Thunder Mountain (Capitol Butte)

Author's Comments

Thunder Mountain is the formation I keep noticing out of the corner of my eye. It is not the one most people drive to Sedona for. The cathedrals and bells get the attention, and Capitol Butte sits a little apart from that circuit, holding the northern skyline like something quietly assured of itself. I have come to think that is part of why it photographs the way it does. The formation is essentially two things stacked on each other. The Schnebly Hill red below, and the Kaibab limestone cap above going almost white in full sun. In summer that contrast collapses into glare. In winter it does the opposite - the low sun rakes across the layers and the geology becomes legible, every band of sediment readable as time. Late afternoon in February is when I have made my best frames here. The red goes to ember, the cap holds its pale tone for a few minutes longer than seems possible, and then the whole mesa softens into shadow. I shoot it from the intersection of 89A and Dry Creek Road more often than I want to admit, because the foreground there gives you scale without complication. Soldiers Pass works too, and the walk in adds something. Either way, you want a wide lens and the patience to wait for the last twenty minutes of light. The color does not arrive on a schedule. It arrives, and then it is gone, and you either had the camera ready or you did not.

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