Crescent Moon Ranch / Red Rock Crossing

Author's Comments

The reflection of Cathedral Rock in Oak Creek is one of the most photographed compositions in the American Southwest, and there is a reason for that. The reason is that it works. Two stone spires rising above their own mirror image, the creek going still in the late afternoon, the red sandstone going redder as the sun drops behind you. I have made this photograph many times and I am not tired of it yet. A few things worth knowing. The classic view is from the creek crossing itself, and you will not be alone there. In autumn the cottonwoods along Oak Creek go yellow and the foreground complicates in a way that is genuinely beautiful, and that is also when the crowds are thickest. I have come to prefer winter mornings, frankly. The water runs lower and clearer, the light is colder and longer, and there is sometimes nobody there at all. Cathedral Rock catches first light around an hour after sunrise from this angle, and the reflection holds until the breeze picks up. The polarizer is not optional here. Without it the reflection is half of what it could be, and the red rock loses its depth. Bring the tripod even if you think you can hand hold it. The shutter speeds you actually want, especially at the edges of the day, are slower than you think. The gate closes at sunset, which is worth respecting. The light right at sunset is often less interesting here than the twenty minutes before, when the rock is still lit and the creek has gone into shadow. That is the frame I keep coming back for.

Gallery