The summer monsoons in Northern Arizona can produce some spectacular weather. On a mid-August afternoon, a storm was building over Anderson Mesa. My friends and I had just finished a hike and stopped at the nearby Mormon Lake Overlook to look for the elk herd that hangs around the lake. We weren’t expecting anything particularly dramatic.
Having trouble viewing this email? Read it in your browser here.
The elk herd was a little too far away for me to get good pictures, so I started looking for some other interesting subjects to photograph. Soon, a double rainbow appeared. It lingered for the longest time, so I photographed it repeatedly as the light and clouds changed. The rainbow was really nice, but I thought that the picture needed a subject in the foreground.
When the rainbow finally faded and I was done shooting, I had an idea: I would look for a lone tree as a foreground to go with my rainbow photographs. I have always been fascinated by lone trees in meadows, wondering why they are there all by themselves.
While my friends were still watching the elk herd in the diminishing light, I crossed the highway and saw a few trees that looked promising. But I was losing the sun, and the trees were turning dark. Not finding what I wanted, I decided to return the following day around the same time, hoping for similar lighting.
The next day I found the perfect tree. It was a Ponderosa Pine that stood all alone in the vast meadows of Anderson Mesa. It had a double trunk and a rounded shape, quite different from the tall, narrow Ponderosas I often see in the forest. And it had the clean background I was looking for.
Later, using a little digital magic, I combined the tree and my rainbow photograph to create the final image you see (above).
Photography can be more than just capturing what I see in front of me. Sometimes I envision a different possibility and find a creative way to put it all together. For me, that’s what makes photography so fun, exciting and rewarding.
See Jeff’s previous articles at the Substack Archive.
See more of Jeff’s work at Jeff Goulden Photography.
Jeff Goulden is a nature, landscape, wildlife photographer and writer based in Flagstaff, Arizona. His work has appeared in Audubon, National Geographic, Nature Conservancy, Wilderness Society and other publications.
See more of Jeff's photography at www.JeffGouldenPhotography.com. Downloads are available at Getty Images. Selected fine art prints and other unique photo products are available at Fine Art America.
Brilliant approach and gorgeous final presentation. Thank you, Jeff.
Beautiful! I love Anderson Mesa. The clouds to the left of the tree look like a lake below.