It has been a little warm lately where I am in Santa Fe, NM so I thought I would cool things down a bit with some snow and the nice warm sandstone of Southern Utah.

"Winter Sunset at Delicate Arch" - Utah
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This was photographed on a particularly cold January day in 2009, with the snow-capped La Sal Mountains in the background.

I hiked out there with my friend and fellow photographer Paul Blackmore from Massachusetts. It was our first time photographing here.

The hike to reach the arch was quite dangerous - a narrow sheet of ice with huge drop-offs in some places. We saw a few people slip and lose their balance, but fortunately no one got hurt. Knowing we would be staying and photographing until far after the sun set, we had already agreed we were finding a safer way to hike out and avoid that ice, which we did.

A HD High Definition panoramic video view of photographing at Delicate Arch at sunset.
(If video above doesn't auto load, click here to watch).
 

We certainly were not alone for this sunset. As the day progressed, more and more photographers showed up as seen in the above video. So we found our spots and sat and waited for the light in the company of fellow photographers from around the world.

Most people left following the sunset. Paul and I - as well as some other photographers - knew a full moon was going to rise shortly after the sunset and felt it would yield to some great photos.

"Delicate Arch Night Light" - Utah
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The above photo is a 6-minute exposure. The light on the arch is from 3 different light sources: a full moon off camera on the horizon, hand-held flashes, and flash lights were all used to illuminate the scene and give a different perspective on a popular place to photograph.