Shelley and I arrived at the visitors center for Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in the mid-afternoon. The weather forecast for that day had not been promising at all for the morning, but as the day progressed the weather changed. Most would say the conditions had degraded, but when in the pursuit of landscape photography I look for weather. Weather adds to and creates drama in a photograph. When most people would rather be at home. I would rather be out hunting for that one photograph. Sometimes you find that perfect combination of composition and weather. Other times you find a composition that you will come back to when the conditions are more to your liking. And then are times that you find nothing at all. Likely for me, this was not one of those times.
Hard Life on the Rocks – Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
As Shelley and I starting walking along the Lava Flow Trail we came across this composition of a tree growing out of the lava rocks with I believe Humphreys Peak in the distance. The weather had been changing throughout the morning. We saw snow, rain, and snow on our drive up to Sunset Crater Volcano Nation Monument that morning. This is seen in the composition as there was a line of snow falling near the tree line. I made this photograph with my Nikon D600 at ISO 100, 86mm, f/11, and 1/250 of a second.
Lone Tree – Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
As Shelley and I continued walking down the Lava Flow Trail into a small valley that is between the upper concrete paved trail and the base of the Volcano. While we walking down the steps I noticed a tree all by its self along the lava rock hill. I started looking for a way to position my camera get to the tree to be in front of a clean black background. Here again, there was light snowfall between the tree and the volcanic rock that makes up Sunset Crater Volcano. This made the background more grey than black. I made this photograph with my Nikon D600 at ISO 100, 86mm, f/11, and 1/250 of a second.
Lavaflow – Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
I really wanted to find a composition of the lava while at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. While I was walking down in the lowland. I found this composition where the lava had cooled. And I could see the various layers of the lava-flow. I made this photograph with my Nikon D600 at ISO 100, 250mm, f/11, and 1/100 of a second.
Twisted – Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
So for my final composition at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. I happened upon this twisted dead tree. That was laying on its side right next to the trail. I loved the shadows that it was casting on the ground. It did not hurt that the tree had multiple twists and turns to it. I sit down on the ground close enough to fill the frame with my wide-angle zoom lens. For this composition, I also wanted to slow down the clouds in the sky. I made this photograph with my Nikon D600 at ISO 100, 14mm, f/11, and 10 seconds.
If you have not yet read last weeks post about the Wukoki Ruins at Wupatki National Monument please do so by clicking here
If you would like to see the video of our visit to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument please visit my YouTube Channel by clicking here.
