Awakening

Located on the land that spans southern Utah and northern Arizona, Monument Valley is an iconic southwestern destination and one of my favorite places. It’s not close to any big city - Las Vegas is almost 400 miles and Albuquerque, NM and Phoenix, AZ are both over 300 miles away - so getting to Monument Valley requires a serious effort. While tour buses and day-trippers come and go within a day, I prefer to spend several days so that I can photograph the valley at different times of day, particularly the early mornings, as I did in this photo. 

I began hiking well before dawn when the stars still filled the sky. As the blackness of night slowly gave way to dawn, I saw a line of clouds stretching across the sky. They looked as if a paint brush had been swept across them. They were grey at first as the sun still sat well below the horizon. I prayed that the first rays of light would ignite the sky, . . . and then it happened. 

If you'd like to purchase this print or have any questions, please email - brandon@brandonkirk.com. If you'd like to see the other available sizes and framing options for this image, visit www.brandonkirk.com.