This image reminds me of a chilly night spent suffering on a large mezogranite boulder in a flimsy space blanket. Don’t let anyone fool you, the desert can get mighty cold at night.
I had been testing ways to lighten my pack when exploring and eliminating a sleeping bag made sense for some reason.
I now adheer to the idea that if you don’t get a good night’s sleep it doesn’t matter how light your pack is …you suffer!
When you sleep deeply sounds go unnoticed. But when your teeth are chattering uncontrollably even visits from curious mice fill your head with visions of savage apex predators about to pounce.
So I spend all night bolting upright to visits from some sort of kangaroo mouse. In the faint morning light I capture a nolina “Lord’s Candle” strutting its stuff to the first hints of sunlight.
I spent the hike out entertaining myself with tales of having been visited by a mythical mouse queen and her host of followers as we danced and carried on into the wee hours together.
Years later I applied color techniques to the early mirroring I had done after my trip. I had been inspired by a particularly athletic young lady who regularly blew past me on my morning jogs. Groups of college track athletes trained on my trails and were a common sight. But she always ran alone and always far out ahead.
I intended on asking her permission to shoot her for this image but always found myself a little intimidated when she flew past.
I try to remind myself of all the opportunities I’ve lost by not acting on my initial impulses and this is a perfect example. I have never seen anyone else who could replace her in my vision for this image.
