfect hour so so.
Canon R5 f4.5 1/125 sec ISO 160
