Stone, Sky, and Aperture: Three Days in Arches

I made these ten photographs during three days in Arches National Park, from October 9 through 11, 2022. They move from a wide view of weather over slickrock to arches, reflected stone, and openings that frame the sky.

Golden slickrock descending into a broad Utah valley beneath towering white storm clouds and deep blue sky — **Weather Over the Slickrock** — Warm slickrock slopes toward the valley below a cloud bank that fills nearly half the sky. Sony α7R II, 19mm, f/13, 1/125 sec, ISO 100.

Weather and an icon, October 9

I started with the widest view. At 19mm, the eroded foreground looks almost like a small model of the valley beyond it. Sunlight stays on the sandstone while the cloud bank fills nearly half the frame. In this photograph, the weather is bigger than the rock.

Twenty-nine minutes later, I turned the camera vertically at Delicate Arch. The portrait frame gives the arch room to rise while keeping the distant mesas visible through the opening. It connects the ledge, the middle distance, and the horizon instead of separating the arch from its surroundings.

Delicate Arch glowing orange above layered Utah mesas beneath a saturated blue evening sky — **Delicate Arch at Evening** — The warm stone frames distant mesas through the opening. 28mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO 100.

From a burst of light to a ribbon of stone, October 10

The next morning, I used a 16mm lens and placed the sun right on the edge of the sandstone. A small step would have hidden it. From this position, it breaks into a starburst while the surrounding fins stay mostly in shadow. That one bright point organizes the whole frame.

Morning sun forming a starburst above dark sandstone fins and desert shrubs in Arches National Park — **Morning Sunburst Among Sandstone Fins** — The sun breaks across the sandstone edge while the nearby fins stay mostly in shadow. 16mm, f/7.1, 1/100 sec, ISO 100.

At Landscape Arch, the balance flips. The span is remarkably thin, almost a pale line hanging above broken stone, shrubs, and shadow. At 29mm and f/16, I could keep the full arch sharp along with the rough ground that makes it look so delicate.

Long slender Landscape Arch spanning blue sky above juniper and pale sandstone rubble — **Landscape Arch, Ribbon of Stone** — The thin span stretches nearly edge to edge above broken stone and desert shrubs. 29mm, f/16, 1/60 sec, ISO 100.

Apertures inside apertures, October 11

On the final day, I moved through the Windows Section and used each opening to frame the next view. Looking up from beneath Double Arch, two joined spans overlap with a third patch of blue. Sunlight warms the upper stone while the interior stays cool and dark, creating alternating bands of orange and shadow.

Overlapping openings and red sandstone walls seen from beneath Double Arch against blue sky — **Inside Double Arch** — Two joined arches divide the blue sky while the stone shifts from direct sunlight into shadow. 24mm, f/11, 1/50 sec, ISO 100.

At 124mm, almost every clue to scale disappears. One small opening looks like a blue eye surrounded by ripples, seams, and shallow folds. Water and weather found a weak place in the stone and slowly opened it.

Small rounded opening in intensely textured golden sandstone revealing a patch of blue sky — **Sandstone Eye** — At 124mm, a small opening looks like a blue eye surrounded by ridges, fractures, and warm stone. 124mm, f/10, 1/100 sec, ISO 100.

Nearby, rainwater had collected in a shallow pothole. A sunlit sandstone tower appears above the ledge and again below it, upside down in the still water. After so many views looking upward, the reflection briefly makes the desert feel symmetrical.

Sunlit golden sandstone tower mirrored in a rain-filled desert pothole above cool shaded slickrock — **Golden Desert Reflection** — A sunlit sandstone tower appears above the ledge and again upside down in the blue pool. 24mm, f/13, 1/100 sec, ISO 100.

At North Window, the frame within a frame becomes literal. Turret Arch sits beyond the large opening, small but easy to find once you look through it. The surrounding rock fills most of the portrait frame, leaving the brightest blue and the distant arch in the center.

Turret Arch and blue sky framed by the glowing red interior of North Window — **Turret Arch Through North Window** — Sunlit red stone surrounds a blue opening, with Turret Arch visible in the distance. 24mm, f/11, 1/100 sec, ISO 100.

By late morning, I had moved to 118mm at Skyline Arch. The longer lens simplifies the scene into three bands: pale foreground, a darker wall and opening, and blue sky crossed by thin clouds. Here, the arch is simply a quiet break in a long sandstone wall.

Skyline Arch opening through a long warm sandstone wall beneath thin white clouds — **Skyline Arch Under Wispy Clouds** — At 118mm, the sandstone wall becomes a long horizontal band broken by the arch and blue sky. 118mm, f/22, 1/125 sec, ISO 100.

I finished near the Courthouse Towers, where there is no complete arch. At 169mm, two weathered monoliths look like narrow walls separated from the larger cliff. The blue gap between them reminded me of the openings I had been photographing.

Two tall weathered sandstone towers rising beside a red cliff under a cloudless blue Utah sky — **Weathered Desert Towers** — At 169mm, two narrow sandstone towers stand apart from the cliff with a strip of blue sky between them. 169mm, f/11, 1/125 sec, ISO 100.

What kept catching my eye

Looking back at the ten photographs, I kept moving from the wide landscape into smaller openings. An arch frames the horizon. A small hole looks like an eye. Water repeats the stone below it, and one window holds another. I used lenses from 16mm to 169mm, but kept noticing how the sandstone framed the sky, distance, light, and reflection around it.