On my way back from the Arctic in 2016, I stopped for several days in Moab to photograph Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. I had photographed the parks several times before from the ground. On this occasion I wanted a new point of view, so I rented a plane from Redtail Aviation. On the morning of the scheduled flight, the sky overcast and rain splattered my windshield as I made my way to the Moab airport. Upon arrival, the people at the counter asked if I wanted to postpone my rental. My response was, “No way!” I was eager to photograph the forces that shaped this magnificent land. We covered the entire southeastern quadrant of the state in a 5.5 hour flight including a stop for fuel at Lake Powell. On the way back north from Monument Valley, the clouds started to break up and I caught this shot of an unnamed canyon brilliantly illuminated in the foreground with rain clouds heavily shadowing the canyons in the background. The shot I had been waiting years to take happened 1/8000th of a second later.
